timber preservation certificate

johnnyredgate

We are in the process of buying a house, due to exchange, and have just had the damp and timber preservation certificates through. The timber certificate expired 5 years ago which we are a bit concerned about. The property has laminate flooring throughout so it has not been possible to inspect the woodwork underneath. Having spoken to a a damp and timber preservation company, they advise that the chemicals used for the timber preservation will have worn off over time and therefore to ensure protection this work would need to be redone. The damp course they advised only needed doing again if there was a damp problem.
Obviously this is a considerable additional cost to us to a property we thought was suitable to move straight into, the laminate flooring will all need to be removed and will likely be damaged in the process, and the cost of replacement covering will need to be found. This was not something that came up on the survey, hopefully there isn't a problem with the timber, but treatment cover is needed as a preventative measure I feel, particularly as insurance does not cover for damage due to damp and infestation.
Would appreciate advise on whether we should be seeking to negotiate the price as a result of this, as although we did not specifically ask about the guarantees originally we were given the impression that everything was up together and in order. We have also found that there was no building regulations consent for structual alterations carried out to the property but understand that indemnity insurance can be purchased for that. No fensa warrenty for the windows put in 5 years ago either?
thanks for any advise

Furts

johnnyredgate wrote: »

We are in the process of buying a house, due to exchange, and have just had the damp and timber preservation certificates through. The timber certificate expired 5 years ago which we are a bit concerned about. The property has laminate flooring throughout so it has not been possible to inspect the woodwork underneath. Having spoken to a a damp and timber preservation company, they advise that the chemicals used for the timber preservation will have worn off over time and therefore to ensure protection this work would need to be redone. The damp course they advised only needed doing again if there was a damp problem.
Obviously this is a considerable additional cost to us to a property we thought was suitable to move straight into, the laminate flooring will all need to be removed and will likely be damaged in the process, and the cost of replacement covering will need to be found. This was not something that came up on the survey, hopefully there isn't a problem with the timber, but treatment cover is needed as a preventative measure I feel, particularly as insurance does not cover for damage due to damp and infestation.
Would appreciate advise on whether we should be seeking to negotiate the price as a result of this, as although we did not specifically ask about the guarantees originally we were given the impression that everything was up together and in order. We have also found that there was no building regulations consent for structual alterations carried out to the property but understand that indemnity insurance can be purchased for that. No fensa warrenty for the windows put in 5 years ago either?
thanks for any advise

A couple of observations. Why would the chemicals used to treat timber wear off over time? What can wear them off?

If they were evaporating they would be smelt - not good - and could gradually poison the occupants. The alternative is if they were washed away - do you have a river running through your floor? Bear in mind many timber treatments include a water repellent (as with Protim in the past and may still be - not sure on this). Regardless of what companies say, the treatment should last...decades. So this sounds like BS to me.

With regard the windows the guarantee would be from the installer and could be back to back with the manufacturer. Are you correct in saying you expect a guarantee from FENSA? If you are concerned have they been fitted correctly, was the company a FENSA member....and would any guarantee have been transferable? My instinct is the windows are a lost cause.

kingstreet

I suspect a T&D firm is telling the OP what it wants him to hear. That will normally involve a couple of grandsworth of work for them.

Get an independent surveyor to check out such issues, if necessary, not a firm which stands to gain from such things.

http://www.independentdampsurveyors.co.uk/

If you came to me requesting a price reduction, I'd want to see the valuation of the property now and after essential repairs and a copy of any reports which were needed.

johnnyredgate

thanks for the replies, the company I spoke with seemed very helpful and certainly said they would not consider redoing a damp course unless it was deemed necessary as that was be deemed as carrying out unnecessary works and I am sure the same would apply with the timber treatment. The timber treatment basically is only effective for a certain amount of time, but good point to double check with this, although I don't think the contractor was being dishonest in any way about this. I will be having some testing done for dampness now as there is no way to easily inspect the floor, so will see what comes back from that. Last time a purchased a house with a 90% mortgage it was a requirement to have all these certificates in place hence my concern should I want to sell on in the future and also concern not to have a major hidden rot or infestation problem going on.
re windows I have recently had window restoration carried out and this was by a registered Fensa fitter and hence the work came with a 10 year guarantee, so I assumed that this was standard now particularly with new fit windows. The windows issue is being resolved though.
Just a bit fed up to find out quite late in the day about various problems, and the additional costs, the survey advices the roof is in need of replacement so have already had to factor in this additional cost.

kingstreet

No damp course necessary, but we'll do some more timber treatment, as a precaution.

Phone an independent surveyor and ask them their opinion of what the contractor has told you and if they feel an independent survey would be a good idea...

Richard_Webster

I think you are worrying unnecessarily.

Unless a specific rot problem has been identified, i.e. floor is springy when walked on, I wouldn't get too worried about that.

Double glazing is .....double glazing..... and very often guarantees for double glazing are worthless because the company who has given the guarantee has gone out of business.

If there is double glazing then it is normally better than not having it.

If done from April 2002 there should be either a FENSA certificate or other evidence of compliance with the Building Regulations. If no such evidence exists then you can get an indemnity policy but this is genreally for the benefit of mortgage lenders who seem to thnk they have magic properties. In fact they only pay out in the event of enforcmeent action by the Council which is exceedingly unlikely - no cover if there is loss or damge to the building related to a non-compliance with the regulations.

There are thousands of double glazing installations the pre-date April 2002 and there is no mass movement requiring them to be redone or retrospectively certifed (which I am not sur eis possible anyway).