House Valuation advice

greenface

Much chimney breast damp is just down to new flashing needed . Always look there first

kingstreet

You're having a "pre-sale marketing appraisal" by an estate agent lister. This is not a valuation or survey by a qualified surveyor.

You do not need to worry about this issue now, but may need to plan for it when you have a buyer and their surveyor asks about it.

Rachylou1981

sandsni wrote: »

Did you find the actual source of the damp in the chimney breast? Are you sure the damage is "cosmetic" and that there are no structural issues from excess moisture having languished in the stone/brickwork. Unless you've dealt with that then you're really just storing up future problems for yourself. Hopefully your Uncle knows what he's doing and doesn't just redirect the moisture to another part of the house!

Any future buyers survey is likely to flag up damp (although from what I've read on this forum they nearly always flag up the possibility of damp just to keep themselves right).

TBH the value of the house is whatever someone is willing to pay for it, not what an EA says they can get for it.

I have never tried to to look for the source. Never had the money nor the inclination. I moved in aged 21 and my money went on enjoying myself more than my house (which I don't regret). Obviously selling now is a different story but I am just in early stages of planning to sell. My uncle knows what he is doing but is not a damp proof specialist so it is a temporary measure. He did the covering up of the walls last time in 2007 (only re-plaster and paint) and so it has lasted 6 years before it has become an issue again. The damp will still appear on the survey but then it's up to the buyer if they still want to proceed.

I know that the EA value is not guaranteed and especially only one valuation cannot be relied upon but like I say, it's a rough guide I wanted

phoebe1989seb

greenface wrote: »

Much chimney breast damp is just down to new flashing needed . Always look there first

In my personal experience replacing the lead flashing doesn't always cure the problem unfortunately.......

House 1 (Victorian brick built detached with external chimney breasts) - lead flashing replaced, but damp patches on bedroom chimney breasts persisted

House 2 (Victorian brick built detached with regular internal chimney breasts) - whole roof replaced with new slates and all chimneys re-pointed and re-flashed in lead, yet damp patches persisted in two bedrooms

House 3 (current property - Georgian or slightly earlier stone attached thatched house) - newly thatched and chimneys re-pointed and re-flashed in lead, yet third storey chimney breast still has damp issues. The chimneys are in the centre of the house and in the area that is not attached - so not coming in from the adjoining house

As an aside to the OP's query, I would be most interested to hear of any solutions to this issue

OP - glad to hear you're not in negative equity BTW and all the best for your sale.

Edited to add - when we sold the first house the damp issue wasn't picked up at all - as it wasn't when we bought - if it had been we at least had guarantees for new lead flashing and chimney re-pointing although as the problem persisted and was visible if the chimney breast areas were scrutinised I don't know how we would have dealt with this.

When selling the second house our buyers chose not to have a survey - they were cash buyers - and I must confess they did refer to the damp patch on one of the chimney breasts when viewing the house. We mentioned the roof replacement etc (and of course they were given the guarantees) and they just assumed the plaster was still drying out.......although I believe if that had been the case it would have already done so

Rachylou1981

greenface wrote: »

Much chimney breast damp is just down to new flashing needed . Always look there first

Yeah I have read lots of stuff online regarding the chimney. I am just wondering whether it is worth looking at solving the problem myself or just leaving it to new buyers.

Rachylou1981

Thanks Phoebe. I think that is what scares me, trying to solve the problem by paying for such measures when it doesn't actually solve it. Being a young girl living alone I have always looked for a cheap fix rather than a big job in case of that or worse being ripped off. I did have a damp course quote in 2007 and it was a few grand which didn't include clean up. I just chose to live with it and it's never bothered me since I can cover the damage

greenface

Phoebe youve had more damp breasts than Katie Price . Mind ive done more flashing than Stuart Hall.