Taking out an internal wall - surveyor to choose

Dan-Dan

Morning

There are two surveying firms i know are locally well regarded , my wife and i will want to if possible knock down an internal wall or two at the house we have just had an offer accepted on , one guys says for him to tell us if thats ok to do would require a full survey @£410 and one guy says he will check that for us with the usual homebuyers @350

I think really to do things properly i should pay the full building survey guy , any thoughts ?

Also ,i want to incure as less a costs as possible as does everybody , but i am assuming that the survery and mortgage costs , are going to be pretty much guranteed to spend at this stage ?

I think i know thats the case but all opinions always welcome!

G_M

So basically you must choose between a Homebuyers for £350 or full survey for £410? Both will comment on the feasibility of knocking through?

Have you also asked your mortgage lender for a quote for survey when they do their Valuation?

Given the minimal difference in price the full survey seems good value, but may be completely unecessary- if you want to save £60, why not?

Dan-Dan

Hi G_M the only other thing is the house is about 90 feet from the west coast main line so we thought it prudent to pay the extra £60 and have more peace of mind possibly....

Strapped

I'd go full survey personally.

Dan-Dan

I think so too , the guys sounds really on th ball as well so happy to pay the extra

vectistim

Are these general practice surveyors? If I were considering knocking walls down I'd rather trust a structural engineer.

Dan-Dan

Hi , he is a Chartered Building Surveyor

DaftyDuck

For the price difference there, I'd go full survey for peace of mind. However, if the other surveyor was much more approachable, friendly and helpful than Mr Full Survey, I might at least consider him... have you asked him how much for a Full Survey to compare? I have often given a written list of specific questions to the surveyor on commissioning him, and I have always had them answered either in the survey, or by letter/email. (Though I have had to prod for a couple of answers). They haven't always been able to give me the answer I wanted, but they have at least faced up to the question.

Dan-Dan

Hi Dafty , i have had email conversations with the £410 guy who took the time to be honest and speak to me on a weekend , he said really he wouldnt want to comment on possible alterations etc as the homebuyers isnt desgined for that , but would happily do the required under a full survey , to be fair to him even when i asked for the full survey due to proximity to the railway he took the time to check the house on RM and said he still only recommends a homebuyers , its more our peace of mind to go for the higher survey

G_M

vectistim wrote: »

Are these general practice surveyors? If I were considering knocking walls down I'd rather trust a structural engineer.

Good point.

The surveyor might well simply recommend getting a structural engineer in.

However, a chartered surveyor should be able to state in principle whether the wall can be removed.

At a later date you may need a structural engineer to define exactly what support is required for the specific weight of the load the wall currently holds.

monty-doggy

So you went for it then? The house by the railway?