Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Rummer, was just wondering is your bathroom finished yet:D:D

Surveyor booked for next week... they said he will take approx. 3 - 4 hours to do the survey. and we will get a report with all his recommendations etc, by all accounts he does listed buildings etc ( even though ours is not listed)

here he is ( will remove the link later)

http://www.trevorfrancis-surveyors.co.uk/services

Davesnave we have spoken about doing the under pinning ourselves quietly, BUT I will see what the full report comes back with, and see what the prices are for the under pinning.

When we dug up infront of the house to put a French drain in, just under the foundation stones we hit clay...

In all honesty the stonemason did say he didn't know the house was still standing:cool::rotfl:

We know what ever can go wrong with a house, this house has it

choille

Rummer - I'm just heading down with me yellow, plastic duck.........be with you about tea time......just kidding.

CTC - that may cost about £1,500 for the report, but you need one, defo, need it.

It seriously looks like there's movement in the founds & that does need addressing. Looks like you have the right person booked up & they will have a proper access of what's wrong, how to address it & rough costings.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

choille wrote: »

Rummer - I'm just heading down with me yellow, plastic duck.........be with you about tea time......just kidding.

CTC - that may cost about £1,500 for the report, but you need one, defo, need it.

It seriously looks like there's movement in the founds & that does need addressing. Looks like you have the right person booked up & they will have a proper access of what's wrong, how to address it & rough costings.

Choille he is charging me £400 .. we know there is old movement. and it has stopped moving, we know this due to someone trying to cover it up, upstairs, and we can date the wallpaper:D:D I think once upon a time they must have had a council grant to update the house.. but that done more harm than good, as they used concrete rendering over the old stones, and lime mortar.
This house id DEF not for the faint hearted...

I think what threw us in the beginning, my parents were all full fuss ( and force) in us having an annexe built, and them moving in, so they went full steam ahead, getting an architect and planning, they were even going to places to pick my kitchen:eek::eek::eek::mad::mad::mad:.. In the end I had to tell them it would not work, as living next door was a very bad idea, and it would end up in tears.. and me feeling it wasn't my place..and not only that, more or less feeling obligated as they would have paid for the work to be done...

So now I think I might have to bite the bullet, get my weekly wages/payslp in order, and in 3 months time see if there is any chance of getting a small mortgage on the place to do a lot of the work... just find more time ( from god knows where) to try and earn more money.

We knew this wasn't going to be an easy journey, but if you want something bad enough you will find a way... There is no way in a million years we could have even saved enough money to buy something half decent.. so at least this way... we at least got our pigs, and we can daydream on our land:D:D

lostinrates

Catch, that's good value.

We have had both a surveyor and a structural engineer involved here. In all honesty I'd cut out a surveyor if I were doing it again and go straight to a structural engineer. We only use the latter now, or the architect.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

So what is a diff between a surveyor ( the one we have booked) and a structural engineer??:cool::cool::cool:

The person I have booked.. will he tell me exactly what Needs doing form a structural point of view, or is he just going to tell me I got Damp:rotfl:

lostinrates

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

So what is a diff between a surveyor ( the one we have booked) and a structural engineer??:cool::cool::cool:

The person I have booked.. will he tell me exactly what Needs doing form a structural point of view, or is he just going to tell me I got Damp:rotfl:

IME the surveyor comes in and tells you what's wrong and that you need a structural engineer. The engineer feels you really, pragmatically, what will fix it. Now, loads of people do take advice from surveyors, so I knoW that us not right, but it felt to me that the structural engineer was the practical responsible guy who understood things and buildings and and the surveyor wanted to make a Buck and evade responsibility for anything.

I cannot give you a real answer I'm afraid CTC, just a 'what worked for us here' one.

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

So what is a diff between a surveyor ( the one we have booked) and a structural engineer??:cool::cool::cool:

The person I have booked.. will he tell me exactly what Needs doing form a structural point of view, or is he just going to tell me I got Damp:rotfl:

The structural engineer will be able to specify exactly what needs to be done down to the thickness of concrete, types of reinforcing steels, or whatever. We used one when we bridged the sewer on our old build, and we would have used one here if we'd gone for an upstairs, 'cos the architect didn't know what RSJs to specify etc.

Surveyors just say what appears to be wrong from a visual inspection and famously cover their @rses by suggesting further specialist assessments on stuff like electricals, damp, rot etc.

I'd quiz the surveyor a bit more first, because you know pretty much what the problem is and you want solutions, not a re-statement of what you already know.

Besides being good looking;), what can he offer that would make him good value? (£400 ain't bad mind!)

Better_Days

CTC - 'Help my house is falling down' programme (not suggesting yours is!) is interesting to watch and recommends structural engineers rather than surveyors to identify and suggest remedies for problems.
Available online http://www.channel4.com/programmes/help-my-house-is-falling-down/episode-guide/series-1/

Episode 8 in series two is one of the worst - and makes many other problems seem minor.

Once you get past the daft name the programme is worth a watch.

Rummer - now your bathroom is done are you going to be bathing like Cleopatra in milk or settle for bubbles? :D:D

Exchange on our purchase delayed yet again :mad::mad::mad: Over 3 weeks ago I told EA to tell vendors solicitors that if they ring up the local authority they will d/w the local search in a day or so. Well the solicitor hasn't bothered to ring the LA so the search still not back. Plus a problem with drainage search on vendors purchase. We are ready to exchange and don't want to fork out another months rent because solicitors can't get their act together. Have told EA we must exchange by the end of next week so we can give notice on the rental.

Rummer

Better_Days wrote: »

Rummer - now your bathroom is done are you going to be bathing like Cleopatra in milk or settle for bubbles? :D:D

So far I have settled for bubbles or bath salts Mind you I just got a shower curtain so I may be showering instead of bathing today :rotfl:

How frustrating that your exchange is being delayed. We had problems moving into our house many years ago and it was really stressful.

Well I made it out of the house...... to the chemist and the supermarket, I really know how to live on the edge :rotfl:

lostinrates

Rummer wrote: »

So far I have settled for bubbles or bath salts Mind you I just got a shower curtain so I may be showering instead of bathing today :rotfl:

How frustrating that your exchange is being delayed. We had problems moving into our house many years ago and it was really stressful.

Well I made it out of the house...... to the chemist and the supermarket, I really know how to live on the edge :rotfl:

Bit of milk powder is lovely and skin softening.