Structural survey back on the 1930s house I am buying, some questions:

rammster

I had the following full structural survey come through on my 1930s 3 bed terraced house in an ex local authority area . Any advice from the experts.

"The property is generally in fair order for its age although areas of expense are going to be required which will include:

1. In due course re-roofing.

2. A potential woodworm treatment.

3. Updating the electrical wiring.

4. Further insulation in the roof space and boarding if storage is required.

5. Some replacement of the bricks especially on the front wall.

6. A new back door is really required and where there is glass in the doors the glass in our opinion will not be reinforced.

7. The property would benefit from an internal decoration and some of the kitchen units are fairly dirty.

8. Possible additional support to one chimney breast at first floor level.

"The purchase is in line with other recent property sales on the estate but you may wish to seek a small deduction in the purchase price of about 2000£ to meet some of the potential ongoing costs in the future. "

Regarding the roof it says the following:

"The roof is of a traditional hipped roof construction but the roof is not underfelted and there are small areas of daylight showing through although the condition of the nails cannot be seen. It is most important that any slipping slates are immediately replaced otherwise damp penetration will become a problem. There is some minor woodworm in the purlins and if piles of sawdust are seen in the future then a woodworm treatment will be required.

Therefore there will be some expenditure in the future on the roof which will include in due course stripping the roof, underfelting, rebattening and reslating, a potential woodworm treatment, further insulation and the roof space should be boarded. When the roof is re-roofed some form of ventilation should be fitted so there is ventilation into the roof space. "

Should I take the plunge or run away.

danuk

well do you love the house? is it the one? if yes to both take the plunge but try for a reduction in price.

tickeverybox.com

I think it depends on the price you are paying. If you are already paying a price which reflects that the house needs work, you will probably have taken some costs into consideration.

If you are paying what you consider to be the full market value, perhaps consider going back for a reduction in the price to reflect the costs of work.

The roof will obviously be the major expense, but you also need to check out the chimney breast issue and re-wiring costs also.

Woby_Tide

crikey I'm glad I went for homebuyers reports over a structural survey. IMO they don't seem to add much value over a) what you can see yourself or b) what a homebuyers report normally covers.Most of those problems are fairly common to have in a property of that age if the work hasn't been done previously. Like others have said it's up to you to decide if you think the price refelcts teh work needing doing and what you class as urgent i.e. you could say every roof will need replacing, it will, one day

marybishop

Out of interest did he go into more depth on the items you've listed (1-8) or was it as basic as that. If it was that basic that seems pretty poor for a full structural survey. He seems to have gone into more depth on the roof. Perhaps these items were highlighted at the end of the report?

manrow

rammster,

you need to understand that surveyors have to consider every eventuality to avoid being sued later on!

On a company paid move some years ago, I had 3 surveys carried out on different properties. They all read very nearly the same even though the properties were very different!!

You also need to understand that ALL houses require some upgrades at about every 10 to 15 years, (kitchens, bathrooms and windows, etc) and major maintenance every 50 years or so, (roof, electrics etc).

Notice that none of the problems raised require action now! It says "in due course re-roofing, potential woodworm treatment" although only if sawdust discovered where woodworm have been active. Almost all houses more than 15 years old will show signs of woodworm, some active some not. It is sensible to re-roof eventually to fill the gaps in the roof tiles or slates and install felt so that any water that gets through will run outside of the property. But the house I eventually bought was owned by a 90 year old lady who had been there all her life, and told me that snow had only blown into the loft on one occasion in her knowledge, hence was this really a pressing problem?

A good local builder would give you practical advice on what really needs doing now; this house sounds about average for any that are over the 50 year mark and have missed the major maintenance outlined above. If the prospect of all this is beyond you then look for something newer, say less than 10 years old!!

Hope this helps, and best of luck - buying anything used is potentially risky!! But then so is buying new, but slightly less so!!

rammster

I have just posted the conclusion of the report to prevent the post from being too lengthy. The property was advertised for 190,000 , the offer went through on 182,000. The last property that went on sale there in January 2007 was 176500 which is a terrace , while mine is end of terrace. The property is in a good decorative order and has little that needed doing to it on the first glance. Obviously I never visited the loft. Considering I am a FTB, I dont understand the seriousness of the issues. But even to a newbie like me the roof doesn't sound that good.

I agree with what you guys are saying , but the property of this type in my area is sought after , will evaporate from the market within hours of it re-entering the market. This is a lot of house for the money , partly so because the area is at best mediocre although close to local amenities. Where I live a property like this 2 blocks away will set you back by 250k + .
100 metres on and into a royal development the prices for flats will begin at 350k plus for 3 beds.

This makes me think that I should go for the house and leave the rest to God. As there are no guarantees here , whether buying new or old.

by the way the following is the other stuff that needs looking at:

"There is an old fashioned fusebox and we would strongly recommend should you purchase that you have an electrical test as updating of the electrical wiring will be required to bring the property up to NICEIC standard.

At the very least a new RCD unit will be required which normally costs in the region of £300-350."

I think I would buy the house but would push to get 2 grand off.

danuk

taking what your saying into considersation i think you love the property or know you will not stand a chance of getting on the ladder so i would say go with it but try for a reduction if they come back saying no ask to go half way grand each..... worth a try failing that just go ahead and buy.

zfrl

Are you getting a mortgage? Have they asked for a retention until any work has been done or is it all just advisory?

pickles110564

rammster wrote: »

I had the following full structural survey come through on my 1930s 3 bed terraced house in an ex local authority area . Any advice from the experts.

Regarding the roof it says the following:

"The roof is of a traditional hipped roof construction but the roof is not underfelted and there are small areas of daylight showing through although the condition of the nails cannot be seen. It is most important that any slipping slates are immediately replaced otherwise damp penetration will become a problem. There is some minor woodworm in the purlins and if piles of sawdust are seen in the future then a woodworm treatment will be required.

Therefore there will be some expenditure in the future on the roof which will include in due course stripping the roof, underfelting, rebattening and reslating, a potential woodworm treatment, further insulation and the roof space should be boarded. When the roof is re-roofed some form of ventilation should be fitted so there is ventilation into the roof space. "

Should I take the plunge or run away.

If the roof has slipped tiles it does not mean that the nails are shot, in alot of 1930's roofs they sometimes did not use any nails and just relied on batterns and the weight of the tiles above holding the others down.
With plain peg tiles only about a third of the tile actually shows, the underfelt really only is meant to stop dirt and stuff from getting through to the loft area.
Properly fitted tiles will not let any water through, the parts that you need to repair are not that expensive, the main cost now is usually the scaffold to make sure the roofers are safe.
Out of all the properties we have bought I think the 1930's are by far the best, they seem to be constructed by master craftsmen not like the 50's / 60's.
As someone else has said surveyors have to cover themselves, go with your gut feeling, just make sure you have enough cash to get the important points right. Then you can do the rest at your pleasure

benood

For a full structural survey I would have expected to be given some indication about when the roof will need to be done - 2-5 yrs 5-10yrs or 10+ years say. That would help to indicate whether to go for the £2k or not.

TBH from what you've posted I'd say that your surveyor has given the place a pretty clean bill of health. The first job I would do would be to put in the new RCD protected fuseboard.