woodworm- pay for inspection?

ConfusedofYorkshire

We've bee advised that the house we're buying has evidence of woodworm in the loft. The vendor hasn't ever had it looked at or treated according to the contract documents so it could be a live infestation.

I've enquired with 3 companies about getting it inspected.

1 charges 85pounds to come.
1 is free for inspection if they find something that needs treating, otherwise it's 45 pounds for the report.
The last one is free for the inspection.

Do you think I can trust the last one? Or might they just 'find' something that isn't there? Is charging for inspections the norm?

Also- if it needs treating would you expect the vendor to do this? And should I be the one arranging for the inspection?

kingstreet

Use an independent surveyor and ensure you are not quoted for unnecessary work because the inspections/reports don't pay for themselves;-

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

The firms who damp also do woodworm and wall-ties.

ConfusedofYorkshire

kingstreet wrote: »

Use an independent surveyor and ensure you are not quoted for unnecessary work because the inspections/reports don't pay for themselves;-

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

The firms who damp also do woodworm and wall-ties.

Thank you! Not many up Yorkshire way are there.:mad:

Lord_Baltimore

And while you're at it get a report on whether your toilet works and a report on the doors to make sure they open and shut and one for the damp and one for the electrics and one to check if there is mole infestation....hrhrhrhr!:)

Ok, I'm joking, you and I know that. But it just bugs me what a cottage industry all this report for this, report for that, is. Surveyors feed off insecurity.

Btw, if a report discovers live infestation of woodworm in the loft what are you going to do? You can get wood treatment yourself from B&Q if you're getting the house at a decent price.

G_M

Bear in mind the free ones are touting for business.

And that woodworm leave holes.

Often (and this is probobly what your 'adviser' - surveyor?) has seen) the holes are historic. What you need be worried about is active (or live) woodworm.

Very likely a free inspection will spot the holes, include them in the report (and show them to you) and recommend treatment. Even if the worm were there 30 years ago and long gone! The holes don't magically fill up.

My house is 150 years old. When I moved in my sureveyor spotted holes, I had an inspection done and paid for treatment. I later found out the sellers had treated the house 15 years before (yes, I was naive) because of the same holes.

Chances are this house has been treated every time it's changed hands on the basis of worm holes created when the wood was still drying out 149 years ago (the bugs like damp wood. that's why old logs in the open are full of holes).

tigsly

How do you find a 'free surveyor' .. around here - South London - they all seem to charge..

kingstreet

tigsly wrote: »

How do you find a 'free surveyor' .. around here - South London - they all seem to charge..

You won't.

Surveyors charge.

The ones who offer "free" surveys are the ones who recover their money by quoting for work carried out by their firm. Work which may, or may not, actually be needed.

G_M

tigsly wrote: »

How do you find a 'free surveyor' .. around here - South London - they all seem to charge..

For 'free survey' read 'free sales visit'.

ConfusedofYorkshire

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

And while you're at it get a report on whether your toilet works and a report on the doors to make sure they open and shut and one for the damp and one for the electrics and one to check if there is mole infestation....hrhrhrhr!:)

Ok, I'm joking, you and I know that. But it just bugs me what a cottage industry all this report for this, report for that, is. Surveyors feed off insecurity.

Btw, if a report discovers live infestation of woodworm in the loft what are you going to do? You can get wood treatment yourself from B&Q if you're getting the house at a decent price.

:rotfl:as ever, thank you. Well to be honest we would try to get the vendor to treat it. if she wanted to do it herself i probably wouldn't mind. How hard is it to do?

ConfusedofYorkshire

G_M wrote: »

Bear in mind the free ones are touting for business.

And that woodworm leave holes.

Often (and this is probobly what your 'adviser' - surveyor?) has seen) the holes are historic. What you need be worried about is active (or live) woodworm.

Very likely a free inspection will spot the holes, include them in the report (and show them to you) and recommend treatment. Even if the worm were there 30 years ago and long gone! The holes don't magically fill up.

My house is 150 years old. When I moved in my sureveyor spotted holes, I had an inspection done and paid for treatment. I later found out the sellers had treated the house 15 years before (yes, I was naive) because of the same holes.

Chances are this house has been treated every time it's changed hands on the basis of worm holes created when the wood was still drying out 149 years ago (the bugs like damp wood. that's why old logs in the open are full of holes).

Well you see I was kind of hoping that the sales contract would come back and confirm that timber treatment had been carried out. But the vendor has ticked "no- no timber treatment and no guarantees". if she had said yes she had had it treated i wouldn't be concerned. i'm guessing they did have the same sort of questionairre when you bought your house?

am i worrying about nothing?

ConfusedofYorkshire

tigsly wrote: »

How do you find a 'free surveyor' .. around here - South London - they all seem to charge..

Ask them whether they will refund the survey fee if work needs to be carried out.

One independent surveyor i found charges nearly as much as the treatment would be.
I'm still not sure what path we will take, although the surveyor recommended getting someone who is registered with the PCA

http://www.property-care.org/PCSearch.asp