1920's Poured Concrete Semi

concrete_buyer

Ok, here it is. Put an offer in on a lovely 1920's high ceiling semi in Plymouth Devon. Massive house, great location

The House is stated as poured concrete construction though, which has been externally insulated. The owner has lived there for the last 45 years, but the agent cant tell me the type of poured concrete. All im told is that its pre-war, 1925 build.

Is there anyway, that i can find out the build material/type of concrete pour? Maybe the local council?

Im aware of concrete cancer, as ive done plenty of reading on it. Other than paying for a Concrete screening, and having a load of holes drilled in a house thats not mine yet, are there any other ideas.

Builder says it looks solid, but its all down to the lenders surveyor at the end of the day I suppose.

ognum

concrete_buyer wrote: »

Ok, here it is. Put an offer in on a lovely 1920's high ceiling semi in Plymouth Devon. Massive house, great location

The House is stated as poured concrete construction though, which has been externally insulated. The owner has lived there for the last 45 years, but the agent cant tell me the type of poured concrete. All im told is that its pre-war, 1925 build.

Is there anyway, that i can find out the build material/type of concrete pour? Maybe the local council?

Im aware of concrete cancer, as ive done plenty of reading on it. Other than paying for a Concrete screening, and having a load of holes drilled in a house thats not mine yet, are there any other ideas.

Builder says it looks solid, but its all down to the lenders surveyor at the end of the day I suppose.

How about getting your own surveyor down to look, are there other houses in the area of the same construction that have sold recently?

You may find this house is unmorgageable, talk to a broker!

bigadaj

A local surveyor or builder might have some knowledge, it's possible to concrete core a small section and get it tested in a lab but that's going to cost a few hundred quid all in.

It sound a a bit early for concrete cancer if the dates are right, most issues with this were in fifties or sixties structures if I remember correctly.

jc808

my mums got a poured concrete house from 1860, all good

i think the main problems with 'concrete' houses are the prefabs of the 40s/50s etc

get a survey done

concrete_buyer

Thanks for the advice. I have rang a surveyor who actually advised me to go down the screening route. Rang a few screening companies and they charge about £340. Not bad when you think they take samples from every external wall, ground and upper floor.

They all advised to wait until the banks surveyor goes in and makes his mind up. No point spending money until then. I have heard that Prc houses older than 1950 in the uk have got to have a screening before mortgage being accepted. Any ideas? Thanks all.

concrete_buyer

I did look to see if anything has sold recently. Nothing on zoopla. There's quite a mid match of properties on that street. I'm thinking of calling the guy next door. He advertises his business in one of the windows. Cheek, but it's a big investment hey.

martindow

Might be an idea to speak to a local mortgage broker - hopefully one who has dealt with similar houses in the past - to get their advice on who is most likely to lend. I imagine some companies will automatically say no if there is any kind of non standard construction. Others might be more flexible and look at each case on its merits.

concrete_buyer

Well, my advisor is suggesting one of the bigger lenders. Getting the ball rolling today. I can't see any stipulations on the website about non standard construction. Let's hope my advisor knows his stuff.

drdpj

This should be of some interest:
http://www.collier-stevens.co.uk/surveyors-blog/2011/laing-easi-form-housing/

The house we just sold was in an estate with lots of "no fines poured concrete" properties called coralites, made in the late 20s, early 30s. They've all just been externally insulated by the housing association, and as far as I know those particular examples are fine to get mortgages on. Definitely worth getting it checked though.

concrete_buyer

Thanks for that. A very informative article. I'm thinking maybe the house is type 1. Another day of researching for me.