Black ash mortar

tote_alley_stressed

Hi, my son is just waiting for the full surveyor report on a house he was buying but the bank contacted him to say they would be reducing their mortgage offer by £5,000 as the report shows possible construction with black ash mortar as the area is known for this.The bank have advised my son and fianc! to pay for another full surveyor report about £1,000 so I would love some advice as they are with holding the full mortgage until they get satisfactory report. Would an independent builder report be suffice?The house was on the market for 2 years and was reduced in price but as a mum I'm really worried and as we are still waiting for the full report would appreciate some help in whether they should pull out of the sale at this stage. The report says the house is worth the selling price however

GolfFoxtrot

I don't know anything about black ash mortar but our mortgage company valued the house at 5k less because of work that needed doing for damp and electrics. They also wanted a 5k retention on the mortgage (where they hold back some of the cash until the work is completed). This left us with a total shortfall of 10k.

We got some quotes for the work and re-negotiated with the vendors who reduced the price of the house by 5k. This only left us with the 5k retention money to cover.

My advice would be to get some quotes for the work (I guess replacing the mortar/ re pointing) and then take it from there. Don't be afraid of a little work but obviously if it's going to cost the earth to fix then walk away.

Oh and £1000 for an additional survey / quotations seems way over the top. We paid £250 for an independent surveyors report for the damp.

slopemaster

It's not a case of repointing.
There's nothing wrong with black ash mortar in itself; the problem comes if it is used in cavity walls.
It was made using a low cost by-product from power stations and used quite widely until it was realised that it was a highly corrosive medium in which to bed mild steel wall ties.

So the question is whether there is any wall tie corrosion. If so,replacements will be installed in stainless steel with the originals isolated from further decay.
A survey involves gaining access to take out sample ties to assess their condition

Before paying out for a survey, have a look yourselves. The corrosion starts to become visible in the form of horizontal cracks in the brickwork at regular course intervals. The ties expand as they rust and this is sufficient to raise the brickwork at each tie course. So if you see that, you know the ties need replacing.