What sort of tradesmen do we need??

Snuggles

Hi, I would be very grateful for any advice.

Sadly, my dad recently passed away and I am just in the process of applying for probate (there is a will and I am executor).

Dad has a bungalow which will need to be sold. We (my sisters and I) were aware that there are a few things which need repairing in the house, and we will need to decide whether to do this prior to sale, or sell the property as is. These are things which are easy to identify and quantify and can therefore easily be taken into account when agreeing a selling price if we decide not to repair ourselves.

However, we have now discovered another, more worrying, issue. We have found that in one of the bedrooms there is mould all around the window frame as well as on the ceiling in one corner of the room (the same side as the window). There is a strong smell of damp in this room. Now, the window is double glazed but has seen better days and needs replacing. I also know that Dad rarely opened the bedroom window as he was always cold, and it has no trickle vents. Therefore, the room has never been well ventilated.

My question is, how do we go about identifying the source of the damp? I have no knowledge or experience of anything like this, but I guess it could be the window, or lack of ventilation, or there could be an issue with the roof or guttering given the patch of mould on the ceiling? Or it could be something else? I think we need to get someone in to have a look and help us identify the cause but who would this be? A builder? A surveyor? Sorry if this is a silly question but it's not something I've ever had to deal with and this obviously a difficult time for us.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

muckybutt

First and foremost sorry to hear of your loss.

I would get a surveyor in to do an inspection and see where it goes from there, possible that if you get a builder in they'll see the ££ signs and say you need x y and z doing.

cyclonebri1

muckybutt wrote: »

First and foremost sorry to hear of your loss.

I would get a surveyor in to do an inspection and see where it goes from there, possible that if you get a builder in they'll see the ££ signs and say you need x y and z doing.

Echo the above, sorry for your loss.
However I had this issue only last year with the loss of my mother, probate can be daunting but is relatively simple.

My view is that you do as little as possible to the house.

The main thing is to get rid of all signs of old people. If that offends, I'm sorry, but there is nothing that will drop the price like stagnation.


Don't go any further than a big clean up and repaint in simple colours, most homeowners will want to change it anyway.

The smells must go, dehumidifier may help short term, any ventilation issues become the purchasers'

Don't forget you have a responsibility to get the best price possible as executor, for yourself and the others, what you spend comes out of the pot.

Again if that's heartless I apologise, a year to reflect clears things a little.

kavita72

Avoid people who are not properly registered and those who also don't advertise.

I used a guy called Mark Thwaites recently and have had no end of trouble and I'm also 2k out of pocket for a job he never finished. I found him through word of mouth - very bad move.

Doozergirl

Why don't you post us up some pictures? Not only inside of the problem wall, but outside too

cyclonebri1

kavita72 wrote: »

Avoid people who are not properly registered and those who also don't advertise.

I used a guy called Mark Thwaites recently and have had no end of trouble and I'm also 2k out of pocket for a job he never finished. I found him through word of mouth - very bad move.

By doing that you probably discount the majority of decent traders, if they really are good and reliable, word of mouth is everything.

If you paid up front that's your fault, come back and take the standard advice would be my response.

vansboy

Id guess the damp is actually caused by the lack of ventilation, rather than anything drastic, so just clean up and as mentioned, remove all the personal belongings and furniture.
Then show a clean but in 'need of updating' house rather than start spending time and money.
You will have enough to deal with and unless you really wanted to start working on the place to get an increase, potentially, in value, I'd just get the agents to get it sold, more or less as is.
VB

southcoastrgi

As above, vent the room, get some mould spray, coat of paint over the effected bits, spending loads if money might make for a quicker sale but is unlikely to gain you much in value

Snuggles

Many thanks to all for the advice. I think we will clean up, try to ventilate the room as much as possible, and see how we go. I have a dehumidifier for drying my washing at home so I'll take that round to Dad's too.

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

The main thing is to get rid of all signs of old people. If that offends, I'm sorry, but there is nothing that will drop the price like stagnation.

No offence taken at all, and thank you for the advice. Sadly though, Dad wasn't old, I wish he had been :-(