PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.

We're aware that dates on the forum are not currently showing correctly, and that mobile users may see some extra spacing between threads. Please bear with us while we get this fixed.
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly, and that mobile users may see some extra spacing between threads. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site Feedback for updates.

What would you do? Survey issues....

Hi all, in process of buying a house.

Just had the phone call from our surveyor and one of the issues he has pointed out is that he noticed some damp in the wood around the loft hatch and in the loft and that the roof hadn't been underfelted which was probably the contributing factor to this.....

He said the roof on the whole - slate - looks in good condition but is something to be wary of as there is no underfelt so could end up needing addressing at some point the future.

After speaking with my brother and dad about this they seem to think its not a simple case of getting it re-felted and will require effectively a new roof on as all of the slate and batons will have to come off for it to be refelted etc so could end up being a costly job.

I'm going to wait for the full report to come back before I make any decisions but just wondering what your take is on this and what you would do in my situation?
«1

Comments

  • DT12
    DT12 Posts: 65 Forumite
    Ask a skilled roofer to come and offer a quote for the work. Use the quote to bargain with the vendor or accept the costs yourself.

    Then decide if it works for you, then either buy the house or walk away
  • Sensible to wait for reports and decide from there but if it is a Victorian slate roof as most of them are/were, it will be coming to the end of it's useful life now anyway so budget for a re-roof in your ownership if I were you.
  • drdpj
    drdpj Posts: 152 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    An old slate roof won't have underfelt - it's not a problem if the roof is in reasonable nick. One less barrier there if you get a leak. I really wouldn't worry about it. My old house didn't have any.
  • I've done some reading online and the consensus is that houses with slate roofs wont have the under-felt and it is quite normal - makes me feel a bit better about it!

    The surveyor did also mention that there was a little bit of evidence of some damp up in the loft around the hatch but he didnt seem too concerned about the rest of it and that there weren't any immediate concerns with it.

    I'm still going to wait for the full report to come back before we let the EA know what our intention is.
  • drdpj
    drdpj Posts: 152 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    You quite often get condensation up there that drips down, especially at this time of year.
  • societys_child
    societys_child Posts: 7,110 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 December 2014 pm31 2:00PM
    Wot he said ^^^
    If it's around the loft hatch, sounds like warm (moist) air is rising into the cold loft and condensing. Is it an old wooden hatch? If so seal it using some sticky back foam strips or something, or better still, fit one of these
    (others are available)

    Also an idea to check there are no holes where pipes or wires go through the ceiling into the loft, if there is, seal 'em up.
  • Got the survey and its brought back a few things which "may" need addressing.

    1. Fireplaces and flues need to be gas/safety checked - we don't intend on using the gas fire place that are currently in the property at all and will be removing them from the property shortly after moving in.
    We will be blocking one of the chimney breasts up and installing a log burner in the other some months down the line so would I be right in thinking I don't need to worry about this one?

    2. Urgents came back for the electricity, gas/oil, heating and water heating. Am I right in thinking these come back as urgents on all surveys as they don't have the ability to test them?

    They were the only urgents (3's), but theres a few "needs repairing or replace in due course" (number 2's). These caught my attention though....

    3. Some minimal dampness identified to timber battens and rafters, likely due to insufficient weather-proofing in loft (no underfelt under slates, just mortar). Although dampness is not excessive as a precautionary measure it would be prudent to instruct a damp and timber treatment contractor to undertake an investigation.

    The surveyor makes reference to another few minimal, localised spots of damp in other parts of the survey but states they are minimal and just as a matter of precaution these areas of dampness should be checked (including concealed timbers in contact). Bearing in mind the house has been empty for well over 6 months, is this just the surveyor covering himself?

    4. There is single skin outbuilding attached to the kitchen at the back, no bigger than 4.5ft x 4.5ft (rough guess) "the walls to the outbuilding are only of single brick thickness, they consequently suffered from rising and penetrating dampness. The walls of the structure should be upgraded to prevent future dampness to the interior from occurring"

    Does anyone know how big of a job it would be to insulate the room etc?

    It also goes on to the say "A textured coating has been applied to the walls within the outbuilding to the interior. This material may contain small quantities of asbestos fibre. The general use of asbestos ceased in the mid 1980's and it is possible tha the age of this textured coating pre-dates this. On the basis of the likely age of the textured finish it is thererfore recommended that it is not worked on or sanded in any way that could release fibres and further advice from an asbestos contractor be sought"

    So if we were to do any work on the outbuilding it could be difficult due to the possible asbestos.

    What do people make of the things i've listed so far? They are the stand outs from the survey really, the mention of localised spots of damp and the need for a damp and timber survey, and also the single skin extension (with subsequent damp problems). Would you run a mile from something like this or are there fairly easy solutions to some of these issues?
  • Can't see anything to worry about there. Have you done any visual inspection of the wiring yourself? You can get an electricians report of you want. Get the boiler serviced once you're in.

    Don't waste time with a "damp specialist" unless there's evidence of a genuine damp problem.

    Single skin construction for an outbuilding doesn't sound that unusual to me. Lots of houses with Artex that may contain asbestos. It's only s problem if it's disturbed
  • Thanks for your response TheCyclingProgrammer.

    Ive seen the consumer unit myself which is pretty new from the looks of it. I've not seen the actual wiring however.

    Is the damp specialist just his way of covering his back? The survey doesnt actually say there is any specific definite problem of damp within the house it is just references to "minimal" and "localised".

    Would it be fairly easy to insulate the single skin outbuilding?
  • Damp comments sound like !!!! covering to me. If you have genuine concerns, pay for an independent damp survey.

    What is the outbuilding? Does it need insulating?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 254.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.