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Survey on an old house

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Comments

  • Arthritic_Toe
    Arthritic_Toe Posts: 259 Forumite
    edited 21 October 2015 at 2:41PM
    Looks like a lovely house to me. Opposing view here.... I lived in one of a similar age and had the full structural survey before we bought it. It was a complete waste of money. You can be sure you will get pages and pages of information that you could pretty much apply to any old house. They will find a bit of woodworm and tell you that you need to consult timber specialists. They will tell you about maybe a missing roof tile and that you should consult roofing specialists. They will commit to nothing and caviat everything. On my house they missed the dry rot completely, but not to worry, they pointed out really useful stuff like there was no bannister and that the ceiling was low. Get the minimum survey that'll keep the mortgage people happy (if applicable) and let a builder you trust tell you what REALLY needs doing.
  • Jhoney_2
    Jhoney_2 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    Dird wrote: »
    What can they even cover with a full structural survey though? The house I'm currently looking at had a chimney removed 25 years ago & they never got a regularisation certificate at the time to say it was built to spec. It's now 25 years on with no cracks so pretty sure it's been made safe but was still flagged up as a concern in homebuyers report (same as electrics/gas). My uncle (a builder) said there's no way to make sure there's steel in place without ripping stuff out which the vendors won't do...presumably a full structural survey would have the same issue of uncertainty?

    Perhaps, but not the same degree of personal or financial risk. One question is why didn't they:-

    a) To save money

    b) because they did not do it to the standards of the day/seek any necessary permissions and so did not want to alert anyone

    c) Determine that the next buyer wouldn't check and then the risk is their own.

    These are not answers that would satisfy me, but perhaps all being equal you will be lucky. Many are not.

    The next is why wouldn't you? Did you check there are no tests to confirm there is a steel up?

    A chimney professional probably would be the best person to satisfy yourself of any other concerns - cracks are not the only concern if other chimney breasts are still in situ are intended to be used e.g damage to other pipes, flue linings, venting, carbon monoxide poisoning etc.

    Should easily be able to lift a few floorboards to see a big steel between the joists?
  • Jhoney_2
    Jhoney_2 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    Thanks folks. I had a feeling you'd all say that!

    It's not our first buy but the previous one was an ex council terrace. Much simpler!

    We've got a fund put aside for work needed, but I want to avoid any nasty surprises.

    Jhoney- good spot on the woodburner. They said they run it with the door open cos it's warmer. I expect the flue is f'd. Only the big fat beams are structural, the thin ones in the kitchen and study are decorative.

    Csgohan4, the insurance is a big factor for me as well. I want my !!!! fully covered before we take this on.

    If you have ever been in a room with a wood burner, you would know that what they have said is either rubbish or all the windows need replacing AND/OR the utility costs will ruin you.
  • Yes, I thought it was a bare faced lie. Fully prepared to discover some dirty secrets up that chimney.
  • I'd go full survey. The surveyor will cover themselves re things they can't see, but as others have pointed out they are insured.

    With something like this then I guess you would get the survey as a way of pointing out things you should go and get further advice on. Then get a builder to inspect further and quote. I've seen others posting that they got a friend who is a builder to look at the place and say it needs £xxk of work, which hasn't gone down well with the buyers. If you have a survey to back that up, then could put you in a stronger position if you have to negotiate.

    Also as another post has highlighted, it's down to you to do as much due diligence as you can, if something goes wrong you want to be covered. And as you already have a 'surprise issue' fund then getting the builder to give you a quote on what stuff might cost to fix as well will just prepare you a bit more.
  • Jhoney wrote: »
    It is a dreadful idea.
    The photographer seems to have gone to great lengths to avoid a straight view of fire in pic 4 - looks like floor slopes or chimney is DIY opening the burner door looks like it doesn't close properly and that smoke mark may be a flue issue (bare in mind the roof is complicated already....

    All the beams need to be inspected for rot etc - curiosity would make me want to know how the oven hood bodge is affecting the beam it's cut around.

    In any event an old property can be a money pit for a myriad of reasons.
    I also thought the roof looked strange, I'm guessing they've replaced one half put not the other? Might just be the angle but one side definitely looks better than the other.
  • Jhoney_2
    Jhoney_2 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    Have the floor levels and conditions checked throughout.
  • Lungboy
    Lungboy Posts: 1,953 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Full survey might not include inside the chimney flue so you might need a separate specialist for that.
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,078 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 22 October 2015 at 8:13AM
    I'm not that far from you and know the road. I lived in a nearby village in an even older house.

    IIRC, there is somewhere that specialises in fires and woodburners in the village. I think we bought ours there for that house. Woodburners burn efficiently and at higher temps with the door shut, I'm sure?

    There is not a chance that this house will come back with a completely clean bill of health - 200 year old houses never do. The survey will pay for itself.

    The house looks acceptable but doesn't look like it's been kept in absolute tip top condition by these owners and knowing what I do, I am pretty confident that this house will keep you on your toes.

    The point of surveys is to point you in the right direction- of course the surveyor will tell you to have specialists check x, y and z - that is the point.

    There will inevitably be things that they don't see as well as no one can see behind walls or under floorboards but that's not a reason to ignore the obvious - the amount of obvious work can give a clue as to the number of surprises the house might throw up.

    I would certainly have queries about the roof. Even the newer roof is old enough to have had some localised repair and it's clear that the original roof covering doesn't appear to have been touched in a long time.

    There is some sagging to the original roof which suggests a lack of support somewhere over time - purlin removed?

    I'd also check when the last rewire was and have an electrician look at the wiring.

    A chat with a builder isn't going to convince vendors to renegotiate on issues - that is why you pay a surveyor. They alos carry more in the way of profesional indemnity insurance should they miss anything really vital.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Thanks folks. I've been reassured by the other half that of course he wants a survey and what he actually said was that he thinks we should get a builder to look at it as well. I just wasn't listening :mad:

    So we'll be checking out the quotes I got and going from there.
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