Problems discovered in survey - how to proceed

metamatic

I'm in the process of purchasing a 1960's three bedroom semi.

My surveyor has reported some cracks in an upstairs wall and suspects this may be due to part of a chimney breast being removed in the kitchen below. However without lifting floorboards he is unable to say whether any additional support has been put in place.

Before proceeding I would like this issue explored further. Can anybody advise how best to approach this with the agent and/or vendor? Is it reasonable of me to expect them to provide this information or is it down to me to instruct and pay for a structural engineer to check it out? The owner of the house died a few months ago and it is his son who is selling it so I'd be surprised if he has any idea of the history of any changes made to the house.

G_M

As a probate sale you are unlikely to get detailed information.

However, is there any indication or does anyone know how long ago the chimney brest was remove?

Were Building Control involved and did they provide a Building Regs certificate (which guarantees that the required supports were used)?

Failing information on this, the only way to proceed is to employ your own structural Engineer (not a surveyor), but he'll need the vendor's consent to lift floorboards and possibly remove plaster to expose joists.

slowpoke_rodriguez

Is the chimney breast still present upstairs?

I'd be interested to know what adequate support could be hidden between the floor and ceiling below...

metamatic

Yes, it's in an upstairs bedroom.

There are a few other things in the house that aren't quite right so my surveyor is sceptical as to whether this will have been done properly.

A structural engineer is an option but I've already spent £500 on a survey so want to try and limit any further expense especially as there is a chance I could pull out anyway.

I'm tempted to bat it back to the vendor and ask them to prove its been done properly and bear any cost involved in doing this. However I've not been in this situation before so just thought I'd canvass some opinion as to whether this is being unreasonable or not.

metamatic

Regarding the question about timescale, I've no idea when it was done. My local council has an online planning and building control portal but it's only got recent items on for the last couple of years.

I'll try and contact them after the Easter break to see if they have any paper records they can access.