results of damp&timber survey

Keezing

If i were the vendor I would definitely not accept a reduced offer on the back of this report.

You might get lucky if you ask.

illusionek wrote: »

Thats exacly my issue. It seems there is no significant issue with damp but still I am looking at about £9k bill to pay.

You don't have a 9k bill to pay. That number is horrendously inflated and for work that may or may not even need doing. They've priced it high to cover themselves. Imagine if they quoted 2k for the repairs but after moving in you found it cost 5k - you'd complain that they misled you.

Most of these reports are not worth the paper they are written on.

ThePants999

There's no bill to pay if you don't get any work done, and there's no point getting any work done if there's no problem!

breaking_free

illusionek wrote: »

I spoke with the surveyor on the phone he advised budget of ca £5.6k for re-plastering, so even higher. Perhaps estimates are so high because it cannot be gypsum based plasters.

How much?!?
And why can't gypsum-based plaster be used?

Here's your ball-park figure.

• A day rate for a plasterer is circa £180 - more if he/she has a labourer.
• Add on the cost of materials (thistle multi-finish plaster is around £5.50-£7 per bag).
• A room will take 2 or 3 days to plaster depending on the size. Multiply the number of rooms that need plastering by 3 (number of days to plaster), then multiply that figure by £180 (daily rate).
• Add on the cost of maybe 5 bags of plaster per room (depends on the size, so perhaps £35).

Also do you know what 'blown plaster' is? This is when the plaster has separated from the wall, but you probably can't tell by eyeballing it. If it's not actually falling off the walls, but sounds hollow in places when you tap it, I'd just leave it alone. You say that the place is nicely decorated so I wouldn't bother touching it unless you're truly convinced that 'damp' is going to ruin the walls.

Tell you what - get the EA to give you another viewing and take along a plasterer to assess and give you a quote.