Nasty surprise on homebuyer survey.. what to do now?

G_M

ses6jwg wrote: »

There is some evidence of leaks in roof

noted some slight staining to the ceilings to the top floor, which is indicative of leaks to the roof. Where accessible moisture readings were taken but they were not found to be high. We refer you to our comments made in E2.

Since the moisture readings are not high, this is almost certainly historic.

I would surmise there was a leak, the owner had a few tiles replaced as part of ongoing maintenance, the leak stopped but the stains remained.

Ask him? See if he has a receipt for roof repair?

As pointed out, the survey starts by saying "We found no evidence of any significant defects or shortcomings" and I cannot believe it would say this if the survey found an ongoing leak.

ka7e

I've got some staining on a hard-to-reach (above fitted wardrobe) piece of ceiling in my house. It was from a leak several years ago, which was properly repaired. It's not indicative of a currently leaking roof.

parking_question_chap

What tends to happen these days is surveyors just word things in such a way to avoid getting sued should problems arise, and so often covers the worst case scenario, rather than an accurate reflection of the present house condition.

This isnt often very useful to potential buyers.

EachPenny

Personally the roof wouldn't worry me too much, it is the lintel problem which needs attention.

If the tiles are in decent condition then 're-roofing' could be limited to stripping the tiles, replacing the felt and battens and then putting the tiles back. You might want to investigate combining that with improving the insulation in the roofspace as if there is limited access in the loft the insulation may be poor.

Lintel replacement needs a lot more work, especially when it has got to the point that movement and cracking is occurring in the brickwork.

Also, if I understand the report correctly, they are saying that rusting of the lintels is possibly being caused by water entering from defective sarking felt at eaves level? If so, that implies water is passing down through the cavity wall (assuming it is cavity wall construction). Cavity walls in buildings of that age were often constucted using 'butterfly' metal wire ties (or other metal ties) to hold the two wall leaves together. If there is water getting into the cavity causing the lintels to rust, then I'd also be concerned about the condition of the cavity wall ties - and replacing them is a very tricky job. Did the surveyor mention anything about that?

ses6jwg

My dad seems to think the lintels have gone as the house is brick and timber construction and the lintels are exposed as opposed to being covered with render.

Nothing mentioned on the report about water running through the cavity wall.

If im honest were tempted to walk away. It's not our dream home and properties are coming up all the time

EachPenny

ses6jwg wrote: »

My dad seems to think the lintels have gone as the house is brick and timber construction and the lintels are exposed as opposed to being covered with render.

Nothing mentioned on the report about water running through the cavity wall.

It was the way the comment about the lintels followed straight on from the water staining that to me sounded like there may be a linkage.

We noted some water staining to the brickwork to front right-hand corner, this may be indicative of rotten sarking felt at eave level. As mentioned previously this requires further investigation. We note that the steel lintels...

Having exposed metal lintels sounds a bit odd - have you got any pictures?

ses6jwg

Hi this is only pic I can get. As you can see there is some staining at the front right we thought this was from th boiler flue outlet but maybe not

ses6jwg

Try this one

Cakeguts

It wouldn't be my dream house either. If you didn't know that was the front of the house you wouldn't be able to tell. It isn't what I would describe as an attractive house is it? This kind of house is what I always think looks like a garage with a house attached because the first thing you see is the garage door.

I assume that this house is what a friend of mine would call "good value for money?" It is cheaper than many of the more attractive houses or houses in a better area? It won't matter how much money you spend on this house it will have an upper limit in value that is less than a similar sized house in the same area that looks nicer.

The reason why you have got a garage and a driveway for the price you are paying is because this house is cheap for a reason. The reasons could be it will cost more to repair than it is ever going to be worth. People don't repair them because they have had to stretch themselves to buy the house in the first place because this is the most they can afford and they don't have any money over for repairs. This means that there are going to be other houses in that style that are in a poor state of repair.

When you park in front of the garage with bags of shopping you are going to have to carry them up all those steps possibly in pouring rain. Now compare this to a probably much more expensive house where the driveway goes up to the front of the house and you get your shopping out near to the front door. Which do you think people would prefer? If the majority of people would prefer the drive to go up to near the front door of the house that reduces the number of people looking for a house like this one which is why the price is "good value for money." This is always going to be a cheap property compared. So however much you spend on it you are going to have to sell it cheap. How cheap will depend on the supply of houses that look nicer.

teddysmum

Our large estate is 1970s and in the last 40 odd years have noticed no work done on roof tiles (unless extensions over garages were added) but most have had replacement soffits and drainpipes; not an expensive job