First time buyer thoughts on survey outcome.

gemz25

Hi all
So we had a full survey on a property we are buying, no urgent requirements just further investigation, two main things that bothered us are
1- cracks evident on back wall suspect these have been caused by lack of lintel to patio/door window.
Would you get a structial engineer out to look at this before purchasing? Or take it for what it says in the survey I have looked at quotes for new lintel and cost up to £1000 we would be looking at replace that window anyways.
I do have a picture just not sure how to upload it.

2- there is a damp proof course installed but rising damp as been detected to dining room walls. When viewing this property we didn't notice any damp marks on the walls, after reading about this online alot of people have been saying they say this to cover there backs in the survey. Would you investigate this further before purchasing?

Any thoughts on this much appreciated

Hoploz

If you're not too worried about the cracks and are prepared to rectify it in your own time then I wouldn't worry about that.

I would investigate the cause of the damp wall though. 'Rising damp' is not generally a useful diagnosis. You need to know where the water is coming from so it can be fixed. Check whether the ground level outside is close to or even above the damp course - often this can be the cause - either directly or due to rain splashing up on to the wall - check guttering above for this reason also. Is the outside tap there, or a drain?
This is assuming it is an external wall. If it's internal, what is the other side - eg. bathroom? Lack of ventilation caused by furniture close to the wall can also cause damp/mould patches which you only see when the furniture is moved away.

gemz25

When we viewd there was no furniture obstructing the walls. The property was rented they have since moved out and we are booking in another viewing before all goes through so will check if there is a outside tap. The house is a semi so one side of the wall is the other property and the other side of the wall is our kitchen but it's just kitchen cupboards on that side of the wall. We did notice when viewing they had the heating on very high and dried clothes indoors so we have Spoke about it could be lack of ventilation.

Fran61

The surveyor would have used a damp meter. So the vendor may have recently painted/papered over the damp patches so you wouldn't see them but the surveyor gets paid to check these things out properly. Have you spoken to your surveyor about what they picked up? You can negotiate the price down to cover the issues the surveyor found.

gemz25

We have tried to renegotiate the seller knocked £1000 off the price and not budging anymore. I shall call the surveyor see if they could she a little bit light on the issues.

Cakeguts

What is holding the back wall up if there isn't a lintel in the patio doors?

gemz25

Spoke to the surveyor and he said the there is a couple of patches of damp on the party wall he said it wasn't bad but would get it checked out. Anyone experienced rising damp on a party wall?
With the lintel he said just make sure the window is supported before taking it out.

Thanks for your replies so far

System

You can't get isolated damp patches with rising damp - it rises from the ground, so you get a spreading damp or stain clearly pointing to the origin.
Isolated damp is much more likely to be condensation on a cold spot - something in the structure of the wall - different stone or brick, tie, old buried fixing, etc. It's widely misdiagnosed by surveyors just covering themselves and trying to justify their fee.
Those damp meters need treating with extreme caution. They don't measure damp in masonry, they are meant for timber.

I'd be inclined to check next door whether their wall has a matching patch, otherwise ignore it and paint on wall sealant next time you decorate.