Building Surveyor missed many important defects

need_an_answer

I do understand your question
I am just trying to establish what you expect to gain from going back to the surveyor at this point after you have lived in the property for the last month.

So you go back to the surveyor and what do you expect them to do or compensate you with?

Even if the surveyor said sorry I got it wrong,would that be the end of the matter?
or do you expect his head on a stick?

please quantify what you want to achieve,or just accept that these things are part of home ownership and enjoy your house.

Smodlet

Sue the surveyor! Claim compensation! Bad grout? :eek:

Seriously, OP, how do you know there is woodworm unless the surveyor told you, if you are so inexperienced? If the holes are in a regular pattern, they could have been made by nails holding down ply as a base for a floor covering which has been removed, especially if the boards came from a reclamation yard. Unlikely but possible.

Cracks could be absolutely minor cosmetic things or disastrous structural things; if the latter, indeed the surveyor should have raised the issue. Since s/he did not, that would seem to indicate the former is the case.

Why not ask around your colleagues again, this time for a builder (or three) Ask him or them to come and look over your house to quote for any necessary work. If he or they tell you nothing needs to be done except decoration, believe them. Use only builders who have been highly recommended by people you know as there are a great many cowboy firms out there who will take advantage of you given half a chance.

HTH.

silvercar

Building survey or full structural survey?

A building survey would only show up major defects. A FSS is more likely to comment on every item.

armchaireconomist

Join the club, they're not worth the paper they're written on half the time.


My "building survey" didn't notice:
- "upvc windows all round"... one of the windows was wooden
- "stairs are solid underfoot"... evidence of historic woodworm, needed replaced
- woodlice infestation (literally 100s) not reported
- "upvc doors in good condition"... lock was seized on back door and outside face smashed


List goes on...

kp039

Smodlet wrote: »

Sue the surveyor! Claim compensation! Bad grout? :eek:

Seriously, OP, how do you know there is woodworm unless the surveyor told you, if you are so inexperienced? If the holes are in a regular pattern, they could have been made by nails holding down ply as a base for a floor covering which has been removed, especially if the boards came from a reclamation yard. Unlikely but possible.

Cracks could be absolutely minor cosmetic things or disastrous structural things; if the latter, indeed the surveyor should have raised the issue. Since s/he did not, that would seem to indicate the former is the case.

Why not ask around your colleagues again, this time for a builder (or three) Ask him or them to come and look over your house to quote for any necessary work. If he or they tell you nothing needs to be done except decoration, believe them. Use only builders who have been highly recommended by people you know as there are a great many cowboy firms out there who will take advantage of you given half a chance.

HTH.

Thanks it sounds more appropriate approach,

we had 3 builder coming as we noted cracks in ceiling across house and he looked at ceiling and confirmed there have been since many years also there is patch work done in ceiling for water leak from upstairs and seller just tried to hide it and it should have been flagged in report may be not as defect if surveyor think it is not defect but as more to investigate.

For woodworm, we want to install underfloor heating so we called flooring experts (also 3 and one from reputed company) and he confirmed one of room is infected heavy with woodworms and floor and possible joist below floors need to be replaced.

Builder quoted £2200 for repair and for floor it is quoted between £1200 to £3000 if joists need to be replace and at that time we realised would this not be part of survey report and points I listed in post are all we have noted and needed help to understand which should have been part of survey report and what not.

kp039

silvercar wrote: »

Building survey or full structural survey?

A building survey would only show up major defects. A FSS is more likely to comment on every item.

Building survey.

m0bov

After most surveys they allow you to call them guy up and question or query anything. You could ask him "what about the cracks" and see what he says.

need_an_answer

m0bov wrote: »

After most surveys they allow you to call them guy up and question or query anything. You could ask him "what about the cracks" and see what he says.

All very well,but if the OP has been living in the property for the last month,my assumption is the survey has not just recently been completed.

These are questions that should have been addressed by the OP during the buying process prior to exchange not some weeks even months later.

Smodlet

Fair enough, kp039, you are obviously far more on the ball than might have been apparent in your original post; apologies for the sarcasm. Woodworm is a serious issue, as you have found out. I would complain to the surveyor or his superior if only to give them a wake up call so they might notice such an infestation next time they see it!

Unfortunately, survey reports are so full of caveats and get-out clauses I doubt you have any recourse for compensation however, the next someone asks you to recommend a surveyor, you will know who to tell them to avoid.

Maybe you could post, name and shame on the Praise, Vent and Warnings board on here to help others avoid the horrible situation you find yourself in. Other social media sites are available...

Good luck to you, kp039.

need_an_answer

OP What is the age of the house?