HB Report - High Number of 3's = concerning?

fluffy123

Hi all,

We've just a HB report done on our prospective property and it has come back with a fair number of 3's and 2's and we're unsure how to proceed really.

We have offered 312k for the property and it has been valued as thus 'provided that you are prepared to accept the
cost and inconvenience of dealing with the various repair/improvement works reported.' which at the same time, seemingly ties our hands to negotiation.

The 'risks' have come back as follows:
Building
E1: Chimney Stacks - inadequate fillets/flashings (2)
E4: Main Walls - defective damp-proof course (2)
E8: Other Joinery & Finishes - defective (2)
F4: Floors - damp present & inadequate under-floor ventilation (3)
G1: Electricity - no current test certificate (3)
G2: Gas/Oil - no test certificate & no recent record of a service (3)
G4: Heating - defective/unsafe - boiler flue (3)
G5: Water Heating - no current test certificate - boiler (3)
G6: Drainage - missing gully (3)

People
E5: Windows - inadequate means of escape & inadequate ventilation (2)
F7: Woodwork - gaps in the balustrade (2)
G1: Electricity - no current test certificate (3)
G2: Gas/Oil - no current test certificate & no recent record of a service (3)
G5: Water Heating - no current test certificate - boiler (3)

Next thought is to call the surveyor to discuss in detail and we've already had the EA calling us to request that we send the report onto them once we have it. I have already forwarded it onto our solicitor for the legal recommendations.

I can get the certification etc but I'm not really aware as to whether the remainder of the issues are possibly game changing in terms of extremely expensive or fairly routine... :S

Thanks in advance for your help.

G_M

So the property needs a bit of work. Not a lot - but are you willing to do it? Most properties need work!

fluffy123 wrote: »

Hard to comment sensibly without seeing the report but

The 'risks' have come back as follows:
Building
E1: Chimney Stacks - inadequate fillets/flashings (2) Easy to for a roofer o fix
E4: Main Walls - defective damp-proof course (2) Where? Defective how? Diagnosedhow? how extensive? Cure?
E8: Other Joinery & Finishes - defective (2) Meaningless without explanation. But probably means the window frames/soffits need painting!
F4: Floors - damp present & inadequate under-floor ventilation (3) May just need a couple of air bricks. Who can tell from this?
G1: Electricity - no current test certificate (3) There almost never is.
G2: Gas/Oil - no test certificate & no recent record of a service (3) There almost never is.
G4: Heating - defective/unsafe - boiler flue (3) Defective just because of the flue (ie "not o current standards") or not working? Did you see the boiler working?
G5: Water Heating - no current test certificate - boiler (3) There almost never is.
G6: Drainage - missing gully (3) :rotfl:

People
E5: Windows - inadequate means of escape & inadequate ventilation (2) Probably means "not o current standards" and/or some windows don't open/jammed - did you check?
F7: Woodwork - gaps in the balustrade (2) :rotfl:
G1: Electricity - no current test certificate (3) There almost never is.
G2: Gas/Oil - no current test certificate & no recent record of a service (3) There almost never is.
G5: Water Heating - no current test certificate - boiler (3) as above

........................................................................................

FreeBear

G_M wrote: »

E4: Main Walls - defective damp-proof course (2) Where? Defective how? Diagnosed how? how extensive? Cure?

Never seen an independently verified case of a DPC failing. Invariably, damp at ground level is caused by the DPC being bridged - This could be raised soil levels around the base of the walls, slabs laid too close and too high in relation to the DPC, and on rare occasions, debris within the cavity. None of these will be fixed by injecting chemicals in to the walls and slapping on a layer of waterproof "plaster".


I'm going to guess that the surveyor stuck a (wood) moisture meter in to the walls at various points, saw an elevated reading, and declared the DPC had failed without doing any further investigative work - How he would be able to inspect a DPC on the inner wall is open to debate.

letitbe90

G_M wrote: »

So the property needs a bit of work. Not a lot - but are you willing to do it? Most properties need work!
........................................................................................

Well said :T

Mossfarr

fluffy123 wrote: »

"we've already had the EA calling us to request that we send the report onto them once we have it".

You do not have to forward this to the Estate Agent, its yours - you paid for it.

Discuss it with them by all means or let them have sight of it but forward it to them? NO, you do not have to do that.

Albala

Some surveyor's T&Cs say you are not allowed to share the survey with anyone except your legal advisor. The one we have just had done certainly does.

We can tell the EA what is in it if we choose to when negotiating, ie.e, the surveyor says we need a timber inspection, that sort of thing, but we can't share or allow them to see the actual survey.

Quite aside from that, I've twice been asked by an EA to let them and their vendors have a copy of the survey. In both cases my reply has been, you want to read a survey, you pay for one.

I've just shelled out about a grand for a Building Survey (aka the old 'full structural') and I'm not about to provide it to anyone for free whether the surveyor restricts that or not.
Quotations from people who are costing work needing to be done are a different matter, of course. It's reasonable for a vendor to wish to see those if you are wanting a reduction.

JonathanA

Is this an older property? It reads almost identically to the survey we had on our 1930s house when we moved in 13 years ago. In our case, the roofer came and said the chimney stacks were fine and didn’t need any work, that the surveyor was ‘just covering themselves.’ Our house also had a defective damp proof course according to the surveyor, but a second surveyor explained that the age of the house meant it didn’t have a DPC, but rather slate.

The windows could be as simple as not opening fully enough for you to escape in the event of a fire. We had similar comments about electric and gas but had factored in a need to reside, put in a new boiler.

Noting in your report would scare me too much, but we bought for the long term, and knew we needed to do some work. Saying that, the more we did, the more we uncovered that needed doing, but we would do it again.

Our survey also highlighted issues that the surveyor had got completely wrong, so the quality and experience of the person doing the survey is also important.

If you like the house, and have factored in some remedial work, I see nothing really to put you off!

babyblade41

If I had a survey on my house just purchased I would have been over the moon with that.
Most surveys I've had in the past all said the same thing.

I didn't bother as you could see my current house needed lots of TLC and it hadn't been hidden by paint and new wallpaper .

If vendors want a copy let them pay towards the viewing of it

fluffy123

Thanks everyone for your help. Apologies for the delay but I was away from civilisation yesterday! Will write up a couple of things now in response to elaborate further.

fluffy123

It's a 1930's house, further comments that elaborate on the issues are as follows:

CHIMNEY STACKS (2)
The property has two brick chimney stacks. The stacks are shared with the adjoining property. The front stack is
surmounted by a metal flue terminal. The junction between the stacks and the roof coverings is sealed with lead
flashings.
The lead flashing to the stacks have lifted in places.

ROOF COVERINGS (2)
The main and extension roofs are pitched and covered with interlocking concrete tiles. The original roof covering
was replaced a few years ago. The junction of the extension roofs and the main walls are sealed with a lead
flashing.
The bedding mortar under the hip and ridge tiles has cracked and is missing. The bedding mortar to the verge tiles
has cracked. The roof lining is torn.
This could lead to further damp and disrepair.

MAIN WALLS (2)
The walls to the original part of the property are of solid brick and rendered masonry construction. We cannot
confirm whether a damp-proof course is present because of the high ground levels and external render coating
obscuring the construction. However, bearing in mind the age of the property, the walls are likely to have a poured
bitumen damp-proof course. The walls are smooth rendered. The extensions walls are of cavity construction with a
rendered masonry outer leaf. The inner leaf is believed to be block. We cannot confirm whether a damp-proof
course is present on the extension because of the high ground levels and external render coating obscuring the
construction. However, bearing in mind the age of the property, the walls are likely to have a plastic damp-proof
course.
The high external ground levels bridges the damp course.
This could lead to damp and timber decay.

WINDOWS (2)
The property has double glazed plastic windows.
A few window hinges are stiff and defective.
This could lead to further disrepair.

OTHER JOINERY/FINISHES (2)
The external joinery comprises of fascias, soffits and eaves trims. These are made of timber.
Most of the joinery has not been maintained for some time.

CEILINGS (2)
The property has a mixture of older type lath and plaster, modern plaster and plasterboard ceilings.
The ceilings are in satisfactory condition but some are uneven in a few places. However, there are a number of
minor superficial cracks present. The ceilings should be inspected from time to time and finishes maintained in the
normal way.

WALLS AND PARTITIONS (2)
The property has a mixture of solid masonry, plasterboard lined and lath plaster internal walls. These have been
plastered, paper lined, painted and Artex with some wall tiling in the kitchen and bathrooms. The internal walls on
the ground floor have been partly removed.
There is some cracking in a few partitions. High damp meter readings were recorded throughout the older areas of
the ground floor.
This could lead to further damp and timber decay.

FLOORS (3)
The ground floor is of suspended timber and solid concrete construction. The first floor is formed in timber. Where
visible, floors have a mixture of finishes. Floor coverings restricted close examination of the floor surfaces.
Ventilation to the air space beneath the timber floor is inadequate. High damp meter readings were recorded
throughout the older part of the ground floor. The carpet to the first floor and laminate covering to the shower room
is damaged in a few places.

WOODWORK (2)
The property has timber doors, stairs and skirting boards.
The woodwork is generally in satisfactory condition but some wear and tear is evident in places. The internal
decorations are also in fair order. Woodwork requires regular maintenance and decoration. There are large gaps in
the stair balustrade.

DRAINAGE (3)
The property is assumed to be connected to the public sewer. The above ground drainage pipes are plastic.
Without extensive exposure work we cannot confirm the type or layout of the underground rainwater drainage
system. As it was dry, we also cannot say whether the rainwater system is fully effective.
The surface water gully to the block paving is missing.
This could lead to damp and disrepair.

WATER HEATING (3)
Hot water is provided direct by the central heating boiler which can be found in in the utility room. The hot water
pipes, where visible, are in a mixture of materials including copper and plastic. As mentioned in G4: Heating, we
are not aware of any service agreement or current test certificate for the boiler.
Where visible the hot water installation appeared satisfactory with no serious defect or obvious leakage. We have
not carried out any tests on the system and therefore we cannot comment on the operation or serviceability or
safety of any of its components.
This could lead to disrepair and ill health.

HEATING (3)
Central heating and hot water is provided by a gas combination condensing boiler which is located in the utility
room. This serves steel panel radiators. The central heating pipes, where visible, are in a mixture of materials
including copper and plastic. There appears to be no current test certificate for the boiler.
The boiler flue discharges directly under the eaves.
This is a risk to the building, and we refer you to our comments in section J.

The sections for GAS and ELECTRICITY are also a 3 but states all seems okay but it's obviously the lack of specialist knowledge that has scored this like that.

So primarily it's an issue with the floor, heating (the flue under the eaves) and a missing water gully which are our 3's.

I'm happier now that it's not an absolute disaster that I did on first reflection of ton's of 2's and 3's, it's just drilling down how much of a major issue these 3's are for time/money/inconvenience etc.

Just to state, I certainly wasn't expecting the report to bring up no issues at all!

davidmcn

Albala wrote: »

Some surveyor's T&Cs say you are not allowed to share the survey with anyone except your legal advisor.

I'm sure they do, but I can't see what loss they suffer if you let others see it.