Surveyor thinks house might be underpinned

jus71_2

We've got our survey back on a Victorian semi we're buying and it's mostly fine, except because the bricks are newish, it's saying it's a sign the house could have been underpinned. He asked the vendor who said she had no idea (she bought the house 5 years ago) There's no evidence of movement in the brickwork or inside the property. The surveyor said it's very hard to tell if a property has been underpinned and our solicitor should look into it.

Would there be a record of this somewhere? The underpinning isn't really a problem it's applying for buildings insurance. If nothing is found what would we say on the insurance form when it asks if the house has been underpinned? There isn't an option for don't know!

If the vendor declares through the solicitor that to her knowledge the property hasn't been underpinned would that be enough? As it's recorded on the survey we are now aware it's a possibility. My other half is talking about pulling out of the sale!

davidmcn

jus71 wrote: »

If nothing is found what would we say on the insurance form when it asks if the house has been underpinned? There isn't an option for don't know!

Effectively there is, as the questions are generally "to the best of your knowledge..." - the insurers can't expect you to guarantee that there's never been subsidence / flooding etc in the past.

eddddy

Underpinning would require building regs approval, so you can check with your local authority building control department.

jus71_2

The house on the other side has been done too in the same brick. they have matching porches, roof slates and brown upvc window frames. The surveyor has said ‘when re-skinning takes place it is usually due to underpinning’ I’m hoping someone bought both houses and did them up, re skinning the brickwork to improve the appearance! Will contact the council thanks for the suggestion

trex227

It could just be due to poor external brickwork. My parents are having their 1900 property reskinned as the brickwork is in terrible condition, the face has crumbled off maybe 20% of the overall bricks (must have been a bad batch of bricks!). Rather than spend money having individual bricks cut out and replaced and most likely having to repeat it in future they are having a new skin. It means they will have cavity walls so will be much warmer.
Their architect reskinned his house years ago for the same reason.

jus71_2

We don’t seem to be having much luck house buying. We had to pull out of a sale last month as it had a right of way through the back garden and across the driveway for the house next door. Didn’t know until we saw the title plan - the vendors had put a fence up to cover next doors back gate!

Sammypooler

Third time lucky?

With regards to underpinning it’s normally the sellers insurance company that will provide insurance to the new owner. However, if the owner is claiming they don’t know about it, perhaps that avenue isn’t available.

You’ve been given a few good options above!

Mistral001

Has the surveyor recommended that you should seek further advice say from a chartered structural engineer?

Tom99

A Victorian semi would not normally have been originally built with a cavity wall but it is possible.
What do you mean by re-skinned? The whole exterior of the house?
What do the full thickness of exterior walls comprise at the moment? You can usually tell by measuring the full thickness of the wall after allowing for internal plaster and any external render plus the bonding of the bricks looking from outside.
Is it possible the external brickwork was sandblasted and re-pointed?

Seanymph

If the work has been completed why is it a problem?

Having spent quite some time working in a structural engineers office I can say categorically it would reassure me if anything - there was a problem, it's been fixed - you won't have a problem to deal with.

Mistral001

Seanymph wrote: »

If the work has been completed why is it a problem?

Having spent quite some time working in a structural engineers office I can say categorically it would reassure me if anything - there was a problem, it's been fixed - you won't have a problem to deal with.

That is a fair point, but underpinning sometimes fails over time, especially partial underpinning. ie. underpinning that is limited to only one part of the building.