Buying house, just got survey, lots of 3s; what now?

therealslimcj

Hi

I've had an offer accepted on a house, and have just got the survey back. The market valuation is what we've offered, but there's a lot of 3s...

It's a 1920s mid terrace and has been empty for months.

• Roof coverings "In the near future the slate coverings will need to be stripped, felted and re-slated or tiled"
• Rainwater pipes and gutters "Several joints in the guttering are rusting and leaking"
• Main walls: This seems to revolve around the damp proof course; there's one there but the extent is not known. Also, high damp meter readings recorded throughout the house
• Roof structure: Damp stains on timbers, and spraying is advised
• Floors: "Ventilation to the air space beneath the timber floor is inadequate...not possible to confirm if a damp proof membrane exists within the floor construction" There's also a comment later about the air bricks (metal) being corroded and not enough of them
• Water: May be in lead (the supply in to the house)

I'd appreciate any advice on what now. There's a few things there I'm thinking the surveyor is just overly cautious (as is their job), not sure if the fact the valuation is as we've bid means anything, and unsure about some of the work eg increasing ventilation to the under floors...what trade does that and is it costly? Also the possible lead pipes...what to do there IF they are even in place?

Damp surveys seem to get rep as a swiz, so not sure if should even get one and who pays for it.

I suspect renegotiation won't go down too well but I equally don't want to overpay.

Will the conveyancing solicitor help or am I on my own?

Thoughts, feedback welcomed.

FreeBear

If the gutters & downpipes are leaking, coupled with the property being vacant for an extended period, being damp inside is not unexpected.
Air bricks - There should be one every six to eight feet along front and back walls. With a suspended timber floor, I wouldn't expect to see a DPM under there. So on that point, the surveyor is probably being overly cautious.

It would certainly be prudent to have the roof inspected by an expert in that field - It may be that there was an historical leak leading to staining of the roof timbers. Or it could be indicative of an ongoing problem. Spraying shouldn't be needed, and I don't think you would really want loads of toxic chemical residues floating around.

Lead pipes - Quite likely on a property of this age. Two schools of thought here. One - They will have a coating of lime scale inside which will reduce lead leaching in to the water (water companies also add chemicals to the supply to limit the effects of lead). The other school says "replace the lead pipes & don't take any chances". What they usually forget is the lead pipes often extend well in to the road to the water main.

G_M

FreeBear has summed up well. Overall it's not that bad.


No - solicitor won't help. He can't advise on structural matters (only legal), and only needs to be informed if you agree a new price.


But there's nothing to stop you ringing the surveyor for a more in-depth chat - assuming it's a decent surveyor.....


Sub floor ventilation is a doddle. These cost around £5 - £10 each, and any builder can install easily.


My water mains is lead. I've been here 20 years and doanseam 2haff ini tissues hasarshult?


The spraying? Maybe I'm being slow, but...spraying what? the timber against woodworm? The roof with one of those waterproof membranes :eek: ?

MovingForwards

You haven't said what price you offered and what price the surveyor has said.

Has it been valued at less than you offered? If so, you have the reasons and can use them to negotiate.

Or has it been valued at what you offered?

How did the property look when you viewed it? Was the roof looking like it needed replacing? Have the neighbours, and others on the road, replaced theirs?

The rest of the items are well covered by other members.

langtonhighway

The survey carried out on my house I'm selling had an "overly cautious" surveyor - to put it mildly. He said .... May have lead water pipes (if he'd looked at the rising main pipe, or just asked me, he'd have then known they were replaced by the water board all the way to the road with plastic). He said " evidence of some rewiring and an electrical safery survey may be necessary....when I had already had that done and had the certificate....

That he had no idea when the gas boiler was installed and it may need a safety check...when I had that paperwork available to view....

He said the plot size was "adequate" (it extends to almost quarter acre), he said the neighbors trees were big and could do with trimming......

To cap it all, he said that the kitchen units were "dated". They were newly installed in January this year and all the appliances still have their guarantee!!!

Sadly my buyer saw all this and panicked and pulled out (youngsters).

So I'd take it all with a HUGE pinch of salt.

therealslimcj

@FreeBear: That's useful to know about the likely damp, and particularly with the airbricks installation; following your advice, I've had a look and indeed it even seems like something I can do myself at a low cost.

The roof is the big one and yes, good idea to get fully checked.

On the lead pipes, yes that's a fair point; if the pipes are lead along the street or through others' houses, fairly pointless to change mine only at what I can only assume would be great expense...

@G_M: Thank you; that's reassuring on all points, and the spraying was to tackle the damp staining on the timbers in the attic...not sure what for, but the loft space certainly felt dry and didn't have any evidence of damp

@MovingForward: The surveyor valued the house at exactly what we offered, which has made me assume there's nothing significant enough there to warrant a renegotiation on price, which we're not minded to do, currently. Looking to get the seller to provide gas certificate, elec inspection etc though. Possibly a damp survey, though I've some misgivings about this.

Nothing has changed since I viewed (twice); the roof doesn't look like it needs replacing at all with minimal damage apparent on tiles. The vibe in the report is that it's coming to the end of it's life and may need redone in the 'near future'

@langtonhighway: That's extremely unfortunate and I can only imagine how frustrating that must be. The power of the surveyor was in my mind when I read ours; they rated some aspects as a 3 and I was thinking 'there might be a certificate to prove that is safe' etc....eg the gas. It doesn't seem that they go to any effort to pursue guarantees or safety certificates, when they may exist!

And your new kitchen units were 'dated'...ouch!

AdrianC

therealslimcj wrote: »

* Roof coverings "In the near future the slate coverings will need to be stripped, felted and re-slated or tiled"

Does he say what he's basing it on?
Any photos?
What can you see from ground level?

* Rainwater pipes and gutters "Several joints in the guttering are rusting and leaking"
* Main walls: This seems to revolve around the damp proof course; there's one there but the extent is not known. Also, high damp meter readings recorded throughout the house

Yep, leaky gutters will do that. Not a huge job at all - easily DIYable if you're not scared of a ladder.
The house has been empty, so will be cold and a bit generally damp inside - that won't help his little buzzybox, either.

* Roof structure: Damp stains on timbers, and spraying is advised

If the roof is leaking a bit, then the timbers will be actively damp at the moment, not just a bit stained, which might be from historical leaks now fixed.

* Floors: "Ventilation to the air space beneath the timber floor is inadequate...not possible to confirm if a damp proof membrane exists within the floor construction" There's also a comment later about the air bricks (metal) being corroded and not enough of them

Fairly standard backside covering, unless there's an actual problem. And the surveyor doesn't know if there is or not, because he hasn't lifted the floor to look.

* Water: May be in lead (the supply in to the house)

Yes, it may be. Or it may not be. And, even if it is, that doesn't mean it's going to kill you dead at least three times before Wednesday.

Also the possible lead pipes...what to do there IF they are even in place?

The lead pipe will have had a good coating on the inside over the near-century they've been down, so the water is unlikely to actually be in contact with lead. Even if it was, think how many litres have passed through that pipe over that time - if there was much leaching, think how little actual lead would be left by now...

Having said that, if you ever do anything under the floor (like replacing the internal stop valve), plan on replacing the pipe from the meter as a matter of course. How big a job that is depends entirely on the relative positions and the surface - on our old place, when replacing the kitchen and some of the timbers in the floor, the old lead turned into a sieve as soon as we looked at it - we had to dig a flower bed up, but could just push the new pipe into position under the living room floor.

I suspect renegotiation won't go down too well but I equally don't want to overpay.

Will the conveyancing solicitor help or am I on my own?

No, not really their job, although they may get involved. It's more between you and the vendor via the EA.

therealslimcj

Hi Adrian

Roof assessment is based on a few bits:

"There are a number of cracked and shale slates. Some of the ridge tiles will need re-bedding in the near future"

"absence of lining under the slate roof covering is not unusual in a property of this age...the back pointing on the underside of the slates is cracked, perished, and missing in most areas"

Added to that is the recommendation to replace the corroded cast iron gutter and down pipe at the front, and the notes on the chimney stacks:

"lower section of original masonry is weathered and maybe porous....rear stack is also weathered and potentially porous...."

Then a bit on the fact the flues aren't properly ventilated.

From ground level the roof looks fine, but then I remember this from when I had a roofing guy up on a previous house roof that looked fine from ground level; when you get up there, you always find plenty to do!

AdrianC

therealslimcj wrote: »

Roof assessment is based on a few bits:

"There are a number of cracked and shale slates. Some of the ridge tiles will need re-bedding in the near future"

Depends on scale. It might just be a half day up there for a roofer.

Added to that is the recommendation to replace the corroded cast iron gutter and down pipe at the front, and the notes on the chimney stacks:

"lower section of original masonry is weathered and maybe porous....rear stack is also weathered and potentially porous...."

So while he's up there, he can do those slates.

From ground level the roof looks fine, but then I remember this from when I had a roofing guy up on a previous house roof that looked fine from ground level; when you get up there, you always find plenty to do!

Oh, sure. Because nobody looks until it's undeniable...

If you're worried, pay a roofer to give you an opinion.

therealslimcj

That's helpful, thanks Adrian.

Niv

Just to clear up a misconception regarding limescale on lead pipes. It depends if you have hard or soft water. I do NOT have limescale in my lead pipes, and is very much detectable in the water.


My water company (Wessex Water) did replace (for free) the lead pipe from the road to the outside of the house. It is my responsibility to replace the remaining lead pipe from the outside of the house to the stop 'tap', I have chosen to do this in due course, in the mean time I flush the pipes especially when the water is used for infants.