Is full structural survey necessary?

kazzamunga

thearchitect wrote: »

As I said in another thread, I'm qualified to do condition surveys but when I bought my Victorian house I had an RICS full survey done for peace of mind. It picked up some worm I'd missed but didn't catch some iffy stonework to the chimney.....

Oh no! Did that cause big problems? The last one we did, the guy did pick up a propped up chimney in the roof space that was useful to know. This one actually has an attic space that seems to be an original feature, so it has less scope to hide any issues.

thearchitect

kazzamunga wrote: »

Oh no! Did that cause big problems? The last one we did, the guy did pick up a propped up chimney in the roof space that was useful to know. This one actually has an attic space that seems to be an original feature, so it has less scope to hide any issues.

No, because I had seen it in my survey and budgetted for it.

Mutton_Geoff

kazzamunga wrote: »

a weird reaction from the estate agents...like 'you mean, a FULL BUILDING SURVEY??' I don't understand why?

Why are you surprised? The agent works for the vendor, not you and doesn't want to introduce any risk that their asking/achieved price could be compromised.


I would also appoint a surveyor directly under your own instruction such that they pay particular attention to issues that generally affect this type and age of property other than a standard bank tick box job where even the most expensive survey is not necessarily as detailed as you think it is.

FreeBear

kazzamunga wrote: »

Hmm, bit confused, thought the slabs were the same height as the ones to the right, which seems to just have a waterproof layer over its front yard. Do you mean the house to the left? The owner said they did put a waterproof course under the paving in the front yard, but some tanking was definitely on our list of things to do in the coal cellar, as it was damp. The cellar under the living room seemed more or less dry, want to insulate that.

House to the left appears to have the original trap door for coal deliveries.
Putting a waterproof layer down (either under or over the slabs) does little to prevent damp forming in the front room. Rain will hit the slabs, bounce up, and on to the wall above any DPC that may have originally been fitted.
A full survey should pick up on this, along with any damp inside.

Insulating and tanking a cellar is rarely a good idea unless particular attention is paid to moisture and water flow. The work may require a ventilated air gap between the wall and any insulation along with a sump & pump to handle any abnormal water flow. What ever you do, don't go slapping up insulated plasterboard (dot'n'dab fixing) and covering every surface with waterproof slurry.

kazzamunga

FreeBear wrote: »

House to the left appears to have the original trap door for coal deliveries.
Putting a waterproof layer down (either under or over the slabs) does little to prevent damp forming in the front room. Rain will hit the slabs, bounce up, and on to the wall above any DPC that may have originally been fitted.
A full survey should pick up on this, along with any damp inside.

Insulating and tanking a cellar is rarely a good idea unless particular attention is paid to moisture and water flow. The work may require a ventilated air gap between the wall and any insulation along with a sump & pump to handle any abnormal water flow. What ever you do, don't go slapping up insulated plasterboard (dot'n'dab fixing) and covering every surface with waterproof slurry.

Good to know, as the DIY websites make the slurry tanking look quite easy, ha. It's something we'd talked about, but I'm always dubious about trying to do specialist jobs in areas that could go badly wrong! Any ideas how much getting a professional in would cost for that sort of thing?

FreeBear

kazzamunga wrote: »

Any ideas how much getting a professional in would cost for that sort of thing?

Afraid not. It isn't the sort of job I've had any need of. Cellars (in my opinion) should be left alone and used for the task they were originally intended.

Slinky

What's going on with the ceiling in the attic room where you can see laths?

kazzamunga

Slinky wrote: »

What's going on with the ceiling in the attic room where you can see laths?

Literally the first thing we asked about. It was a leak that has been fixed, and it wasn't damp to touch. But obviously we'll be asking the surveyor to look into it in more detail. We want insulation installed in the loft anyway, so at the moment I'm thinking it's 50/50 whether any contractor we ask about it says we might as well replace the roof while we're at it. But we'll listen to the surveyor on that.

kazzamunga

my sister is now saying that she is getting a structural survey done by a structural engineer, so now I'm confused again. If I'm getting a Level 3 building survey done by a building surveyor, is that the same thing? She said she is getting an SSI or a GSI by a structural engineer, and it seems to be cheaper than our surveys - what is the bloody difference? 

kazzamunga

Is it that a GSI doesn't give any info about damp and things like that?