Any advice on this survey/valuation would be very gratefully received!

azouria

We’ve just had a building survey come back for a property we are in the process of buying. We are FTB so struggling to understand the severity/cost implications of repairs recommended, so if someone with more experience could offer some insight it would be very much appreciated. We are planning to renovate & extend the property and are fairly competent DIYers so happy to tackle things ourselves if possible. The property is 1900s so we were expecting some issues. 

A further problem is that the survey has come back at 35k below the accepted offer price. The market however is crazy where we are looking, and this property had 7 viewings and 4 offers over the two days it was on the market, and 3 were asking price. With regards to this, would it be a good idea to try and renegotiate our offer with the survey value (465k)? The EA knows we have a low LTV so we would still be able to buy the property at asking. It’s tricky as we’ve been looking for a while and found very few properties we like in the area, and the demand is very high, but equally it seems stupid to pay over the odds given the precarious climate at the moment. Any advice would be gratefully received, it’s such a learning curve! 

The issues the survey raised are as follows: 

Current repairs/actions required 

Instruct a competent timber and damp specialist to investigate the apparent rising or penetrating damp detailed in this report and to carry out any repairs/treatments found necessary*. (High moisture readings were obtained in a number of locations in the base of the ground floor walls. I recorded levels of around 40% saturated (timber relative) in the rear reception external walls to either side of the door opening and very high levels of around 90% saturated in the rear reception chimney breast walls. It appears that the damp course (DPC) may have failed here and it is also possible that rainwater may be getting into this chimney flue via an uncapped chimney pot. I recommend that a competent timber and damp specialist is instructed to investigate all structural and main joinery timbers in the property when it is completely empty of stored goods , furniture and fixed floor coverings and to carry out any repairs or timber treatments found necessary. Any works undertaken should be with the benefit of a fully transferable guarantee.)

Carry out repairs to the external walls.
Cap the disused chimney pots and repair the rear valley tiles.

Carry out support works beneath any unsupported internal chimney masonry*. Clean and repair the rainwater goods.
Secure or replace the damaged rear soil vent pipe*.

Upgrade the rear sub floor ventilation.
Fit restrictors to the first-floor windows*.

Have the electrical system tested if no recent test certificate is available. 

Have the gas installation inspected.

Have the textured ceiling finishes tested for asbestos content.

Repair the suspended timber floors.

Carry out comprehensive internal redecoration and localised re-plastering where necessary.

Upgrade the insulation in the loft space and fit additional timber struts beneath the main roof structure purlins. Ventilate the loft space.

Repair the front garden wall and rear fences.

Items required, or likely to be necessary, within the next five years 

Routine maintenance of the tiled and flat mineral felt roof coverings.

Routine redecoration of the masonry painted sections of external wall.

Routine cleaning and maintenance of the rainwater gutters, downpipes and above ground drainage and gullies.

Thank you in advance! 

FreeBear

azouria said: I recorded levels of around 40% saturated (timber relative) in the rear reception external walls to either side of the door opening and very high levels of around 90% saturated in the rear reception chimney breast walls. It appears that the damp course (DPC) may have failed here and it is also possible that rainwater may be getting into this chimney flue via an uncapped chimney pot.

Carry out support works beneath any unsupported internal chimney masonry*.

For starters, moisture meters are only good for untreated wood - Any readings from plaster & brick is completely meaningless. The type of plaster, any paints, salts, or other contaminants will throw the readings out. In addition, the pointy pronged moisture meters often favoured by surveyors max out at 40% (or at least the ones I use do). If you are testing for damp, there are two methods that give accurate readings. A carbide meter which requires a small sample from the wall and uses a reaction with calcium carbide. Alternatively, a sample from the wall is dried in an oven and its weight compared before & after. The difference is the water content. Both these methods are destructive, and most vendors would refuse, so the surveyor has to rely on an electronic device originally designed for use on timber - In the right hands, it can give an indication of where there might be a damp area, but 90% is laughable... A wall that wet would be dripping.

A DPC does not fail unless subject to extreme physical force or is breached by elevated soil levels. For damp around the base of an unused fireplace, rain coming in through an uncapped pot is the most likely culprit - On that point, your surveyor is probably correct. Cap the pot, check the flaunching and flashing, job done.

The most worrying part of your survey is the section that highlights "unsupported chimney masonry" - Has an internal chimney breast been removed, and does it have building regs sign off ?

If not, you need to ask more questions and perhaps involve a structural engineer for his opinion.

azouria

FreeBear said:

azouria said: I recorded levels of around 40% saturated (timber relative) in the rear reception external walls to either side of the door opening and very high levels of around 90% saturated in the rear reception chimney breast walls. It appears that the damp course (DPC) may have failed here and it is also possible that rainwater may be getting into this chimney flue via an uncapped chimney pot.

Carry out support works beneath any unsupported internal chimney masonry*.

For starters, moisture meters are only good for untreated wood - Any readings from plaster & brick is completely meaningless. The type of plaster, any paints, salts, or other contaminants will throw the readings out. In addition, the pointy pronged moisture meters often favoured by surveyors max out at 40% (or at least the ones I use do). If you are testing for damp, there are two methods that give accurate readings. A carbide meter which requires a small sample from the wall and uses a reaction with calcium carbide. Alternatively, a sample from the wall is dried in an oven and its weight compared before & after. The difference is the water content. Both these methods are destructive, and most vendors would refuse, so the surveyor has to rely on an electronic device originally designed for use on timber - In the right hands, it can give an indication of where there might be a damp area, but 90% is laughable... A wall that wet would be dripping.

A DPC does not fail unless subject to extreme physical force or is breached by elevated soil levels. For damp around the base of an unused fireplace, rain coming in through an uncapped pot is the most likely culprit - On that point, your surveyor is probably correct. Cap the pot, check the flaunching and flashing, job done.

The most worrying part of your survey is the section that highlights "unsupported chimney masonry" - Has an internal chimney breast been removed, and does it have building regs sign off ?

If not, you need to ask more questions and perhaps involve a structural engineer for his opinion.

Thank you for looking this over! That's really useful information. I did think a reading of 90% seemed very high, although apparently the surveyor spoke to the tenant who is currently living there and she has raised the damp issue with the landlord, who just keeps repainting the area. It's only that one location though, so I think our plan would be to cap the chimneys as suggested and hope it dries out. The chimney is also bricked up in the above bedroom, and we would likely reinstate the fireplace, so hopefully that will help with ventilation. 

We actually noticed this on viewing - the lounge chimney breast has been removed but it remains in the bedroom above. We would actually be looking to add the chimney back in in that room and have a working fire, so we were less worried by this point though it is a little frustrating. 

We've gone back with an offer of 465k and the acknowledgment that a further 10k's worth of work needs doing (we were planning to renovate anyway, so not so much of a worry), so we'll see what they come back with. 

Crashy_Time

Why have they not accepted one of the "asking price" offers?

917700

Can you share some information about the timeline?
When was the initial offer accepted?
When was surveyor booked?
When was the survey report come back?

azouria

Crashy_Time said:

Why have they not accepted one of the "asking price" offers?

They accepted us out of the asking price offers (of which we were one) as we were quickest to get them the info they needed, and we are in a strong position with no chain and a very large deposit. 

917700 said:

Can you share some information about the timeline?
When was the initial offer accepted?
When was surveyor booked?
When was the survey report come back?

Offer accepted 20th July
Survey conducted 4th August
Report came back 10th August 

DiamondLil

A very long time ago, when remortgaging, the survey on our home reported "serious rising damp on the ground floor". The lender insisted on us getting an inspection report carried out by a well known damp proofing company. They visited the house and drilled 1" holes in the walls all around the house, approx. 12 inches apart and 18 inches up from floor level. And found nothing. To quote the operatives, "dry as a bone".

The report which came a few days later stated the same and the funds were released. And then we set about repairing all those holes and redecorating.

Crashy_Time

azouria said:

Crashy_Time said:

Why have they not accepted one of the "asking price" offers?

They accepted us out of the asking price offers (of which we were one) as we were quickest to get them the info they needed, and we are in a strong position with no chain and a very large deposit. 

917700 said:

Can you share some information about the timeline?
When was the initial offer accepted?
When was surveyor booked?
When was the survey report come back?

Offer accepted 20th July
Survey conducted 4th August
Report came back 10th August 

But then your lender told you to pay 35k less, as probably happened to the other offers as well? My point was that if they could sell for the price they want you would have been overlooked by now, so you have plenty of room to negotiate the price down IMO.