Survey help.

Beeboo23

Hi, just wondering what the next steps are once you have a survey. 
Spoke to our surveyor and he said there’s roughly twice the amount of problems he’d expect in a similar house. 
The purchase is a 3 bed house at 295k we offered full asking price and were accepted. He agreed the value was acceptable but by the skin of its teeth. 

The survey brought up a few things I’m not concerned about but would appreciate advice on the following: 
- The walls are of solid brick construction. The walls contain a poured bitumen damp proof course.

The mortar pointing in several places on the side of the property has failed and fallen away and pipes require sealing around where they pass through the wall.

Condition Rating 2

The repairs needed are not serious or urgent and are considered to be part of normal maintenance work of the property and should be dealt with after taking ownership or when annual maintenance is next carried out.

Bitumen based damp-proof courses crack and break down over time as they cannot cope with the normal expansion and contraction of masonry walls. (I’ve read elsewhere damp proof courses should be avoided at all costs). 

- The glass on the inside doors and conservatory are not safety glass 

- The boiler needs inspecting as pipes could have been installed too close to loft timber and could be a fire hazard 

- Windows satisfactory but 15 years old and will likely coming to end of life 

- The earthing cable has apparently not been connected which is dangerous

- The left hand side retaining wall is leaning slightly and cracked. The crack has been pointed but has reopened. It appears to be stable at present but may be a longer term issue. (He said there’s no subsidence, but if this isn’t maintained could cause the driveway to move and eventually the house??). 

There were other things highlighted like the fence is rotten and chimney could do with capping but imo these are minor repairs so not too worried about those. 

I’m wondering if we should be renegotiating to accommodate the work that needs doing. I’m happy proceeding based on the survey but want to make sure I’m not being naive/stupid. Does it seem like the things highlighted are par for the course or should we be renegotiating? 

Finally what’s the best way of receiving quotes for the work. Do we get a local builder to have a look and let us know? How do we even go about finding someone? 

TL;DR: How many repairs are acceptable before you renegotiate on price. 

TIA. 
 

davidmcn

The retaining wall is the only thing that jumps out to me as warranting further investigation really.

Doozergirl

You shouldn't worry about the DPC.  It's the pointless injected chemical ones that we warn against, because they do nothing.  Putting a DPC into a house as it's built is important!  What this house has is totally normal for its era.  

If you want to renegotiate, renegotiate.  It's only really the crack that it is of concern.  The rest doesn't sound unusual to me on a house of that age.  They all come with maintenance issues.    Yes, it will take some money spending, but not vast amounts.  

Get some quotes, by all means, but you'll want separate trades, not really a general builder.  It sounds like you'll want a bricklayer and an electrician.   

I'm not sure why 15 year old windows would need replacing?!  Maybe replace the glass unit if it's blown and has condensation in,  but the whole lot? 

fishfingerbutties

So he's said in the condition it's in, it's worth the price you are paying? 
Was it priced well for the condition? 

Beeboo23

Thank you both so much for the fast replies! I am comfortable with the price we are paying so I’m happy to not renegotiate as it’s a nice house and they’ve put a lot of work into it. Just wanted to make sure I’m not being naive by not doing so. 
I’ll definitely get some quotes though to get an idea of costs. 

DCFC79

Ask your neighbours/family, ask people at work for any suggestons.

fishfingerbutties

Have a look see what has sold recently nearby where the condition is 'top end'. If you've paid a decent price for the property in the current condition, which the surveyor seems to agree with, then by all means maybe try a bit of negotiation but be prepared the sellers might say it was priced to reflect that. 

Beeboo23

DCFC79 said:

Ask your neighbours/family, ask people at work for any suggestons.

It can be a bit overwhelming at first when you’re presented with a whole list of potential problems. Now I know what to focus on will be able to sort it quite easily 😅

FreeBear

Beeboo23 said: - The walls are of solid brick construction. The walls contain a poured bitumen damp proof course.

The mortar pointing in several places on the side of the property has failed and fallen away

Sounds like a pre-war house. If you go ahead with the purchase, when it comes to repointing, use a pure lime mortar. This is more forgiving than cement based mortars, and the house will thank you for it. Cement is too hard and brittle for a solid wall, and the bricks will spall and break up because of it.

Internally, you will want to use a lime plaster rather than gypsum - This will allow any damp trapped in the walls to evaporate without turning the plaster to a mush. You also want to avoid using modern plastic paints both internally and externally on the walls.

Bitumen, if & when it cracks, has a self healing property - The stuff never sets rock hard and remains ever so slightly fluid. A couple of links for you... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment and https://www.nature.com/news/world-s-slowest-moving-drop-caught-on-camera-at-last-1.13418

Splatfoot

I'm assuming retaining wall is just a wall, and not a house wall? None of the points would worry me. 

Beeboo23

FreeBear said:

Beeboo23 said: - The walls are of solid brick construction. The walls contain a poured bitumen damp proof course.

The mortar pointing in several places on the side of the property has failed and fallen away

Sounds like a pre-war house. If you go ahead with the purchase, when it comes to repointing, use a pure lime mortar. This is more forgiving than cement based mortars, and the house will thank you for it. Cement is too hard and brittle for a solid wall, and the bricks will spall and break up because of it.

Internally, you will want to use a lime plaster rather than gypsum - This will allow any damp trapped in the walls to evaporate without turning the plaster to a mush. You also want to avoid using modern plastic paints both internally and externally on the walls.

Bitumen, if & when it cracks, has a self healing property - The stuff never sets rock hard and remains ever so slightly fluid. A couple of links for you... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment and https://www.nature.com/news/world-s-slowest-moving-drop-caught-on-camera-at-last-1.13418

This is very detailed thank you. I wouldn’t have even thought we’d need a specific paint for inside!