Buyer pulled out following survey

csgohan4

eddddy said:

It might be worth getting a structural engineer to inspect the roof and tell you what work needs doing to correct the problems. It may cost a lot less than £20k.

Once the problems are fixed, ask for a final report from the structural engineer confirming that everything is OK - which you can show to future buyers. 



(As an aside, and it doesn't help you, but lots of posters complain on this forum that homebuyer's surveys are a waste of money because they don't tell you anything. But that's generally because everything is fine, and there is nothing to tell.

Your buyer's survey demonstrates that they are valuable, when there really is a problem - that a 'lay person' may not have spotted.)

Some buyers also get the cheapest report which is full of caveats. I would prefer a building survey at a minimum imo. Sure there will be caveats but least the survey will be in depth

ciderboy2009

Out of interest - how does the surveyor's valuation of the property compare to the offer you accepted from the buyer?

RamBro

ciderboy2009 said:

Out of interest - how does the surveyor's valuation of the property compare to the offer you accepted from the buyer?

I didn't think abut that....just had a look and the valuation was £5K under the agreed price.

RamBro

I've just had the report from the engineer and have asked him for what he thinks it may cost...not sure if he'll know. Anyway here are the juicy bits:

Roof Space

The roof light opening has changed the symmetry of the original roof frame and the removal of the tie beam has resulted in reduced restraint to the roof rafters in this area and the overall loss of the roofs triangulated action. As the ridge board

does not provide a rigid support to the rafters and only acts as a fixing medium, it has allowed for the rafters to spread apart and move outwards.

It was noted that the struts are fixed to the underside of the tie beam however are not fixed directly to the purlin beams. Hence it appears that the struts do not actually provide adequate support to the purlins. As a result, the purlins appear to be spanning the full width of the building and have been allowed to deflect. Given the size of the purlins and the width of the building this has led to excessive deflections over this clear span. As the purlins help to break the span of the roof rafters, any distortion of the purlins will allow the rafters to move and deflect further.

The combination of the loss in tie action to the rafters and the excessive deflection of the purlin beam, has resulted in the overall sagging of the roof as seen from the external elevation observations.

It was noted that only one restraint strap was fixed to the gable wall and rafters within the roof space. This indicates that the roof frame has not provided an adequate restraint to the gable wall and chimney masonry. As a result of the inadequate restraint over a period of time the gable wall has been allowed to move inwards.
Recommendations

Steps should be taken to strengthen the existing roof. This can be achieved by providing new rigid purlins and or ridge beams. One option would be to remove the existing timber purlins and replace with new steel beams that will span

between the party and external walls. 

As the deformation of the existing roof rafters has taken place, we would recommend that where possible these damaged rafters are removed and replaced with new. A deeper timber section should be used for the new roof rafters as this should give extra stiffness to the roof and reduce the risk of sagging in the future. As part of any new rafter installation you should consider

providing new timber trimmer beams around the roof light opening.

As part of any remedial works to the roof additional restraint straps fixed to roof rafters and the gable wall should be provided

Wall Bulge

The slight bulge to external rear side wall at first floor level might be the result of inadequate restraint to the wall at both floor and roof level. The restraint details at these junctions is unknow but should be investigated. At the roof level the raised tie construction of the roof means that the roof rafters are fixed to the wall with no direct ceiling tie at the roof to wall intersection. Hence any resulting horizontal lateral force from the rafters could cause the wall to bulge and move outwards resulting in the deformation seen.
Recommendation

The floor to wall junction should be exposed and investigated. If the floor joists do not span onto the external side wall and no restraint straps are present then you should consider providing restraint straps fixed to the floor joists and wall. A minimum of 3 number evenly spaced restraint straps should be provided for the full length of the side wall. Restraint straps should be made from galvanised mild steel and a minimum size of 30x5mm thick and 1200mm long. Straps should be fixed to a minimum of 3 number floor joist with timber noggins fixed between the joists.

The roof to wall junction should also be exposed and investigated. The condition of the wall, rafters and timber wall plate in this area should be confirmed. If required then any damaged members should be repaired or replaced and any

additional restraint straps provided.

FreeBear

That looks like a real nasty lean on the chimney - Has a fireplace and flue been removed internally, and if so, what support is in place ?

RamBro

Nope, the chimney on that side of the house is in tact all the way down. I suspect it seems to have been a result of cutting the tie six year ago.

Chandler85

@FreeBear The really nasty Chimney seems to be on the neighbours property, not the posters.  Assuming his is the house should with the room light.  So on the right on Photo 15 is the posters house, the really dodgy chimney seems to be on the house on the left.

Slinky

Wow, that's a nasty mess made of the roof just so you could look at the junk in the loft.  Should serve as a warning to us all.

Hope you can get it sorted without too much expense.

RamBro

Slinky said:

Wow, that's a nasty mess made of the roof just so you could look at the junk in the loft.  Should serve as a warning to us all.

Hope you can get it sorted without too much expense.

Yep...hopefully not too an expensive lesson to learn!
I just need to decide to fix myself or knock the price off - the latter is the easier option.

RamBro

Chandler85 said:

@FreeBear The really nasty Chimney seems to be on the neighbours property, not the posters.  Assuming his is the house should with the room light.  So on the right on Photo 15 is the posters house, the really dodgy chimney seems to be on the house on the left.

Yep, ours is the one with the roof light. I thought the same also and I don't think they've had their chimney removed either. You should see the house opposite our garden!