Oh My Gawd, just had the building survey report on the 160 year old property I'm buying.

youth_leader

@ratechaser probably the clean unpolluted water in your well kept you very healthy  

GeordieGeorge

JJR45 said:

160 year house is always going to read like a horror story.
Personally I would never buy an old house as I could simply not cope with the issues and ongoing repairs.

It really depends on the house. I’ve a warehouse conversion flat in Canary Wharf which survived a direct hit by the luftwaffe with little damage,and a Victorian terrace that was built by an architect who I can only assume was taking a break from his normal job building tank defenses given how it’s put together.

Heres_the_deal

FreeBear said:

Heres_the_deal said: It then goes on to mention a floor below the wax injected damp course, thus damp on the inside lower dry wall.  This has been fixed to the outer brick wall by the dob method, not by stud.

Oh dear, injected chemicals in the walls.... I bet waterproof render/plaster has been slapped on the walls internally - That will just push any damp issues further up the walls and a contributory factor to spalling bricks. No doubt cement mortar has been used to repoint the brickwork which has exacerbated the spalling..

If you do buy, get yourself an air hammer/chisel and a decent compressor, and then start hacking off all that cement. Plaster the walls with lime and use the same for repointing the brickwork. Whilst lime plaster won't cure any damp, it will go a long way in making it manageable. Modern gypsum plasters turn to mush if allowed to get damp, lime plaster doesn't (so forget drylining too).

Firstly, thanks to all for your uplifting and positive comments. That has helped me calm down.

The house has been dry walled throughout, so I have no clue what the internal plaster is. There are around 100-150 spalled bricks that require replacement, and at least 60% of the external walls need repointing with lime. The rest was done during work in 2005 ( not to a good standard though).

There is a leak in the roof from the cement fillet (no lead flashing), and the roof tiles are breaking down (penetrating damp). It also appears to have had a concrete floor laid (surveyor could not access). Chimney stacks need repointing, flues covered, air vents put in roof space etc.

So lots of damp issues due to bodged work and spalling due the cement pointing. 

Windows I have accounted for in my budget ( sash in a conservation area!).  eek !!!

Mickey666

Heres_the_deal said:

So lots of damp issues due to bodged work and spalling due the cement pointing. 

Sadly all too common when old houses are ruined by people who don't understand them.  They survive quite happily for hundreds of years before 20th century man turns up with modern 'wonder materials' like impervious cement and various waterproofing potions that do more harm than good.  I'd guess that more damage has been done to old properties by inappropriate renovation than plain neglect.

verytired11

youth_leader said:

My EA told me that my buyer's survey had 17 out of 23 reds on his when he was yet again trying  to knock the price down  - but like other people, my house had stood quite happily for 172 years and will be there for many more.

That makes me feel a bit more reassured waiting for my buyer's survey, as pretty sure there are going to be many reds.  Did you agree to any price reduction?  My buyer offered asking price so I have a little bit of leeway to go down if necessary, but I am curious whether others do or do not agree to any reductions.

MaryNB

verytired11 said:

youth_leader said:

My EA told me that my buyer's survey had 17 out of 23 reds on his when he was yet again trying  to knock the price down  - but like other people, my house had stood quite happily for 172 years and will be there for many more.

That makes me feel a bit more reassured waiting for my buyer's survey, as pretty sure there are going to be many reds.  Did you agree to any price reduction?  My buyer offered asking price so I have a little bit of leeway to go down if necessary, but I am curious whether others do or do not agree to any reductions.

I would ask what the valuation on the report was. I bought a 120 year old house last year with lots of reds on the report but the surveyor valued the house at what I had offered and said the condition was expected for a house of that age and type. I didn't ask for a reduction. I had rented rooms in similar properties so it was somewhat expected, still a bit jarring to see so many reds though. 

edgex

FreeBear said:

Heres_the_deal said: It then goes on to mention a floor below the wax injected damp course, thus damp on the inside lower dry wall.  This has been fixed to the outer brick wall by the dob method, not by stud.

Oh dear, injected chemicals in the walls.... I bet waterproof render/plaster has been slapped on the walls internally - That will just push any damp issues further up the walls and a contributory factor to spalling bricks. No doubt cement mortar has been used to repoint the brickwork which has exacerbated the spalling..

If you do buy, get yourself an air hammer/chisel and a decent compressor, and then start hacking off all that cement. Plaster the walls with lime and use the same for repointing the brickwork. Whilst lime plaster won't cure any damp, it will go a long way in making it manageable. Modern gypsum plasters turn to mush if allowed to get damp, lime plaster doesn't (so forget drylining too).

Though that does then put you into Building Regs/Control territory where they expect you to then insulate.

youth_leader

@verytired11, unfortunately it was too early in my grief journey, I am on my own and I wasn't up to the developer buyer's negotiation tactics.  I was on for £400K at the time.  He'd offered £355k, then dropped it to £305k after the full structural survey.  I will always regret not asking to see the extracts from his survey.  My house was a listed II, and I'd had my own survey done to see if I could afford to continue living there, I couldn't.  After the beast from the east I started feeling scared there on my own, I didn't have the money for essential maintenance and repairs.  Boiler quote alone was estimated at £8K with new pipework..  

I was obviously disappointed and the agent asked him to increase his offer, he offered £325K. She insisted on trying for more on that Monday even though I said I'd accept, and asked him to increase to  £330K.  He withdrew by email on the Monday night, but on the Tuesday morning I was expecting his mortgage surveyor, she persuaded him to go ahead with it.  The mortgage surveyor valued the house at £0 pending a damp/timber report, which I agreed to pay for as a gesture of goodwill. Unfortunately I wasn't told to lift the floorboards to reveal the joists, they weren't inspected, but I had confirmation as I already knew, that the 'beetles' were dead.   £300 later I got the report and forwarded it, his mortgage company threw it out as completely unsuitable for a heritage property - I knew it would be, but the EA told me to engage this PCA company, who were actually just sales people.  

Buyer came back and said he'd give me £285K, or if I agreed to do £50K worth of works his mortgage company would 'inspect' and if satisfactory,  they would lend him the full £330K.  The works he was suggesting I fund, in the very cold January 2019, involved reroofing my 264 sq m house, as well as replacing all ground floor boards.  I thought he was ridiculous, his poor communication whilst he 'crunched his numbers' and  'lined his ducks in a row' over the Christmas period caused me great stress.  I withdrew from both the EA and the sale, and went to auction.  Unfortunately he was the highest bidder at the auction, and I remembered the advice on here that it is a business transaction, tried to detach myself emotionally and settled for less so I could move on with my life. 

I live nearby and am very friendly with the local trades/professionals who helped me through several maintenance emergencies in my early widowed days, people here are lovely.  New buyer has now invited two of my respected and recommended heritage professionals to do plans/quotes, and rejected both, saying he could get it done far cheaper elsewhere.  I'm in the NE and a Londoner, as he is, and it is becoming clear he thinks he thought he'd  get the house renovated and flipped for a song.  Word spreads fast here, he is a fool.  I'm sorry for my beautiful old house.

edgex

Heres_the_deal said:

FreeBear said:

Heres_the_deal said: It then goes on to mention a floor below the wax injected damp course, thus damp on the inside lower dry wall.  This has been fixed to the outer brick wall by the dob method, not by stud.

Oh dear, injected chemicals in the walls.... I bet waterproof render/plaster has been slapped on the walls internally - That will just push any damp issues further up the walls and a contributory factor to spalling bricks. No doubt cement mortar has been used to repoint the brickwork which has exacerbated the spalling..

If you do buy, get yourself an air hammer/chisel and a decent compressor, and then start hacking off all that cement. Plaster the walls with lime and use the same for repointing the brickwork. Whilst lime plaster won't cure any damp, it will go a long way in making it manageable. Modern gypsum plasters turn to mush if allowed to get damp, lime plaster doesn't (so forget drylining too).

Firstly, thanks to all for your uplifting and positive comments. That has helped me calm down.

The house has been dry walled throughout, so I have no clue what the internal plaster is. There are around 100-150 spalled bricks that require replacement, and at least 60% of the external walls need repointing with lime. The rest was done during work in 2005 ( not to a good standard though).

There is a leak in the roof from the cement fillet (no lead flashing), and the roof tiles are breaking down (penetrating damp). It also appears to have had a concrete floor laid (surveyor could not access). Chimney stacks need repointing, flues covered, air vents put in roof space etc.

So lots of damp issues due to bodged work and spalling due the cement pointing. 

Windows I have accounted for in my budget ( sash in a conservation area!).  eek !!!

Are you going to use the fireplaces? Are they shared with neighbours?
If not, look at getting the stacks removed to below roof level. The cost of having them re-pointed, capped, flashing dealt with etc will be similar to removal, & it's all work that will need re-doing in the future anyway.
Keeping them also means you've got the stack effect, where your nice warm air in the house is being drawn up to the cold external stack.

(End-terrace Victorian here, had the stacks removed a couple of months ago, & the bricks below them that were visibly shiny with damp are now dry, & a lower damp patch at the bottom of the chimney breast is also drying out.)


As for spalling bricks & damp, you need to find the root cause. It could well be that the roofing & chimneys are the cause, & that the internal drywall & added DPC are having little if any impact.

Louise.H

Our cottage is 135 years old and we didn't have a survey (oops) but did get it very, very cheap. Who knows what will come up when the next buyer has a survey, but it's still standing fine without any leaks or obvious damp so hopefully wont be a complete disaster. 

If it's been there this long and the valuation is about right I don't think I'd worry too much.