Bad buyers survey - help!

WannabeNigella

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

youth_leader

This happened to me, and my buyer used the astronomical quotes given to him by his surveyor to try to negotiate. 

Do you know a builder that would come round and look at the firewall/buckling wall and lintel?  And a roofer to look at the chimney?  

WannabeNigella

youth_leader said:

This happened to me, and my buyer used the astronomical quotes given to him by his surveyor to try to negotiate. 

Do you know a builder that would come round and look at the firewall/buckling wall and lintel?  And a roofer to look at the chimney?  

I'm going go get onto getting some quotes together ASAP! This was a figure that the buyer estimated btw, no quotes have been procured as yet 

Mineral1

Either reduce the price to what your buyer is willing to pay, or stand firm and wait for someone else to come along who is willing to pay what you are asking, or alternatively take it off the market and have the work done which will probably cost a lot less than 30k and stick it back on the market when it's done.

Slithery

WannabeNigella said:

news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010

That's probably what's causing the damp, chemical injections usually just mask the actual problem for 10 years or so before it comes back worse than before...
https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

WannabeNigella

Slithery said:

WannabeNigella said:

news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010

That's probably what's causing the damp, chemical injections usually just mask the actual problem for 10 years or so before it comes back worse than before...
https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Well that's amazing news 😭😭😭

FreeBear

Slithery said: That's probably what's causing the damp, chemical injections usually just mask the actual problem for 10 years or so before it comes back worse than before...

The chemical injections themselves do little to mask the problem. If anything, they just leave an ugly row of cement filled holes around the base of the wall. It is the waterproof plaster/render slapped on the walls inside that do most of the damage. The damp gets trapped behind it and slowly wicks up the wall, only to rear its ugly head when it finds the top of the render - Usually 1m or 1.2m.

The proper fix if there had been a problem with damp, is to reduce the external ground levels, fix any leaking gutters/down pipes. And if the walls needed plastering, finished with a lime plaster. But that would have cost a lot less than sticking chemicals into the wall and a few bags of overpriced cement based render... Then again, plasterers who specialise in using lime charge a premium for their work as it is more labour intensive that slapping on a bit of Thistle Multifinish.

lookstraightahead

WannabeNigella said:

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

Don't be scared - must people have some kind of problems with their houses but just don't know it yet.

Our house is underpinned and old so I've had to learn a lot and usually the scary part is not knowing what it all means.

I agree with the damp - get it properly checked out not some surveyor with a damp meter.

Personally I would take off a bit for the work (nowhere near £30k) and if they don't accept just relist.

we had lots of issues on our level 3 survey as a buyer but accepted that houses need maintaining,

how old is your house?

our vendors cleverly had their own structural engineer write a report which they sent to us so that we could see problems in advance so that it was all upfront. If the house does fall through (not literally) then this might be a proactive way forward.

WoozieSioux_tse

Slithery said:

WannabeNigella said:

news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010

That's probably what's causing the damp, chemical injections usually just mask the actual problem for 10 years or so before it comes back worse than before...
https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Thanks for that Slithery! Reading all the stuff on that website about internal/external insulation makes me want to cry! If you want to buy an older house and the government do push for these EPC related mortgages, how are you supposed to get them to a 'C' for a cheaper mortgage? 

I'd second getting your own quotes yourself for work and a structural engineer's report if this sale falls through. Have a scout round, just to check there aren't any visible fixes that could be made to reduce alleged dampness (as per FreeBear). It probably is the new damp course, but if you can find any other causes you can fix easily, it shows willing. I speak as someone who has recently dug out at least a foot of 'bedding' areas around my (thankfully rented) property to alleviate dampness. It does help.

FreeBear

WoozieSioux_tse said:

Slithery said:

WannabeNigella said:

news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010

That's probably what's causing the damp, chemical injections usually just mask the actual problem for 10 years or so before it comes back worse than before...
https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Thanks for that Slithery! Reading all the stuff on that website about internal/external insulation makes me want to cry! If you want to buy an older house and the government do push for these EPC related mortgages, how are you supposed to get them to a 'C' for a cheaper mortgage?

Take what is said on that web site about wall insulation with a pinch of salt. Not all of it is bad, and done right, will help to keep the place warm. Wood fibre & cork skimmed with lime retains the breathability of a wall as well as being a little more eco friendly than PUR/PIR boards & cement render.

WannabeNigella

lookstraightahead said:

WannabeNigella said:

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

Don't be scared - must people have some kind of problems with their houses but just don't know it yet.

Our house is underpinned and old so I've had to learn a lot and usually the scary part is not knowing what it all means.

I agree with the damp - get it properly checked out not some surveyor with a damp meter.

Personally I would take off a bit for the work (nowhere near £30k) and if they don't accept just relist.

we had lots of issues on our level 3 survey as a buyer but accepted that houses need maintaining,

how old is your house?

our vendors cleverly had their own structural engineer write a report which they sent to us so that we could see problems in advance so that it was all upfront. If the house does fall through (not literally) then this might be a proactive way forward.

Thank you for the reply! 

I've spoken to my EA, my broker and two builders this morning and they've all said no brainer, tell them you're relisting and I am inclined to agree. I cannot afford to lose 30k to get a 100 Yr old house up to the spec they want (they're cash buyers buying to let)

I will get the damp looked at as it does need addressing but the feeling is that once the chimney stack is repointed , this should solve that issue anyway.

The rear wall that's apparently leaning forward... I've stared at it for half an hour today and I just cannot see anything. No cracks in mortar, no misaligned windows, my fitted kitchen on the other side of the wall is not coming away from the wall. To my eye it looks perfectly straight!