Survey Decoding - any help greatly received

Noneforit999

To me that looks like:

The rendered parts have cracks in the render but without taking the render off, there is no way to know if they are just surface cracks in the render or extend through to the brickwork itself.

The unrendered parts have no cracks but the pointing looks old and may require maintenance in future.

A 1930's house is likely yo require maintenence but it doesn't sound like the pointing is urgent so perhaps budget for getting it looked at over the next few years.

In regards to the render cracks, unless the vendor is prepared to let you remove the render or internal wall coverings, I don't see how there is any way to be sure what underneath so it would be a risk you take.

Most of the block of text in the OP is Surveyor waffle and rear end covering. Even the part about the render being cracked near the lintels etc could be nothing (i.e just the render is cracking) or could be something and there are cracks in the brickwork around the lintel but I am not sure how you are ever going to be 100%. 

There is also a mention of damp that was observed using a measuring device rather than actually seeing it so this is a concern as you would need to get this looked into further. It could be something small and easily fixable but it could be major, although major damp would usually show through floor/walls even when they are plastered etc. 

Reality is, do you have a budget for remedial works? If you are sticking in all your money to buy the house and are left over with very little, I would pull out. If however you have a £20k fund for any work needed, its less of a risk.

You are never going to be 100% when buying a house and a surveyor is going to find plenty of things on a 90 year old house which is why you have a fund to get stuff done after you buy it. 

TXC

Thanks all

I really appreciate all various feedback I do agree that in a 1930s house there is going to always be something. As I've said I have pulled out at this point before because the survey essentially read a lot more foreboding than this one (strongly warning me to get a full structural survey - which this one doesn't say). 

@Section62 to your point - This one to me feels like there's not enough evidence to say something "isn't" wrong so its safer to say it is (or might be). Correct there's not a lot about this house in particular apart from the render cracks.

@Noneforit999 to your point, correct I do have a cushion of savings left over for rainy days (although not 20k! more like 10) - and tbh I just need to understand that houses cost money - constantly

My gut is telling me to press ahead with the sale because it feels like its a good house. I could just find myself in this vortex of getting to this point and pulling out every time as there's no such thing as a perfect house. 

Thanks all

Section62

TXC said:

Section62 to your point - This one to me feels like there's not enough evidence to say something "isn't" wrong so its safer to say it is (or might be). Correct there's not a lot about this house in particular apart from the render cracks.

There's two ways of interpreting this - either the house is in incredibly good condition (and the surveyor padded to report out to make you feel you got VfM), or the surveyor hasn't done a great job.

At this stage you need to follow user1977's advice in the first reply - talk to the surveyor to gauge the extent to which you trust their report.  Ask about a detail of the house (perhaps one not mentioned in the report) and see how they respond - do they give the impression they know what they are talking about, or just making it up on the hoof.

TXC said:

My gut is telling me to press ahead with the sale because it feels like its a good house. I could just find myself in this vortex of getting to this point and pulling out every time as there's no such thing as a perfect house.

This is true.  The aim of a survey is to know what the faults are, how serious they are, and what it might cost to put right.  Not to help you find a perfect house.  I would expect a 1930's end-terrace property to have a decent list of faults - enough that a surveyor wouldn't feel need to pad-out their report with quite so much generic text.

TXC

Section62 said:

TXC said:

Section62 to your point - This one to me feels like there's not enough evidence to say something "isn't" wrong so its safer to say it is (or might be). Correct there's not a lot about this house in particular apart from the render cracks.

There's two ways of interpreting this - either the house is in incredibly good condition (and the surveyor padded to report out to make you feel you got VfM), or the surveyor hasn't done a great job.

At this stage you need to follow user1977's advice in the first reply - talk to the surveyor to gauge the extent to which you trust their report.  Ask about a detail of the house (perhaps one not mentioned in the report) and see how they respond - do they give the impression they know what they are talking about, or just making it up on the hoof.

TXC said:

My gut is telling me to press ahead with the sale because it feels like its a good house. I could just find myself in this vortex of getting to this point and pulling out every time as there's no such thing as a perfect house.

This is true.  The aim of a survey is to know what the faults are, how serious they are, and what it might cost to put right.  Not to help you find a perfect house.  I would expect a 1930's end-terrace property to have a decent list of faults - enough that a surveyor wouldn't feel need to pad-out their report with quite so much generic text.

I suppose what I mean by this is I've just compared this report with the previous one I had on another house. The previous one was extremely detailed in terms of what they thought was wrong and how to go about fixing it i.e. "there is cavity wall tie failure, you should do x" - "this crack corresponds to a crack outside, you should do y" - "undulation here, here and here" (specific areas of the house) - and certainly didn't pad out a full paragraph about how exterior walls are there to protect the interior from the elements!

This one reads more like "crack here which could be x but I couldn't tell because of y", "couldn't access here, here and here so will assume remedial works are needed"

I know this shouldn't really come into it but I did notice that the surveyor on the first report i had (another house, very detailed) had 30 years experience according to the book, and this one has 5.

I'll give him a call

Section62

TXC said:

This one reads more like "crack here which could be x but I couldn't tell because of y", "couldn't access here, here and here so will assume remedial works are needed"

Both of which are valid in some situations, but you'd normally expect suggestions of what to do next (get a structural engineer to advise / negotiate access with the vendor) rather than such a large amount of waffle.

It's possible the surveyor thought it was necessary to explain the importance of the walls so there was no misunderstanding about the need to get additional advice... but if so, then the 'get additional advice' part has been lost in the volume of explanation.

Hopefully a phone call will sort this out.