Survey and potential costs?

moneysaver1978

I saw this thread which prompted this.

We had a Level 3 survey done for a 2-bed semi property we liked (built in 1935-1940) - it is well maintained however, there are some near future works according to the report:

The brickwork forming the two chimney stacks are showing signs of general weathering and the mortar between the bricks (called pointing) is starting to erode. As such, I would recommend that you budget for reporting the brickwork within the next 3 years.

And:

The roofline timbers are poorly decorated, and there is some evidence of the early stages of timber decay starting to occur particularly to the exposed edges. In the immediate term I would recommend that you budget for fully preparing the roofline timbers in readiness for redecoration, undertaking timber repairs as necessary to the decaying sections, then redecorating with a suitable primer, followed by one coat of a suitable external grade undercoat and two coats of a suitable external grade top coat.

The surveyor provided a cost guidance for the repair:

• Repair mortar flaunting to chimney stacks: £400
• Repoint brickwork to chimney stacks: £600
• Repoint weathered ridge tiles: £1800
• Fully prepared and redecorate external joinery: £1400

Should we negotiate our offer price? Our relatives are divided - some say these are not worth haggling over (bad vibes, backside covering, etc.), others say we should go back to the vendors.

There are other costs too like additional loft insulation (currently 100mm), clearing gutters, etc. but these are something we could potentially undertake ourselves.

Many thanks in advance!

Eschatologist

I wouldn't bother, you are buying a house and at some point in time some maintenance will have to be carried out.

niceguyed

If the roof is not new and you can see the roof then it is almost guaranteed those remedial works will be picked up in a survey. Hard to say with the roofing, would the vendor be amenable to you getting a quote as I wouldn't trust the survey figures. 

As a vendor I'd be saying you can see the roof is not new and it's reflected in the price and I'd tell you to take a run and jump. Only you can decide if it is. 

The chimney may be a source of unexpected repair if it's causing any damp issues. If not those survey findings are par for the course on a 1930s semi. 

mi-key

The likely actual costs for that work is more like half what the surveyor has quoted. So really you are looking at about £2000. Its not worth messing the seller around for that much. 

None of the work noted is urgent and things you can get round to when needed once you live there. Remember you are buying a house getting on for 100 years old, so you can expect some things to be aged and need repairs or replacement in the future. None of this benefits the seller though, so there is no reason they should pay for it 

user1977

This is all trivial routine maintenance / decoration. I wouldn’t be chipping away at the price.

Van_Girl

I personally wouldn't negotiate on these items. It's expected maintenance in my mind. With my surveyors hat on, I'd advise much the same to my Client

ArbitraryRandom

mi-key said:

The likely actual costs for that work is more like half what the surveyor has quoted. So really you are looking at about £2000. Its not worth messing the seller around for that much. 

Even at those costs, it's less than £5k. 

I'd not bother and be glad if that's the only issue flagged as needing work in the foreseeable. 

moneysaver1978

Reassuring posts! Thank you all!

Noneforit999

Agree with other posts, these seem trivial when you consider they could have found major structural issues any number of things which would have been far more costly and difficult to fix.

Our chimney probably could do with repointing but in the grand scheme of things, we might get around to sorting it in 10 years time and even then, if it still looks ok I will just not bother.

Houses need maintenance each year but if you go looking for problems which are not really there, you are going to be forever chasing your tail. Any 80 year old house is going to be 'weathering' to a point and its likely there will be lots of things which could do with some attention but ultimately you have to pick the priorities based on how much money you have to spend and to me, repointing a chimney which is only just starting to show signs of 'erroding' would be right down the list. 

[Deleted User]

Might it be cheaper to simply remove the chimney? Unless it's holding up the TV antenna then it's probably redundant.

Grizebeck

[Deleted User] said:

Might it be cheaper to simply remove the chimney? Unless it's holding up the TV antenna then it's probably redundant.

We did that when we re roofed