Buying tenement flat that might have dry/wet rot

fox_trotter

Hey guys,

I'm a first time buyer and I've just had an offer accepted on a property. However, I'm now not sure whether this property is going to be too much of a risk or whether I allowed the problem encountered to be overblown. Below are the details, if you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

The property:

It’s a one bedroom flat in the top floor of a 4 storey tenement building in Scotland that’s been rented out by a corporate landlord for the last 20 years. It’s been poorly maintained and it’s my intention to do a full refurbishment before I move in.

When I viewed the property I observed that the toilet in the bathroom was tilted. When I lifted the up the linoleum next to the toilet, I saw that there was a hole that had eroded through the floor which was about the size of two fists. The floor area around the toilet was made of a plywood/MDF material and it looked very weak.

The pipework that feeds the toilet is leaking, and it appears that this pipework is causing the flooring to deteriorate.

 

The issue:

I’ve requested for the plumbing in the property to be turned off, and I’ve arranged for a timber specialist to conduct a survey to see if the structural timbers below the toilet have been affected by the leak. The problem is that the timber specialists I’ve contacted have said that they wouldn’t be able to check the timbers unless the whole bathroom is taken apart.

They went on to say they would probably only be able to presume that there’s some kind of rot damage and provide an estimate of costs based on potential repairs.

I don’t really know what to do, it seems a bit extreme on the timber specialist’s part for them to advise rot repair even if they haven’t observed any rot.

I believe this property has a lot of potential and I would be prepared to budget that additional money to repair any rot, though has anyone experienced anything similar?

Would it be unheard of to ask the estate agent if I can have the bathroom taken apart to do a proper survey?

Any advice you can offer is appreciated.

oldernonethewiser

There is no harm in explaining the situation and asking the estate agent.

TheJP

The cost of having the bathroom taken out, survey and then bathroom put back in again could turn out to be more expensive than the work needed. I also doubt any seller would allow this.

ThisIsWeird

 I would imagine that if the floor was in a really bad way, the occupants in the flat below would have had summat to say. No harm in knocking on t'door and asking what their ceilings are like?
You are going to carry out a full refurb? In which case you'll be stripping out the bathroom in any case. Once you stop the source of damp and it dries out, and you spray 'killer, you are good to go - with a new floor if needed. And - worst case - a sistering of joists.

user1977

I would also query whether downstairs has been involved in any way (I expect they'd have to be if the structural timbers are affected).