FTB, Offer Accepted. Survey Surprises

nyermen

Pretty much describes my 40 year old roof

FreeBear

As long as the tiles overhang and direct the rain water in to the gutter, not having felt there is not a major issue. Until recently, my roof didn't have any felt under the tiles or overlapping the gutter. Never had any issues, and I've been here a very, very long time. i certainly wouldn't have any worries about a 50 year old roof. Probably good for another 50.

EndlessStruggle

I've had the same comments on all 3 surveys I had RE: felt and mortar.

I had all my felt edging done for £400 and bird proofing added too, also on a bungalow.

They found a hole in the felt so it was worth doing. 

I had a quote for £400 to redo my mortar.

If you want to panic and have all the work done you're probably only looking at around £1000... 

The bonus of a bungalow is a lot of it can be done without scaffolding, which adds a lot onto the cost! 

Would your builder friend pop over with you and poke about?

GPWhisperer

I thought I would pop back and let you know, that we had a builder (to look at minor brickwork issues raised in survey all fixable, fair wear and tear), and our roofer friend, who got up in the loft space and had a very long examination of the inside and outside.   There are issues, but nothing that requires a new roof or anything near it, with the repairs he will be doing, and redoing insulation once the rewire complete, we are good to go.  Said roof was in good condition.    This is more or less what all you learned people suggested, and I cannot thank you enough, I was worried and anxious.     Lesson learned for if I ever dare move again, don't meltdown on a survey, talk to people who know.   Thank you all.

TheJP

GPWhisperer said:

I thought I would pop back and let you know, that we had a builder (to look at minor brickwork issues raised in survey all fixable, fair wear and tear), and our roofer friend, who got up in the loft space and had a very long examination of the inside and outside.   There are issues, but nothing that requires a new roof or anything near it, with the repairs he will be doing, and redoing insulation once the rewire complete, we are good to go.  Said roof was in good condition.    This is more or less what all you learned people suggested, and I cannot thank you enough, I was worried and anxious.     Lesson learned for if I ever dare move again, don't meltdown on a survey, talk to people who know.   Thank you all.

Good job and good luck with the sale. Great feedback on your experience for future OPs!

GPWhisperer

Just another update on my original post, I didn't want to post in the exchange thread, as I have couple of things to say.

But first the good news, today we exchange and complete on the property I sought help on.

This section of the boards proved invaluable, aside the concern I had in my thread, everything else I searched for and found answers and used the advice in relevant sections to continue.    For example I purchased the searches from a buyer who had pulled out, saving me weeks.

So timeline went like this:

17 September 23 viewed property
18 September 23 offer accepted
21 September 23 survey completed, to which I received advice on this thread.

We move in on 30 November, as we are first having the property rewired fully, damp proof course attended.

My Solicitors were superb, the Vendor beyond helpful and accommodating, for a FTB I cannot believe how seemless this has been.

For anyone who stumbles across this thread, this board is a hive of information, some very committed and valuable member expertise within it, I found everything and more that I needed, and it very much helped me keeping my anxiety and stress to a minimum.

For all of those who replied to me, thank you, and thank you to all those members who daily continue to give time to people like me, you can never know how much I appreciate you all.

FreeBear

GPWhisperer said: We move in on 30 October, as we are first having the property rewired fully, damp proof course attended.

Rewire is good - Gives you the chance to fit loads more sockets and tidy things up.

Despite what these PCA surveyors salesmen tell you, a DPC does not "fail", especially along the whole length. You may get some localised damage where the DPC cracks in one or two spots as a result of movement (subsidence or settlement), but this would make the whole wall damp. Injecting magical chemicals in to the wall and slapping a bit of waterproof render/plaster on (why is it always to a height of 1-1.2m) will mask the problem for a few years. Far more likely any damp is a result of elevated ground levels breaching the DPC outside or a leaking gutter/downpipe - Both are cheap to fix. Occasionally, there may be a buildup of debris inside the cavity from when the house was built. This would cause localised penetrating damp, and is a little more difficult to deal with - Injecting chemicals won't fix it !

having said all that, the most common problem of damp, especially in a property that has been unoccupied for any length of time, is simple condensation. Ventilate, and turn the heating on and the place will slowly dry out. Damp walls are cold walls, which in turn attracts condensation. So a dehumidifier in the worst affected rooms will help to get the humidity down.

stuart45

As FreeBear said, ignore the DPC issue, especially on a 1970 property. Condensation is the most likely cause. Debris is the cavity another, although less likely on a bungalow.

Martico

After the rewire and before it's all replastered, go around and take photos of where all the new wiring is. Will save drilling concerns at a later date

GPWhisperer

FreeBear said:

GPWhisperer said: We move in on 30 October, as we are first having the property rewired fully, damp proof course attended.

Rewire is good - Gives you the chance to fit loads more sockets and tidy things up.

Despite what these PCA surveyors salesmen tell you, a DPC does not "fail", especially along the whole length. You may get some localised damage where the DPC cracks in one or two spots as a result of movement (subsidence or settlement), but this would make the whole wall damp. Injecting magical chemicals in to the wall and slapping a bit of waterproof render/plaster on (why is it always to a height of 1-1.2m) will mask the problem for a few years. Far more likely any damp is a result of elevated ground levels breaching the DPC outside or a leaking gutter/downpipe - Both are cheap to fix. Occasionally, there may be a buildup of debris inside the cavity from when the house was built. This would cause localised penetrating damp, and is a little more difficult to deal with - Injecting chemicals won't fix it !

having said all that, the most common problem of damp, especially in a property that has been unoccupied for any length of time, is simple condensation. Ventilate, and turn the heating on and the place will slowly dry out. Damp walls are cold walls, which in turn attracts condensation. So a dehumidifier in the worst affected rooms will help to get the humidity down.

Thank you.   I made the damp proof comment badly.   This is what the survey said, and our builder said it was basically nothing, but he would be doing so remedial tidy up.   The property is empty, but the Vendor lives nearby and thankfully has kept the heating on tickover, and continues to do so.    

This is what the survey said on DPC.
The damp proof course is too close to the external ground level to the right wall. No damp was found, but the ground level here should be lowered slightly to reduce the risk of damp occurring in the future