Patio roof gutter issue in property we have offered on

Obeone

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any advise. The house we have had an offer accepted on has an issue with a DIY installed polycarbonate roof over the patio. This extends from the living room and finished inline with the kitchen. At the kitchen end the gutter along the edge has no end cap and when our surveyor visited it was pouring water all over the kitchen wall. We visited at the weekedn when it wasn't raining and the bricks are absolutely sodden with some exterior algal growth and mould. Inside there is no damp present. However I am mindful here that a fresh coat of the bathroom style paint they have used in the kitchen may well have hidden the signs. The surveyor warns that his survey is non-invasive and he can't be sure mould and damp won't start to appear or that the internal wall insulation could be damaged.

So does anyone know of any surveys that could tell us the answers to those questions. Or if not the possible costs of remedying damaged wall insulation (or damaged brick work?) and damp in this scenario?

Picture below shows the wall in very light rain:

FreeBear

Obeone said: At the kitchen end the gutter along the edge has no end cap and when our surveyor visited it was pouring water all over the kitchen wall.

Muppets. Water pouring out of the end is entirely predictable. Fortunately, not expensive to fix. A couple of quid for an end cap from somewhere like Screwfix, and five minutes up a ladder to fit.

It will take a few months for the wall to dry out, and there shouldn't be any lasting damage. If there is fibreglass/rockwool insulation in the cavity, it will dry out eventually. Polystyrene & polyurethane doesn't absorb water to the same extent, so will be fine.

It would be prudent to see where the downpipe drains away to - It should go to a soakaway, but if they didn't bother with an end cap, I doubt they bothered with a soakaway. What other DIY bodges are lurking for you to uncover....

Obeone

Thank you for your quick reply!

So, there is no downpipe it is an entirely openended gutter. No downpipe, no soakaway, fortunately there is no house on the other end and only the patio underneath it.

Yes it makes me very nervous as to what else lurks. Would you get any other surveys done? Could there be mold in the insulation or would this dissapear when dried out? I don't want to inherit expensive issues or potential health problems due to mold

born_again

Damp meter of the inside wall would give a indication. Surprised surveyor did not check, as it is a non-invasive...

Obeone

I'm not sure where exactly he used the damp meter but on the phone he specifically mentioned the insulation could be damaged and did not have any non-invasive techniques to use to tell me definitively.

FreeBear

Obeone said: So, there is no downpipe it is an entirely openended gutter. No downpipe, no soakaway, fortunately there is no house on the other end and only the patio underneath it.

Yes it makes me very nervous as to what else lurks. Would you get any other surveys done? Could there be mold in the insulation or would this dissapear when dried out? I don't want to inherit expensive issues or potential health problems due to mold

If there is any mould growing on cavity insulation, it won't be a health risk - The walls internally are (usually) plastered which seals off the cavity from the inside.

In light of the visible bodgery, I'd want an electrical inspection & condition report along with service history of any gas appliances (in particular, the boiler). But your surveyor has probably already highlighted those two.

MysteryMe

Get the guttering fixed and leave the brickwork and insulation to dry out over the summer. Try not to worry about things. You could have a drainpipe going into a large water barrel.

TELLIT01

That is a terrible bodge job if the 'design' requires the water simply to pour off the end of the guttering.  The water also clearly runs down the wall onto what I guess is a cable/TV box.  Personally, when some problems are that obvious, I would walk away.

Obeone

TELLIT01 said:

That is a terrible bodge job if the 'design' requires the water simply to pour off the end of the guttering.  The water also clearly runs down the wall onto what I guess is a cable/TV box.  Personally, when some problems are that obvious, I would walk away.

The house is only 5 years old so I am hopeful they havne't done much else.

Obeone

We just discovered the surveyors photo actually shows the problem is even worse. They thought the downpipe for the rest of the roof was in the way so they have redirected it onto this roof too. That's a huge flow of water going into the wall. Does this change any of the advise above?

Albermarle

Well it will not have helped.
I think a downpipe from the house roof, feeding onto a lower roof is not ideal, but not that unusual AFAIK ( we have one too) . However as other have said the patio roof gutter is a bodge job.