Surveyor says house is uninhabitable

FreeBear

Joliates1939 said:

Have now been advised that the wiring is the original braided wiring from when the house was built in the 1930’s. So have decided to take it off the market and get it rewired, then see where we are.

Oh joys. Still have a few remnants of the original 1920s wiring here (unused I might add). The insulation has broken down, and if it were still live, a significant safety risk.

With an original 1930s ceiling, you will find plenty of cracks lurking behind the polystyrene tiles. Your choice to patch/paper/skim after the tiles have been removed. Personally, I'd take the ceiling down, fix plasterboard up, and then skim. Done right (i.e. PB fixed with screws, not nails), it won't develop cracks in your lifetime, and also gives you opportunity to route cables & pipes without messing around lifting floorboards.

Section62

Joliates1939 said:

Have now been advised that the wiring is the original braided wiring from when the house was built in the 1930’s. So have decided to take it off the market and get it rewired, then see where we are.
Thanks everyone for all your comments I have found them helpful.
I hope to be able to update in due course.

Worth considering getting the rewiring done in conjunction with redoing the ceilings.  If the electrician is happy to do it, rewiring when the ceilings are removed can avoid the need to lift floorboards and/or crawl around in the loft.

You'll probably want to get a plasterer and decorator to make good after the electrician has finished chasing walls (electricians are generally not good at this and typically charge at a higher hourly rate) - which are the same trades you'd need to replace the ceilings.

And chasing the walls to do the rewiring is also a filthy job, so if a mess is being made then it makes sense to consider doing the messy ceiling work at the same time.

subjecttocontract

Don't forget to up the asking price as the buyer won't need to rewire or plaster board the ceilings ......you might be able to get most of your costs back.

Slinky

If you're rewiring, look at where a buyer is going to want to have additional sockets, switches etc. A 1930s home is likely to have very few sockets unless it's been added to across the years. If you don't put more in now, a buyer is going to have to do this and will undo a lot of the good work your decorator will have done.

Herzlos

Slinky said:

If you're rewiring, look at where a buyer is going to want to have additional sockets, switches etc. A 1930s home is likely to have very few sockets unless it's been added to across the years. If you don't put more in now, a buyer is going to have to do this and will undo a lot of the good work your decorator will have done.

Good point. It may seem overkill but a double socket on every wall will make a big deal and won't cost much more when done as part of a full rewire.

FreeBear

Herzlos said:

Slinky said:

If you're rewiring, look at where a buyer is going to want to have additional sockets, switches etc. A 1930s home is likely to have very few sockets unless it's been added to across the years. If you don't put more in now, a buyer is going to have to do this and will undo a lot of the good work your decorator will have done.

Good point. It may seem overkill but a double socket on every wall will make a big deal and won't cost much more when done as part of a full rewire.

And put them about 450mm up from the floor rather than screwing to the skirting.

Quite possible that some of the partition walls a stud with a lath & plaster skin - This may make it a non-trivial task to put sockets on these walls. Yes, one could use drywall boxes, but the end result may not be particularly satisfactory or durable.

peterhjohnson

As I recall, modern polystyrene tiles themselves are not particularly risky but if certain types of paint have been applied to them, they can be problematic in fires

Section62

peterhjohnson said:

As I recall, modern polystyrene tiles themselves are not particularly risky but if certain types of paint have been applied to them, they can be problematic in fires

It depends what is meant by 'modern'.  In theory polystyrene products intended to be installed in exposed conditions should be fire retardant if they are being sold now.  But there are many products available to consumers which may not meet basic safety standards.

So unless you've purchased and installed the tiles yourself, and know that you can trust what it says on the product label, then "not particularly risky" probably understates the level of risk.

Paint films are a somewhat different risk.  Many paints remain flammable, regardless of the material they are painted onto.  A flammable paint applied to polystyrene ceiling tiles is asking for trouble, but this is a case of increasing the level of risk, rather than introducing a risk where none previously applied.