Hi, any advice on the following homebuyers survey would be greatly appreciated

Jazzypap

Rainwater Fittings

3

• Rear gutter to the kitchen needs repairing or replacing.
• Downpipe on front porch discharges directly on to the ground - needs re-routing to prevent damage.

Main Walls

3

• Bulge in rear wall at first floor level – wall ties need replacing.
• Gable wall and single storey outrigger walls need re-pointing.
• Defective brickwork on gable wall & single storey outrigger need to be replaced.
• Rear wall rendering possibly concealing defects.
• Front porch walls are of single brick thickness & the rear wall in the kitchen is relatively narrow & may be affected by penetrating dampness & condensation.

Internal Joinery & Kitchen Fittings
3

• The horizontal rails to the landing & the glazing to the hall doors represent a potential safety hazard – estimates required for necessary repairs.
• There is evidence of long standing movement including the rear bedroom door head, which is slightly out of level.

Heating and Hot Water

• 3

• There is no guard to the boiler flue outlet & one should be fitted for safety reasons.
• Ventilation may be required to the boiler housed in the understairs cupboard – should instruct a CORGI registered contractor to carry out further investigations.

Chimney Stacks
2

• The original chimney stacks appear to have been removed & support for the residual brickwork in the roof space & to the chimney stacks should have been provided but is concealed – no problems evident but advise to check with vendor whether adequate support has been provided or arrange for exposure works to be carried out.

Roof including roof space

2

• There are some chipped roof slates & open jointed ridge & hip clay tiles – roof should be overhauled & repaired.
• Because of the age of the roof you should budget for future renewal.
• The valley gutters to the gable-fronted section of the roof will be vulnerable to deterioration & damp penetration & repairs may be required to adjoining concealed roof timbers.
• As mentioned there is evidence of old staining in the kitchen ceiling & you should make enquiries of the vendor regarding any recovering of the flat roof has been undertake.

Windows, external doors & joinery

2

• Timber framed windows at front porch & rear of the kitchen & built in cupboard door to the gable are affected by decay & should be overhauled & repaired.
• Double glazing seals to front living room, front bedroom & rear bedroom and roof space (velux) have failed causing condensation & should be replaced.
• Some of the double glazed window frames are slightly distorted, particularly in the front bedroom & may require replacing.
• Replacement window frames may have replaced the original load bearing frames & there may be inadequate support for the structure above – future replacement may be required.

External decorations
2

• External decorations are deteriorating & repairs to external joinery will be required before re-decoration.

Garage & Outbuildings
2

• The roof to the detached store is thought to contain asbestos material, which may represent a health risk – you should take care when carrying out repairs, maintenance or removal. These could be expensive.
• The roof is partially damaged with daylight evident & repairs should be carried out to the left hand side wall.

Outside areas and boundaries
2

• Brickwork to the front boundary is open jointed & hardworn with loose copings to the wall – wall should be overhauled/repaired.
• Open jointed paving flags need re-pointing.

Drainage

2

• No Drain covers – cowl should be provided to the soil & vent pipe to prevent blockage.

Ceilings
2

• Dry staining to the kitchen ceiling but bulging evident & should be investigated & made good.
• Lowered ceilings at first floor levels – ensure these comply with current building regulations.

Internal walls
2

• Internal walls have been removed & studded sections provided in the front living room & bathroom. Suitable support should have been provided for the structure above but possible means of support is concealed but no deflections evident to suggest any problems.

Check with EA re.

• Permissions for alterations to the property including removal of internal walls (load bearing?) and chimney breasts were obtained – if not, to be referred back to the Surveyor.

• Lowered ceilings – any evidence these comply with current building regulations?

• Adequate support provided for residual brickwork in the roof space & chimney stacks upon removal of the original chimney stacks?

• Indemnity insurance held by the vendor for loft room?

Whilst I'm ok with a few of the minor findings, there are some that cause me concern. Oh by the way, 3 is urgent repair or replacement needed.

I'm baffled that the surveyor has recommended the value at the asking price of £170, 000 to the lender, which I have offered but based on some of his findings, I would have thought that the value would have been lowered. This appears to give us little scope to re-negotiate with the vendor as regards the urgent/essential works. The asbestos garage/outbuilding roof gives a real concern, especially with two small children.

I suppose the vendor could just refuse to lower the price in the hope that the next person to offer will just have a valutation survey done.

I'd appreciate any help/comments on the above findings.

Thanks

tbs624

The fact that the surveyor has confirmed the value at the property’s asking price could just mean that the property was priced competitively in the first place, in view of its age/condition?

Surveyors have to mention every possibility, because to not do so leaves them open to action at a later date. thus remarks like “ rendering possibly concealing defects”

If you search these forums on the asbestos issue (top right of page) , you’ll see that any house built before the mid 1980s is likely to have some asbestos somewhere, and the roof is probably a material containing white asbestos, the lowest level. It can be left in place so long as you check it for damage from time to time and you don’t drill into it: you can seal it if you want to. Look on your own council’s website and do a search under “asbestos” : the white asbestos products don’t have to be removed by a licensed contractor provided that basic safety precautions are followed and it is disposed of properly.It's an area of work that people get conned into paying out high fees for, sometimes unnecessarily. Note the words “thought to contain asbestos” and “may represent” - surveyor speak for “I’m covering all possibilities here”.

Same with the comment about the possibility of inadequate load bearing support when the window frames were altered. On the comments on distorted frames/misted panels etc if the windows were installed after April 2002 then there should either be a FENSA certificate or buildings control certificate.

The surveyors comments on complying with current building regs are interesting because generally so long as the property was compliant with the regs that were in force at the time, then that’s okay.

Things like porch walls being single brick thickness is not unusual, depending on the age of property. Glass doors and horizontal rails again were probably fine at the time they were put in but current regs are of a higher standard. The cage to the flue outlet is pretty straightforward - you can buy and fit that yourself. The boiler ventilation issue may be because again there are different regs in place to those in force when the system was installed.

The roof comments are pretty standard ones. You’ve done the right thing by checking up on support following removal of internal walls/chimneys.

I’d be concentrating on the bulgy wall and defective brickwork,and any guttering issues I think.

All of the above is my personal view only and no doubt others will have different thoughts. Think it may be DoozerGirl who's the chief commentator here on surveys..........

poppysarah

Asbestos outbuilding roof (garage?) could cost as little as £400.

But bulge and door frame moving is worrying. It might be not very much - but without getting proper quotes for having it done you don't know.


They always say stuff about roofs and gutters - round here the council's replaced it's houses roofs and some OO asked for quotes. Workman said it doesn't need doing unless you've got broken tiles so not to bother.

Jazzypap

Many thanks for your reply...to be honest we feel the report is not as bad as we first feared and your comments have aleviated these fears further.

We'll probably arrange estimates for the wall ties, guttering, brickwork and possibly the roof overhaul & go from there.

Jazzypap

poppysarah

If you have the roof done find out how much you can get for your old tiles. reclaiming them and recycling is big business and could be as much as a £1500 for a roof full!

PasturesNew

These are the bits I'd worry about:

Jazzypap wrote: »

Rainwater Fittings

Main Walls
Bulge in rear wall at first floor level – wall ties need replacing.
Defective brickwork on gable wall & single storey outrigger need to be replaced.
Rear wall rendering possibly concealing defects.

Internal Joinery & Kitchen Fittings
There is evidence of long standing movement including the rear bedroom door head, which is slightly out of level.

Heating and Hot Water
Ventilation may be required to the boiler housed in the understairs cupboard – should instruct a CORGI registered contractor to carry out further investigations.

Chimney Stacks
The original chimney stacks appear to have been removed & support for the residual brickwork in the roof space & to the chimney stacks should have been provided but is concealed – no problems evident but advise to check with vendor whether adequate support has been provided or arrange for exposure works to be carried out.

Roof including roof space
Because of the age of the roof you should budget for future renewal.
The valley gutters to the gable-fronted section of the roof will be vulnerable to deterioration & damp penetration & repairs may be required to adjoining concealed roof timbers.

Windows, external doors & joinery
Some of the double glazed window frames are slightly distorted, particularly in the front bedroom & may require replacing.
Replacement window frames may have replaced the original load bearing frames & there may be inadequate support for the structure above – future replacement may be required.

Dry staining to the kitchen ceiling but bulging evident & should be investigated & made good.

Internal walls
nternal walls have been removed & studded sections provided in the front living room & bathroom. Suitable support should have been provided for the structure above but possible means of support is concealed but no deflections evident to suggest any problems.

Check with EA re.

Permissions for alterations to the property including removal of internal walls (load bearing?) and chimney breasts were obtained – if not, to be referred back to the Surveyor.
Adequate support provided for residual brickwork in the roof space & chimney stacks upon removal of the original chimney stacks?
Indemnity insurance held by the vendor for loft room?

Most of the other things listed are either obvious, to be expected, general maintenance or cheap and easy to fix.

The items I've selected above in isolation would make me wonder if the building had some serious structural issues. Combined, it reads like a DIY enthusiast with no understanding that the structural integrity of a building is more important than what it looks like.

What these are saying to me is: there seem to have been a number of changes to the property that mean something propping it up might have been removed. Check the house IS standing on its own (not just the wallpaper holding the whole house up!).

You can either go down the full structural survey route or get a GOOD builder you trust to go and take a look/give you a quote.

Make the enquiries from the EA. I'd be worried about this one.

For the two roof items I left in. One is because to replace the roof might be £6k (no idea what size/shape your roof is, could be more/less); if that valley is a lead valley, then that single strip alone could cost £400-500.

(I am in no way experienced or skilled in any of these things, these are my layman's understanding of reading through and what my brain made of it, which is no indication I know anything)

clutton_2

i think this will be a money pit - the surveyor is pointing out things that are wrong now and which will go wrong in the future

new roof needed
new windows needed - probably several new lintels as well
some new rain goods needed

all these will cost

dont let your heart rule your head
you have a possibly defective flat roof
ask a CORGI guy if the new regs allow a boiler under the stairs - if may have to be re-routed

Jazzypap

I thought all flat roofs are potentially defective & we would probably arrange for a pitched roof at some point in the future.

We're in the fortunate position of having sold our house. Our new house purchase is dependent on this survey - we will see what the estimates are and decide then whether to persue a price reduction or just walk away, as we can rent until the right property comes along. I'm just glad we arranged a more in-depth survey than just a valuation survey, as we could have potentially bought a property with many issues.

We do love this house but to buy for £170k and then spend perhaps £10k on putting things right seems ludicrous. I know the vendor will not be open to negotiation but that's ok, we can rent & they'll have to find another buyer in a dead market & still have all these problems.

Our main issues are, the roof & guttering, movement?? Wall ties. Dependent on what the estimates are, we'll decide what to do from there.

Thanks for all your replies.

Jazzypap

tbs624

Jazzypap wrote: »

I thought all flat roofs are potentially defective & we would probably arrange for a pitched roof at some point in the future.

I agree with you - flat roofs all have a limited lifespan.

Looking at the other comments on the main roof, we had similar ones (esp bit on ridge/hip tiles) on a period property. We got someone in, a few minor repairs were completed at minimal cost - we were there for around 18 years with no further roof problems.( Current owners have been in several years too and the same roof is there!) The surveyor saying that you should budget for future renewal doesn't necessarily mean that there's an urgency - it can just be another one of those "I must say this" statements. Have you gone through any of the report with the surveyor ? Get your money's worth and ask him to clarify on the things that particularly concern you.

Jazzypap wrote: »

We're in the fortunate position of having sold our house...........
.....I know the vendor will not be open to negotiation but that's ok, we can rent & they'll have to find another buyer in a dead market & still have all these problems.

Most things are negotiable - dangle your desirability as non-chain buyers, say you'd like a reduction after you have your quotes and let them think about it, but give them a date by which you definitely need to know?

PasturesNew

Jazzypap wrote: »

We do love this house but to buy for £170k and then spend perhaps £10k on putting things right seems ludicrous.

Maybe the house seemed a bit cheaper to you because it was priced with some issues that were needed. If the house owner had done the work/done it properly, it would have cost more.

With the list given, I could see it could quite easily cost more than £10,000 to fix if any one of the items regarding the structural integrity turned out to be true.

A lot of stuff on the list was "to be expected" really. But still a handful of things that individually might cost £200-400 each to fix. Some standard warnings in there (of course everything has a limited lifespan).

So the main things I'd worry about were the roof lifespan/cost and where it mentions things that I read as: "is this wall safe or likely to come down" and "is this wall moving away from the one next to it"

Jazzypap

Thanks tbs624

We are planning to speak to the surveyor, first thing tomorrow. There are some comments contained within the report we need further clarification on.

The reason why I feel the vendor won't be prepared to negotiate is the trauma we went through to get our offer accepted - comments from the vendor via their EA didn't help "..the house is a steal at the price.." as a buyer, this isn't the sort of unqualified speil you want to hear from EA's, who should know better than passing on this twaddle. Anyway, the survey proves my point in disqualifying such twaddle.