Areas of concern from valuation report HELP!

irnbru_2

I guess if you see the plumber running then the boiler is condemed :rolleyes:

As someone else pointed out, if your bid was based on the boiler etc being ok then you need to revise it.

Do you know how much the vendor paid for it?

irnbru_2

Doozergirl wrote:

Don't think so. from what I understand, asbestos becomes dangerous when it's moved or broken.

Caveat: I have a deep dislike of the stuff :eek:

TBH I''d never heard of an asbestos water tank - a quick search says they're of a cement construction and things like descalers can't be used on them.

LouLouHelen

Can't find the price of the house when they bought it anywhere!! tried all the sites. :mad:

I would have thought even the agent is going to agree that it was sold assuming the boiler was in good working order.

The tank sounds a bit worrying but if it is legal and working I don't really think I can account for this in a revised offer can I. Should probably get it taken out at some point (can get a plumber to quote) but don't know where to get a quote on how much it would take to get it taken away as plumber wouldn't do it due to its construction.

rozeepozee

LouLouHelen wrote:

The tank sounds a bit worrying but if it is legal and working I don't really think I can account for this in a revised offer can I. Should probably get it taken out at some point (can get a plumber to quote) but don't know where to get a quote on how much it would take to get it taken away as plumber wouldn't do it due to its construction.

English law is a bit wierd when it comes to buying a property. Even if you have agreed a price/your offer is accepted, until you sign the contract, you are not commited to anything (neither is the seller) so you can revise your offer at any time. Don't feel bad about doing this, there is nothing wrong with it, it's quite normal. Sorry to repeat myself about this but get quotes for all the faults and ask for a reduction in the price. The seller may not agree the total amount, but you are likely to find he or she will meet you part of the way. Remember, it is a buyers' market at the moment so you are in a fairly strong position to negotiate. Good luck!

virgin_moneysaver

we've just moved into a 1950's property where the surveyor brought up wiring & asbestos - but all he advised was the asbestos was only an issue if being removed & it is only on the garage roof, & the wiring he said to have checked before moving in - all the wiring was more or less orignal (black junction boxes et all) & only 1 single socket per room so we decided to have a complete re-wire anyway - house had been occupied by a little old lady for the last 50yrs & it all needed decoarating anyway so we moved the bare minimum in, everything else was stored in the garage, took all carpets up, loosened the relevant boards, hubby chased all the walls, we had loads of sockets etc(including cooker), sparky run cables, dad did the plastering & we did it for just over £1k - which we accounted for in our offer before surveyor as it was obvious it needed doing, which, to be fair was acknowledged by the deceased ladies family - good luck & let us know your outcome

LouLouHelen

:A This Is Such A Helpful Site - How Would I Manage Without All You Help, Advice And Experience!!!!!! Thanks

Mr_Proctalgia

Asbestos Cement loft tanks were common about forty years ago - they are safe (but will crack in time) see and read this site http://www.asbestoswatchdog.co.uk/need.html
Your surveyor sounds like he doesn't really know about electrics and is covering his back, your gas ought to be earthed (within 600mm of your side of the gas meter) but I am surprised he didn't comment on whether you have a "MET" and whether the water was earthed too! The BS's for electricity in the home are not retrospective and you cannot insist on it being up to the latest regs - If that were the case almost 90% of houses in this country would fail on one point or another. Also the Corgi man would say that in earthing the gas you would be breaking his regs!!!!
You might have very thin lintels in your porch that will only appear as a tiny sliver of metal under the mortar, but, there is a big lump of metal that goes into the cavity, and the mortar coming out of the verges is pretty normal, it happens because of the heating and cooling cycle.
As far as the boiler goes - have a look at it, check the manufacturer and model number, then hit the internet and download the installation instructions, some (most modern fanned flue) boilers need so little clearance that you wouldn't believe it ( to the extent of having plastic flues too)
All in all I don't think that you have too bad a survey at all

LouLouHelen

Thanks Mr P - that's very comprehensive I appreciate you taking the time to write it.
I guess a lot of the problems come with age and we don't really mind that.

After discussions with my boyfriend we have decided to ask the vendor to get the wasp's nest in the roof removed (I believe the council in our area charge), get the shower working as the valuer couldn't and earth the gas meter as its Dangerous and should have been done.

If we have any scary issues uncovered when the plumber and the electrican go round on Sunday then I will probably be back asking for advice on what to do about them so watch this space for an update and I am stuck without you all!

Thanks again

Doozergirl

LouLouHelen wrote:

The tank sounds a bit worrying but if it is legal and working I don't really think I can account for this in a revised offer can I. Should probably get it taken out at some point (can get a plumber to quote) but don't know where to get a quote on how much it would take to get it taken away as plumber wouldn't do it due to its construction.

You'll find the council should take it away for free as long as it is double-bagged and sealed.

LouLouHelen

Well the Electrican and the Plumber and the Builder have now looked at the property....

Builder - chimey re-point - not a big job, not going to cost. The porch needs to be taken back down the to the top of the windows, replace the wooden windows with UPVC ones, add lintels and build it back together again. Around £1000 plus a little bit of plastering around the top 5 inches inside the porch.

Plumber - wants to see proof that the boiler has been serviced and wants to see it working (as vendor does not live there and agent holding keys, this cannot happen without vednor's permission and we tried to call them while we were there but there was no answer). Need to add a vent into cupboard and one into kick board under kitchen cupboards.

Electrican - has condemned the electrics in the house. He thinks that the vendors have done some piecemeal work themselves. Front porch light was not earthed, one curcuit in kitchen was earthed another wasn't, when we took a few of the sockets of the walls some had spare wires hanging that weren't connected. Approx £2000 to rewire involving taking kitchen units off to access walls to chase wires in, removing tiles in kitchen and bathroom (as there is an electric showed in bathroom). Once that has been done we will need to replaster.

What kind of property developers are they - the sort that just like wasting money on tiles and wall paint??!?!?!?! :eek: I am so annoyed that someone can try and sell a house as 'immaculate condition' when the electrics are so bad!!! :mad:

The lady from the agents who was with us said that she would be letting the agent involved know what we found and suggested we wrote a letter explaining it all to be sent to the agent for him to discuss with the vendor.

We offered £220k on £224k after have 2 offers turned down but that offer genuinely didn't allow for condemned electrics. What can we ask for/expect from the vendors?