I have to say, I have some sympathy. As Phil and Kirstles always say, it's all about location. The reason we bought our house was all about the location.
We had a high level survey done, which highlighted a few bigger issues.
A felt and gravel flat roof that would need eventual replacement.
We always said we would avoid flat roofs like the plague, but there were two houses available on this estate when we were looking in 1999 and both had one. The house we ended up choosing was bigger and had a bigger garden.
Missing lintels where timber window frames had been replaced with PVC and nothing had been put in place.
Rafters in the loft space that would need bracing to prevent roof spread.
Cracking to render at the front, to be filled and decorated.
These issues were dealt with, excepting the roof (or so we thought) soon after purchase.
Over the years, however, I was convinced that further cracks were appearing. It started when we began stripping a front bedroom in preparation for decorating. We found cracks in the plaster. When I investigated, I found these cracks went right through the blocks. Mrs S thought I was paranoid and we called out a structural surveyor a couple of times who said there wasn't an issue, that the cracks were historic.
Then recently, large cracks appeared where there were none before and I called a different structural engineer. He concluded that the rafters needed further bracing and the timbers already used needed more fixings. Further, he said the purlins were undersized (surely they met with standards when the house was built in 1960? The whole estate was built the same) and needed sistering. This would address the roof spread issue and was the reason for the new large cracks.
He also identified a lack of insulation in the loft and flashing that needing replacing round the breast.
As for the historic cracks in the block work, when the plasterwork was stripped off the affected walls, it could be seen that some of the cracked blocks were under windows that needed proper lintels installing above and others were under a picture window.
There was render on the outside that was removed in order to replace cracked brick and block work, then it was rendered with Krend.
This picture window had a concrete "boot" lintel above it, designed to carry a single similar window above it. Instead, before we bought the house, some builders had split the large master bedroom above the lounge into two smaller bedrooms, put two small windows in and filled in with dense concrete blocks. Over the decades, the extra weight right in the centre cracked the lintel. They could not get the lounge window out without smashing the sealed unit because the lintel was leaning heavily on it.
The roof has been our biggest pain in the arse.
The original flat roof lasted far longer than the installer guaranteed it for, then we asked him to patch it when it leaked.
We got a new company in to to a rubber roof, but years later, it was discovered to be full of condensation and mould inside and the deck was ruined.
So, new roof. Mrs S was fretting to get the job done quick. As you know, I am prone to procrastination..
But I knew he was a shyster. Part of the job was to tie on the roof timbers of the flat roof to the walls.
He did it with one inch screws and no wall plugs.
I was ready to sack the guy and told him I knew he was a shyster.
Mrs S knows I'm a perfectionist. She basically said to me if you send this guy away, I'll divorce you.......
So he went ahead. And it was a shoite job. GRP and looked like a toddler with a stick had done it. When the wind blew hard, you could hear it catch under the bits folded over the side (OK, I'm a spark, not a roofer!). After much complaint, he came back with a barrow of bullshoite....
"I've got some Thingamyjizzle screws here. They cost £30 each. That'll hold it tight."
We've since had it covered over with rubber because he left it in an atrocious state with regard to water run off.
The other shyster aspect was that right from the off I insisted that LABC be involved.
"No worries, my daughter works for them, I'll let them know."
Of course she didn't.
But I made sure they inspected it. And it passed? Despite the water run off issue ....
Anyway, that was basically a very long way of saying we bought a house that needed work doing in a great area for a good price. To be fair, if we had budgeted X pounds a year and done maintenance every year over 27 years instead of doing only minimal cosmetic stuff, we would not be in this position now.
But we're still happy that we bought the house and it's still a great area and the houses are in super great demand. Every year we get several cards through the door from EAs saying "WE WANT YOUR HOUSE!"
I'm sure we will get a return on our investment.
