To buy or not to buy!? HELP!

[BecRich88]

Hi,

I hope someone can help.

My partner and I are about to buy our first home (or so we think...) and have just had a thorough survey done on the house. The results which have come back aren't great.

It's a 1900 mid terraced house and we've been told that:
- Dampness is affecting ground floor walls- they suspect that it's due to failure of existing damp proof course and it is advised that a damp proof / timber treating contractor should come out.

- Defective render to the rear which is loose and hollow needs to be hacked off and replaced.

- Sub floor ventilation is inadequate and additional airbricks should be provided- flooring needs to be opened up to identify the extent of the problem

- A window needs re-glazing

Could someone give me an idea of how much this all will cost (best and worse scenario if possible?)

Thank you so much for your help - we're really gutted and need some advice.

 

[TheHandyAndy]

It's all solvable, I'm sure that someone who can advise will be along soon...

Is the window double glazed? If so would a new glass unit solve the problem? I had quite a big unit replaced and it cost me £70 fitted.

As far as the damp proof failure, this can also be fixed, but I have no idea on price. I wouldn't have thought that some more air bricks will break the bank either. Just depends on how badly you want the house, don't forget that you can try and knock the asking price down by enough to cover the repairs.

Good luck with your house if you go for it!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

I have a similar property and I know what a nightmare they can be! Best advice is if you haven't the money to spend on it then look for somewhere with fewer possible problems.... Some photo's may help with advice though.

Damp needs further investigation, but bear in mind a damp company will try and sell you something you may or may not need! Rising damp is possible, but these old houses have solid walls and its possible it is penetrating damp. Check for leaking rainwater goods, soil levels breaching damp course. Various opinions on injected damp courses, and can be expensive and disruptive to install. (Plaster needs to be taken off the lower part of the internal walls, DPC done and replastered.)

Render easy enough to repair, depends on area as to cost.

Airflow under floor voids, important. Insufficient air movement can lead to dry rot. Expensive and disruptive to sort out.

Window, depends on size but probably better to replace entire window with uPVC double glazed unit.

 

[^woody^]

Was this a homebuyer report or a proper full survey?

The window and render are minor/easily fixed - a few £00 depending on the extent of render repairs

I can't see how the underfloor ventilation is suddenly inadequate after 100 years, in the absence of any other problem. If there there was a problem, then the timber floor would have given way by now, but you have not mentioned a problem with the floor

The 'damp' issue needs to be clarified. Is it damp or condensation. Has a DPC really failed (they don't tend to fail), if not, then what is the cause - other options should have been explored

If there is a damp problem, then the neighbours would be experiencing the same thing

An injected damp course, with replastering etc is going to be about £2k worth of work. And the Party Wall Act is involved for injecting party walls - potentially the same money again if the neighbours want to be obstructive

 

[stuart45]

That survey sounds typical of ones done on older terraced houses. The surveyor gets a reading off his damp meter and passes the problem on to a damp 'expert' who relieves you of a few grand for work that wasn't needed.

 

[chapeau]

.......and have just had a thorough survey done on the house

Thorough survey my ass. He found two things which might get you on Cowboy Builder if you aren't careful and then went and said somebody else needs to take a look to see if it's actually a problem because he doesn't know.

Anyway, if that's all he found wrong in a 1900 house it's probably a good one.

I remember selling a lovely semi built in 1900. Cracking house it was, loved living there, but had to move on.

The purchasing surveyors killed at least two deals by scaring the crap out of the potential buyers by finding things that really weren't a major problem.

Couple who eventually bought it had a brother who was a surveyor and he came round when they did a viewing. Best thing that happened, he found the same things but basically said it was an old house and it didn't matter. However had he done the same survey for somebody who was paying he would have scared them off too. They snapped it up.

If you buy it then it's going to need looking after but it will have character.

If you are a new house person then it's not going to be for you.

 

[^woody^]

I remember selling a lovely semi built in 1900.

None of that has got anything to do with the OP's situation

She's had a survey done which has identified several things with financial and practical implications

She's a first time buyer, so in addition to not knowing the implications, there may be limited means for extensive remedial work.

It's no good saying "Oh it will have character" if a house is going to be a money pit and needing extensive repairs.

What the OP needs to know is - what needs to be done on this property, how much any repairs will cost, and if the house is worth buying at the asking price

 

[chapeau]

Calm down, I didn't tell her to buy it.

I am sure if I disected all your many posts I could find similar things to say about you but I don't as I enjoy some of your anecdotes. If the OP doesn't enjoy my anecdote then she is free to ignore.

Nobody on here can tell her how much it's going to cost as nobody on here has seen it. In fact the surveyor doesn't even know how much it's going to cost and he was in there.

So go ahead and tell her how much, I shall wait for somebody to jump on you, but it won't be me as I am too nice

And my full sentence was

"If you buy it then it's going to need looking after but it will have character. "

Which suggests that it is going to cost money. So don't selectively quote me please.

Ta

 

[MrHfromBath]

Hi, I can't give good enough advice on the other issues, but had a similar experience regarding the airbricks (on a 1900's house). Our surveyor identified that there were insufficient airbricks, but also that the floor was showing signs of springiness and should be checked out.

After lifting some floorboards it was obvious that the floor joists in two rooms were rotten and needed replacing. It's a reasonable amount of work and wood and therefore is worth checking out if possible. It was easy to spot in mine because right in the corner the floorboards gave a little as the joists were spongy. We went ahead aware of the issue and factored in the costs, as it was a renovation project, so not unexpected.

Hopefully your surveyor is just covering himself and it's not an issue at all. As someone said why would it suddenly become a problem now. Just worth having a good check around the floor to check.

I have both bought and sold old houses. Buyers need to be realistic that there will be a certain amount of work and maintenance needed, but also not walk into expensive problems. I have previously had quotes for the repairs and requested the vendor reduce the price to that degree. I have had the same thing done to me.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, depending on how motivated the vendor is to sell and how fair/realistic your demands are. If you decide to go ahead then you are within your rights to make such a request.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

chapeau is psychic ^woody^ don't you know!

 

[chapeau]

chapeau is psychic ^woody^ don't you know!

And you are his sidekick

Let's not scare another newbie poster off by getting angry and dragging the thread down.

 

[jellycat]

Hi there

Don't know if this will help, but a survey on my 1920s property found damp too. A damp proof contractor quoted me 3K to fix the problem by injecting a DPC. I then got an independent damp surveyor in who thought the problem was mostly condensation.

Nearly four years on and after making sure the house is well ventilated and heated properly, there don't seem to be any major problems. The couple of damp patches that did show have dried out (though if the house is left unheated in cold weather they seem to come back).

I do wonder if someone came and stuck a damp meter in the walls whether there would still be high readings...

 

[chapeau]

A very useful post jellycat, my experience is the same.

The house was empty for nine months over winter while being sold, never had damp patches before in the 15 years we lived there but they turned up once not lived in.

Got a damp contractor in and he quoted £2.5k to fix it with injectable DPC. Then we pointed out that they had injected a DPC 18 years ago and it was still under guarantee.

Guess what.

They said it didn't really have rising damp!

Oh how we laughed.

So to the original poster, don't let them put you off the house, but as always buyer beware.