• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

Building survey

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #11
    Can you post a photograph of the house in question and we'll all offer our opinion FoC. Sorted.

    Comment


      #12
      I have always gone for a full detailed Survey. The last one cost me £1200. Roughly 50-60 pages and very thorough.

      Quick exit...
      I was an IPSE Consultative Council Member, until the BoD abolished it. I am not an IPSE Member, since they have no longer have any relevance to me, as an IT Contractor. Read my lips...I recommend QDOS for ALL your Insurance requirements (Contact me for a referral code).

      Comment


        #13
        Originally posted by VillageContractor View Post
        I think it's a 1930s house. I expect to find issues but considering its the biggest purchase I'm going to make I'd like to know everything before purchasing
        And you thought you'd ask us for advice? Congratulations, your problems have only just begun...
        His heart is in the right place - shame we can't say the same about his brain...

        Comment


          #14
          Originally posted by Halo Jones View Post
          I may be biased but I would always go with a Chartered Surveyor becauseA) they have to prove they know what they are talking about, B) if there is a problem you have some recourse to a "higher level".
          Not always the cheapest but as a house is likely to be your largest expenditure, is now the time to skimp?

          Here is the link to search for a local Surveyor
          Agree 100% with this, though do take it all with a reasonable pinch of salt because they can only check things they can see/get to etc.

          Originally posted by Mordac View Post
          And you thought you'd ask us for advice? Congratulations, your problems have only just begun...
          Should I tell him about that time we brought a 30's build that needed a bit of TLC and wound up with a £30k+ back to brick renovation?

          Best thing I ever did, though! My advice to the OP is get comfortable with DIY - when we completed on that house I'd never ever put up a shelf*. Last week I poured the foundations for the extension I'm DIY building....

          Originally posted by Benny View Post
          Look out for corroded wall ties
          Cavity walls? Luxury!

          *Though I do admit I wasn't exactly completely useless, as I was a car/bike guy and had turned a lot of spanners. But never any house/building stuff.
          Last edited by vwdan; 30 May 2019, 17:14.

          Comment


            #15
            Originally posted by Mordac View Post
            And you thought you'd ask us for advice? Congratulations, your problems have only just begun...
            Not a bit

            Whatever the question there's bound to be someone here who knows the answer (or an answer), and some of us claim to be experts on practically everything!
            Work in the public sector? Read the IR35 FAQ here

            Comment


              #16
              Originally posted by vwdan View Post
              Cavity walls? Luxury!
              A bit like foundations, I've heard of them, but don't have any on the main part of the house.
              …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

              Comment


                #17
                Also worth checking on the previous use.
                Saw a really nice at a good price, found out it was used as an illegal bed-sit/hostel. The extra bathrooms had been removed so it could be sold. But when we checked under the floor boards every joist had been butchered to install pipes. Some pipes were still there just capped-off.

                A lot of time and money to fix, or you could play Russian roulette every time you filled the bath.
                Fiscal nomad it's legal.

                Comment


                  #18
                  If buying an older property also worth checking/getting insurance for chancel repair. If at any time the property was owned by the church you could be liable for repairs to the local parish church under chancel law ( I think its called). When I bought my current house I took out chancel insurance as I knew it had been previously owned by the local parish church, clue was in the house name "Glebe Farm". Glebe meaning a piece of land serving as part of a clergyman's benefice and providing income. Chancel insurance isn't expensive and is a one off payment for life time cover.

                  Chancel repair liabilities in England and Wales - The National Archives

                  Comment


                    #19
                    I'm umming and ahing about whether or not to get a homebuyers report or full structural.

                    I'm assuming that major defects like subsidence etc will be picked up by both and that's all I'm really interested in. The full structural will come back reading like a copy of War and Peace with loads of minor issues and things that need further investigation which will involve hiring more specialists . I've been there before with a previous property & the vendor got so pissed he put it back on the market. Don't want a repeat of that...
                    Last edited by Big Blue Plymouth; 6 June 2019, 08:28.

                    Comment


                      #20
                      The last place I bought only had a homebuyers report. I wonder, but am not sure, if a full structural survey would have picked up removal of the wall that originally separated the kitchen and dining room. I had no idea that had been removed until I pulled the kitchen floor up some years later. It wasn't a supporting wall so I wasn't concerned.

                      The people buying my house very quickly found out about it (maybe due to their surveyor) and I had to pay for some indemnity insurance in order for the sale to go through because no planning permission/building controls check had been sought. It was only a couple of hundred quid but I was livid at having to pay for a previous owner's actions.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X