I'm currently looking for a property and would appreciate comments on a couple of points. (I'm a reasonably competent basic DIYer but at 68 don't want to get involved in major work; my big project after moving will be to set up a workshop for model-making and electronics so I won't have energy for big house-fettling projects.)
1/ I'm looking at a house similar to this one:
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was told it was constructed of 'hollow blocks' -ex LA, and built in
1932 What are the likely problems in this type of house at this age? -any gotchas?
2/ I reckon I can form my own judgement on a lot of things like wiring, plumbing etc; what should I get a surveyor to check? ( it'll be a cash purchase so there will be no building society survey.)
When I bought a property under similar circumstances a couple of years ago, I did my own survey - using the ones on this page as a guide:
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should find a sample survey amongst this lot for a property which is a reasonable match for what you're buying, and it will give you a good idea of what to look for - or even what to pay someone else to look for.
Those should be ok to cavity insulate, but... In any retrofit CWI you're losing the damp blocking benefit of the cavity by packing it full, and when you CWI a bridged cavity construction like concrete block there's always at least some risk of a damp issue arising. One practical approach is to fill it with unglued polystyrene beads. Then if a problem should arise, its easily removed.
Structrually, hollow concrete block is a sound material, and if they're '30s ex-LA I presume they will have ensured the blocks were of ok quality.
I presume it was rewired long ago. In the very unlikely case that it wasnt, the condition of the 30s wiring would be an immediate danger by now. 30s installs lacked some basic safety features at the time, and
I also add ears .. do the floors/doors/fittings squeak, is the chimney/c h flue noisy (we get pigeons perching and cooing) and if so can you stand it? Ditto for doors/windows, can you hear outside noise, does it change in volume much when windows are open or closed?
Indeed. Surveyors will usually ignore anything that they can't easily see and their report will state that it could not be inspected. They won't look at plumbing or electrics and their report will be full of legal disclaimers so you can't sue them if they're wrong.
Assuming it's one of many, I'd find a local structural engineer. He's more likely to have been involved in any remedial works than a surveyor. Who will probably want to do a full survey, rather than just a report on what you actually want to know about.
Check the wiring, plumbing, all aspects of the roof for any hint of a leak. Try and go on a cold winters day and check for damp forming on the windows or walls. Are the tiles in the bathroom well fitted - I discovered water getting BEHIND the tiles in our house. How old's the boiler and radiators? Can you get to all the drains for rodding etc - oh the fun removing years of baby wipes from our sewer pipe, after having to chisel out the blanking place which was mortared in place over the rodding point (probably in 1932 when our property was build ;-) ).
Like some posters' I consider a survey required (by the mortgagers) but worth the paper it's printed on. Mine started with words along the lines of "we did the best we would, not more, you can't sue us if we missed something".
It sounds as if you have not had a full surveys done but actually homebuyer's reports in connection with a mortgage. That was my point that he needs to get a full survey done by a Chartered Surveyor that will include the wiring and plumbing if he specifies that is what he wants.
On the first house house I bought I *did* get a full survey. The surveyor still didn't lift (fitted) carpets, move heavy furniture, get out onto the roof or basically do anything that couldn't be accessed with anything more than slight physical effort. To reinforce Tim's observations, the final report was so full of exclusions and disclaimers as to be virtually worthless. There was more space dedicated to the surveyor's personal opinions of the state of the decor than there was on the state of the plumbing, or electrics, or fabric of the house. I was firmly convinced at the time that there was nothing in the report that was actionable, served as a warning or advice and that I would be unable to seek a remedy even if the surveyor had made a specific statements that turned out to be wrong.
Since then I've trusted my own judgement: looked for cracks, damp, creaks, smells and bodges. I can spot them just as well as any so-called "professional" and the money saved (the first survey, back in the early 80's was more than the first month's mortgage - so reckon on £1500+ now) would have paid for a proper expert if the need had arisen.
If you *do* get suspicious, you can always ask a local builder to give you a free estimate for any work. They are probably better at assessing what's needed than a surveyor would and a dam' sight more practical, too.
Is it usual for a Chartered Surveyor to be able to test electrics etc properly? To do that requires specialist (and expensive) test gear and the ability to use it correctly. Same with heating systems. Last full survey I had said specialists would be needed to check several things fully.
All I can say is that the three times I have had it done he checked visually and on two occasions called in an electrician to do detailed checks. Both times a full rewires was required and the purchase price was reduced accordingly by more than it cost to do. Furthermore on one occasion the electricity supply company were notified and came and removed the main fuse immediately because it was dangerous. Both properties had passed a homebuyer's survey. Basically you get what you pay for.
You didn't get what you paid for because others had to be paid to complete the survey. And not just for electrics. You'd need endless experts to find out absolutely the condition of the house.
FWIW, I'd expect any half competent DIYer to realise when a prospective house purchase requires a full re-wire. It's hardly rocket science.
You're right, a CS could not make statements that would be not covered by his/her/its insurance and therefore they would say nothing. The problem I had was that the report I got from a *qualified* professional was vague, limited and ambiguous. I had no reason to expect that any other surveys I commissioned from other "professionals" (plumbers, electricians etc.) would be of any better quality.
IMHO they will always veer on the side of CYA and recommend more inspections, works to be carried out and pessimistic views. Simply because it costs them nothing to say "I recommend a complete rewire" and there's no recourse you have later to say "that rewire you recommended was unnecessary - you owe me X thousand for work I didn't need to do" as you can't prove a negative (and the caveats in their Ts & Cs exclude blame or responsibility for mistakes).
As a consequence on subsequent purchases I just took the contents of the homebuyers report, which is for the mortgage company and basically justs says "the property could be resold for more than the amount of the mortgage" as a basic yes/no. And relied on my own ability to poke around in the loft, check all the radiators warm up (and don't leak), that there are no cracks in load-bearing walls and that all the power sockets light the right lights on a mains tester. That's more than the CS ever did and at the end I have someone to blame (me!) if there's a problem.
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