Rsj and party walls and sagging floors

[failingmammalian]

So.... It seems the house we want to buy has a missing load bearing wall and therefore we would need to stick an rsj in, which would probably involve party wall agreements and all that
Am I crazy to take this on? This is serious and structural and I just can't decide if I have the stomach for it. Any experience doing this? Can it go smoothly? The neighbours are 2 flats, so two parties to deal with. Help!

[allthatglittersisnotgold]

Hi,

Can't offer a huge amount of advice, but we had rsj's put in during the loft conversion process, and honestly it wasn't as dramatic as I thought. Now I've done one I wouldn't be too afraid of doing another or putting one somewhere else in our flat if we had to.

Are you buying on your own? Can you get a feeler for the neighbours attitudes? Most won't have a problem if you explain this house is not structurally sound and I wnat to fix it. Should be grateful I'd have thought to have a neighbour who cares abotu the building.

[wonkylegs]

I wouldn't be too worried about party wall issues as you would obviously be doing the work for their benefit too (if your property is not structurally sound it could cause damage to theirs), it will create extra paperwork though and it might actually be three people you need to notify if the flats have a freeholder.
It will be hassle, I wouldn't be interested unless it was priced to do the rectification and to cover the inconvenience.
I would also be concerned that if this was removed without care what other shoddy workmanship you might uncover. Generally dodgy workmanship is not limited to single items I'm afraid.