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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to want to flush loos, turn on the heating and check sockets at a house viewing

57 replies

DeeLite · 27/01/2012 11:01

We are viewing a house tomorrow that has been builder-refurbished. The finishing is a bit shabby. The vendor will be present. Can I ask him to turn on the heating and then check that all the radiators heat up and that we get hot water from all the taps, that loos flush and electrical fittings work?

Would he think me an unreasonable buyer and therefore go with another offer?

OP posts:

Birdsgottafly · 27/01/2012 17:46

Check whatever you want (a bit like trying before you buy clothes) but then don't scrip on a full surveyors report, you then always have come back.

Bunbaker · 27/01/2012 17:54

If I had a house on the market at this time of year I would have the heating on anyway. A cold house in winter is a massive turn off to prospective buyers.

I know some people like to "live with" problems, but we don't. If anything goes wrong with the heating/electrics/plumbing/windows etc we get it fixed - we like to be comfortable.

MuffinTheMilf · 27/01/2012 17:55

YANBU, we ran the shower at the first viewing of one we just saw (bitter experience of buying a house where the shower was just a trickle). Apparently on average most purchasers only spend 20 mins looking around a house before buying, yet it's the most expensive purchase we'll ever make. I check that cupboards open and shut, have a good look at carpets and ask about 8 million questions about rewiring, boilers etc.

BackforGood · 27/01/2012 17:56

On a second viewing, then yes, all this is reasonable well, most but I'd think you a bit odd on a first look round.

pippop1 · 27/01/2012 18:09

My son just bought his first flat and had a full structural survey and when that was OK then had an electrical survey (from a qualified electrician) and a boiler/heating/plumbing survey from a qualifield plumber. Turned out that the boiler was virtually unusable. The seller was desperate for the sale to go ahead and agreed to pay half the cost of a brand new boiler being installed. Money well spent on surveys in my opinion. My son is a (civil) engineer though.

Bunbaker · 27/01/2012 18:48

We had an electrical and plumbing survey done on the house we are in now after having had our fingers burned at our last house. Luckily the previous owner was like us - wanted everything to work properly.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 27/01/2012 19:18

We had a full structural survey as well as a party wall survey and BOTH surveyors missed major bowing in the back portion of the house. Less importantly but nonetheless annoyingly, the surveyor who did the full structural survey also missed the massive knotweed growing in next door's garden (we didn't know what it was - thought that's what you were supposed to pay a surveyor for.) We're currently looking into whether or not we can pursue them both for their lack of observation.

The money you spend on the survey is only as good as the surveyor.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 27/01/2012 19:24

But, obviously, get a survey done. Sorry, I'm more than a little bitter about parting with thousands and they missed the most important thing wrong with the house. We'd still have bought it, just for a few grand less.

Sorry to drag the thread off OP. As you were .

breatheslowly · 27/01/2012 20:30

I'd only check things that you would consider to be deal breakers or negotiation points. So for example we checked the shower pressure in our house as it could have been difficult to fix if it was just a trickle and it really matters to us. We didn't open and close all of the kitchen cupboards or all of the doors (and one bedroom door doesn't quite close) as we were not going to attempt to negotiate about that kind of issue. Obviously buying from a builder there is more chance of things being fixed for you before you complete than just buying from a normal homeowner.

TheSkiingGardener · 27/01/2012 20:38

We had a full structural survey which banged on about the poi ting being a bit poor.

He hadn't spotted that the lights we wired up wrongly, none of the bathrooms worked without leaking into the floor below, the roof leaked, the hot water and pressure is crap and there was a big hole in the wall in the living room.

Not helpful, check everything yourself

JADS · 27/01/2012 20:51

YANBU

Our next door neighbours bought a house with a brand new kitchen where nothing had been plumbed in - no gas, no water. They had to rip the whole thing out and start again.

mathanxiety · 27/01/2012 20:55

I found a poo in the toilet when my own house had been viewed in my absence. Please, if you try out the facilities, make sure you really do flush.

I would advise you to check absolutely everything you feel like checking -- open doors to built in cabinetry and cupboards, the fridge and oven if they go with the house, everything.

I would never buy a house without a full survey including electrical, plumbing and structural details, done by someone who came with a raft of recommendations.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 27/01/2012 21:14

YY TheSkiingGardener. Ours was the same! And fwiw, both of our 'surveyors' were recommended... one by several friends and the other by the HA that owns both houses either side of us. Grr.

And eww mathanxiety.

GnomeDePlume · 27/01/2012 21:24

DH (an electrician) recomends getting things like heating and electrics checked by the appropriate trade. Surveyors no next door to naff all about electrics & gas. They know shed loads about structure.

Ribeno · 27/01/2012 22:15

Maybe at a second viewing? I wish I'd paid more attention when I'd viewed our house. when we got the keys and wandered round our new (well old really) house all I could see was grime marks around where pictures used to be, poorly fitted bathroom with leaks, broken double glazing, wonky fittings, old knackered boiler etc.

It looked so grim and grubby annoying considering we'd paid a few pounds for it!!

I would draw up a list of questions to ask.

They want to sell the house and they shouldn't have any problems so long as you ask and don't overstep any polite boundaries.

TartyMcFarty · 27/01/2012 22:47

If the vendor claims that a woodburner is in working order and heated the whole house before GCH was installed, check the chimney for a cap before you buy the place, light the fire and die of smoke inhalation (the latter could've happened to us as a result of her 'little white lie')!

southeastastra · 27/01/2012 22:49

i would want a full boiler inspection

LucaBrasi · 27/01/2012 22:52

TBH even checking the lights/circuits means bugger all; they could be turn of the century (and not last)

I have a Victorian house and have had to change every circuit in the house, despite the fact I was told the house had been 'rewired'. In 1942 perhaps. Old houses are a nightmare. Wish I had taken the lovely finished ones I was offered , instead of the draughty old unfinished one i have now. and btw, it's not big, 3 bedrooms at max, could have had a lot more. Chchhhhhrrrrrr

GnomeDePlume · 27/01/2012 23:51

The difficulty is that most people think that putting in new sockets and a new consumer units is a rewire. It isnt. A rewire is a big messy thing which means that all the cable in the walls is replaced with new stuff.

We have done a couple of renovations now. When ours say rewire they mean exactly that, not a centimetre of old cable will have been used.

Demand building regs certs for all works done on:

electrics
gas
structural changes

If these cant be produced then walk run away.

We produce a folder which is left in the house for any viewer to look through. Contains building regs certs, info/guarantees for anything we have fitted as part of the renovation.

ZillionChocolate · 28/01/2012 00:10

My house had been badly looked after/maintained. I wish I'd checked how smoothly the dishwasher drawer ran, how many light bulbs were out/missing, whether the shelves under sinks had warped from leaks and whether the radiators/oven were full of cat hair.

ZillionChocolate · 28/01/2012 00:12

(not because any of those things were fatal in themselves, but taken together along with all the other niggles might have been valuable clues as to how many months we'd spend fixing stuff)

GnomeDePlume · 28/01/2012 00:21

Oh I can sympathise, Zillion. I spent many happy hours scraping old paint and dog hair off skirting boards. I swear that previous owners had not moved the dog when they decorated or when they had central heating fitted (sitting room rad was far higher up the walls than all the other coinciding with vast quantities of dog hair in the skirting!)

randommoment · 28/01/2012 00:25

yanbu - and while you're at it, check the cellar for signs of flood damage. (Voice of bitter experience, after stashing a load of books down there).

startail · 28/01/2012 00:31

Showers
I was delighted new house had a shower.
Took the next 9 years for (d)h to fit one that actually produced anything better than drizzle.

Piggles · 28/01/2012 00:55

Totally agree that you should poke into everything. If you are really contemplating buying then you deserve to know exactly what you are getting.

Flushing a loo is honestly the first thing I would do when seriously looking at a house now.

When DH and I were house hunting, one place we looked at the toilet in the main bathroom seriously took 10-15 minutes to refill after being flushed - and it wasn't quiet about it.

Another place none of the three loos worked properly, the handle was simply broken on one, but I have no idea what was up with the others.

The house we eventually bought, flushing the three toilets revealed that one of them was blocked - an enormous blue foam ball jammed deep down it. That was a fun afternoon for DH trying to figure out how to retrieve that, the air was as blue as the ball

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