Building surveyor damaged property

[Iamthedom]

My buyers arranged for a building survey yesterday
I’ve just gone to the property to collect any mail and he’s done the following
Tried to remove a period tile and had broken it in half
Didn’t leave the tile anywhere
Ripped up laminate flooring under the bay window - obviously to check for damp but the flooring can’t be replaced
Removed a kicker and not replaced it
Ripped wallpaper of the bedroom wall to check a crack
Removed a floorboard didn’t put it back and left nails sticking up
No idea if he has done in
I’m furious and upset .Yes the house is old and is a dooer upper but it’s being sold as such

The period tile in the entrance hall can’t be replaced its been there since 1870s so can’t exactly get it from B & Q
What do I do
Im sending a email to my estate agent with photos and I have spoken to them and they were really shocked and said this should not have done this

No one's going to pay for the damage because whoever buys the house is going to have to rip off the skirtings, sort the damp problem out and dispose of the floor. This is a house being sold for total renovation/ makeover. The purchasers are buying it for location, size, potential, not for its beautiful interiors.

I'm taking it you've never developed a dilapidated house that needs major works?

And the Op has stated several times that the property was priced considerably below market value due to the condition of it and the fact that significant work needed doing

But there’s a big difference between full renovation (electrics/plaster/ decorate) required and replacing every bit of woodwork/beams if a house is riddled with dry rot. Any perspective buyers will want to know the state of the woodwork. What’s the point of a full structural survey otherwise?

[quote Iamthedom]@Pluvia I didn’t put down the laminate it’s not my house it’s my late parents house
That laminate has been down for about maybe 15 years I’m not sure

There isn’t a chain I’m not buying anything I have my own house that I live in I’m in no rush for a sell .
The buyers are also chain free
So it’s just us in the chain . No one else .

I’ve allowed them as many visits as they need to check the property. I’ve not been obstructive in any way . They have had builders in giving them prices .

Honestly it’s not about emotions Im really not attached to the house I haven’t lived there for around 25 years 😂 I had no issues in clearing the house out and getting rid of my parents stuff as soon as my dad passed away . Im quite hard nosed and I don’t care if this sell goes through or not as the property will sale easily again.

It’s about the surveyor going in and doing stuff he had no permission to do and then lying to me . That lying is what is fucking annoying me more than anything. I really should let that go 😂[/quote]
Yeah, it's annoying, he shouldn't have done it. Tell him that, put it in writing but you've lost nothing by him doing what he did and just waving your finger and clucking 'You shouldn't done that' looks a bit ridiculous.

If these buyers fall out, it sounds like there'll be a queue of others behind them. If they're trying to raise a mortgage rather than being cash buyers they're probably under a lot of pressure from the lender to prove that the house is worth what they're paying for it and isn't likely to need far greater renovation than is superficially obvious.

Be hard nosed. Tell the surveyor he's gone beyond his remit and then just get on with the business of selling the house instead of getting precious about a laminate floor in a house that may well have to be stripped back to the brick.

but you've lost nothing by him doing what he did

Hello! A historical tile has been broken and its other half removed so it cannot even be mended! The entryway to the property is blemished, for starters. I'd like to see anyone on this thread who is downplaying this behaviour and the lies about it, source a tile from 1870 to replace it.

The surveyor should have asked your permission to lift floors and remove tiles. That’s the issue here.
If he have come to you first and said he needed to check for damp under the laminate then I suspect that would have been ok, but the removal of the tile would not.
It doesn’t matter that the whole house needs to be renovated, it’s the fact he went ahead without asking first.

You're completely missing the point, but here you go:

uk-heritage.co.uk/shop/category/flooring-tiles/

Just one of hundreds, thousands, of reclamation yards and sites where you can buy tiles and other items for your period house. All the OP needs to do is photo the broken tile and send the pic and someone'll have a match for it. The property in the pictures isn't so exceptional it'll have been tiled with something bespoke.

The house is being sold for renovation and anyone looking to buy a house requiring renovation won't be squealing about a broken tile. Or about a bit of 15-year-old laminate being broken. To you these may seem major problems, to me I'd be far, far more concerned about the state of all the skirting which from the photos are sending a strong damp warning. If there's a timber floor underneath I'd be concerned about its state, and the state of the joists.

@Pluvia

You're completely missing the point, but here you go:

uk-heritage.co.uk/shop/category/flooring-tiles/

Just one of hundreds, thousands, of reclamation yards and sites where you can buy tiles and other items for your period house. All the OP needs to do is photo the broken tile and send the pic and someone'll have a match for it. The property in the pictures isn't so exceptional it'll have been tiled with something bespoke.

The house is being sold for renovation and anyone looking to buy a house requiring renovation won't be squealing about a broken tile. Or about a bit of 15-year-old laminate being broken. To you these may seem major problems, to me I'd be far, far more concerned about the state of all the skirting which from the photos are sending a strong damp warning. If there's a timber floor underneath I'd be concerned about its state, and the state of the joists.

Why should the OP have to do that? SHE didn't cause the damage! The damage to the floor is an easy fix but many people buy period properties FOR the original features. The buyers may or may not be planning to retain the original tiles - I would be and I'd be livid as the buyer as well.

If the sale falls through then the surveyor's employer will have to foot the bill for the replacement.

The house will also look worse than it did if it has to go back on the market which impacts it's saleability even as a doer upper.

[quote Hrpuffnstuff1]@bcc89

Your experience in the house renovations industry is what?
Zero/limited at a guess.

The house is quite clearly dilapidated.
He's carried out an intensive survey. The op is emotionally attached to the house, the buyers are not. Hence the hue and cry whilst selling.

Imagine being on the other end as a buyer in this chain. Nightmare.[/quote]
I've actually just renovated a 5 bed house... and the guy doing the survey didn't steal a tile before the house was legally mine

[quote Hrpuffnstuff1]@bcc89

Your experience in the house renovations industry is what?
Zero/limited at a guess.

The house is quite clearly dilapidated.
He's carried out an intensive survey. The op is emotionally attached to the house, the buyers are not. Hence the hue and cry whilst selling.

Imagine being on the other end as a buyer in this chain. Nightmare.[/quote]
None of this is any reason why a surveyor should damage the house. Whatever your opinion of the house it’s someone else’s property… Anyone touting themselves as experienced in the property market would know that. Or anyone with half a brain!

@Pluvia

You're completely missing the point, but here you go:

uk-heritage.co.uk/shop/category/flooring-tiles/

Just one of hundreds, thousands, of reclamation yards and sites where you can buy tiles and other items for your period house. All the OP needs to do is photo the broken tile and send the pic and someone'll have a match for it. The property in the pictures isn't so exceptional it'll have been tiled with something bespoke.

The house is being sold for renovation and anyone looking to buy a house requiring renovation won't be squealing about a broken tile. Or about a bit of 15-year-old laminate being broken. To you these may seem major problems, to me I'd be far, far more concerned about the state of all the skirting which from the photos are sending a strong damp warning. If there's a timber floor underneath I'd be concerned about its state, and the state of the joists.

Why should the OP have to pay for a new tile? The whole thread is about external people damaging the property. What a silly comment.

Maybe @Pluvia isn't necessarily saying @Iamthedom's has to replace the tile, but is simply pointing out that there are places where a replacement tile should be available, so she can insist on the surveyor getting an authentic replacement?

FWIW, I just showed your photos on this thread to a colleague who develops properties and his comment was that whatever you do, don't try to repair the laminate. Even if this purchaser falls through, the next one will want to take it up to see what's going on in that bay. Refusing to let anyone inspect could well make people suspicious and lose you a sale.

@Pluvia
It’s not the damage as such , it’s the surveyor lying to me afterwards his attitude .and the fact that he didn’t ask me if he could do this
He was in the house for under 2hrs as thr neighbour told me .

I feel sorry for the buyers because they have spent a lot of money on this survey and I would have been willing to take into account anything they weren’t able to see properly like the joists or the roof but I certainly won’t now - because he lied to me . If he told me one lie what else has he lied about . The survey as far as I’m concerned isn’t credible .

Because the house had not been valued for over 50 years it was an in person valuation
The mortgage company agreed it was worth the mortgage so no issues with there mortgage
Buyers have a mortgage in place

As I posted earlier I don’t care if they buy it or not
I can put it back on the market at the original price I asked for and as the prices have probably gone up it will sell within a week
But I’m not going to negotiate anything on the basis of that survey

@Pluvia ha ha I wouldn’t touch the laminate I might break a nail 😂😂

I can’t even change a lightbulb
Honestly I have nothing to hide
I’ve not stopped the buyers having as many visits as they want along with builders - a lot of sellers wouldn’t allow this I know .
.
I know Im selling an old property and I have no interest in hiding stuff from anyone
They can look at whatever they want - just not do any more damage

I am appalled by what the surveyor has done. The floor is one thing but to destroy an original tile then try to lie his way out of it is something else altogether.

What on earth did he think he was going to find behind the tile? Lord Lucan?

Of course it is possible it was broken by accident taking a ladder through but in which case surely there's insurance for that. Of course this may not be the first time he has been stupid in which case he may soon find himself out on his ear and deservedly so.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

Maybe *@Pluvia isn't necessarily saying @Iamthedom*'s has to replace the tile, but is simply pointing out that there are places where a replacement tile should be available, so she can insist on the surveyor getting an authentic replacement?

Or doing nothing at all, because the damage to that tile and the laminate won't have affected the value of the house. Feel annoyed for a while and then forget it.

We're stuck in a woods and trees situation, aren't we? I see the bigger picture from a renovator's pov. The OP is focussing on 'shoulds' and 'oughts' and 'rights'. I'm saying that in the real world, with old and dilapidated properties, things are more grey. This has happened, he shouldn't have done it but I can understand why he did and if I'd commissioned him I'd have wanted him to do the same. The important thing is that it won't have affected the value of property in any way and as the OP isn't living there it's not affecting her.

I obviously wouldn't say that if the house was pristine and purchasers were paying a premium for finish and fittings, but that's not the case here. Basically, no harm done. I hope there's no sign of rot, OP.

It’s not the damage as such , it’s the surveyor lying to me afterwards his attitude .and the fact that he didn’t ask me if he could do this

Bad news. People lie and bend the rules all the time. And if you were buying a dilapidated property you'd want someone poking around trying to discover the worst so that you weren't hit with unpleasant surprises that could leave you £10k+ worse off.

Appalling behaviour from the surveyor and from a minority on this thread.

@Iamthedom I’d be raging but you’re showing remarkable tolerance

Pluvia you keep going on about rot. From experience of older houses including renovation, rot is normal as the house will have gone through its life without benefit of Central Heating. As is woodworm (they tend to go together). They can be treated if the wood is still sound. If not joists, floorboards etc can be replaced or sistered.

@PegasusReturns
I am naturally a relaxed person and while I'm angry at what he did he’s ultimately screwed the buyers over as while I would have been up to negotiating for stuff they couldn’t physically see like the roof and floorboards as far as I’m concerned that survey is worthless as he’s a liar and untrustworthy

Yeah people lie all the time . I’m not above lying myself when I need to 😂 but I still would ask the owners permission to do what the surveyor did
Probably did me a favour as the prices have gone up since last year

@Pluvia

Just managed to read on to the end. If the house was in good condition and wasn't due for complete refurbishment you'd have a point, but as you know the whole place is going to be stripped out I think you ABU. Presumably the purchasers told the surveyor that they were going to take up that laminate and the original tiles and they wanted to know what was going on under the floors. In these circumstances I can see how it happened.

You need to remove emotion from the situation which is hard when it's your family home. They've offered more than you wanted for the property. If they start messing you about you can put it back on the market and expect to get a similar offer because from the sound of it the location is good and, whatever its condition, the house will appeal to another buyer.

I had to sell my mother's house and it was an upsetting experience. I can see how tempting it could be to channel difficult feelings into retribution against the surveyor but it's really not worth it. Sell quickly, put this behind you, enjoy the proceeds, remember good things about you parents, get on with your lives.

But the fact is not their house yet. So it doesn't matter one iota what they may or may not plan to do, the house has been priced for its condition and even if they have specifically asked their surveyor to pull up floorboards he should not be doing so without the owners permission

You’ve said that the whole house needs renovating, so why are you getting so fixated on things being done that will not have devalued the house, nor prevent it being sold for whatever price it’s already being sold for? You’re being petty. But hey, feel free to spend money on taking the surveyors to court.
Also, nobody in their right mind would want to keep those awful porch tiles!

[quote Iamthedom]@WhenTheyComeForYou
They are aren’t attractive to you but they are still a feature of my late parents property and it’s my property .
And even if the buyers rip it out they had no right to do that without my permission.

It’s not their property to damage as they haven’t paid for it .
Would you go around damaging stuff and say well I’m going to rip it out anyway before you have paid for if .
I don’t care if they replace it or rip it out
They shouldn’t be doing that till the house is theirs they can do what the fuck they want when they have bought it .

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard
I will update as soon as I hear anything[/quote]
As I said, I understand the issue and why you're annoyed.

But you seem really quite angry over a bit of damage to a doer upper. I know it's your parents home, but if it's a doer upper, then really I'd advise to take a step back and relax about it.

If it has damp then can you blame them for wanting to know the extent? Do you really expect them to just accept your word for it or a very superficial glance and put probably hundreds of thousands of pounds into it? Of course they want to find out the extent to the damp etc.

A lot of buyers would ask you, the seller, to pay for an inspection on it. At least you aren't paying.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot and be difficult, if you lose your buyers you may regret it

@Pluvia

No one's going to pay for the damage because whoever buys the house is going to have to rip off the skirtings, sort the damp problem out and dispose of the floor. This is a house being sold for total renovation/ makeover. The purchasers are buying it for location, size, potential, not for its beautiful interiors.

I'm taking it you've never developed a dilapidated house that needs major works?

"No one's going to pay for the damage because whoever buys the house is going to have to rip off the skirtings, sort the damp problem out and dispose of the floor"

The keys words are WHOEVER BUYS THE HOUSE. The bit you haven't been able to figure out is, it was not their property to change/ remodel. You can't take a hammer to someone else's property because you don't like it. There are actually laws in place against vandalism.

Our did the same, it was our house we were getting assessed to charge the previous tennant we ended up having to replaster walls that didn't need doing because he'd taken chunks out the plaster, relaminate because he'd broken the laminate and get floorboards replaced. We got a third of what he valued it at and it took months because he didn't whether to charge vat?!