full structural survey

[noddyholder]

We are having one of these on our house wednesday morning.I have only ever had a homebuyers and am now really worried it will uncover some horror and we will lose our buyers!What does it cover?or more to the point what are they looking for?Thanks xx

help!

It is a lot more detailed than a homebuyers and will suggest in more detail where the buyer will have to spend money.

Is your house old? Or in an area with subsidence?

here I think it basically covers everything - walls, roof - the structure of the house itself

It covers just about everything and can look horrendous on the first glance, but a canny buyer knows how to interpret the findings without panicking or pulling out.

When we bought our house there were lots of worrying paragraphs in the survey eg
'Roofing felt can become brittle where it is exposed to the elements at eaves level. Over a period of time it can deteriorate and this may encourage water to leak back onto the ends of rafters causing rot. No sign of such deterioration is noted at present but you should carry out periodic inspections to ensure that this does not occur in the future.'
On first reading you go 'oh no! the roof is rotting!' but a more careful readthrough shows it is just them covering their backs in case the roof does start to leak, so you can't claim they didn't warn you.

Similarly:
'It was noted that there was misting in the lower external pane of the porch door, which suggests that the seals to the double glazed unit has failed. This pane will need replacing.'
Well, it still keeps the rain and the wind out two years later, so it didn't need replacing. They're covering their backs again.

Stay calm - if the house has been livable for you, it's livable for the buyers, even if it's not in tiptop condition.

No it is a 70's townhouse I don't think there is subsidence in the area but how would I know?We have lived perfectly happily here and replaced the roof and all guttering etc Also new cavity wall insulation and a couple of new windows but I am worried as we have dropped 8k for a quick sale and can't afford more

You would know about subsidence if you see cracks in the brickwork. I imagine that the surveyors use standard phrases - DH does surveys on trees which are sometimes needed for mortgages & he has stock phrases - again there is a bit of backside covering as MrsB says

have you got your survey from when you moved there ? That should highlight any major issues, if only at a very basic level, and presumably you have receipts and guarantees for the work you've had done. Beyond that the surveyor will poke around everywhere , including attic, water tanks etc looking for any leaks, damp, cracks, rot etc. They always turn up something and if in any doubt as to the extent and cost involved will recommend a specialist report. When we sold our late 60's flat the issues were possible use of highly aluminised cement in the construction and potential tree roots near the drains, both of which had to be investigated.

Thanks everyone no cracks anywhere apart from superficial ones in plaster here and there inside(tiny)I didn't have a full survey when I bought this place so didn't have any major concerns after the homebuyers