The building report has revealed some issues with damp and pointing, what's the next step?

[Gincognito]

We've just had a building report (sort of a HomeBuyer+) done on the house (Victorian) we are buying. It's revealed a few issues, namely:

-soft pointing
-some problems with the brick arch over the door
-some damp issues, including previous not-so-great work done to remedy this.

I've already arranged for a company to come in to do a dampness and timber quote. Once I have a clearer idea of the other issues (not seen the report yet, just a had a brief conversation with the surveyor) I'll get the appropriate people to have a look at the other issues too.

My question is - what else do we do? Do we reduce our offer once the costs are known or is that not the done thing? Do we ask them to do the work before we complete? We are trying to complete as quickly as possible so that could be impractical.

Also - the vendors have a guarantee on the previous damp proofing. Our surveyor said the work done is not great. What should our approach be on this?

TIA for advice.

If it is a Victorian house, you have to expect that there will always be some age-related defects and maintenance. You can try to reduce the price a bit if you want, but it sounds like the things you describe are quite normal so should be within typical condition and typical selling price. Try to get recommendationd for a local brickie or small builder - repointing is a very small, practically trivial job, labour-intensive, but needs some manual skill and some understanding of old buildings and materials, and will involve working from a ladder or scaffold. You neeed someone with the skill and care to blend it in with the rest of the wall.

It sounds like you have probably had a chemical injection DPC. These are usually done to satisfy mortgage surveyors, and the main benefit is the guarantee which is worth the paper it is written on.

In most cases, a better remedy is to strip off perished plaster and clean any salt deposits from the wall, and render with sand and cement; to open up sub-floor airbicks; reduce internal humidty by proper ventilation; and to ensure that here are no raised ground levels or paths against the wall. Water splash from dripping gutters or downpipes often makes the bottoms of walls wet. You should also look under the floor for sources of damp or wet, or builders rubble against the inside of the wall. Unfortunately none of this remedial work comes with a piece of paper marked "guarantee" that the mortgage company requires.

True "rising damp" is actually extremely rare and very difficult to cause in the absence of other defects. This is a source of much circular discussion among surveyors, engineers, and builders.

Good advice from John on the damp. We had a damp patch in the kitchen that was cured by fixing and re-routing a down pipe. We also have a damp cellar which is fine as long as it's kept ventilated.

Thank you John that is very helpful. I'll be interested to see what the detailed report says.