Old Cottage Survey

[YorkieNun]

Hi All,

I apologise if this has already been asked or something similar but I'm new to this forum.

We have had a survey completed on a cottage built in 1850 which has come back with some issues and I am wondering if anyone can give me some impartial advice about moving forward with the purchase or pulling out.

The main concerns in the survey are:

• Asbestos
• Damp
• Sagging floors
• Sagging roof
• Old wiring
• Old heating
• Rising main water pipe is made from lead

Is this all too much to tackle and going to cost a fortune or is this something that if your heart wanted the house would be worth undertaking?

We have gone back to the vendors regarding negotiation but there doesn't seem to be much movement on their side. We already negotiated £15k off the original asking price at first negotiations.

Thank you all in advance.

Are you trying to buy the same house as me

Massive long term project for us, at least 5yrs, shitting myself but I keep reminding myself that we will have our dream home at the end of it if i don't die of stress before its finished

Haha I hope not, we already had our offer accepted but now trying to weigh up the pro's and cons.

How did you weigh up your options? How did you cost up all the works?

I was hoping to have it done in much less time than 5 years but with these projects who knows.

Tbh round here there are no other options for us. We've been looking for years and we are at the end of our tether.
DH desp wanted a project I didn't so he's happy as Larry at the prospect

It may sound crazy but we haven't coated everything. We don't intend on moving again and other than the new roof, which has to be done as a priority as there are buckets catching drips upstairs, everything else can be done as and when we can afford.

We have guestimated, in our professional capacity, at around £100k --but won't be at all
Surprised if it goes way over--

*costed

Ah see that is exactly what I was afraid of, I don't want to put £100k into it.

I don't think it is than bad of a state of repair, the current owners have lived there for 40 years and love it but the chap can't manage the stairs now.

I think it's been maintained but not in a 'no expense spared' capacity.

I suppose I will just have to get the builders in to see what the costs are.

What did the surveyor value it at?

Depends on the detail of the issues you have listed. So say has it been tested as asbestos ? Or is the the surveyor saying it probably is ? The floor could be uneven or could be dry rot. You would need to drill into the findings and possibly get specialist surveyors in .

Having completed a few cottage renovations I wouldn’t worry about the wiring and heating as they are easy to have replaced and a definable cost. The lead water supply pipe wouldn’t be difficult to replace either a builder with a mini digger or if it’s a hard water area you could not bother because the inside will be covered in limescale
If it’s corrugated asbestos it’s fairly safe unless the sheets are broken so disposal is not too expensive
I would get a builder to quote for the roof and try and find the source of the damp. It could be leaking gutters, chimney, soil breaching dpc, no dpc, it might not need a dpc. The sagging floors could be the joists weren’t thick enough and often you just live with the sag
A good builder who doesn’t see pound signs is essential or a company that does structural survey/engineering as they will give you solutions to the issues.

All of this will be expensive.

You need to find out why the floors are sagging. Why the roof is sagging? Possibly insufficient joists and roof beams. Are the tiles too heavy for the roof. Rewiring probably has a finite cost but replacing heating is really expensive if it’s not just the boiler. You would presumably want to modernise the heating.

I assume it’s not listed. If it is, then there will be negotiation on what you can and cannot do.

I’m afraid lots of people ignore problems and live with them. If you have agreed a price without knowing possible costs, then you might need deep pockets. It depends what you are prepared to put up with but asbestos should be removed and I wouldn’t live without the damp being sorted or the electrics, or the heating! Or the roof!

You say it’s been maintained but from your list that sounds like a house that has not been maintained in any way shape or form, I reckon 100k minimum.

You can live with most of these problems eg asbestos is ok if it’s covered and not disturbed, sloping floors are usual in old houses. You do the more urgent jobs as and when you can.
Houses don’t suddenly fall down, most of the things which need doing can wait for years.

It will be costly, but can be managed over a time period. Where and what is the extent of the asbestos? It possibly is in a small area, such as around a chimney. Easily removed by a specialist firm. We were quoted £1000 for removal of asbestos soffits.
Heating, BG and others have just quoted £8000 to completely replace CH in our 3 bed cottage, that’s everything new, but you probably could get it done for around £6000 if you knew a local plumber.
Last complete house retire cost us £12000, but that was everything as if a new build for a 4 bed house.
Roofs, it depends, ours has a twisted roof support, but no rot. If the tiles are in good condition and it doesn’t leak, the general opinion is to leave it alone. It’s been there a long time undisturbed and will probably remain for a good few years yet.

Sagging floors in old houses are common, the joists can be braced, but should be investigated for rot.

As others have said old houses have stood for 100+ Years. Some bits wear out other bits gracefully age.

*re wire! Not retire.

Just to add that you don't always have to remove asbestos - depends on what type and where.

I had an old house where the boiler was in the cellar and some previous occupant obviously worried about a fire in the cellar had clad the whole cellar ceiling with asbestos sheeting. It was in good condition. We had very firm advice to leave well alone and just spray a coat of paint over it to make sure it stayed stable.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

The surveyor didn't value it but the mortgage company valued it at what we have agreed to buy it for £255k and I understand they would never value it for more than what we have asked so this must be a positive sign surely?

The asbestos was just from the surveyor so hasn't been tested as I didn't want to throw more money into surveys if it wasn't worth purchasing. We have no idea of the extent of asbestos.

It's not listed no, I don't mind a slightly sagging roof tbh as it add a bit of character but I do want it to be safe. The asbestos is a concern as is the damp so I suppose no way around that other than putting my hands in my pockets and getting surveys done.

I have been quoted £3,500 for the replacement boiler but tbh I think it's more cost effctive to keep the boiler serviced and pay higher running costs.

I think I am just going to have to get the people in to do the checks.

Any other pointers people have about buying older houses?

Thanks.

Not a real pointer, but when we had an 1860 house we thought we had a ghost as there was a strange knocking/ vibrating noise in one of the bedrooms.
It was only when the floorboards were lifted, we found the loose ancient gas lighting pipe that knocked against the boards when someone walked in the room!
It’s lovely living in a character house.

I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole. Sounds like it will be a massive money pit. Spend your money on living your life and having fun!

The house we live in was valued above the price we paid. It means you can spend a bit knowing you have leeway between the real value and the price you are paying.

As my DH is a Structural Engineer I love the idea that houses stand up forever without intervention. They don’t. Walls crack if they cannot take the weight of the roof. They may bulge. The floors may rot. Sloping floors are not the norm in a Victorian house. The building may heave or subside. Hopefully not, but anyone who think repairs are not necessary is an amazing optimist.

What type of survey did you have, full structural or home buyers? You can ring the surveyor and talk in more detail about his report - often the formal wording of these type of documents makes things sound worse than they are. Go round with a local builder who can give you some idea of what might need doing and the costs. Be wary of damp companies who will want you to do work - often damp is due to gutters and down pipes and most old buildings dont have dpcs and dont benefit from chemical injection - it is a waste of money.

We did this 18 months ago! The survey was awful- the vendors denied it and called the surveyor a liar! It do bad even the toilet leaked. They gave us 2k off the price. But there aren't many properties around where we live that come on the market that aren't new builds. It's very overwhelming and I've had regrets many times. My husband hasn't. We've just replaced the floor in one bedroom where thete as a 4inch difference from one side to the other. This is a money put and a long term project. The electrics are appalling and there is a lot of damp but we feel the damp is partly because they never treated this as an old house and did stupid things like out wallpaper up when the walls should be allowed to breathe!

Sorry lots of spelling mistakes. Definity agree you cannot just leave a lot of things as the house will deteriorate further.

Wallpaper doesn’t stop walls breathing. It’s paper. It’s pretty porous. If it’s damp, it will fall off anyway. You need to find and cure the damp. All walls should breathe of course but where gardens have been altered and soil or paving is against a wall, for example, the damp creeps up the wall, papered or not. Usually the advice of a surveyor as opposed to a damp company is best. Tracking the source of the damp is always the first thing. Using products is rarely the answer.

Very old houses need owners who understand them and they were not originally heated to modern standards. They were not built to modern standards either. They may have been altered down the years to weaken the structure. They may have been badly built in the first place. Our dining room is “country built”. The walls are a mixture of brick, flint, stones and wood: all wedged in and mortared. When we stripped back the render, it nearly fell down. The mortar was failing. It was built in around 1835. You just do not know what lies underneath.

It’s best to go in knowing what the problems are ( not that you can strip render back) and what you, as an individual, are prepared to put up with in the interim, what your budget will be and most of all, what your contingency budget will be for what goes wrong! Because it will.

We’re currently renovating a 1930’s cottage. We knew there were things that needed doing when we bought it, and did negotiate some money off, but we keep discovering new problems!

The house looked mainly ok on the surface, but when we’ve stripped it back it’s basically one big bodge job, so where it was ‘renovated’ we’ve had to rip it out and start again.

My husbands a very competent DIYer, so he’s undertaking a lot of the work himself, but there are obviously still some things like gas and electrics that we’ve had to pay professionals for.

The other thing to consider is how you’ll feel living through a reno- we’re currently living with no central heating (fortunately have had a log burner fitted, but still chilly!), and boarded up holes where most of the windows and doors are! It’s not for everyone but for us it’s worth it for the long term financial gains.

If you go ahead I’d definitely recommend visiting a home building and renovating show - they hold them around the country, and if you google online you can probably find a code for free tickets! Well worth it to see products in person and meet potential suppliers!

Sorry, that post was long!