Buying a house, survey has come back and not sure what to do?

[samanthalou]

Hi All.

Our survey has come back and ouch! Amongst other things we have to:
Get someone in to re-point and possibly rectify a bulge in the chimney.
Check the lintel at the front exterior to see whether they need replacing
Patch pointing at 1st floor level at front exterior
remove and repair rendering at rear (its been brought too high and may affect the damp proofing)
get the whole house and subfloor timer damp proof inspected as there are signs of rising damp

Get the electrics looked at because it looks like a "DIY" job

They are the number 3 - need immediate attention issues. There are a few number 2's but equally as many number 1s (no issues with these points).

Where do we start? What do we do? Do we get a builder/damp proofer in for a quote? Will the vendor let them in? are these issues going to cost us an absolute fortune to rectify?

NB: We haven't completed on the sale of the house yet, we are waiting for searches and solicitors.

Thanks for reading!

When we got the survey on the house we have recently moved into it showed major problems with the roof and electrics. We got quotes on the work for these and then renegotiated the price accordingly. Everything else on the survey we have accepted as work we had planned to do anyway (dated bathroom etc). We didn't have any issues with the vendors in terms of tradesmen being allowed in.

get estimates & saying you are decreasing offer - if you want to go ahead & decrease offer more than work is going to cost as it may cost more than estimate & the inconvenience (& talk to surveyor he may be able to give you advice)

I take it this is an old house?
The no 1's are a priority obviously, but the 2's can wait and you do them in your own time.
our house was like this, still is in some respects.
Get someone in to have a look and take it from there.
Are you DIY people as lots on your list can be done by yourselves if so.
Pointing isn't difficult, although wouldn't want to do a high chimney.
They aren't that expensive unless the tradespeople need to hire scaffolding it can get expensive then.
The bulge might mean the wall ties need replacing, I'm not sure how much ours cost as was about 15 years ago, but we didn't have thousands for maintenance at the time.

BTW your title reads like alternative lyrics to the 70's hit "Blockbuster"

The house was built circa 1900 so yes, it's a very old house :)

We aren't really DIY people and this is our first house so we haven't a blinking clue what's going on at the moment.

I've messaged the surveyor to give me a call and have started researching builders etc.

I don't mind shelling out (to a degree), but at the same time, the vendor was non-negotiable on the asking price and as much as I don't want this to hinder us purchasing it (if the issues are fixable), I don't want to go back with a decreased offer and have him turn it down.

It's so confusing and difficult!

RomanyRoots I ADORE that song

Get experts out as above posts if it has rising damp you need plaster back to brick about 1mtr heigh all way around downstairs very messy, if electrics have been diyed as you say the same. Chimney is probably a days work for builder get quotes for everything at a guess it could be substantial depending on purchase price, then as above renogtitate or walk away
Unless you know this and are gutting it to re do anyway

I would stop searches etc if you can till you get all quotes in otherwise you might be throwing more money away

I don't mind shelling out (to a degree), but at the same time, the vendor was non-negotiable on the asking price and as much as I don't want this to hinder us purchasing it (if the issues are fixable), I don't want to go back with a decreased offer and have him turn it down.

So you are happy to buy it at the original price regardless of the cost involved in the remedial work?

If so, all you need to do is keep going with the purchase.

But if any of the issues give you pause and will be expensive to rectify, then you need to negotiate with the vendor. They're not going to walk away from the sale because you raised the survey issues.

it can't cost that much for the work unless the surveyor would have come back with a value below the asking price.
It happened to us in another house the survey was 6k below and that was a significant amount on a 45k house, so we got it for £39k, they couldn't sell it otherwise. Nobody would give a mortgage higher than the value.

There is something to remember though, old houses do take a lot of maintaining.
As you get used to living there your maintenance list will grow each year.
This is why I say ours still has some original problems even though we've done extensive work over the years.
You start one job and it creates another.
With the electrics there's a huge difference between old and not safe.
Our system was old and showed up on survey, it was safe and we made do until we had the money to update it.
Do you have a cellar, when we removed the old copper pipes in the cellar we got enough money to pay for a substantial job, can't remember what though

A 1900 house is a baby, honest (she says living in a 1774 rental and owning an 1837 house).

You might find that if you deal with the rendering issue, the damp issue vanishes. Get a proper damp specialist out - not a company that sells DPCs. The issue with the damp could also be the chimney if it needs repointing. Patch pointing at the front could also indicate why there is damp.

Have a read of this www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

Thank you all so much for your replies.

I had a mini-meltdown last night and slept on it.

We have got a damp proofing person going in next week, and an electrician, and a builder friend of my dads is going to have a look at the survey and give us a rough estimate of cost of work.

We are FTB and haven't ever gone through any of this before so it was a big shock with all the "you must look at this now" statements etc.

We will wait and see what everyone comes back with, and then go from there.

Thanks again!

It sounds like you have an excellent plan. Do remember that damp proofing people have a strong tendency to say you need damp proofing (which is often unhelpful in older houses) so maybe get your builder to take a look at that too.

Sounds like a bit of a money pit tbh. Old houses are expensive to maintain, but as long as you're aware of, happy to undertake regular maintenance & most importantly can afford the time & expense then all is good. If you just want to move in & not worry about work you could be better placed looking at something 60's/70's. Not pretty to look at, but cheaper & generally well built with a good use of space.