Problems highlighted in building survey

[nevermovinghouseagain56]

I've just had the survey report back from a house I've recently made an offer on and several issues have been highlighted.

Rising damp has been noted on the party wall to the adjacent house on the ground floor. Penetrating damp is also present in the party wall to the same house but upstairs on the landing where the chimney breast of next door's house is positioned.

Penetrating damp has also been noted in one of the bedrooms which is likely to have been caused by a leak from the flat roof of the neighbours' extension (neighbour on other side).

Sagging of the ceiling in one the bedrooms is noted and the surveyor queries whether an RSJ has been installed following the conversion of the downstairs into an open-plan design. I queried the open plan with the vendor and he states the wall was flimsy wooden stud partitioning. The house is a Victorian terrace so I would have assumed that the partitioning walls would have been stone built but I don't claim to be an expert.

With the age of the house I did expect there to be some issues (such as there being no damp-proof course present) but am now left feeling rather deflated and concerned about how much this is all going to cost to repair. I've sent the report to my solicitor and will wait to see what feedback we get from the vendor but would appreciate anyone's advice and experience here of anyone who has been through similar.

Those issues sound pretty serious. Can you get damp experts in to have a look and I'd also pay a structural engineer for a second opinion although this would be limited as they wouldn't be able to dig into the walls to check for steel support. I'd be looking at walking away unfortunately.

If the wall was flimsy wood when he knocked it down, it may be that a previous owner had knocked down the original wall without inserting an RSJ. You need a structural engineer to check and a damp specialist to determine the cause of the various bits of damp. My concern would be that several seem to be caused by the neighbouring house and they may not want to pay to fix them.

Yes you need some specialist reports carried out.

I'm afraid if it were me I would be walking away, unless of course you have very deep pockets (or you are getting a bargain). It all sounds as if it could be very expensive to fix.

You’d be hard pressed to find a Victorian house without some kind of damp. If you get a damp consultant in make sure it’s an independent and not someone flogging damp proof courses. Chemical damp proofing can cause problems in old houses that were designed to breathe.

The sagging ceiling sounds much more concerning.

Thanks for your replies. I'm planning to get a builder round next week to see what's involved and the potential costs.

I hope it works out for you. I am in a similar situation- the house we have made an offer on has got damp in so we are having to get a builder out to have a look at possible causes/costs. We offered the asking price but am now thinking we should drop our offer in respect of the money it will cost to fix.
Did you apply for the full structural survey?

I agree with @sellfridges - damp is just a thing you can get with older houses and rising damp or because of chimneys etc is relatively inexpensive to deal with but yes as other posters have said get someone independent and knowledgeable to give you a quote - the damp - unless horrendous would not put me off buying the house

If a proper RSJ has not been done when knocking through rooms and / or extensions and the proper certificates not in place ( if recent) then unless you know it was done with a structural engineer's sign off - that would put me off. I know we all ( by which I mean me) moan about the cost of stuff , but this is what these people train for and it is their job to know what they are talking about & thank goodness ( am not a structural engineer and have no investment ) , but it just stands to reason to me that if you are going to knock a a house about - make sure it can stay standing. I have done it twice and both times structural engineers gave the thumbs up to the amount of steel being put in the house to keep it upright) I would worry more about the knocking through & sagging ceiling ( not quite sure from your post how these are related but - in principle)

I once bought a house where the previous owners had taken out a fireplace on the ground floor without securing the upper floors - lesson learned

I wish you well - a builder once said to me that there is little which cannot be fixed with money and steel , but then it depends how much money & how much steel I do not wish to make light of this but I would worry about the structure of the building. By & large damp can be fixed

I wish you well whatever you decide @nevermovinghouseagain56

Just to add to your woes nevermoving, if you do end up having to put in or replace supporting steels, as it's a terraced house, you will then be in party wall territory, and this brings more cost.

Thanks for all your feedback, it's very helpful.

Fortunately, it turns out that an RSJ was not required as the wall removed was not a supporting one. The vendor has submitted the paperwork for this to his solicitor.

The damp is still a concern for me, particularly as it involves the party walls of the neighbours on both sides. I have a builder visiting the property next week to provide me with a quote.

Damp is usually solvable but you have a couple of concerning issues in that it appears some is coming from a neighbouring property. That can be a nightmare to sort out. In addition, penetrating damp can be more tricky as again, either a neighbours roof or the pointing to the walls is defective.

I would be included to walk away unless you have a builder you have complete confidence in. Further surveys will means sinking thousands of pounds with no guarantee of success as they always caveat them with clauses such as unable to access etc....which they won t be able to u less they rip up your neighbours roof

I've had a builder look at the damp issues in the house and am waiting for his quote.

If it was just a case of getting the damp inside the house sorted then I wouldn't be too worried, although I would want to reconsider my offer.

But the bigger problem is that the damp in the bedroom is definitely being caused by shoddy workmanship on the neighbour's extension where it joins on to 'my' house. The current owners have only lived there for a couple of years and the extension has clearly been there for a long time.

My vendor says the neighbour has promised to fix the problem but I don't see how he can guarantee that. Until that problem is fixed, there is no point in me getting the damp in the bedroom fixed as it will just keep recurring.

Housingcrisis - how is your situation going? Hope it's going better than mine!

I think I would be actively looking at other properties.

I would walk away. Plenty of other properties without those issues to choose from!