Would you buy an old property that has been tanked?

[MarvEll]

Quite old house has recently been renovated - new kitchens, bathrooms etc. In the list of works it says the downstairs rooms have been "tanked out with drainage tunnels to external pumps". Obviously we will get a proper and extensive survey done... But does this raise alarm bells? Does this mean we will likely have ongoing issues with damp?
Thanks for help!

If those pumps fail what happens? How often does the area flood?

It has better be very very cheap...

It's not cheap at all! It's a beautiful house in an expensive area. Asking price is getting right to the top of our budget. Hmm maybe not sensible.
Would a survey pull up everything we'd need to know?

Tricky one... Ask the surveyor you propose to use. Good idea anyway as you don't want a report full of ' get specialist advice' with the exception of electrics and heating.

Quite a few houses within a few miles of me are in areas that will flood several times each winter. Even if the house is dry, the road is blocked. And it only gets worse as councils do no maintenance and build on more flood plains.

What a shame.

I thought it'd be good news that this was done to prevent flooding/damp......?!

I wouldn't want to put you off if the house is a dream house but tread carefully. If the basement has been tanked then it suggests that they're liable to flood, whether it be rivers, streams or ground water due to where the water table lies. I would suggest you check out what insurance companies will quote for the property. They will ask about flooding so you'll need to enquire if the property has been previously flooded and whether the tanking was the remedial work required. I've been on the other end of the telephone giving prospective buyers the news that their house is going to be uninsurable (or elements of cover will be) or will cost a fortune. Please find out everything before you commit to buy x

So partner has looked up flooding in the area, which is very low risk. So I'm assuming the tanking is more due to damp?
I think we need another visit with a very careful eye. It's such a beautiful house, and I know that most old houses come with damp and a range of issues

Great suggestion about checking the insurance! Will do that

A lot of houses with cellars get tanked. Once upon a time a cellar was a cold damp space (just because it was under ground) and no-one cared because they weren't used for much that mattered, but now people want them for dens, extra bedrooms etc so the tanking is not necessarily a sign for alarm as such.
However, not all tanking is the same, some are installed with excellent standards and the joins etc etc are perfect and no water gets in. Some are installed by people who don't know what they're doing it cut corners and they look great for a while but gradually the quality shows.
The other thing to consider is that water has to go somewhere, so if the tanking stops it making its way through to the internal area of the building it could just force moisture higher up the walls so the damp emerges higher up. If however the presence of water has been dealt with by drainage etc so it has somewhere else to go that would be less of an issue.
Personally I'd be wary as the tanking is so new any knock on problems it might cause won't be apparent yet. Lots to consider why was it needed/who installed it/where's the water going now, for starters.

Just realised you didn't say cellar but downstairs room. But post still applies.

The first thing would be to ask why it has been done.
Tanking would be normal if there is a basement or if there is any retaining or banked structure against the wall.
I wouldn't automatically rule it out but I'd want more information.

You could get some good ideas of things to consider from spab website (society for protection of ancient buildings) which talk about the kind of issues old houses have and common mistakes in dealing with them.

Why not ask the seller why (assuming upgrade offer has been accepted?). In property firm they have to explain any works they've had done and your solicitor can raise further enquiries. There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation. How do you think all those dug out basements deal with water tables etc?

Tanking is worse than useless and causes more problems than it solves unless it’s in a wet cellar.
Old houses need to breathe, it’s probably had the wrong type of plaster or paint on the walls.

Don’t necessarily let it put you off. You can still get insurance for a property that floods, through the government’s flood-re scheme.

Thanks everyone. I think we need another look with a close eye and probably need to find out when the tanking was done. If it was a while ago then it might be working. I'll have to go and touch all the walls and see how they feel 😄

It's not in the cellar, it's in the downstairs rooms. Apparently it was because the garden was higher than the downstairs of the house, so they tanked the rooms but also brought down the level of the garden to below the house.

The general finish of the whole house is excellent... But I guess new paint can hide a lot of things!