Problems in new house!

[lovelymummy2022]

Hello all,

I'm really at my wits end please would you give me some advice. Me and DH were first time buyers. We saw a house in a good location. Looked at it a couple of times and although it was a little rough around the edges we were looking forward to decorating etc. Had Level 3 survey done and there were a few issues but the overall opinion was "the purchase of property seems reasonable if the seller is willing to pay for the remedial works".

Now we've moved in we are seeing a lot more potential problems like missing mortar from the outside walls (worried about subsidence), musty smells and uneven floors (worried about damp, rotting joists). They are all making me think that there are structural problems covered up by the seller with damp seal paint! I'm worried about investigating the problems further because we might find even more of them!

As far as I see we have 2 options:

(1) Spend all the money we have left on fixing the structural problems with the possibility of running out of money. We only have about 60K and I imagine that might not go far with structural work.

Or (2) trying to sell as-is as soon as possible to quick-buy or auction. But this has the possibility of not covering the mortgage. What happens if we can't sell for enough to cover the mortgage? File for bankruptcy?

In hindsight we should have looked far more deeply into the structure now but frankly we didn't have the knowledge of houses that we do now!

This is not how we pictured home ownership! Worst decision ever made! Have hardly been able to sleep, feeling trapped with no way out and no hope for the future.

Any words of comfort or advice are much appreciated!

If you have subsidence or even historical movement, that should be picked up in a survey.

Is it an older property? In your position I’d consider getting a builder round (ideally someone who is personally recommended) to identify what the problem is - if there is one - and whether it needs work.

Oh and home ownership is stressful but things are usually fine in the end!

What about the location, size, neighbours?

It sounds like you might be catastrophising which is fair because houses are expensive and money causes anxiety and stress.

Step 1: Get a structural engineer in & go from there.

Step 2: get quotes

Step 3: make a decision whether to fix or move

Seems you’re really jumping to conclusions based on a few things that could be pretty standard old house things and that are not always indicative of a huge problem.

I believe surveyors are insured against negligence so if they said no subsidence and you’ve moved in and it is subsidence, talking to him would be a first port of call?

You are panicking based on v little knowledge/experience. Chances are any issues will turn out to be minor. Find someone experienced to investigate them for you. 60k is a lot of money. If you had that value of remedial work to do your survey would have picked it up.

DO NOT PANIC AND DO NOT SELL YOUR HOUSE!!!

How old is the house? It sounds like you haven't considered maintenance. You should allow a set amount (used to be between £2k-£3k per year, but with rising costs, that's probably risen massively) on top of any works you propose to do. The maintenance is for things like keeping gutters and drains clear (helps prevent blockages/damp), painting fences so they don't rot- basically maintaining what you have.

Unless you buy a new build (and that's a whole load of other issues), you have to do maintenance. There are loads of books that can help you to understand the basic construction of your home and how to care for it to prevent problems like condensation, damp etc. Haynes do good, easy to understand manuals for example.

Are you in any way DIY minded? Filling in missing mortar is quite a simple job, so long as you know what the house is made of (older houses use lime-based mortar)

Also, are you just a bit overwhelmed because it's your first house purchase? Most people feel a bit 'What have we done?' because it's a big responsibility. Just go around the property, list everything you think might need doing. Compare it with your survey.

Then sort out the most important stuff. That's any escapes of water, any leaks or blockages. Was the roof given a clean bill of health? Once you've established those things, start investigating the damp/smells. What's ventilation like? Do you have airbricks? Is there a suspended floor? Are the windows opened regularly or do you have trickle vents on the windows? Are there any chimney breasts- can water get in via these? Have you checked that guttering/drains are clear of leaves/debris?

Often, the simplest checks can vastly improve the perceived problem.

Uneven floors could simply be the result of poor workmanship by the previous homeowner/ their contractor. If subsidence wasn't actually suggested in your survey, that's unlikely to be the cause.

Any structural issues would have been picked up in your survey so this sounds like just the problems of an older property. Only with a new build or completely renovated old house will you be able to just decorate to improve the look.

As other posters have suggested, ask a builder round to give you a quote and go from there. 🤞for you, older properties can be lovely but to be honest are generally a lot of work.

I just wanted to say that the catastrophising is common when you buy a house. When we bought our house I instantly regretted it and could only see the problems. I'd built it all up in my head and was so excited to be a homeowner rather than renting at last....and I too thought about selling within a couple of months! Find yourself a good plumber, builder and electrician. They will be invaluable in helping with jobs along the way and it's good to know you have people you can trust to call on. Work through any issues one by one. The house has been standing for years so it's not going to fall down overnight.
I can say all this but, after 5 years here, when I found a puddle on the kitchen tiles I was hunting for the source and imagining a underground leak. It was the cat 😁

We used our survey as a rough guide as to what needed doing and how urgent things were. So our first expense was having the house repointed which stopped the rain causing damage. Then onto ventilation issues. Can you work through your survey and make a plan? If you need more info, pay the surveyor to investigate further or gey specialist reports done.

Don't sell it without looking into the issues. Get a trusted pro in. Its perfectly normal to worry as its a mammoth commitment and expense.

The builder who started my reno would always say "I've discovered a problem and need to speak with you urgently"...... I'd panic and start stressing and usually it was manageable stuff. I've got someone a lot more solution focused now who doesn't cause me additional grief. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

You always see more issues once you're in. Relax and just get the more serious ones looked at. Almost certainly not as bad as you think.

The missing mortar has probably caused damp which explains the musty smell. Get a damp specialist to have a look. Don't use one of the companies that offers a free survey, they will always find a problem and flog you a chemical damproofing solution which may not work. Get an expert independent damp surveyor. It may well be that sorting the mortar and whacking in a few air bricks will solve the problem.

The other advantage of an independent specialist is that if there is a problem you can use their report to look at bringing a claim against the surveyor if they didn't highlight the issues that were within scope of their report.

How old is the property OP?
Attached? Detached?
Rendered all over?
Solid wall or cavity?
Brick or stone construction? Timber?
Suspended floor throughout or concrete in places?
What’s outside it directly adjacent? Concrete path? Road? Can you see the air bricks?
Any leaking drainpipes/guttering/flashing?

All of these things are fairly straightforward to determine yourself and then you will be in a MUCH better position to ask for help.

Whatever you do, DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO INJECT YOUR WALLS WITH A CHEMICAL DAMP COURSE, they are a scam and they do not work.

If you can get a good recommendation locally for a builder all the better. If it’s a period property I’m happy to recommend some extremely helpful Facebook groups for comprehensive advice.

And FWIW, missing mortar will almost certainly not be subsidence, but please make sure it is repointed in something historically appropriate (so most likely lime), and rotten joist ends aren’t necessarily that expensive to fix, but the reason they are rotten also needs to be addressed at the same time - and I repeat, NOT with a chemical damp course!!!

@lovelymummy2022

Hi

I know this post is old, but I was wondering whether you could give am update on whst you did in the end?

we are seeing a lot more potential problems like missing mortar from the outside walls (worried about subsidence), musty smells and uneven floors (worried about damp, rotting joists).

Non of the things you said link to the things you linked them too, you sound inexperienced.

Missing mortar is standard, mortar doesn't last forever houses need repointing its a standard job but not 'subsidence'. If you don't fix the pointing then it can lead to penetrating damp though so worth fixing.

Musty smell could be anything, could be carpets or could be condensation etc... If there was damp there would be obvious tells not just a smell. Some areas like basements/cellars in most cases almost always have a musty smell.

Uneven floors could be a worry with structural issues but you haven't listed any worrying structural symptoms. In old houses uneven floor are EXTREMELY common, I have never lived in a house without uneven and bouncy/creaky floors. Usually its an easy fix of just taking up the floors and lifting the joists with blocks or coupling etc... but fixing is often just for personal reasons, your house won't suddenly fall down because you have a non perfect floor.

I have to start looking at the dates of posts lol.