Is this wet rot?

[Touty]

Hi I’m thinking of purchasing this property bit concerned about this.

Any ideas?

Hi can anyone tell me if this is something to worry about on a property purchase?

It looks like mould from lack of ventilation. Black mould is a health hazard but is treatable.

I’d go with badly sealed windows. You can see the filler used to repair the window installation has all popped. Could also be very poor pointing, especially if it’s built of stone.
Got any external pictures or close ups?

@OneForTheToad thanks , here are some external shots

@OneForTheToad when I asked the estate agent about it she said it’s problem with fascias

Well, the guttering looks ok, but there’s obviously something amiss as you can see the water flowing down the wall. Maybe it’s just blocked, but there are no trees nearby to explain that. The render looks reasonable.
You would need someone to go up a ladder or send a drone up.
Also as @LadyTiredWinterBottom2 says, that window doesn’t open, so could be a ventilation issue as well.
It doesn’t look like an insurmountable problem, but get a roofer to check it, and the flat roof. You’ll most likely need to pay someone to inspect it, money well spent.

@OneForTheToad thank you very much.
The other thing is, whilst chatting to one of the neighbors they said that they heard there was a problem with the timbers which had been identified through a surveyor - I’m a bit concerned about this too.

The facia is there to attach the guttering to, but more importantly hold/push up the first row of roof tiles to make the water run off the roof and not down the wall. Usually there is a larger overhang, hence soffits. For the water to be running down the wall, I can only thing that either there is a hole in the roof and the water is running down a felt underlay, or the lower row of tiles has moved, or maybe only a couple of them.
Speculation of course, unless a roofer gets up there, you won’t know.
If the house has been under offer before and ‘failed’ the survey, ask why. I wouldn’t go through the same process again.
Also, only one down pipe for the roof is not enough, and difficult to tell, but has part of the facia been replaced recently? Seems there is a join over the window and the two sides appear slightly different in colour?

Is anything visible on Streetview which might show what it was like before the issue where the staining on the render was fixed?

Just to add, if timbers in the roof had a very severe bow, that could pull the tiles up an inch or so which could result in this problem. Getting in the loft would answer that, or again the drone/ladder.

Initially thought a badly sealed window but looking at outside of house, something is/has been going on higher up.

I'd pay for a builder to look. If you do decide to proceed, worth getting a full survey as well as surveyor will do their best to investigate. If something cones up and its expensive, you could try and renegotiate your offer.

Is the rest of house in reasonably good order?

Thank you. Is it an expensive job if I have to do work on the timbers?

It can be expensive, yes. Scaffold the outside, strip the roof, replace timbers, refelt the roof, replace the existing tiles, or depending, new tiles. It could be only the one side needs to be done ( so only one third of the roof). It could be the roof can be reinforced internally and so you just need to strip the roof and regelt and tile it, or some other solution or combination. As a ball park figure, you should estimate minimum 5k but most likely more, possible much more.

Thanks guys, I’m wondering if I should mention my conversation with neighbor about the timbers and see what they say.

Yes the rest of it looks ok, the decor and kitchen needs updating and replacing.

You could ask about timbers. If it comes out there's an issue but you still want to proceed, you can make an offer to take into account the cost of that. If they say there isn't an issue and it then comes up on survey (obviously in this instance it's worth getting a full survey pointing out these issues to surveyor beforehand), you can try and renegotiate as your original offer would have been based on no problems.

You can first ask (and ask yourself) why they haven’t fixed an obvious problem which any buyer would question and any surveyor?

Thanks again so much for the comments, much appreciated.

Ive sent out a surveyor - I had planned to speak to the estate agent first about the timbers but surveyor rang me before and wants to go out next week, so I’ve bitten the bullet, it could be 500 pounds well spent. So let’s see. I do like the house and the price.

Apparently the surveyor went out today. Will they ring me to say how it went or will I have to wait for their report?

So the survey has thrown up more questions than answers, my brain feels fried and I don’t know what to do, whether to walk away and find a newer house with less problems but probably for much more money 😣

@Touty what did the survey say?

@OneForTheToad it’s 55 pages long, but in summary it recommends damp and timber specialist report. Some damp found inside at low level, penetrating dampness?

Roof - could be damaged felt on roof, needs replacing?

defects requiring immediate attention including replacing rainwater pipes and guttering, windows not to safety standard and defective, rottin window sills, windows not sealed

heating system pipes and radiators old and likely to fail,

EPC incorrect doesn’t match heating system

Mentions asbestos likely in the property. Is this going to start flying around if I need work done to roof or want to drill the walls?

hot water system reaching end of useful life

knotweed seen on neighboring property

There are a few red flags here. Knotweed could make it unmortgageable.

What level survey did you get? Some of the stuff I would have expected them to advise on - for example roof.

It sounds like it potentially needs a rewire, new windows, new roof. Can you afford all that?

I got level 2, wanted level 3 but said it was overkill as property was if traditional construction

they looked at roof inside, and outside from ground level.

I do have the money to fix things but I’m not sure how much

why do you think rewire?

Apologies, I see your post doesn't mention electrics - don't know where I got that from.

I think you were badly advised with the survey level.

It's a fair bit of work though.