Property survey showed these risks, what do you think?!?

[homeandstay]

Picture
Should I be worried?

Second time buyer and our current property didn't have this.
Thanks

Yes I agree with you totally - I meant a survey is always likely to say check electric, check heating, roof needs checking (especially if not lined etc which a lot of older houses have).

@homeandstay from the look of your report, we may have had the same company out!

I had a very similar list (minus the damp and Japanese knot weed).

Depending on age, the asbestos may be less likely to be an issue.
I've been quoted around £150 plus £10 per sample for it to be tested.

So there may be invasive plants or there may not. It is all backside covering.

I can't read all that OP but from what I can read it doesn't actually say there is Japanese Knotweed just that there are plant around the railway line and there could be some.

What as waste of time survey.

Out of all those the damp and the roof are the ones to look closer at. As mentioned above a leaky gutter or roof that has allowed rain to come in and cause a wall to be damp is easy to sort.

If you like it and can negotiate some ££ off to deal with issues I wouldn't write it off yet.

Your second screengrab just says there MIGHT be japanese knotweed. The same way that any property anywhere MIGHT have japanese knotweed.

If that is indicative of the level of arse covering bluster used in the rest of the report, then you're fine.

How old is it? What is the construction?

It’s basically a doer upper to the degree of needing to redo everything. If the price was right, that would be fine BUT the Japanese knot wood would send me running to the hills. Do your research. I know it can be treated but it’s expensive and the house should be sold at much much less then a regular doer upper.

It depends on the details. A defective roof could mean the whole roof is about to cave in or could be a few slipped tiles.

Likewise for defective gutter and damp and woodworm and so on. Any of them could be a massive issue or could be minor.

@Silviasilvertoes
1840 approx built with stone

You cannot say that from the details provided and it does not have JW, only a comment there may be invasive plants - it means the surveyor has looked at an overgrown bit of ground near a house and covered their backside with what may or may not be in there. The survey might have well said there may be elephants in the overgrown areas!

Roofing material? Does it have any external rendering? Is the interior plastering lime or gypsum? If you like it you might want a more specialist survey with someone who knows about traditionally constructed buildings. I used to be a listed building surveyor and now own a Victorian stone house. I’d want to know more about the damp and the roofing before I committed.

Have a look at this from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings about the need for breathability in older buildings.

www.spab.org.uk/sites/default/files/SPAB%20Technical%20advice%20note-Need%20for%20old%20buildings%20to%20breathe.pdf

What evidence is there for damp? What evidence for woodworm? Is it active - is there frass?

@Silviasilvertoes

A textured finish has been applied to some of the walls, for example to the stairs, landing, utility room and
front bedroom. It is now known that such finishes may contain low levels of asbestos. These appear to be in
satisfactory condition at present and should present no health risk if undisturbed. However, they should not
be cut or worked in any way and specialist advice must be sought if they are to be removed as this could be
costly. If you intend to remove or cover over the textured finishes, you should expect to carry out extensive
re plastering and budget for this.
There is some movement to the internal partition walls evidenced, for example, by distortion to door frames
at first floor level. This movement shows no signs of any recent progression and is considered to be within
acceptable tolerances for a property of this type and age.

@Silviasilvertoes

Dampness was detected at low level to the main walls as already noted in the report and further specialist
investigation to the whole property is required prior to exchange of contracts.

Nothing you have posted so far sounds like a major issue.

What does the report say about the roof and the guttering?

@NotDavidTennant

Defects were noted including leakage to joints with some broken fittings, for example to the gutter above
the side downpipe, and repairs are now required.
The remaining cast iron rainwater fittings, the side downpipe and rear gutter, are corroded and defective.
We believe that renewal is now the most economic and appropriate option.

Money pit

Tbh if you're buying an old house then you need to expect that there will be repairs and updating that needs doing. Nothing you've posted so far sounds disastrous but some of it will cost you money.

If you want a house that you don't have to spend money on then you need to look for something more modern.

The damp could be something or nothing. My advice is the surveyor will have likely used a damp meter - they are useless.

Low level damp maybe due to the guttering issues, or could be due to the ground level outside being higher up against the stone walls. To solve the former, fix the guttering, the latter something like a french drain would work.

The asbestos is more backside covering. Unless you know exactly when the covering was applied and what was used, the asbestos is a bit like the Japanese Knotweed issue - all a maybe.

There is nothing on the info you have provided so far for the age and construction of the house which would worry me at all. Old houses, in fact all houses, need maintenance - it is the joy of owning a house, especially a period one.

If you really want to know exactly what problems there are or are not, ask a surveyor who is used to dealing with period properties of a similar age and construction. Once the survey is completed as the question, would you buy it. If they say yes, all is good, if no then walk away.

Periodproperty forum is a good site to visit, and already mentioned on here SPAB have some useful information available, especially about damp.

Thank you @schloss

My feet would be frozen not just cold.

The survey wording just suggests possibilities. They always cover themselves.

Yup it's very bad.

I think you've wasted your money on that survey. You need to know if these things are actually there, not just that the surveyor didn't check so he can't rule any of it out.

I disagree with a lot of posters, all this talk about risks. Are these risks or are they issues? From what you’ve shown so far it sounds like a lot of arse covering and hot air. Risks to people stuff is all standard stuff. Risk of asbestos is artex aka in half the houses in the country. Damp levels are low. I presume woodworm is because they couldn’t inspect every single timber to rule it out. Movement is within the norm for the house type and age. Some work on guttering needed but it doesn’t sound onerous, my 2000s house had leaking joints reported on the survey. Could be Japanese Knotweed somewhere beyond the boundary but there isn’t any visible. If you’ve seen knotweed you’d know it’d be huge by this point in the year and be pretty bloody visible. Dont panic, look at the issues and wade through the BS.