WWYD? Survey has thrown up possible drainage problems

[Washersaurus]

We have had a homebuyer survey on a property completed today which has highlighted concerns over the drains...not sure of details until report is properly typed up on Friday.

Should we ask the seller to have a drainage survey done at his expense before we proceed, or is it something we have to shell out for? We had factored in a lot of the costs as the property is in need of total refurb but we can't risk thousands on drain problems too.

I'd wait til you get the report, then decide.
Surveys tend to mention every fault, regardless of whether it's minor or major. The problem may just be something minor.
I would get a drain company to do a CCTV survey of the drain to get a better idea of what the problem is, and how much it will cost to rectify. Then deduct the cost of repair from the asking price of the property.

Hmm so we should pay for the extra survey needed then?

Our surveyor said he couldn't lift the manhole cover to check the problem as it was all rusted/corroded but highlighted it as one of his major concerns. I doubt the typed up report will state much more than that really, he was worried about some corroding of downpipes underground or something.

What sort of problems?

It was difficult to listen to what the surveyor was saying over the phone due to my unruly children making a noise, but he mentioned some cracking at the base of the downpipes where they went underground and said that he couldn't check if they were silted up as the cover was stuck.

It is not a huge job to get the cover off weven if it breaks it can be replaced.I once had a horror of a survey in an old house with a rusted drain cap and a really strong drain smell in teh house.We got a plumber/drain guy round he got it off and it was blocked with baby wipes 100s of the things!he took them out which stank sooooooooooo much but the drains were fine.Don't panic if you love the house have it checked over and split the cost.they won't want to lose a buyer atm

Generally, I think you pay for the drain survey (and any extra surveys like electrical etc) and then use it to haggle on price.

IME, surveyors tend to cover their arses by highlighting anything they possibly can, thus passing the responsibility to get it looked at onto you.

Hmm that is what I thought, the surveyor was very thorough; down to telling me the cloakroom fittings were dated .

We knew the electrics would probably need doing, but hadn't really considered the drains...it looks like cctv surveys are fairly reasonable, just something else to prolong the moving process.

I have asked for a home birth (due end of May), I wonder which home it will be.....

He is just covering his arse probably. It is very standard for surveyors to recommend additional surveys even if there is no evidence of a problem, just because it is an older house so the drains will be older. Come back and tell us what the written report says. I might just get a plumber out initially to lift the cover as noddy suggests - the companies which do CCTV surveys are notorious for exaggerating problems as they then get to do some expensive repairs too!

Oh well, DH has arranged a cctv survey for Monday ...we thought better safe than sorry.

The surveyor's written report should be ready tomorrow at some point so will have more detail about his findings then. I'm hoping it is just him playing it safe as he couldn't access the drain to have a look. Not an extra expense we can afford if not, so we have to know before we proceed.

Thank you all for your replies, I will let you know the outcome.

How did you get on?

We've got to have one on our drains - combination of horrendous poo smell under the floorboards and a rat trying to get into the house