I am in the process of buying a flat-roof bungalow. It has been lying empty for 8 months so smelled quite "musty" when I viewed it last week. As per the rules in Scotland, the Home Report survey had to be refreshed to make sure there were no changes since the report was last prepared (which was a year ago). And the survey has flagged up a leak in the roof and high readings on a damp meter to the internal walls.
The seller has had a roofer out and he has given a quote to replace the roof. I have provisionally said that I am happy to still go ahead with the sale if this gets done. However, I am wondering if I should be doing more to check that simply replacing the flat felt roof will be enough to fix the problem? I was at the house again today, taking some measurements, and the smell of damp - particularly in the kitchen - was really horrible. I think it possibly seems more offensive to me now that I know it's caused by water ingress rather than just having not been lived in, heated or aired for so long.
The ceilings in 3 of the rooms (including the kitchen) are white PVC tongue & groove paneling (which makes me worry about what is hiding above it). And the kitchen is also fully tiled anywhere above worktop level. So there is no way to check with a damp meter in the kitchen.
Can anyone please let me know what would normally happen in this kind of scenario? What I mean is, would it be sufficient to simply repair the leak (by whatever means), and wait for the walls to "dry out" and the smell of damp to disappear? Or would the damp smell still remain unless plaster walls and/or ceilings were replaced?
I really like the house, so I don't want to walk away from the purchase unless I really have to. But I definitely couldn't live with the smell of damp - it would make me ill (I totally hate the smell).
Apologies for the long post! Thank you hugely for any advice you have to offer me.
Lori
x
The seller has had a roofer out and he has given a quote to replace the roof. I have provisionally said that I am happy to still go ahead with the sale if this gets done. However, I am wondering if I should be doing more to check that simply replacing the flat felt roof will be enough to fix the problem? I was at the house again today, taking some measurements, and the smell of damp - particularly in the kitchen - was really horrible. I think it possibly seems more offensive to me now that I know it's caused by water ingress rather than just having not been lived in, heated or aired for so long.
The ceilings in 3 of the rooms (including the kitchen) are white PVC tongue & groove paneling (which makes me worry about what is hiding above it). And the kitchen is also fully tiled anywhere above worktop level. So there is no way to check with a damp meter in the kitchen.
Can anyone please let me know what would normally happen in this kind of scenario? What I mean is, would it be sufficient to simply repair the leak (by whatever means), and wait for the walls to "dry out" and the smell of damp to disappear? Or would the damp smell still remain unless plaster walls and/or ceilings were replaced?
I really like the house, so I don't want to walk away from the purchase unless I really have to. But I definitely couldn't live with the smell of damp - it would make me ill (I totally hate the smell).
Apologies for the long post! Thank you hugely for any advice you have to offer me.
Lori
x