Structural problems?

[North]

Hi,
We have seen a very nice house which we are in love with since we saw it. The ground floor has got a kitchen with an extension made a few years ago for which the separation wall was taken down and replaced by a set of doors. The extension brings you to the garden. Now when we went upstairs we noticed that the top of the door of one of the rooms (above where the separation wall use to be) was cut to an angle and we asked the state agent why was that, and apparently when they built the extension in the kitchen they did not support the roof properly and the floor sunk a little bit. It is not noticeble apart from the top door cut to an angle. Now we have some doubts about how strong the repair was made. We do not mind having some aestethic issues but we are concerned about how the insurance is going to see this and the possible structural problems in the future. The survey would probably tell us but I do not think is fair for me to pay about £500 to make sure the house is safe. Has the state agents got any obligation to give you some kind of certificate that proves that the repair was made properly and that the hose is OK?Surely the owners of the house were given some kind of certificate from the architect or the builders when they make the mistake reassuring that the structure is safe and details of the problem and what the subsecuent repairs where...
Any suggestions?

 

[regsmyth]

You could enquire of the estate agent whether the owners have documents to show the defective construction was made good. I doubt it.
In which case you could make an offer, but request the owners get the necessary docs to satisfy you.
Or if not, you could make a reduced offer, and agree to restore this to a reasonable offer when you have sent in a surveyor to confirm everything is ok (or not), whose fees you will deduct from your offer.
Or you could just take a gamble, ask an engineer to go round and check it out, and then make an offer dependant on his findings.

Or, make a normal offer, but ask your solicitor to chase up the paperwork, and if it's not forthcoming, presumably retract or reduce your offer....

I would have thought the vendors would do the right thing and either get calcs done to show it's all ok, or put it on the market at a low price, and just hope that someone falls in love with it and doesn't want to ask any questions.

It might not seem fair to you to cough up £500 to make sure the house is safe, but it seems reasonable to me.

A low cost alternative might be to ask a good builder friend to have a look, but you'll have to be the judge of that.....

 

[mnb]

1. Much missing info. in the question ... ? However:
2. A break-thro typically has steel RSJ's on padstones supporting all above the knock-thro.
3. Take a builder on site - she or he would have a better idea of a safe construction, plus there are many tell-tale's to indicate what is going on without destructive opening up.
4. Building Regs are required for this type of work. Make inquiries at the local Building Dept.
5. How would an estate agent have the info. you mention? They are ignorant liars, con-artists, and criminals who have so far escaped the attentions of the law.
6. Forget about following a paper trail from various builders, ignore guarantees and warranties.

 

[Richard C]

1. Much missing info. in the question ... ? However:
2. A break-thro typically has steel RSJ's on padstones supporting all above the knock-thro.
3. Take a builder on site - she or he would have a better idea of a safe construction, plus there are many tell-tale's to indicate what is going on without destructive opening up.
4. Building Regs are required for this type of work. Make inquiries at the local Building Dept.
5. How would an estate agent have the info. you mention? They are ignorant liars, con-artists, and criminals who have so far escaped the attentions of the law.
6. Forget about following a paper trail from various builders, ignore guarantees and warranties.

Very good advice here & I would be particularly interested in No 4; if they’ve no Buidlign Regs. approval, it’s unauthorised building work which may cause problems with any loan. You certainly need to do lot more investigation but if the vendors are not prepared or can’t provide the necessary documentation, I’d walk away. I certainly wouldn’t stump up for additional survey on such an obvious fault; I’d expect the vendor to do that to give perspective purchaser peace of mind. In many cases Planning Permission for an extension within permitted development rights isn’t necessary but you might like to check that out as well.

 

[North]

Thanks for the info. The Estate agents do not seem to be very bothered returning my calls to discuss this problem so i guess is bye bye.
Thanks,
North

 

[Richard C]

The thing you must consider is that the estate agent is acting on behalf of & is loyal to the vendor not you the purchaser; they are the ones paying the fee after all. They should answer your calls, pass on requests & give feedback but don’t expect them to bend over backwards to accommodate you unless the vendor has instructed that’s what they want. They may even have another purchaser in line who, perhaps, is not asking awkward questions but that’s not to say you shouldn’t be . If you fancy the property & want to short circuit proceedure with the least possible expense, your going to have to contact the local council in the area where the property is located yourself & see what you can glean from both Planning & Building Control to establish exactly what the score is with PP & if the extension is BR compliant; depending on what you find out, you can take it from there.