damp problems in house

[David J Williams]

Hi
I am currently in the process of buying a house and have been in negotiations with the seller of a property in Wales. My wife loves the place but a surveyor's report came back last week and highlighted serious damp issues. The original asking price was 290k and we have managed to get it down to 272.5k. We do not have a lot of budget to play with and I would be willing to do all the work myself if possible. The oldest part of the property dates back to the 1800s. The surveyor said the 2 x sitting room area floors will possibly need to come up and a modern floor laid incorporating a DCP etc. He also said that the 3 x chimney stacks are leaking damp into the property as a slight discolouration can be seen in the ceilings were the stack runs. the surveyor suggested these may need to come down and be rebuilt. The current occupant said he lifted the kitchen floor and installed underfloor heating so I think this floor should be Ok. The damp can be seen on the lower periphery of the walls in the 2 x sitting rooms. The building is on a slope so not sure if this is causing problems. I was talking to a builder who done some work on my house recently and he said the work would cost around 30k to put things right with me working with him. He suggested digging a trench all around the property an a soak away. The owner unfortunately is very hard to knock down and I think they didn't have the money to get the repairs done themselves and will be struggling to find another property. I was hoping that 10k would be enough if I do all the work myself but not sure. I would walk away but the house has grown on us and we cannot find anything else we like as much
cheers
Dave

 

[tell80]

You've itemised some of the difficulties and the pics show more.
If a builder on site said £30,000 then thats perhaps more like it - but for myself I'd price it
unseen/ offsite at anywhere between 30K to 50k.

Once you price each item separately, and then add them together, the total cost soon rockets up.
Whatever DIY skills you bring to such a job is irrelevant to prices.

Once your appointed surveyor saw that place he should have gone forensic, and presented you with a list of whats wrong, how to fix it, and itemised costs.

 

[David J Williams]

Hi
I have been looking into older properties and it would seem that the survey that was carried out on the property was the type that is more applicable to newer properties. I have read on this link

https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html
That if a RICS surveyor comes into the property armed with a damp meter then you should ask them to leave. The report highlighted large levels of damp in the property but I have read that such readings will appear on these devices in such properties. The house is circa 1800s. The surveyor also suggested using modern building materials to rectify the issues but I have found evidence this only makes the problems worse. I am going to look into this further and ask for my money back if I find evidence that the survey was conducted by someone not competent to carry out the inspections. I can only find RICS 2012 and the Heritage website states testing should be carried out to BS7913: 2013 and I can see no mention of this on the survey form

 

[tell80]

Beware of putting too much trust in the guy on the Heritage web site - some of what he says is good and so are some of his videos. But truth is he's a crackpot with no background in the building trade.
My thinking about him is he was in sales, & still is to some degree.
Take what you like from Heritage-House and leave the rest.

 

[Nige F]

Beware of putting too much trust in the guy on the Heritage web site - some of what he says is good and so are some of his videos. But truth is he's a crackpot with no background in the building trade.
My thinking about him is he was in sales, & still is to some degree.
Take what you like from Heritage-House and leave the rest.

One or two cracked pots on here - some with multiple user names over the years.