Valuation and Sulphate Attack

[JobyMoby]

Hi all

I am new to this forum and have tried to find the best place to discuss this and get some advice.

Here goes:-

My husband and I purchased our house in 2003 just before the property boom. The survey cam back fine with a few faults but nothing major. We have had no real issues with the house in that time.

However, recently my husband and I decided to separate and we decided I would take on the house and pay my husband some money from a re-mortgage. We filled in all the paperwork with the bank and it was a agreed with the bank they would remortgage the house based on the value being £83k subject to a valuation.

However, the valuation on the house has now come back saying that the house is only worth £57.5k (which is a lot less than what we paid for it) mainly due to the quote "It is suspected that the solid concrete ground floors have succumbed to Sulphate Attack".

This has surprised both myself and my husband and after looking it up on google we have become alarmed.

What I wanted advice on really is how common is this problem? Is there anywhere where we can find out if our home is in an area where sulphate attacks are. We had never heard of this condition before now and we can see no signs of bumpy flooring in both the living room or kitchen. We are struggling to find any advice out on what to do to move forward as we have given up hope at the moment of even getting what we paid for the house back even if we try to sell it. The house was built c.1967 and is an ex council house so alarm bells are ringing. If we asked for a home buyers survey would this type of problem come up then? Also when the man came to value the house I don't recall him lifting any carpets up in the living room how could he tell this serious condition was suspected from a 20min max walk around our home?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Jo

 

[tim00]

do you still have the 2003 surveyors report?

1967 was pretty late for using contaminated concrete. sometimes the 50mm screed breaks up but the slab beneath is sound.

Most important, do, or have any neighbours reported "sulphate" difficulties?

estate agents would most probably have detailed a knowledge of the history of the area/street.

 

[noseall]

There are entire housing estates that are S.A. suspect. Particularly those in or close to mining (colliery) industry.

In other words some houses had ground floors that were made up using sulphate rich hard core and others may not, depending on their location.

Where homes have been built upon hilly or severely sloping ground, their ground floor construction is such that large pockets or voids were created and cheaply filled using burnt pit slack. A neighbouring house say, on comparatively level ground may only require standard (clean) fill.

Recent building methods, i.e. dpm in particular helps alleviate the problems with sulphate attack.

If your home is showing no signs of sulphate attack and you have had the all clear from a surveyor, then there is no need to accept that your home should be financially discounted.

 

[JobyMoby]

Hi

Thanks for the replys.

Yes we still have the 2003 report and there is no mention of Sulphate issues and even says the concrete floors are in good condition or something like that.

We haven't heard of any issues in the area but the trouble is a lot of the houses are still owned by the council and the last house to be sold on our street privately was ours in 2003. If I get in touch with the etstate agent whom we bought the house through would they give infomation away about the area and sulphate issues?

As the transfer of equity has now been put on hold I think we are best trying to get another survey done to see if they highlight any issues with the flooring and find out what valuation they will out on the house as right now the situation we are in means that neither of us are able to move on.

Thanks for your help. The house is built on a hill and on a slope with mainly grass verges which could suggest that this could be an issue but its so difficult to find out how to go about finding out if it is.

Thanks

Jo

 

[^woody^]

Sulphate attack can occur at any time in properties susceptible to it - ie those with certain types of ash or fill under the floors. It can occur slowly or rapidly after many years. Most times its due to wet ground (heavy seasonal rain) or a broken drain or suchlike raising ground water levels

Typically sulphate attack will show as bulging floors and large random cracks. A dipped or just uneven floor is not necessarily due to sulphate attack

If your surveyor has seen this, and indeed if you can see this, then yes, if the properties in your location are prone to sulphate attack, it may be occurring.

If there are no visual signs, then your surveyor can not make such a statement without actually testing the floor concrete.

A home-buyers survey or any other building survey wont help and will just recommend further tests and a report from a structural engineer.

A structural engineer will arrange for a sample of the floor to be tested, and will comment on whether sulphate attack is occurring or likely

On a practical note, would it not be better for you to accept a low valuation in order to reduce the share you pay your ex? In addition the typical repair costs of £10-15K should be allowed for in any agreement

 

[tim00]

As a matter of interest and record - not to step on anyone's toes - but sulphate attack can take place in groundfill, as others have explained, it can quite often take place in the concrete itself ( as was often seen in the concrete panels of pre-fab's) and also in the mortar joints of masonry especially where intensive soaking has been taking place.

All sulphate attacks cause expansion of the material attacked.

In suspect slabs, the first thing to look for is: is a membrane present.
Further, a small hole can be dug thro the slab and the sub-fill examined and/or removed for lab testing.

 

[jeds]

I would ask for more information on what led the valuer to draw this conclusion. Was it because he saw signs of uneven floor levels? Or maybe he has knowldedge of the house type and area which leads him to believe SA is a strong possibility? or maybe he just puts that in all his reports to cover his arse.

The only way to be absoluluteyl sure is to test the hardcore beneath your floor. You don't want to really do this unless you are more or less certain there is a problem. The test is disruptive (and destructive) and leaves you with a hole on your damp membrane which can be difficult to repair.