Going against Homebuyers survey report...

[darrylmg]

Homebuyers survey for our house:
1. New boiler.
2. Damp problem in some of the walls.
3. Rewiring.


I think they just trot those out when they get paid to write a report for the buyer.


1. The boiler has lasted a further 5 years with no problems (Two services in that time, and pipework in place ready to replace it in a couple more years)
2. It's a 200 year old stone built house with no damp course and next to no foundations. What do you expect?
3. The wiring colour code might not conform to the colour code for wiring in 2015, but there's nothing wrong with the quality of it. i.e. most of the cables are black & red. This means they are pre-2004. Your surveyor will tell you they need replacing to meet the current building regs/IEEE guidelines. What they are saying is the colour of the plastic sheath is not the current colour.

Exactly the same for me.
The roof also needed "attention". So I saved for 8 years then got it replaced because it was looking seriously tired by that point. Not because it was faulty.
The damp problem was a design feature of a very old house mixed with the incorrect use of modern non-breathable materials.
The surveyor just covered his behind.

[WTFH]

The damp problem was a design feature of a very old house mixed with the incorrect use of modern non-breathable materials.

Oh yeah, forgot about that one - previous owners had used non-breathable masonry paint on the interior stone walls. It's great when it's new, but after a few months the damp seeps out of the weak spots. They'd done a similar thing on the plastered walls in the living room.
In the end we re-plastered the living room and painted it with clay paint (seems expensive to buy, but you don't need much of it).
The stone walls are a project to be tackled - how do you get several layers of paint off internal sandstone without wrecking the wall?

[SueEllen]

My Homebuyer's report said

- Kitchen needed to be done. But that was obvious.

- Electrics were OK. Don't know how the guy knew. 2 electricians checked later and they agreed.

- Boiler could not comment even though there were service records.

- There was damp. It was condensation due to where previous owners had put fitted furniture. Removed the furniture, cleaned the walls, months later got it replastered and no problems since.

[chopper]

On the house I just bought, the Homebuyer's report came up with a '3' for gas and electrics, simply because the surveyor had not had sight of a gas safe inspection or a suitable electrical inspection from within the past 12 months. We proceeded without further investigation as the house was 20 years old and pretty obvious nothing would have changed in relation to the electrics, and the vendor told us the boiler had been replaced in the past six months (a lie as it turns out, it was replaced 2 1/2 years ago).

Homebuyers surveyors are not qualified electricians or gas engineers, the Homebuyer's report probably shouldn't even refer to the gas or electrical installations.

[ASB]

- how do you get several layers of paint off internal sandstone without wrecking the wall?

Soda blasting?