Owning your own home

This is what the survey said about the roof. It's cut and paste nonsense.

10.1 Chimney Stacks and Flashings
There is one chimney stack visible from the front of the property to the left hand side on the party wall and is shared with the neighbour. The chimney stack is rendered with the original chimney pots remaining and there is fairly rough pointing to the brickwork and flaunching. Whilst this is in generally satisfactory condition you should anticipate some repairs will be needed in the medium term. There are a further two chimney stacks visible from the rear of the property to the right hand side party wall and to the left rear elevation on the left hand side party wall and both the stacks again are shared with the neighbour. Again some repair work should be anticipated to brickwork but generally these are in satisfactory order with pointing and brickwork being fair. The original chimney pots remain and although some lean was noted they are considered satisfactory and the lead flashings are only partially visible and where visible are in satisfactory condition. You will appreciate that these structures are on the most exposed part of the building and will be prone to heavier weathering. Good maintenance is therefore essential to these structures. In view of the age of the property, the stacks are unlikely to contain a damp-proof course, and therefore, even with the flashings in good repair, some internal dampness may occur from time to time.

10.2 Roof and Valleys
Roof slopes or flat areas which cannot be seen have been specifically excluded from our report although attention is drawn to their presence.
The main roof is pitched and covered with the original natural slates which are weathered but appear to be in generally satisfactory condition. Natural slates however do have a limited life, but the coverings are considered to be suitable for the medium term. The front bay roof is pitched and covered with artificial slates which are weathered and satisfactory and the lead flashings here are satisfactory with no significant defects or lifting noted. The roof to the rear extension is flat and is felted. The rear extension flat roof covering is visible from the bathroom window and is in generally satisfactory order. The lifespan of a flat roof is difficult to predict. The surface may appear sound, however, a minor surface defect can cause deterioration to the fabric beneath. Such problems can go undetected for a period of time. Flat roof structures should be subject to careful maintenance on a regular basis. Joint detailing to flat roof edges are vulnerable points. Materials used for such details should be carefully positioned and kept in good order. Preferable materials include metal flashings or purpose made prefabricated fittings. The life expectancy of mineral felt flat roof coverings is normally between 10 and 15 years. It is therefore important that such coverings be inspected annually to address any defects that may result in future water penetration; to redistribute stone chippings where provided; to ensure drainage outlets are clear and that weathering to abutments is in a satisfactory condition. Prolonged exposure to sunlight and the effects of temperature changes make the felt brittle as it ages. When it becomes brittle it is no longer able to absorb the roof deck movements and it begins to crack, ultimately letting in water.These cracks are generally difficult to detect and accordingly, the first sign that the roof is defective is often the appearance of a leak inside. As soon as coverings start to leak, they require stripping and replacement. By the nature of the material, leaks can manifest themselves without warning. The rear addition roof coverings are visible from the rear hallway window and a pitched and covered in artificial slate which have weathered but are satisfactory and the lead flashings here also has some age but are in overall satisfactory condition. The back addition roof is of single pitch design. The rafters are supported at their head on a wall plate attached to the party wall and their feet sit on a plate supported on the external side wall.

Hmm yeah that is a lot of words to say not much. Mine was quite useful - just a standard Homebuyers, but quite specific about the fact one side of the roof needed doing sooner rather than later (within a couple of years).
Is it the flat roof or the main roof that needs doing?

When actually, if they had looked properly they would have seen that the roof has a sag in the middle of it across its spine and that the tiles are made of a composite material that has a life of circa 25 years and it is evident that the tiles are older than that.

Inside the loft you can see that mould has grown on the tops of the rafters, evidence of water ingress and that the membrane that sits between the roof tiles and the rafters is even older than the tiles meaning that the tiles were replaced without changing the membrane or batons. These things combined mean the only solution is an entire new roof.

Knowing this would have totally changed our view on budgets etc...

There are 3 roof sections. A large main pitch, a small pitch on the 1st floor extension (perpendicular to the main one) and then a flat roof on the ground floor extension.

Both the pitches need replacing really. But only the big one is leaking.

This has somewhat changed my view of surveyors, actually... I just picked mine from an internet search of who could turn up quickly, and he seemed good, knew his stuff about old buildings and had a proper look around. Seems I may have just been lucky.

I reckon the luck is in the building, rather than the surveyor.

Oh! I've just remembered why I was there. I think. The surveyor (for basic Homebuyer) doesn't open things up, so I was there to open the loft hatch. Officially. He actually didn't care and was quite happy to poke around, and even crowbarred the small window into the old pantry that had been blocked off from the inside. I feel like he would have spotted mouldy rafters, but who knows.

Shit luck Dov.

Meh.

Visit site with a really good builder

Would any be willing to even do this? How much might they charge for such a service?

Depends - if they have a good prior relationship with you they are effectively quoting for future work.

That's the thing. I only know builders in NI, none in London. Well, I worked as a labourer with a builder back when I did a job for Fiddy. But he was not a "really good" builder. Fiddy was far too trusting.

The whole point of the chartered system is that they should not be wind up merchants - they are disinterested professionals who will be delivering to well understood standard.

Fine, but back in the real world, if your price chip request is backed up by an opinion from a known quantity that has seen many properties of similar construction in the local area, you are going to have more success.

Mine was quite useful - just a standard Homebuyers, but quite specific about the fact one side of the roof needed doing sooner rather than later (within a couple of years).

It's funny how they recommend the stodgy 'house described in words' buildings survey isn't it? As if, maybe, it's how they earn their crust. Blasted homebuyers with it's prescribed format making them be succinct!

Would any be willing to even do this? How much might they charge for such a service?

Finding the good ones, and knowing they are good would be the problem here.

Knock on doors up and down the street, see who the locals use for their lofts / extensions.

Fine, but back in the real world, if your price chip request is backed up by an opinion from a known quantity that has seen many properties of similar construction in the local area, you are going to have more success.

No - the defining factors for success are entirely down to buyer's and seller's position. That the information came from '25 years somehow doing the same boring shit job in Ealing Steve' or 'Ken from Putney, chartered four years ago' makes it neither here nor there - both are chartered in this made up scenario, both are equally capable. Ken's hands are free because he doesn't drink at the same pub as Bob the EA who has to unpick the mess the buyer makes when they try to drop their offer based on the waffle that Steve produced (whilst missing the fact that the roof was totally fucked).

defining factors for success are entirely down to buyer's and seller's position

The seller’s position tends to change if a credible source tells them that there are genuine issues with the property.

We can go round in circles here indefinitely, but really & truly my experience when buying either resi or CRE is that the trusted local surveyor is someone you want on your side.

Two offers in from the weekend viewings, one at asking, one at £20k below. Giving the low offer a chance to re-evaluate his life choices to see if he wants to up it and also making sure both know that the knotweed isn't an issue and that if anyone raises it in future they should know it's all in hand.

Then we'll wait until the place we want to buy has its second viewing from another interested party and if they offer. If not, we'll go in with our low offer (due to the amount of work needed). If the others do offer and depending how much, we'll have to think about how low we go in. The sellers have been pretty obvious about preferring us as buyers so have shown their hand slightly.

For what it's worth my full survey was massively, massively useful and let me know about tonnes of things I would never have found out otherwise. Same guy uncovered issues with other properties that meant more than one friend avoided buying an absolute dud.

The most useful bit by far, was the 3 hours or so he spent talking me through the report, rather than the report itself. Unsurprisingly, even a good surveyor has to arse-cover a bit in writing (arses need covering) - but verbally he was willing to be a million times more specific.

I would not get another survey without making sure I can talk it through with the surveyor afterwards...

Is anyone moving soon and seeking cardboard boxes, tape gun and some bubble wrap?

This is packaging I have spare. It won't do a whole house but could do a room or two easily.

Free to whomever wants it

oof yes! well pm

Perfect. All gone to Rogan.

Yes - same here.

The document itself - meh. The conversation with the guy after he did the visit, and another a week or so later was invaluable.

I think I literally asked something along the lines of "Given the other terraced houses you've seen, would you be ok buying this one" - he said yes, no significant or unusal problems (and then his actual report came back with the usual load of issues and arse coverings that would have worried me a lot more without the off the record conversations I had with him).

Personally I wouldn't buy an old house without one - the cost of it is relatively little compared to all other expenses you're covering at that point.

I also have a lot of moving boxes to give away if you're interested (or anyone else is). Probably about 20-25 ranging from large to small. Collection from N15.

They flat packable?

Could drive over and grab them. Let me know.