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I wish we had got a builder to have a look round as well as the survey. Survey to tick boxes, builder to tell us more realistically how much work was needed, when and for how much
I agree with this. I think a "full structural survey" (whatever that means) is more likely to give you false confidence than uncover some terrible issue that would have been a nightmare to sort.
NickCJ-
There's not really any such thing as a "full structural survey":
House surveys tend to be undertaken by chartered surveyors as part of a valuation, a homebuyer’s report, or a building survey. Such reports often highlight the need for a structural engineer to assess a specific structural defect, this would be more usually termed a structural inspection.
As a structural engineer, we rarely get called in as part of the home buying process, but when we do, it's often because there the lender won't loan unless we give the OK.
leggy_blonde
I wish we had got a builder to have a look round as well as the survey. Survey to tick boxes, builder to tell us more realistically how much work was needed, when and for how much. That all depends on having a builder you trust though and that you would use for most of the big work.