Owning your own home

Read the entirety of the DIY thread?

Made some enquiries re survey and every company told me don't bother with a level 3, stick to a level 2. Thoughts on that?

I suppose it depends on the property and your level of comfort in spotting anything obvious, but I would be tempted to agree.

If it's some non-standard construction method / centuries old / next to a cliff then I'd consider getting a more extensive survey but for your bog standard pile of bricks the extra cost won't get you much.

offer accepted

Exciting!

Did you get to the bottom of the solid wall question or are you leaving it to survey?

I generally think a good builder is as much use as a surveyor, so see what your pal says first. Have you looked at a level 2 survey to see what it covers? It’s quite a lot of box ticking, conjecture and ‘I didn’t look at X because I’m not qualified / couldn’t see properly’.

A builder or surveyor will see asbestos, it’s easy to spot once you know how. The only place you can’t see without testing is whether it’s in textured ceiling or wall coatings - Artex.

A surveyor will check for damp too.