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.

And if the external valve on the street turns off your neighbours water check you aren't paying their bill.

Can’t make it up really can you?

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£20 says that whatever survey you get will say “some areas observed to be damp, suggest getting specialist damp advice”

Surely with an easement it is even more clear cut that the neighbours are liable for repairs? If the poster isn’t supplied by the pipe I don’t see how they can be liable?

I meant capping to identify those supplied by the pipe rather than bring a bastard and withholding water supply to force payment - I’m not that nasty!

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.

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They all looked at the google map and listing pics and all told me it's solid brick

Looking at the pic in the link above you can actually see headers (end on bricks) every fifth course, most obviously between the two bay windows, so it is solid I think. The bay window doesn’t have them, so will be single, but that’s common.

Crack on and get it bought!

Textured ceilings will often have asbestos in. It wasn’t banned until 1999 though I think stopped being in Artex in the 80s. Testing is the only way to know.

Survey-wise I’d do nothing at all and rely on individual builder / electric / asbestos / gas / drain etc checks or go level 3. It’s 70 years old and will have been updated to various standards at various stages, I think level 2 works best on <30 year old houses that are broadly as-built.

A bit late now but I’d be looking at that slate roof, if it’s getting on a bit you might want to re-roof.
Similarly the kitchen roof looks like quite a low pitch, sometimes the overlap on the tiles won’t be enough so more susceptible to leaks.
There’s a chance the rear addition that houses the kitchen won’t be cavity walls even if the rest of the building is.

I think my head is telling me to go with a level 3 anyway

It's a huge purchase - work it out as a % of what you're buying.

With the greatest of respect you don't sound that confident in the purchase, and a level 3 survey with a good surveyor will provide insight and reassurance, and might also flag something that a level 2 won't.

We went with a level 3 for our house with a surveyor recommended on here and he was really good so I actually considered it reasonable value for money.

I'd pass on his details but I don't think he'd go to Northampton.

Also agree with the Level 3 survey.

damp meter

Pretty sure those are just for timber, sticking it on a wall won’t tell you anything useful. You could check the roof members in the loft though.

The wall ones work on walls. They have little prongs that pierce into the plaster to take a reading. Do it behind a thing so the owners don’t notice the little holes and get upset.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moisture-Firewood-Handheld-Detector-Backlight/dp/B08NF56FGG/ref=asc_df_B08NF56FGG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=499390094390&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9023063221788643964&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006598&hvtargid=pla-1245165363099&psc=1

They work but the values are meaningless, as they are calibrated for wood. They measure conductivity and the minerals etc in plaster etc are very different to wood, so are not reliable for measuring water content in anything other than wood...

There’s a scale you use. Wood moisture equivalent I think.

ETA: https://blog.protimeter.com/blog/wme/wood-moisture-equivalent-a-home-inspectors-guide

I haven’t read that, but looks like it covers it.

There's a great Youtube video somewhere showing how you can use one of those meters to con a homeowner into believing almost any wall has dangerous levels of damp.

Isn't another problem that they measure capacitance, and the amount of water is only one factor in that measure.

Different walls (and different parts of the same wall, and particularly old one made of fuck knows what horse piss and straw) have very different levels of salts in, so the reading is almost arbitrary.

I really hope this thread cracks the whole damp in homes thing because the world is waiting for an answer. subscribed

It's already been cracked, hasn't it? It's just that it's not easy / cheap / practical to implement, particularly with old London stock housing.

A pal lived in an early 1800s house in the country that wasn’t damp enough. All the clay in the walls was too dry and it was, apparently, at risk of collapse.

Wetness is all a bit Goldilocks.

Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.

I really hope this thread cracks the whole damp in homes thing because the world is waiting for an answer.

Water than comes down -> make sure it doesn't get in
Water that's inside -> make sure it can get out
Water that's in the ground -> make sure it can't get up