"Calla" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello all. I'm looking to move house and one of the front runners at
the moment is a bit of a doer upper.
It's obviously the structural side I'm most concerened about.
There's
a small patch of damp in one corner of a bedroom so I'm wondering if
this might be a problem with the roof. There's also a crack down the
corner of the front bay window in another bedroom presumably from
the
double glazing that's been put in.
Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to buy the place without getting
it
checked out, or thinking I can do any of the work myself. I will get
a
surveyor in to have a good look but since a thorough survey isn't
likely to be cheap, do you think it would be a good idea to get a
builder or something in to suck their teeth over it?
I'm thinking it might save me a bit of money if the builder just
says
"walk away". If he reckons it's worth a closer look, then get a
surveyor in, or has anyone any other thoughts?
Thanks all.
Andy.


I'm afraid my experience with surveyors is that in the main they are a
waste of space. This is based on surveys of houses I have sold,
knowing what they should have spotted and didn't, and houses that I
have bought, knowing what they missed! Apparently my current house has
two Leylandii in the garden, where I'm sure I've seen Spruces, and the
original Edwardian fireplaces are, I'm told, cast aluminium depite the
fact that they attract a magnet and are actually cast iron. One
house's 'relatively new central heating boiler' was put in by me 23
years ago, and in another the fact that the back wall leaned outwards
by over 4" was totally missed on a full structural survey done for the
purchasers, but he made up for it by spotting 12" of pointing needed
on a chimney stack !

AWEM