Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
3) Damp in a window frame
4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,
cheers,
Jon

"monkfish79" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
3) Damp in a window frame
4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,

--------------------------------------------------------------

you should be revising your offer downwards and IMHO
getting the problems fixed professionally (yes I know this
is a DIY group).

tim

In message . com,
monkfish79 writes
Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey

you mean done by someone touting for business as well....


Personally I could never trust this sort of thing from someone with
vested interest. But independent surveyors for this sort of thing seem
thin on the ground.


done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney

Probably dealt with by putting in a vent or two.

3) Damp in a window frame

Easily fixed and non-urgent, at the worst a new frame, probably just a
repair.

4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

Presumably from a leaky pipe or poor sealing around the bath? If it's
just boards that need doing then not to bad a job, if the joists are
going as well then a more difficult job. but once wood is dry/repaired
wet rot isn't a problem.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

quite possibly, but they would soon tell you.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,

1. I'd first be considering raising this with the vendors and looking
either to reduce the price or for them to fix some of it - depending of
course on what the price is.

2. Get some other quotes as well.
--
Chris French

monkfish79 wrote:

Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
3) Damp in a window frame
4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,
cheers,
Jon

the damp issues are quite doable, assuming theyre genuine.

Woodworm, I'm just aware that most 1890 properties wll have some
woodworm damage, and its rarely active worm. However treatment
companies like to do business regardless, so I'd take a look at that
myself to check if the visual evidence really does say its active.

Most diagnoses of damp in old buildings are false, so again I'd seek to
confirm before doing work. I would also be wary of proposed damp repair
works in that a high percentage are inappropriate.


NT

tim (back at home) wrote:

you should be revising your offer downwards and IMHO
getting the problems fixed professionally (yes I know this
is a DIY group).

Or better still, lowering the offer, doing the work yourself and
pocketing the difference!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

tim (back at home) wrote:
"monkfish79" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
3) Damp in a window frame
4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,

--------------------------------------------------------------

you should be revising your offer downwards and IMHO
getting the problems fixed professionally (yes I know this
is a DIY group).

tim


I agree. The price should reflect the cost to repair, and then some, as
IME rot is usually a lot more extensive than the surveys can
see..certainly was in my old house. And the insurance company will want
to see that its been dine in a sensible time frame.

£2800 seems very low to me. Active rot in the roof as far as I am
concerned means its leaking, and possibly poorly ventilated as well,
which means a complete re-roof is probably what you want to do.

The damp behind the chimney is curious..perhaps water coming down
it..but if near the ground, perhaps the chimney is sucking it up.

Rotten window frames and a leaking bathroom are less an issue. You need
to rip the bathroom out and re-do it properly thats all, and you
probably would anyway.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

£2800 seems very low to me. Active rot in the roof as far as I am
concerned means its leaking, and possibly poorly ventilated as well,
which means a complete re-roof is probably what you want to do.

The damp behind the chimney is curious..perhaps water coming down
it..but if near the ground, perhaps the chimney is sucking it up.

Rotten window frames and a leaking bathroom are less an issue. You need
to rip the bathroom out and re-do it properly thats all, and you
probably would anyway.

Gee, you're not the bloke that put in the quote are you? ;-)

wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
£2800 seems very low to me. Active rot in the roof as far as I am
concerned means its leaking, and possibly poorly ventilated as well,
which means a complete re-roof is probably what you want to do.

The damp behind the chimney is curious..perhaps water coming down
it..but if near the ground, perhaps the chimney is sucking it up.

Rotten window frames and a leaking bathroom are less an issue. You need
to rip the bathroom out and re-do it properly thats all, and you
probably would anyway.

Gee, you're not the bloke that put in the quote are you? ;-)

No.

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
I'd put money on it last being active a few years after the house was
built - flight holes are left after the woodworm have gone. I wouldn't
do anything at this stage - if you buy it, put some masking tape over
the affected area and check back in the spring and see if any new holes
have appeared

2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
easy to fix with ventilation as others have said - air brick in chimney
is a DIY job and your local chimneysweep will be able to cap the
chimney for a few quid

3) Damp in a window frame
cut it out, treat it, paint it, job done

Most importantly remember a free "survey" by a "Specialist" (read
"Salesman") is worth exactly what you paid for it

Charlie

Wow, thanks guys!
Have gone to the estate agent with a revised offer, and they agreed to
sort most of it out. The rest of it'll probably be diy'ed by myself and
my incle, who's a retired builder. Thanks again for the advice!

monkfish79 wrote:
Hi,
I've just had a specialist survey done on a flat (built circa 1890)
that my Fiancee and I are trying to buy. He came back to me with;

1) An "active" infestation of woodworm in the roof and floorboards
2) Damp behind a sealed up chimney
3) Damp in a window frame
4) Wet Rot in the bathroom, which they'll need to take the bath out to
fix.

He quoted me £2800 to fix all of this in a 1er, but how much of this
could I deal with myself (I'm o.k. at D.I.Y., but more tenacious than
skilled....), and which points are likely to stop the mortgage going
through? I would imagine that if there are woodworm, the mortgage
company won't be too happy, so he quoted me a grand for that.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,
cheers,
Jon

As its a flat you may want to check the Lease to see who is responsible
for the window frames as its not uncommon for it to be the freeholders.
For example this is very common with former local authority flats,
although this does not sound like a former local authority flat!

This question of ownership/responsilibity could also apply to points 1
and 2.