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House Survey

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  • 12-12-2005 12:16pm
    #1
    tirl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 126 ✭✭


    We bought a house last year approx 20yrs old. Got the usual engineers report and he stated that it would need venting in bedrooms and some rewiring but all else was okay. Once we moved in we found lots of damp spots and various other stuff like dodgy wiring and plumbing. We attempted to put the vents in this weekend and found that there is no insulation in the outside walls at all. Should he not have been able to pick up on this at survey stage as the house will now have to be insulated as the house is freezing

    any help much appreciated


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    #2
    fatboypee
    Registered Users Posts: 958 ✭✭✭fatboypee


    tirl wrote:
    We bought a house last year approx 20yrs old. Got the usual engineers report and he stated that it would need venting in bedrooms and some rewiring but all else was okay. Once we moved in we found lots of damp spots and various other stuff like dodgy wiring and plumbing. We attempted to put the vents in this weekend and found that there is no insulation in the outside walls at all. Should he not have been able to pick up on this at survey stage as the house will now have to be insulated as the house is freezing

    any help much appreciated
    what sort of survey did you get carried out ? Was it a full one or one donr purely for mortgage valuation ?

    FBP


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    #3
    tirl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 126 ✭✭tirl


    full survey


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    #4
    Sleipnir
    Registered Users Posts: 5,514 ✭✭✭Sleipnir


    Well they can't do it without poking holes in each wall.
    So they don't unless you ask them too.


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    #5
    MorningStar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,031 ✭✭✭MorningStar


    He should have known about the insulation without batting a eye. Insulaton is pretty unusal for houses 20 years old. It should have been mentioned as general detail either the lack of it or the fact it has it. Are you sure it didn't get mentioned in the genral construction part.
    Damp as a concern should have been mentioned in the report but check it is not the result of an external gutter leaking a bit as it may be the casue now and not of the time of the report.
    Survey reports are really pretty limited in what they say and overall the are opinion. Regardless of what the surveyor says you really have to have a good look yourself.
    I am pretty surpised this was built 20 years ago without ventalation in the rooms. It would have been most definitley a building requirement


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    #6
    Borzoi
    Registered Users Posts: 2,876 ✭✭✭Borzoi


    tirl wrote:
    Once we moved in we found lots of damp spots and various other stuff like dodgy wiring and plumbing. We attempted to put the vents in this weekend and found that there is no insulation in the outside walls at all. Should he not have been able to pick up on this at survey stage as the house will now have to be insulated as the house is freezing

    Not really the surveyors fault - it's a visual survey after all.

    The damp spots are more liable to be caused by the combination of poor thermal insulation and lack of air movement - are many of these areas behind the curtains - more condensation than anything else.

    Hopefully the builing is cavity wall, in which case blown insulation would be your best bet, otherwise you'll be losing 4" off your rooms to put up sheets and new internal plaster walls


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    #7
    tirl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 126 ✭✭tirl


    Yes it's cavity and the damp patches in the bedrooms are not are not confined to behind curtains, guess it's just another job that has to be done, thanks for the replys


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    #8
    kadman
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,090 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    What was the outline of the full survey.

    It seems he should have have given a detailed summary of all defects , possible causes, reccommendations for further investigation, and some indication of remedies and costs. Thats a full survey. Any thing else is not a full survey. He should have given you a worst case scenario on the defects.

    If you have to have a good look yourself, whats the point of paying him in the first place.

    What was your brief to the surveyor.
    kadman:)


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    #9
    rooferPete
    Registered Users Posts: 1,497 ✭✭✭rooferPete


    Hi,

    The damp should have been picked up in the report and highlighted, while he can't take a lump out of the wall to check the insulation, with a combination of things like the vents and wiring, IMO he should have looked harder.

    The good surveyors carry a moisture meter with them, if they know how to use it properly he would have been able to tell you a lot more and even put in a note of caution about the insulation.

    Some would say that's not reasonable, I say if he knows buildings it is more than reasonable because what sounds like condensation in your case would be noted by the windows and where the airflow was coming from.

    .


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