Pre-Purchase House Survey Results - Help Needed

Mackzee

Hi Everyone,

I recently had a pre-purchase house survey completed on a dormer bungalow built in the early 00s, and there are some items in the report that I wish to understand further in terms of seriousness and cost to fix.

I will be chasing up the Engineer on these, but I would also like to obtain opinions from a wider group.

Summary of Report:

1) Part of the garage foundations are exposed and need to be back filled

2) Garage roof is metal cladding on timber support purlins which are in turn supported by light angled steel frames. The steel frames appear under sized for the design loads for such a structure.

3) There are no steel straps provided to tie the end rafters to the gable walls and same should be installed

4) The water tank in the attic is not covered and insulated and is at risk of damage due to freezing

5) The roof of the sunroom is provided with a ceiling raised above the level of the wall plate. This presents a risk of roof spread at the top of the walls.

6) An internal inspection of the overhead roof attic showed that the roof comprises of a cut timber roof. Dormer roofs rely on support from the first floor structure and as such they are required to be designed by a suitably qualified engineer. Confirmation of this should be sought from the vendors and the person providing the Certificate of Compliance.

7) The level of attic insulation present is of poor quality and consideration should be had to providing additional insulation

8) The side gable wall of the house extends from external to internal in the sunroom and there should normally be insulated plaster board slab provided on this wall in the sun room to help prevent problems associated with cold bridging.

9) The side walls of the dormer windows are likely to be poorly insulated as there appears to be only 100 timber stud walls used in forming same with insulation provided between the studs only. Consideration should be had to improving the insulation levels where possible

10) 50mm insulation used in wall cavity

11) There are no mechanical vents provided in the bathrooms and same should be installed to help prevent problems associated with condensation such as mould/mildew

12) There is some unevenness in the floors in places which is likley the result of poor work manship during construction. The floor boards are damaged by cupping which occurs when the joints in the boards curl upwards due to the presence of excess moisture absorbed into the timber

13) The floors tiles are cracked at the door thresholds in places. This occurs where there is differential settlement between the floor slab and the rising block walls at the door openings.

14) There is obvious damage/repair works carried out on the stove (has back boiler)which is unsightly and may/may not affect the operation of the stove. Consideration might be had to replace the stove with a modern unit.

15) There are no manholes provided on the storm sewer which are required by the Building Regulations to enable access for maintenance and inspection. New access manholes are required to be installed

16) The foul sewer percolation area (buried pipes underground which discharge the treated water from the unit to the ground) should be provided with a distribution chamber and the ends of the percolation pipes should be vented above ground which were not present. Works will need to be carried out to install same which will require excavation works on site

17) There is signs of leaks on the ceilings which are likely from the poor seals around the bath/shower over head however there could also be leaks from the water pipes.

Summary:
There are a number of issues with the property that require further investigation and remedial works to be carried out as outlined in this report. Copies of Certificates of Compliance with Planning Permission and Building Regulations by the house designers and construction supervisors should be sought from the vendors

Kerryite

Hi Mackzee, I've been doing a search and came across your post. Can you let me know if you rectified item 3 (There are no steel straps provided to tie the end rafters to the gable walls and same should be installed) and if you did, how much it cost? You may not have bought this house but if you did I hope all has worked out well!