Can you dispute a valuation surveyors report?

[earwig999]

We agreed an offer on our property and the buyers mortgage company (Halifax) arranged for a surveyor to visit and carry out his valuation survey.

We thought all went well, but today my estate agent contacted me and explained that there was something found on the surveyors report.

"MATTERS AFFECTING VALUE

There is structural movement. The rear elevation rendering bulges and is cracked below the kitchen window opening, which may have been caused by corrosion of the cast-iron wall panels. You now need to get a structural engineer ( or chartered building surveyor) to make a detailed investigation providing you with a full report identifying stability. I cannot give a present condition valuation until I have seen the report."

I am concerned that this information is not based on any evidence whatsoever. My property has been built since the 1920's and none in the area have ever suffered from movement or subsidence. The houses are called Thorncliffe construction and were made from WW1 tanks, melted down and made into huge cast iron panels.

The estate agent said it might be best if WE pay for the report so as not to 'spook' our potential buyers, but this is going to cost us in the region of £600 upwards (which I don't currently have). I fail to see why I should have to prove there is no structural defect, yet a man with a pen can use his x-ray eyes and make a judgment call that will potentially jeopardize the sale of our property.



Anyone else dealt with this before?

 

[Penners]

You’re stuck between a rock and hard place there mate.

I know this info is not what you want to hear but you will have to appoint a structural engineer if you wish to proceed with the sale.

The buyer certainly won't want the risk (however small).

I know its a setback especially when you were so close to the sale. Just take it on the chin and have it done.

Your also right there's probably feck all wrong / money for old rope etc..

But £600 sheets is not worth losing the sale.

 

[j1mgg]

Unless you can get the buyers to change their mortgage company you are going to have to stump up the £600 or lose the sale.

 

[emarald]

Get a local builder to fix it as for sure work needs to be done so why waste £600 when the repair may cost less

 

[leemoo]

Bulging of the wall and cracks are normally a sign of the wall ties failing and it this may just have happened to yours and no one elses as water may have seeped down the cavity causing the wall tie to rust and snap resulting in the outter skin of the wall to start bulging out. If this is the case then it will only get worse over time because of the stress and strains on the wall.
You could contact a company that deals in replacing wall ties and see if they will assess it for nothing. Maybe phone a few places as they may come out if they think they might have some business coming there way. Least it will give you a better idea.

Oh i think if you ship around you'll get a structural surveyor cheaper than £600. Although I do realise you don't want to pay anything at the moment.

 

[earwig999]

On closer inspection I think it is actually from a repair the council must have made 10 years ago, before we moved in. I am assuming they pulled it off when they removed the windows whilst refurbishing it.

It is a wooden timber frame with large cast iron panels bolted on top of the wood and then rendered with some form of bitumen and sand type mixture. Of course this has been built up of the 80 odd years they have stood and been owned by the council.

I think Emerald has the right idea, if I can find a builder to cut it back and re-patch the area it would be out of sight and out of mind, so to speak.

 

[emarald]

At a guess and from what I can see, when they installed the PVC windows they damaged the existing render and they have just done a very poor job at repairing it, don't think it is structural damage

 

[wiz569]

...I cannot give a present condition valuation until I have seen the report.

I would be inclined to agree with emerald as well,looks like a bad patch job tbh m8 BUT its looks like the Halifax's surveyor wants the report before he will evaluate the property,so you may be better getting the report

At a guess and from what I can see, when they installed the PVC windows they damaged the existing render and they have just done a very poor job at repairing it, don't think it is structural damage

 

[K]

How can that crack be subsidance?? All the weight from above the window is transfered to the left and right of it by the lintel..

Surely thats just a few loose bricks which have slipped posibly due to the cold weather..

Me personaly would have repaired that before any surveyor.. or even gone to the extent of bolting a window box over it lol..

But i had the same on a house i just bought, the surveyor said it has subsidence at the back.. but it wasnt.. it was down to the fact that the 10ft window didnt have a lintel.. Natwest allowed the mortgage to go through.. And as we wernt planning on having the window but instead jacked the back end up, rebricked the lower part and fitted patio doors....

 

[edcase]

How can that crack be subsidance?? All the weight from above the window is transfered to the left and right of it by the lintel..

Surely thats just a few loose bricks which have slipped posibly due to the cold weather..

Me personaly would have repaired that before any surveyor.. or even gone to the extent of bolting a window box over it lol..

But i had the same on a house i just bought, the surveyor said it has subsidence at the back.. but it wasnt.. it was down to the fact that the 10ft window didnt have a lintel.. Natwest allowed the mortgage to go through.. And as we wernt planning on having the window but instead jacked the back end up, rebricked the lower part and fitted patio doors....

The trouble is, surveyors have to be spineless by default. They can't speculate or they will end up before a judge. Anything that "could" be a problem IS a problem.

 

[frenchman]

If you shop around for a SE then it you might not have to pay all that much, I needed one earlier this year to work out beam calcs for a couple of Lintels. I phoned around and got it for £140 including a site visit, measure up and all the paper work needed for the council building control people.

I think I would get a report done and hopefully keep your buyer, but you will more than likely have to either now get it repaired or knock a bit of the asking, if I was buying and something like this was on the survey I would use as leverage and im sure so would almost everybody else.

Cheapest option is shop around and get it sorted out.

Good luck

Frenchman

 

[benny59]

m afraid you will have to get the report m8, no report no mortgage for your buyers


could be a botched rendering job by the council when they fitted the windows, "or" theres water getting in past the window frame causeing rust to break the rendering bond underneath the window {the silicone around the frame doesnt look too good m8}

it might work out cheaper getting a report done in the long run earwig........assuming theres no rust on the cast iron wall then a cheap rendering patchup should sort it and youve sold the house

otherwise a cheap repair with no report will most proberbly lose your present buyers because they cant get the mortgage....{it might also get spotted by any other buyers surveyer if the finished patch doesent blend into the wall

the surveyer is more concerned about the possibility of rust affecting the cast iron underneath the render m8 {its got nothing to do with movement of your house :subsidence: or bad wall ties}.........in your case the structurel movement means blown render. {nothing sticks to rust}

 

[earwig999]

I've took a small section of the render off and to me it looks fine.

I have my insurance company, who just happen to be Halifax, who is the same company that sent the surveyor out to send out an engineer and decide if it warrants a claim. And also gives me something in writing that it is 'hopefully' structurally sound.

Had a plasterer come out to see how much to take it down and repair but he didn't know what the stuff was.

Does anyone here know what they call this type of 'render' if it is render?

It needs to stick to Cast Iron, be flexible and waterproof and leave a similar finish to the existing.

 

[davidh]

I've took a small section of the render off and to me it looks fine.

I have my insurance company, who just happen to be Halifax, who is the same company that sent the surveyor out to send out an engineer and decide if it warrants a claim. And also gives me something in writing that it is 'hopefully' structurally sound.

Had a plasterer come out to see how much to take it down and repair but he didn't know what the stuff was.

Does anyone here know what they call this type of 'render' if it is render?

It needs to stick to Cast Iron, be flexible and waterproof and leave a similar finish to the existing.

i think you may want RENDER DASH

 

[earwig999]

Sorted!!

The purchasers paid for a Structural Engineer who came and said there was no movement, but the render needed replacing and should be no more than £500.

And today the insurance surveyor came and said the same thing but said it would be about £250.

Either way they both said the onus should be on the purchaser to have the work carried out as there would be a retention held on the mortgage regarding this.

Just got to sell the mum-in-laws now - 3 bedroom house for sale in Charnwood Avenue, Borrowash, Derbys, DE72