Home and building survey tips and tricks : Is your House a Well? OK, this may seem a weird question to ask, but it even happened to me! A ground floor flat I bought showed damp in the front room wall. The previous owners had built another wall outside and put a concrete ‘floor’ in between. The result: a fantastic well when it rained! It was easy to fix, the concrete came out and was replaced with gravel so water can drain away. Check walls for damp! Walls get damp for many reasons, and they can always be fixed, often for a few thousand pounds. Check the bottom of your walls for any damp patches, especially after a few days of rain. Then get a free ‘timber and damp’ check.
Exterior walls will be assessed by the property surveyor and large furniture will only prevent them from gaining access to every part of the exterior wall. Make sure your furniture is kept away from exterior walls and moved into the centre of the room.
More common aspects of the property that the Building Survey may cover can be woodworm, dry rot or damage to timbers, structural damage, results of tests for damp in the wall, information regarding the materials used in the property construction, the costs for possible repairs and possibly a recommendation for further investigations into the property.
A HomeBuyer Report with survey: Includes all the features of the RICS Condition Report and advice on defects that may affect the property. A HomeBuyer Report with survey and valuation: Includes all the features of the RICS Condition Report, plus a market valuation and insurance rebuild costs. As one of the most comprehensive surveys available, more often than not a building survey will be requested by potential buyers of your property. It is a wide range inspection of the entirety of a property done in more specific depth than a Homebuyers Report or a Mortgage Valuation. A Building Survey’s purpose is to give a detailed report of the condition of the property in question.
In addition to the suite of RICS branded HomeBuyer Reports, we are able to offer the excellent jargon-free Home Condition Survey by SAVA. With its simple 1 -3 rating system which is also colour coded to indicate the risk level and the individual items rating it allows you to quickly determine the levels and not get held back by surveyor talk. In addition to this, it comes with helpful fact sheets on electrics, gas and asbestos as required. Read more details on RICS Home Buyer Survey.
Party Wall Surveyors, will deal with disputes by issuing an Award. Party Wall Award(s) are ways of dealing with disputes under the Party Wall etc. Act. At Home Heroes we are able to work on your behalf both before the need for a party wall surveyor by preparing and serving notice and once a dispute is deemed, we have experience working as building owners, adjoining owners and even an agreed surveyor.
