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Buying a house and the surveyor has recommended a timber and damp survey as there is inadequate ventilation to the sub floor.
He advised me that there are plenty of companies who conduct the surveys for free, however, they obviously also quote to the work.
There are no raised damp levels in the house and the surveyor did say it is very unlikely that it has caused a problem. It would seem to me that it is in their interest to find problems.
Anyone had any experience of this?
the whole point of a surveyor is that he does the surveying!
I agree, he has done a full survey and come back with "get another surveyor".
I have never done a full survey before, only did it because there as a deal from the bank, I'm a bit disappointed.
Nail on Head Winston - Pay for an independant 1
I work in construction, and my experience of surveyors is that they never take any responsibility for their surveys. Theres always a get out clause there somewhere.
Has he got access to the sub-floor? Or would that mean ripping up floor boards and carpets etc? If so then I guess he's limited but that would be no different to the 'specialist' surveyor he wants you to get in. Seek permission from the seller to survey the floor if possible and tell him to get on with it
winston
I am a surveyor and it's rare to find a property with a suspended timber floor that does have "adequate ventilation." He/she as a minimum should have checked the perimeter with an electronic moisture meter and with the vendors permission, peeled back a few corners of carpets to check the boards. I'd also bounce test (jump up and down on!) a few likely corners to check for excessive bounce / deflection which may indicate decay to joist ends.
Of course the surveyor is limited to what they can do.. if it's wall to wall laminate floor then it's impossible to check the floor boards.
Personally, if they've found no evidence of damp then I wouldn't worry too much.
The surveyor has made it a requirement for my mortgage.
I have a local company with a decent reputation, they make a charge for the survey, which is refunded if work is carried out. Feel a lot happier with that.
The estate agents recommended them, they frequently report back there are no problems.
Hopefully, all is fine, I would just like to get the purchase over.