Downsizing to a Post War Years property
with potential, a review

Independent Building Surveyors

If you are in the process of purchasing a property that is in a dilapidated condition or has problems such as dampness or condensation and you need professional advice from a Building Surveyor then we can help you.

We can provide, building surveys, structural surveys, home buyers reports, independent valuations, property surveys, engineers reports, structural reports and specific defects reports. To speak to a Surveyor please free phone 0800 298 5424 to discuss your requirements.

This Post War Years property was in need of some work!

The property that we surveyed was a Post War Years property that had been neglected over the years and now needed a lot of work to bring it up to modern standards. Our clients were aware that some work was going to be necessary but did not realise quite how much.

Caveat Emptor or buyer beware!

Caveat emptor means Buyer Beware and this is why, if you are considering buying a property, you need to have a building survey carried out to find out if there are any problems within the property that you need to be aware of such, for example, dampness. More often than not estate agents will not advise you of such problems.

Why buy a dilapidated house?

Our clients wanted to downsize to a smaller property as they had now retired and their children had left home. The property that we surveyed for them was in a nice area that they knew well and had larger than average rooms for the age of the property. It had also been extended giving more internal space than they were expecting. As mentioned the property was in quite a poor state. Our clients were fully aware that modernisation of areas such as the kitchen and the bathroom were required and also general upgrading and re-decoration throughout.

Dampness in the property

However, they did not know that there was dampness getting into the property that could be causing problems with the suspended timber floor. This dampness was due to the property being on a sloping site and also because of the high ground levels to the front of the property.

Suspended timber floors

As the property had a suspended timber floor it requires a through flow of air below it via air bricks to prevent problems such as wet rot, dry rot and woodworm. In this case we could not see air bricks to the front of the property due to the shrubs and bushes that were growing against the house. We advised our clients that these bushes etc. would need to be cut back, clearing the air bricks of any vegetation /debris and that the best course of action would be to lower the ground level.

Our Good, Bad & Ugly Surveys and Reports!

Our surveys and reports are written in plain easy to understand English with any technical or Surveying terms explained with our definitions. We call this survey and report our Good, Bad and Ugly survey which is a building survey, formerly known as a structural survey, that has been developed over many years, in fact several decades. We have listened to feedback from our clients and amended and altered our surveys to make them easy to read and describe issues clearly.

We can email you examples of our building survey reports

If you are interested in having a Building Survey carried out we can email you examples of our reports please call us for a friendly chat on free phone 0800 298 5424.We can send you examples of, we believe, every type of property and era. Property eras are most typically Tudor and Elizabethan, Georgian and Regency, Victorian and Edwardian, War Years, Post War Years, Modern and New. The reports contain photos, sketches and definitions that help to explain the specific problems that we may find within the property.