Older houses are bought on charm and paid for on condition. A Level 3 Building Survey exists to move the second part of that sentence forward, to before you exchange. Here is where the findings usually are.
Damp, and which kind
Damp is three different problems that look the same on a wall. Rising damp comes up from the ground where a damp-proof course is missing or bridged by raised external ground levels. Penetrating damp comes in through the fabric: failed pointing, cracked render, blocked gutters, leaking flashings. Condensation is made inside the house by the way it is heated and ventilated. The treatment for each is different, and the cost ranges from a bag of lime mortar to a new roof, so the survey's job is to say which one you have, not simply that a meter reading was high.
In practice the surveyor will read the moisture pattern, look at ground levels, gutters and chimneys outside, and lift a carpet or two. A report that only recommends "a specialist damp survey" has not done the work.
Movement, historic or live
Almost every older house has cracks. The question is whether the movement is finished. Tapering cracks that run through brick and mortar, doors that have been re-hung, lintels that have dropped and floors that slope towards one corner are read together with the ground, the trees and the drains. Much of it is historic settlement that stopped decades ago and needs nothing but redecoration. Some of it is live, and live movement needs monitoring or, occasionally, underpinning. The report should say which, and where it cannot be sure, it should say how to find out and roughly what that costs.
The roof and what holds it up
Coverings are the visible part: slipped slates, worn tiles, cement fillets and flashings at the end of their life. The expensive part is the timber underneath. A Level 3 survey goes into the roof void where it can and looks for rot at the wall plates and rafter feet, beetle damage, sagging purlins and the tell-tale steel or timber props of an earlier repair. A re-cover is a known cost; structural roof repairs are the finding most likely to change a price.
Drains you cannot see
Old clay drains crack, root-block and back up, and a leaking drain is one of the commonest causes of movement near a corner of the house. Lifting the inspection chambers and running water tells the surveyor a great deal. Where the layout is unusual or the signs are there, a CCTV drainage survey is a modest additional cost that can save a large one.
Services, briefly
Electrics, plumbing and heating are assessed for age and visible condition rather than tested. A pre-1970s consumer unit, lead pipework, a boiler with no service history: none of these is a reason not to buy, but all of them belong in the price.
What to do with the findings
Our reports price the significant items so the conversation with the seller is about evidence rather than feelings. Most defects resolve one of three ways: a reduction, the seller carrying out works before exchange, or a retention held by your solicitor. Occasionally the right answer is to walk away, and a survey that tells you so has earned its fee several times over.
Written by the Norvex Property team. General information, not advice on your circumstances; speak to us about your own property.