Scooby96

Could you have a look at this in DIY

Mods - please can you leave this in NSR for a quick response

pugoetru

you are very persistant

pugoetru

cracks

[Edited by pugoetru - 12/8/2003 10:42:13 AM]

[Edited by pugoetru - 12/8/2003 10:44:14 AM]

Scooby96

Persistent as this property is going to auction on 15th Dec and I want it

yoza

Does your local FireBrigade have 'Thermal Imaging Equipment'?

If they havent, I suggest you move.

In the meantime sleep with a helmet on.

yoza

Oh, you want to buy it.........

Unless its extreemly cheap I wouldnt bother.

PS. Im no expert, but Ive seen a few nasty cracks in my time.

tiggers

Scooby96,

A lot of the time cracks such as these can be small settlement cracks and will never get any worse, but sometimes they are indicative of a bigger problem.

The only real way to find out is to put some measuring devices on them and record the gaps over time or commision a full structural survey. The former requires lots of time (which you don't have) and the latter lots of money (which you may have).

Sorry I can't be of any more help than that, but this sort of thing is a tricky area.

Regards,

tiggers.

mattstant

scooby 96 only just got youre emails and i am sifting through them now no acces at home as my computer is kaput and flu sat/sun stopped me getting into work to pick up private stuff.

On the cracks front most look like oldish settlement but that end wall looks serious and an attempt has been made along time ago to rectify.
That funy iron cross is a big tie bar some times these were put in on gables in course of construction but in this case it seems to be to correct a fault.

just seen you only have till 15th without structural survey WALK AWAY now its these impulsive buys which get you into deep ****

My instinct based purely on those photos would be dont touch with a barge pole especially without an extensive structural survey and NOT by one of those tame building society muppets either.


[Edited by mattstant - 12/8/2003 12:13:20 PM]

ProperCharlie

the cracks look pretty old. what age is the property? i'm interested in the picture with the cross bracing in it. what's underneath? is the property near a main road? what area is it and do you know the soil type? are there any large trees near by? another factor could be collapsed or leaking drains. really need to have a bit of a dig around.

the scaffolding looks as though it may be there due to problems with the bay window - which is not uncommon.

ProperCharlie

many old properties have moved considerably over their life - like the one i live in at the mo! was having some changes done in the back extension and plaster came off to reveal a good 2 inch crack between the front of the house and the back extension. i was a bit horrified but it had obviously been like that for decades, so we just filled it up with cement and plastered over it. as mattstant says, the worst looking bit is where the tie bar has been put in (or possibly was there already but repairs have not been effective).

Scooby96

Area is Hastings - TN34 3.. area.

Building is in a cul de sac and is built on a hill - the property has a basement flat below the one I want to buy (lower ground).

Didnt notice any large trees nearby. Scaffolding has been erected as the facia boards and gutters are being replaced (to be paid for out of the surplus 2002-2003 maintenance fund).

The property is 'looked after' by a Management Company who insure the building as a whole (premium £770 - for £330k cover).

If the building was subsiding or there were some serious structural problems wouldnt the management company be sorting these or if they became more apparent in the future wouldnt the buildings insurance currently in place cover the cost of under-pinning and other works required to rectify anything structurally - including drain problems?

ProperCharlie

if the management co. maintain adequate insurance on the building then that should help quite a bit, as you should be covered against the worst case scenario. i thought it was a vacant possession type job (from the look of it!), in which case you can't buy it and *then* make a 30k claim for underpinning. did you notice any fish or other aquatic life forms in residence? if not then could be a winner, especially as you only want to stick some dss merchants in there.

edited to add: as it is btl you may need to consider loss of rental income if it did need underpinning or other major work - can make the building uninhabitable for 6 months or so.

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 12/8/2003 11:20:23 AM]

unclebuck

looks like subsidance to me. But I'm no expert. What's the scaffold for? Roof gone too? Is the basement occupied? Place looks a mess to me.

UB

Scooby96

Yep its buy to let and the tenant is a very nice late 20's lass

The wall with the cross brace in is back up past the building in the pic below





[Edited by Scooby96 - 12/8/2003 11:33:04 AM]

Scooby96

The wall is here:

ProperCharlie

like UB, i'm not an expert but i have been invovled in *numerous* (sigh) subsidence cases when i worked as a local authority tree officer. The things that would worry me about this are the slope of the site (if the thing is slipping down the hill you aren't gonna stop it in a hurry), and the possible aggrovation of the whole deal. if the place is a bargain then you may judge it to be worth the risk. if not you need to consider the possibility that this will be a persistant problem that will lead to:

a) unhappy tenants or possibly no tenants
b) protracted arguments with the managenment co.
c) protracted arguments with the management co's insurers
d) protracted arguments with the leasholders and/or occupiers of the other flats
e) protracted agruments with other parties if the damage is thought to be casued by problems outwith the freehold of the property (e.g. a collapsed or leaking main drain, a tree in someone else's garden or the street, lorries passing over a speed bump in the street etc etc)

having said that, in a lot of these cases the cracks are filled and the place redecorated, and everyone forgets about it for another 20 years.

edited to add - out of interest, what's on the other side of the pink wall? where do you get to if you go through that door thing that i assume is beneath the concrete lintel?

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 12/8/2003 11:41:49 AM]

Scooby96

pink wall???

ProperCharlie

well it looks pinkish to me what colour do you want to call it?

the one with the ironwork and horizontal cracks in it. if it's just the street on the other side then the wall being fubared isn't going to be such a big problem.

Scooby96

mattstant

LOL now i know why you are so keen to buy .

If youre letting youre crotch rule your property investments you are well and truly fecked.

Everyone on this thread is very well meaning but there are far too many variables too consider without a proper site visit.

Still looking though the contract documents and everything looks pretty standard so far.

Chrisgr31

Well it's not really possible to tell from a few photos because of more interest is what is on the other side of the wall, and what the wall is holding up, if anything!

It appears to me as if the house is rendered, and it may be that movement has caused the rendering to crack slightly and there is no problem. Alternatively the brick work under the rendering may have cracked in which case there could be a big problem. It is also possible that the rendering itself is past its sell by date, and is cracking, water, is getting in behind it, and in a short while it will all fall off!

Having looked at the photos again it looks as f the rendering over the window has been raplaced at some point, and has cracked along the join between the old and the new, in which I would just fill it to prevent moisture getting in it.

The wall at the back looks more serious, and I would want to know what is behind it. It could be a car park, garden, or whatever. It looks to me as though it might be cracked at ground level, in which case it would need to be demolished and rebuilt. Particularly if the house is let out, otherwise one could have a nasty claim in due course. It looks as if the crack has previously been filled and still reopened which implies there was further movement. If the problems that caused the movement are not resolved it could be bad news.

ProperCharlie

This one! The one we were talkin about earlier.

Scooby96

The wall is actually at the front of the house and path level - there is nothing the other side except the ground floor flat front 'garden'.

I appreciate everyones comments - I was not going to purchase without a survey - I am contemplating making an offer (subject to survey) prior to auction so that the vendor then takes it out the catalogue and then I can have the full structural thingy done and complete in 28 days if all is well.

mattstant

by the way pugoetru 12 out of 14

StickyMicky

11/14

pugoetru

LOL