Structural survey

limericklad87

Hey guys just wondering does everyone get a structural survey done.

It's not a requirement by the bank and the same owner has been in this house for the last 10 years plus and its finished to a high quality throughout

L1011

No, but its not a very good idea not to.

Rew

limericklad87 wrote: »

Hey guys just wondering does everyone get a structural survey done.

It's not a requirement by the bank and the same owner has been in this house for the last 10 years plus and its finished to a high quality throughout

You would be nuts not to get one done.

limericklad87

Thought as much. Cheers

Bob24

If I hadn't had a structural survey done, I would have purchased an apartment in Longboat Quay 6 months ago (which got famous last month for having multiple issues related to fire safety regulations and has for which the Dublin fire brigade has served a Fire Safety Notice threatening to evacuate the building).

So my advice is: definitely have it done!

cat123456

I know 300 or 400 quid is a lot to shell out but this amount will seem small if the surveyor spots a big structural issue with the house. I'd rather lose this money than deal with the long term financial pain of subsidence or replacing a roof or whatever other month pit issues could be recovered! It's piece of mind for you.

cat123456

I meant money pit there!

Seth Brundle

limericklad87 wrote: »

Hey guys just wondering does everyone get a structural survey done.

A home will be the biggest purchase that you will make in your lifetime.
You would be mad not to get it checked once you've gone sale agreed.

limericklad87 wrote: »

It's not a requirement by the bank and the same owner has been in this house for the last 10 years plus and its finished to a high quality throughout

The high quality throughout is possibly paint on top of polyfilla.
A proper inspection will check the attic right down to the sewerage pipes. You presumably aren't an expert in these matters so pay someone who is!
As for the same owner being there for ten years, they may not have had issues fixed because they knew that they were moving.

eenm

Can anyone recommend (PM) any surveyors?

Gumbo

cat123456 wrote: »

I know 300 or 400 quid is a lot to shell out but this amount will seem small if the surveyor spots a big structural issue with the house. I'd rather lose this money than deal with the long term financial pain of subsidence or replacing a roof or whatever other month pit issues could be recovered! It's piece of mind for you.

A structural survey is not a pre purchase survey.
They are both different surveys.

So just to be clear, a pre purchase survey will highlight an visible issues like damp, rot, mound. Check Planning status and check stuff like boundaries and extensions, electrical, plumbing.

It will highlight visible cracks or signs of settlement etc but it will note that the purchaser should engage a structural engineer to monitor any structural issues.

Bearing in mind that any survey cannot be envasive, no opening up works and will only a visible survey until the owner of the property gives permission for opening up works.

riclad

If i was buying a house over 30 years old i, might get a structural survey done. If you are buying a standard 3bed house it should not be necessary ,unless you suspect a pyrite problem in the estate.look around the house ,
is there any signs of problems, cracks in walls, window frames, roof tiles .
Is there any signs of leaks or faded plaster on ceilings in certain places .
Is there any brickwork walls that have cracks or missing mortar between the bricks .
For most people a survey is a waste of money,
but its a good idea for older house,s or a house where you think there might be a serious problem .
At this point if theres an estate with pyrite people living there will know all about it anyway.

Gumbo

riclad wrote: »

If i was buying a house over 30 years old i, might get a structural survey done. If you are buying a standard 3bed house it should not be necessary ,unless you suspect a pyrite problem in the estate.look around the house ,
is there any signs of problems, cracks in walls, window frames, roof tiles .
Is there any signs of leaks or faded plaster on ceilings in certain places .
Is there any brickwork walls that have cracks or missing mortar between the bricks .

I would always recommend a pre purchase survey by a building surveyor or similar. Some things are quite hard to notice by buyers such as gate widening that require planning, boundary wall heights etc

Minor things that could come back to haunt the buyer in the future.
I would always check the timbers in the attic and look for signs of rot or decay. If I feel the rafters are sagging I will recommend an engineer to offer an opinion prior to signing.

It's also worth noting that if the house is in a housing estate that is managed, then the MC are legally obliged to inform of any houses in the estate that has gone through pyrite remediation.

The structural survey while worthwhile, is very restrictive until you own the house as you cannot check the bare walls, foundations or anything that's hidden away.

Parchment

Its less than the cost of a tv to get one done - its a sound investment. I couldnt imagine not getting one done.
A friend bought a ten year old house recently and had an engineer do a survey, turned out the chimney was out of alignment (or something to that effect) and she ended up getting a reduction on the price of the house to allow her to get it fixed.

We are sale agreed on a 90 year old house, we will be getting a survey done. We previously had gone sale agreed on a house that was from the 1870's - we got a survey done, turned out - despite the house being well looked after, that there were some costly structural issues that needed to be resolved. The seller would not budge on the price we agreed on so we walked from the sale - the survey gave us the knowledge we needed to make an informed decision about the house.

I really think, unless you are knowledgeable about construction, that you would be a fool not to get one.

riclad

IF house is less than 20 years old , i see no point in paying 400 plus for a survey,Unless you have reason to think there might be a serious problem.The point of a survey is to show serious problems that will need to be fixed ,like dry rot, rising damp, roof problems ,leaks ,etc
in the last 10 years i know people who bought 10 houses ,or apartments,
they did not find any serious problems after they moved in .
of course if you are buying a house 50 or 90 years old you,d be foolish not
to get a survey.

RORY O CONNOR

Given that many houses were thrown up during the boom and that many houses built since 1998 in the eastern part of the country are affected by Pyrite I'd say €400 is a small price to pay for a bit of peace of mind. But sure save yourself €400 if you must.

riclad

IF an estate in the boom has pyrite ,everyone on the estate will know
it,the local estate agents will know it.There has been only a small amount of house,s built since 2008,apart from local authority housing .