What a £59 builder review looks like

I’ve put this together as if you had asked me to quote for the needed works from the survey. Some of these need a repair budget; others need an answer before anyone can sensibly price them, so I’ve said which is which. All of that can be priced and fixed, but a few things still need the right person to look at them first.

Ceiling damage

The damaged ceiling isn’t one to leave hanging over you while you decorate elsewhere. I’d ask the seller to get any loose material made safe by a suitable contractor. There’s a textured coating on it, so find out whether there’s asbestos in it before anyone disturbs it.

Whether it can be boarded over and skimmed or has to come down needs someone to look at it on site. To board over and skim, I’d allow ███████. If it has to come down and be replaced, I’d allow ███████.

Agree the safe method and how much work is involved with the contractor. If there is asbestos, that work needs pricing separately.

Cracking

You’ve already got an engineer’s report on the cracking, so I’ve read it alongside the survey. I’d go with the engineer’s diagnosis and the repair they recommend, rather than assume the lintels need replacing or the house needs underpinning. If anything in it is still unclear, go back to the engineer.

For the flexible crack repair the engineer specified, including access, I’d allow ███████. If they also specify stainless-steel stitching, that’s extra on top.

Give the engineer’s repair specification to a suitable contractor and ask for a written scope and quote.

Electrics

There’s no recent electrical test, and an old-looking consumer unit doesn’t tell you everything about the wiring. Get a qualified electrician to do an EICR, then price any remedial work from what they find. Don’t take the test recommendation as proof you need a full rewire.

For the EICR itself I’d allow ███████. That’s the test only, not the remedial work.

Arrange access through the agent, and talk to your solicitor about timing and anything you want to ask the seller for.

Heating

The heating system is ageing, so it needs a replacement budget and safety checks. Find out what a replacement would actually include. Taking out the old cylinder and loft tank and putting in a new flue isn’t the same as a simple like-for-like boiler swap.

For a new combi boiler, removing the cylinder and loft tank and a new flue, I’d allow ███████. Any asbestos testing or specialist removal would be extra.

Get a Gas Safe registered engineer to check what’s suitable and quote for your actual system, and have anything suspect looked at before it’s disturbed.

Damp near an appliance

The surveyor picked up raised damp readings near an appliance. I’d check the connections you can get at before assuming an expensive hidden problem. If the simple checks don’t explain it, a buried leak is still a question to investigate.

For a plumber to check it, I’d allow ███████. If they suspect a hidden pipe, leak detection would be about ███████. Those are for finding the problem, not fixing it.

Ask the seller about any previous leaks and get a plumber in. Don’t pay for a damp treatment until you know the cause.

Ventilation

The extraction isn’t good enough. Sort out where the moisture is coming from before you spend money making the room look nice, and if the cause isn’t clear, get it checked rather than assume all the mould is condensation.

For a humidity-controlled extractor fan in the shower room, fitted, I’d allow ███████. A ducted cooker hood is a separate job, and I’d allow ███████ for that. The duct routes and electrical work need confirming.

Check how the extract will vent outside and what making good is included.

Where the surveyor couldn’t get into an area, I’ll always say so. With no photo, no access and no specialist diagnosis, there isn’t a responsible price yet. Some of the figures I give are alternative ways of doing the same job and some are tests rather than repairs, and I say which. Ask contractors to confirm VAT, access, making good and exclusions before you compare quotes.

If it were me, I’d do things in this order:

1. Deal with anything that’s a safety issue first and get the right checks booked. Don’t disturb anything that might contain asbestos.
2. Get answers from your surveyor or the right specialist on anything that could change what the repair is.
3. Get written quotes for the bigger repairs, with access, VAT and exclusions spelled out.
4. Separate the repairs you need from ordinary maintenance and the improvements you’d just like.
5. Look at what you can afford, and whether to go back to the seller, with the evidence in front of you and before you’re legally committed. Ask your solicitor about deadlines.

I’d put these questions to the seller or agent:

• Is there a recent electrical report, and was any remedial work done?
• What service and safety records are there for the heating?
• Has the cracking been assessed, and can we see the report and repair specification?
• Has the damp been looked into, and has there ever been a leak?
• Can we arrange access for the tests and quotes the survey recommends?

If you go back to the seller, stick to the work you need that you couldn’t reasonably have known about at the viewing, backed up by the survey, an investigation or a quote. An upgrade you’d like isn’t the same as a defect that needs putting right. I can’t promise the seller will drop the price, or that any budget I give you will be the final bill.

Happy to talk any of this through.

Ben