Review on a Residential Building Survey

on a Victorian apartment with potential

Independent advice

We can provide help and advice with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, independent valuations, property surveys, engineers reports, specific defects report, home buyers reports or any other property matters. Please free phone 1stAssociated.co.uk on 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat with one of our surveyors.

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Property type

We were asked to survey a ground floor apartment of a late Victorian/ Edwardian era three storey house that had been altered, amended and extended over the years to become three apartments.

Meet the building surveyor at the property

In this case our client was able to meet us at the property whilst we carried out the survey. We always recommend if you have the time available and can get to the property whilst the survey is being carried out that you meet your surveyor who will be more than happy to talk to you about any concerns and possible problems that you think the property may have together with any potential alterations and improvements that you may be looking to carry out to the property. Of course we are also always happy to speak to you about the survey report once it has been completed.

Property with potential

The apartment itself was quite dated and had many of the original features remaining. Our client was keen to have our view on the possible alterations that could be made to redesign the property such as new kitchen, adding ensuites, etc.

If you remove walls you may need a Party Wall Agreement

To achieve the layout that our client wants would require the removal a wall which is very possible however may be difficult depending upon whether it gives structural support to the flat above. This could be in the form of floor joists or a wall.

In addition this work would involve a Party Wall agreement. This is a requirement where an element of the property is shared with another element. We would advise that a Party Wall Act agreement is different and additional to planning permission and building regulations.

Party Structures Defined - Party Wall Act Etc. 1996

A structure that both parties enjoy the use of or benefit from. An example of this would be where both parties gain support from a wall or utilise a chimney or chimneys.

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Good design can save you money

Do surveyors look at heating during surveys?

Adding value to your property

Party walls look like this

Victorian and Edwardian problems and their common problems

Heating older buildings

Due to the large rooms our client was concerned with regards to heating bills. It is very difficult to heat a building with rooms of this size to modern standards without getting a large heating bill. External wall cladding wouldn't be appropriate in a Victorian property and internal insulation wall cladding we would say is a relatively new thing on older properties such as this and as such we still don't have enough feedback (and generally within the chartered surveying industry) as to whether it can cause problems for example with interstitial condensation which we are now coming across in other older properties that have been insulated.

Interstitial condensation defined

Condensation within the structure which can cause structural problems.

Sliding Sash Windows can be draughty

Shutters and curtains can help save heat

Often basic things such as quality lined curtains or internal shutters, as we once used, can be great heat savers where there is a lot of glass as there is in this property.

Example of shutters with vents at top open and bottom closed	Close up of shutters folding back with open vents	View of shutters from outside

Redesigning to make the building more energy efficient

The rooms were quite large and therefore difficult to heat so in this case reducing the room sizes by adding en-suites for example would be very beneficial as the smaller rooms would be easier to heat during the winter months.

Compare our website and compare our surveys

Please feel free to have a look at our website 1stAssociated.co.uk to see for yourself the quality of our website, articles and our Building Survey reports. We pride ourselves on our professional standard and easy to read reports written in plain English which we have been carrying out for many years on every age, type and style of property across the UK.

Why have an independent building survey?

Always have an independent building survey as this will highlight any property problems. Caveat emptor means buyer beware and is why you need to have a building survey to find out if there are any problems within the property; the estate agent certainly will not advise you of any.

Remember the building Surveyor that you employ will be the only person working for you with your interests at heart.

Once again, we would reiterate that we highly recommend you always make sure when you have a survey you meet your Surveyor at the property.

Our Executive Summaries make things simple

Our Good, Bad & Ugly Surveys!

In addition we would also like to introduce to you what we call our Good, Bad and Ugly survey which is a building survey, sometimes known as a structural survey, and is something that we have 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. The key factor we believe is that our surveys are easy to understand in plain English.

We can email you examples of our structural surveys

If you are interested in having a Structural Survey we can email you examples of our structural surveys please call us for a friendly chat on free phone 0800 298 5424. We would also be happy to email you some examples of our tailor made reports, Schedules of Condition, Structural Surveys and Property Reports.

We can talk and talk about property

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have included is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

The content of the website is for general information and entertainment only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be taken before making such a decision Free phone 1stAssociated.co.uk on 0800 298 5424 for independent surveying advice.

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