Surveys of Georgian

Buildings in Ealing,

London W5

Independent Surveyors

Our independent surevyors carry out Building Surveys; both residential and commercial; also known as Structural Surveys. We also carry out Home Buyers Reports and Valuations (but this is not for bank lending but to advise you how much we feel the property is really worth).

We also do Specific Defects Reports, also known as Engineers Reports or Damp Reports, if you have a specific property problem, i.e. woodworm, wet rot, dry rot, dampness, condensation, foundation problems, movement, cracking.

Please phone one of our independent surveyors on free phone 0800 298 5424 for advice and to get a survey quote.

What does a Georgian property look like?

Georgian properties tend to be quite square in shape. They have large windows, as natural light was precious to occupiers of these homes at the time. They tend to have hidden roofs and hidden guttering and downpipes to the front of the property, which can cause problems (more about this later on). They have sliding sash windows that are timber, and normally have Flemish Bond brickwork.

Sometimes the fronts are in brick, sometimes they are rendered, depending upon the style and class of person they were aimed at. Often the quality of the front can be quite different to that of the sides and rear.

Some pictures of Georgian Properties in Ealing W5

Residential Georgian Properties

Commercial Georgian properties

Our guide to buying property in the Ealing W5 London area

Here we give you some examples of typical Georgian streets that are typical for the W5 Ealing area and explain a bit more about the typical problems that we as surveyors commonly find. Hopefully this will give you a good idea, whether you are buying the 1930's suburb style house or a converted Georgian style apartment, or a large detached property.

Typical Georgian roads in the Ealing area

When surveying this type of property it comes in three forms:

1.  Terraced Georgian properties, as in those adjoining houses on roads such as the Upper Street , College Cross, Windsor Road and Liverpool Road

2.  Larger Georgian properties, either terraces or semi-detached, or even detached, with double height bays and often grander entrance halls. Typical roads are Uxbridge Road, South Ealing Road Gordon Road and Lyncroft Road or Lyncroft Gardens.

3.  Sometimes not very often we come across properties that have been converted into the third type of Georgian property, which is the conversion to apartments or flats.

Typical problems in Georgian properties

When we survey large, small or medium size Georgian properties we commonly come across problems with:

The Chimneys

There are often high level problems to Chimneys which require costly repairs due to access and maintenance achieved by only using a Cherry picker or scaffolding which is expensive in addition to the cost of the project. There are also weathering problems to chimneys which require flashing to alleviate and pointing to bricks which again require expensive high level access.

The Roof

The first problem is that you often can't see the roof from the front at all and there is often a limited view to the rear, due to the height of the Georgian properties and the parapet walls that surround them. However, from our experience, there is normally box gutters behind the parapet walls and they may be hiding, what is known as a London roof, also known as a butterfly roof. These were used as they simply didn't have the technology to do larger roofs at the time.

Common problems with these are leaking central gutters, which cause rot into the valley. Chimneys and parapet walls can be a problem where the flashings have been replaced with cement flashings, or tiles on edge, rather than the original lead. This can also allow dampness into the property.

Then we have the problem where the properties have been insulated to modern standards without ventilation being added, causing condensation to occur in the roofs.

We should also talk about modern ceiling lights being added, which can become a fire risk, and woodworm, wet rot and dry rot, of course.

Georgian wall problems

As with Victorian properties there can be problems in Georgian properties with cement mortar. This causes deterioration to the brickwork seam. This wrecks the appearance of a property by spalling brickwork, then allowing dampness in. The repointing is often carried out with the argument that it will make the building more watertight. This is the opposite of what it does.

See sketch below about the breathability of the walls. We apologise if you have read the Victorian section as it is the same, but it is so important.

Bonding timbers are very important in this age of property. We have explained what these are elsewhere within this www.1stassociated.co.uk website.

Another problem is the embedded floor timbers that are commonly used in this age of property. These do rot over the years, which have resulted in all types of repairs occurring, from back to backing with other timber joists to the adding of steel joist hangers.

A mixture of old and new materials

The mixing of old and new materials can be a problem. It is very difficult to talk about, but we often find that the original construction is not the problem, it is the repairs, modifications and alterations that have been added over the years, and it is the combination of these that has made the problems difficult to diagnose without us actually visiting the property.

If you do have any problems and you want us to carry out a survey then please free phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat.

Windows

Sliding sash windows were a great step forward many years ago, but now are often considered draughty and certainly don't meet many of people's pre-conceptions of how wind and watertight they should be. Many people love the look of them, many people hate the fact that they allow draughts in.

During our surveys we typically find problems and the difficulty is not just the expense of repairing them but finding the right person. Having said that, research shows that the timber sliding sash widows and joinery in general lasts longer than the plastic version, if it is maintained.

Georgian sliding sash windows tend to be slightly larger than Victorian and, depending upon the year, they had or hadn't been affected by modification in the London Building Act, to make them more fire resistant.

Other things that we could have told you about but we just haven't got the time, but if you do have a look on the website there are articles on it

1.  Structural problems and cracking within Victorian properties

2.  Rising damp, lateral damp and condensation

3.  Bay windows

4.  Cast iron gutters and downpipes and soil and vent pipes

5.  Cellars

Whilst the Victorian era spans a number of years the majority of the building was carried out in the 1880's to early 1900's and then we moved into the Edwardian period.

If your property is from an early Victorian era then we suggest you also look at the information that we have on Georgian properties, as this can also be relevant.

We would estimate that 99% of all problems that we look at are solvable. Some, however, are very expensive to solve and some make the properties un-mortgageable. These are areas that you want to avoid. The remaining one per cent, whilst not unsolvable, are best left to professional developers who understand property and have the advantage of being able to get market rates of trades people and materials.

We are also happy to carry out surveys on properties where you are looking to buy as an investment, as well as surveys on properties where you are looking to buy it for your home.

Independent Surveyors

We are independent surveyors and we carry out all sorts of surveys, including building surveys, property surveys, structural surveys, dilapidations, schedules of condition then please call us on 0800 298 5424 for a surveyor to give you a call back.

Commercial Property Independent Surveyor's advice

If you have a commercial property, whether it is freehold or leasehold then sooner or later you may get involved with dilapidation claims. You may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

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 put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

The contents of the web site are for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision.

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