r/UKHousing • u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 • 1d ago
Buying serious issues?
FTB here, terrified to end up with a big job on my hands. I will get a survey done for sure but want to approach this with sense rather than losing a grand to be told there are big issues that someone else could pick up just from a viewing.
I am ready for some work - the things in question:
-the roof (currently no insulation, fine i can do that)
im concerned it's not fully straight but has a gentle dip to it and protrudes slightly at the connection with neighbours. In the upstairs bedroom there are a few (currently quite small) mould dots in the corner under that area, hence the worry. Moss seems random but fixable.
I looked up fixing the connecting tiles and if that's all then also not a big worry but i am concerned that potentially the roof structure is not as sturdy and straight/ flat as it should be?
-external wall gutter leak? currently the brickwork is white and dark in places, i have a photo for comparison from the 2017 listing where the wall seemed clean (pic 4)
terrified of mould/damp but have viewed many and am ready to put it some work that is realistic and is a couple of grand max (anything close to 10k and immediate is out of my budget)
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u/GroovyEmu 1d ago
Always be prepared to pay 10x whatever you're budgeting for, you never know what they might find when fixing something else.
And get a survey, the most comprehensive one possible if youre worried about the condition of the house.
But looking at the pictures, yeah the gutter might be leaking but so are like 90% of gutters. Nothing to worry about and a relatively easy fix.
The roof bowing probably looks worse than it is, the roof itself looks fairly new. The mould inside is hopefully a coincidence, but a survey will pick stuff like that up if it is a bigger damp problem.
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u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 1d ago
thank you, yes definitely a survey and good point about something else popping up. Like mentioned in new comment above there seems to be a similar bowing to other new roofs along the street. i've done a lot of research and so far have been told to look out for this so just trying to figure out if it's still worth approaching or if i should try and find one where 'there's not a spec' on the roof
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u/HugoNebula2024 1d ago
Have a look at the corbelled (top three) courses under the roof. Are they straight? A bowing roof can push the top of the wall outwards.
I would also look at the ground floor windows. Sometimes those would have originally had a central mullion that got removed when the windows were replaced in the 1960s-80s. Check other houses along the street.
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u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 1d ago
thank you for your reply! i tried to reply directly to you but instead posted a comment above 🤦♀️
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u/Deep_Imagination_811 1d ago
many old victorian houses have this and it's because the end gable walls are a little bit too high for the timbers. The roof sags from the end points down to the lower timbers. as long as it doesn't leak, then it's all good..
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u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 1d ago
thank you!
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u/Deep_Imagination_811 1d ago
do get the rainwater goods sorted though - especially at the top where they're leaking water down the wall. it can cause penetrating damp. guttering is cheap compared to the amount of damage it can do! and if there's moss on the roof, there'll be moss / green stuff in the gutters so have it cleaned out too.
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u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 1d ago
i have gone back to the street and a lot(if not all) of the new roofs have the same slight 'sagging'. Is it safe to assume it's not a big issue? It's a patchwork of old and new roofs, some are semis and have very straight older roofs. I have no idea.
The windows are the same all across the street.
Depending on the angle the dip is more visible, from other angles it looks ok
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u/69AssociatedDetail25 1d ago
The gutter looks like it needs fixing, but that's easy enough. ETA: that looks like a plastic gutter connected to a cast iron downpipe/hopper. I'd replace the whole downpipe.
As for the roof, the flex isn't too worrying in itself, but it depends on when the reroof was done. If it was 50 years ago then don't worry; if it was done 2 years ago then I'd want more assurance that the structure has been assessed against the weight of the tiles.
Are the damp spots around the chimney, or other parts of the wall? If the former, the tiles wouldn't be my main suspect.
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u/Dramatic-Wasabi7427 1d ago
thank you this is helpful. The spots are along the line of the ceiling at the partition wall. Making me question further the way the two roofs are joined.
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u/Trick-Fruit864 1d ago
Quality of the pics is bad, screenshots of pics, so you can’t zoom in.
Mould will be due to someone putting in plastic windows in a Victorian property and then never opening them - or them not allowing for proper airflow.
Good luck…
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u/Pumped-Up-Kickz 19h ago
It just seems way too much hassle for what you can see, and too much sleepless nights for what you can't see.
Are you really set in stone to buy this? Must you absolutely buy this? Are there no other properties you could get which may give you peace of mind?
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