Structural help :)

[pfmjude]

hi

I am new to the site so be nice ...

i am looking to buy an old cottage in need of renovation, however the property has some damp and cracks. The property is rendered in 2 sides but on the chimney end the render has come off and needs re pointing and i suspect is the damp issue, re the cracks I don;t know.

I am not ready to spend £400+ on a structural survey as I am sure and expert could diagnose and tell me if the property is worth saving within half an hour. Any ideas where I could find someone in bristol area to check it out? I could send pictures perhaps in the first instance? prior to or to save a visit?

any info, websites, help would be great

Pete

[JollysH1]

Well here we go!
All depends upon whether the cottage has or ever had any form of DPC?

Is the Dampness rising or is there a problem with the roof?

Was the property originally supported with a Hydraulic lime based mortar?

Has there been any alteration for example a concrete pathway that might have breached the existing DPC?

What is the position of the local water table in regard to the property?

The number of possibilities is endless! my advice would be to find the source of the water! if it's above no probs fix the roof! if it's below no probs Injection DPC!

if the moisture is actually coming through the walls, re point it with a traditional Hydraulic! not Hydrated Lime mortar make sure the brickwork is wet when you do it, and I mean wet hose the building down every few hours the day before so the stone can absorb the moisture also after pointing dress the building with wet hessian cloth to stop the mortar drying out too quickly a good lime mortar will sort any damp probs on a stone building.

Good Luck

Jollys H1

[brian]

Originally Posted by pfmjude

I am not ready to spend £400+ on a structural survey

I think this is a bad sign - you are willing to spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds investing a property, yet you are baulking at the idea of paying just a couple of hundred pounds to ensure the investment is reasonably sound?

Let's put it this way, if a professional is paid to give you advice, you have something you can reasonably act upon with confidence. Paid for professional advice means the opinion is backed with liability.

If some friend of a friend says it's fine, then after investing your time and money, you find that it really wasn't that sound an investment, what have you to fall back on?

I think the big problem, really, is that it sounds like you don't really understand the sort of project you may be getting into, and worse than that, you are looking at cheap short cuts to make a decision on. All of which invites a huge amount of risk for a potentially large investment. Personally I think you've inviting financial disaster if you're willing to skip fundamentals.

[magma]

this is so true Brian