Issues with a damp proof course...?

Question

Looking at buying a property (100 yr old Victorian Terrance), the current owner has renovated and had a new damp proof course added - (the one where they drill and inject). The estate agent has a certificate from the DPC intstaller to guarantee the work for 20 years.

Having had a valuation/survey done on the property, the surveyor has found higher than normal readings and states that the newly installed DPC was not done correctly (due to the fact that he has found high readings).

Is the 25 year guarantee worth the paper it is written on? Is the surveyor just highlighting so as we can bargain with the seller?

What direction should we take?


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Answer 1

Charlie,

Use this information to negotiate the largest discount you can and, if you love the house, buy it.
I currently own 6 houses, the youngest of which had it's 100th birthday last year. The house I live in had an injected damp proof course (IDPC) 13 years ago on the insistence of the mortgage lender and, unless you keep the central heating on, still suffers from damp.
The BBC program 'Horizon' about 10 years ago tested houses before and after they had had an IDPC and found no difference in the moisture readings. If you think about it, a brick is designed to be waterproof - to drill 4 holes in it and expect to 'flood' it with silicon is totally ludicrous. The whole industry is a con!
The first 4 houses I bought (buy to rent) were all 100 year old terraces and the surveyor (my mate) said they were damp. We took his advice and had an injected damp proof course in all four.
The last house had a 20 year certificate from a company no longer in existence and showing clear signs of having TWO previous IDPC's. His moisture meter gave the same old medium/high readings and I said enough - no further IDPC!!
During the restoration I found numerous leaks in the central heating pipes and a number of gutter leaks making the outer wall wet and a problem around the chimney stack causing moisture on the inside walls. Curing all these problems, I was interested to see what difference it had made, so borrowed my mates moisture meter and the results were low/medium - the wallpaper stayed on and the paintwork did not show mould (and has done for the last 5 years).
Whilst I had the meter I tested the first 4 house and found the same low/medium results even though they had had an IDPC. What a bummer!
As I said I would use your surveyors report and negotiate the best discount you can from your house. Have a great Christmas.

Best wishes Bigpathome.

Answer 2

The choice is yours ..

I suggest you start by sharing the Survey results with the existing owner .. it's up to them what they want to do .. possible options are a price reduction (so you can afford to redo the work) or the existing owner shorts it out under the guarantee before you continue with the purchase.

I would not suggest you persue the guarantee yourself .. even if it doesn't have a 'not transferable' clause, I have no doubt they will try to blame the existing owners in some way to wriggle out of paying to have it fixed ...

NB. I would not be surprised if the Mortgage lender makes it a condition that the work be done before agreeing the loan.

Answer 3

You need to find out if the contractor has been around for a long time. The warranty may be 25 years but what happens if they close up shop? I would have another company come out and give you an inspection/recommendation report. There is nothing wrong with a second opinion. If you don't feel comfortable with the purchase or you want out, make sure you can cancel the contract without losing your earnest money.