Heritage Building Surveys in the West Midlands
Heritage building surveys of the West Midlands includes Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire.
We have surveyed in all these counties and love the different types of house from timber frame to brick townhouses. All have their particular issues and common defects and are generally misunderstood by surveyors which results in poor or incorrect advice.
We provide detailed explanation of the construction, materials, condition, defects, maintenance issues, insulation, dampness and assess the risk of decay or deterioration of elements of the fabric.
A Building Survey is the most complete survey available for domestic properties and provides an extremely detailed analysis of the condition of your property.
This is the most expensive type of survey due to the time taken on site and our reports are most comprehensive and detailed assessment of a property’s condition and construction. Unfortunately, they also sometimes result in clients not proceeding with the purchase after reading the report so, be warned!
Dampness in the West Midlands
Although not as exposed as other regions like Wales and the West of Scotland, the UK is a damp island. This doesn’t mean that your house should remain damp. Many old houses have been around for hundreds of years. Damp has been around for the same time but, despite this, these properties have survived almost entirely intact.
Why?
They survived because they were always repaired using the same materials they had been built with. So, what has gone wrong nowadays?
Damp proofers can make so much money by fraudulently misdiagnosing defects which cause dampness that these properties are deteriorating very quickly now. Damp proofers, like double-glazing salesmen, need to sell their product, not for your benefit, for theirs. Do some digging if you have been recommended to get a survey by a CSRT or CSSW ‘surveyor’. Find out what makes them ‘experts’.
Yes, it really is just a 3-day course! And they are being recommended by MRICS surveyors and estate agents. That’s the so-called expertise you will be paying for just so your surveyor limits their own liability for getting it wrong. Rising damp, penetrating damp and condensation damp. They make it sound so simple and with equally simple solutions.
However, it is not simple, it can be very complex, and may need several different solutions with very specific materials to remedy some problems.
Not all surveyors are building surveyors. Indeed, not all building surveyors understand building pathology and very few understand traditional construction (old buildings) no matter how long they have been in practice for.
We are building surveyors and we specialise in traditional construction and materials.
So, if you have problems with your terrace in Worcester, your townhouse in Hereford, your 1930’s brick semi in Gloucester, or your timber house in Stafford, please give us a call to discuss your survey. We will be able to help.
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