Hi Everyone
This is my first post in this forum so please be nice to me :) .
I’m looking to purchase a 7 year old property and the building and pest guys have recommended that I should get it checked by a Structural Engineer.
His opinion is based on the following observations :
1) There is a garage door that has started to jam and you can clearly see that the door is not standing straight and it slightly inclined.
2) small gaps have occurred between the walls and the roof .The building and pest guy suggested that the gaps are close to 10mm which is higher than 5 mm that you would normally expect for a property that is just 7 years old.
3) There are a few council trees just next to the property in a mini reserve and Building and Pest guy believes that the issue could be due to trees sucking up all the water.They also suggested that the issues could be due to settling of the property and could be normal and if it has settled then nothing to worry about but whether or not it has settled only a structural engineer will be able to tell.The current owners have said that they will not pay for Structural Engineer Inspection as they have a 25 year warranty from the builders and they are suggesting that they will talk to the builders and if need be will get it fixed.However, I’m confused whether to invest in such property as I don’t want to take unnecessary risks in case it is one .
At the same time I do not want to lose out on a good property simply because I’m being over cautious.
Please advice.Hi Sean,
Well, as one who tends to be a bit cautious myself, I would tend to side with the Building Inspector (whom you employed to make you aware of any problems, yes?). Now if he says “Get it checked”, and I were the buyer, I would start to consider my options.The current owners have said that they will not pay for Structural Engineer Inspection as they have a 25 year warranty from the builders and they are suggesting that they will talk to the builders and if need be will get it fixed. However, I’m confused whether to invest in such property as I don’t want to take unnecessary risks in case it is one .
The sellers should take it up with their Builder then – and if they won’t/don’t, then I would certainly be walking. To my mind, there are too many good homes for sale that DON’T need underpinning. And if the sellers aren’t wanting to get things settled, then I think they have just bought their own house back for their asking Price !!!
;)
Benny
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