Good surveyor in Bristol, North Somerset?

[Smithtrae]

Hi all, I hope that someone can help with a recommendation.
We have had an offer accepted on a 200+ year old house, which is actually two stone workers cottages still separate inside, set into a hillside. While the house looks sounds, there are possible issues with the roof and a large bounday wall (back wall of now demolished cottages). Very little has been done to the property so we are prepared to do work on it, mostly ourselves, but we need a good surveyor who is used to older buildings to do the initial sturctural survey for us.

So far we have had quotes from £360 to £940!!! We cann't seem to find any other recommendations and since we have very limited funds we need someone to do a good job now as we cann't afford to pay out for large un-noticed structural problems later on.

Can anyone on here suggest someone?

 

[Carol]

We are not far from Bath and used this company on recommendation from EH. They work across the country and we were very pleased with their comments and pragmatism!

http://www.pha-building-conservation.co.uk/

 

[dalivar]

Hi,
Sorry that I can't help by suggesting anyone, but I advise you look for someone with 'historic building' experience. I didn't know about this when we were buying our old house and so used a regular surveyor who recommended a damp survey. By the time we'd had both done we could have spent the money on one decent survey from someone who knows what they are talking about and saved some time and lots of stress!

I got two quotes later on from companies in Chester with historic building experience for £350 and £500, so it's not too extortionate.
Hope that helps.

 

[TheForge]

I'm in South Somerset and have would thoroughly recommend Amanda Watmore from Jonathan Rhind Conservation Architects in Taunton. I'm sure she'd travel to your area. http://www.jonathan-rhind.co.uk

She has been invaluable in helping with our 'project'! Going far beyond the call of duty!

She's also the current secretary of SPABs South West group. She's thoroughly knowledgable, personable and experienced specialising in historic buildings. She also lives, and is working on a listed house of her own.

We also used David Hornsby for our initial survey, again experienced in historic buildings. Although based in Yorkshire he travelled down at short notice and charged no more than many local companies. http://www.surveysbydavidhornsby.co.uk

I would imagine either of the above would give you a good value service but a 'proper' survey of a historic building isn't going to be cheap! I would expect to pay over £500 for a comprehensive historical survey, and possibly a lot more depending on size and depth of detail required.

I'd echo what others have said and ensure whoever you go with are RICS conservation accredited and used to dealing sympathetically with historic buildings. Anyone talking of tanking and DPCs will, in most cases, probably not be the best choice!

 

[MdB]

It is also worth pointing out that the best surveyor in the world can't detect problems that are hidden. Our 1970s block walls had structural issues to the point where we had to replace them but I couldn't fault our surveyor as it was only possible to find the problem once exploratory holes had been dug (in the living room). Unfortunately you are generally not allowed to do this before you have purchased the house....