Surveyor Recommendations - Cumbria

[AlanCumbria]

Hello Everybody. First post on PPUK, which I was so glad to find for it’s wealth of information.
Thanks to the people behind it and to all of you contributors to the forum.

I’m hoping to buy a 160 year old cottage in rural north Cumbria.
I wonder if anyone can recommend a building surveyor with experience of older properties in the Cumbria area?
Now I appreciate surveyors have to cover themselves legally.
I am however, hoping to find one who limits their suggestions of “further investigation”, “timber specialists” or “damp proofing” of solid stone walls with lime render/plaster.

Any good recommendations of surveyors in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot, AlanCumbria.

 

[amadeus]

Hi,

I am just coming to the end of major project in Cumbria. We didn't use this surveyor but my builders speak highly of him, sorry do not have contact number but it is Shaun Holmes, Penruddock.

Good luck with property.

Amadeus

 

[HAJ]

Hi Alan

I've just had a full structural survey done on a similarly aged property in Cumbria by Matthew Tims of Tims Morris in Hexham (http://www.timsmorris.co.uk/) and I found them to be very thorough and reasonably priced. Plus if there are any major issues they're happy to discuss them before going ahead and compiling the survey report which means that if you decide not to proceed you don't have to pay for the full survey but just their time visiting the property instead.

Hope that's helpful and good luck!

HAJ

 

[Penners]

I'm a long way from Cumbria, so I know nothing of the local surveyors. However, it's my experience that you'll get the best out of your surveyor if you:-

* Check that he/she has a wealth of knowledge of local period buildings.

* Give him/her a clear brief on anything you want them particularly to look for and examine, in addition to the usual standard stuff.

* Sit down with them for a chat after they have prepared their report. If you rely purely on the written report then of course it will be full of carefully phrased stuff that avoids the risk of future legal action. But an informal chat will often produce verbal advice and opinions that they would never want to commit to paper.

 

[Flyfisher]

I can't offer any geographical help either, but I would certainly reiterate the points in Penners' post and the third point in particular.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I too reiterate the advice above. Conservation Accredited means the Surveyor has gone the extra mile to understand Period Properties.

On advice from this forum a Friend of mine found a CA surveyor for his purchase of a cottage last year-- saved him a fortune and had the Estate Agents squirming in their seats as they had been trying to recommend their own Surveyor-- he of course had all the damp treatment etc tricks up his sleeve.

 

[Roger H]

Alan,

Try Stuart - http://www.stuart-eve-associates.co.uk/
Definitely au fait with historic buildings - met him at a recent IHBC conference and he seems to know his stuff.

 

[AlanCumbria]

Thank you Haj and Roger for your recommendations.

Under pressure from all sides yesterday to instruct a surveyor, so had to go with a chap I don't know and just go by my feeling of him on the phone. He is a structural surveyor but isn't Conservation Accredited as kindly recommended by Jocelyn. He does seem to have an interest in local period buildings though and he's err, how can I put this politely? - getting on, so hopefully there's not much he hasn't seen. I asked him about checking for damp and while he didn't entirely give me the answer I was hoping for, he doesn't seem the sort who'll suggest injection DPC etc.

The upside is his price - very cheap (almost too cheap, which I know could end up costing me dearly as Jocelyn says - if he's not right for the job). The price however, means I can chuck the survey if I'm not happy with it and go with one of your recommendations, or as pointed out by Haj, just get them to look at specific issues and talk to me before they compile their report. Never thought of that but makes sense, as a chunk of the survey cost seems to be in putting the report together.

Thank you Penners and to Flyfisher. That's great advice. I had thought of speaking to the surveyor on the phone after he's inspected the property but hadn't thought of having a face to face, informal chat with him. I think sometimes people can be quite cagey on the phone too and you can miss subtle points. Will definitely ask if he's happy with this. He did however, offer to have me with him while he inspects the property. Bit mixed about this, as while it could be very useful, it could also get tricky as the seller will also be present. Any thoughts?

I'll let you know how I get on and thanks again to everybody. Great forum.

Alan

 

[Penners]

He did however, offer to have me with him while he inspects the property. Bit mixed about this, as while it could be very useful, it could also get tricky as the seller will also be present. Any thoughts?

I think it could be quite beneficial. If you spot something that you're not sure about, you can simply ask him about it on the spot. If the seller doesn't like this idea, perhaps you should ask yourself why.

One final point - every surveyor that I've come across is very hot on protecting the copyright of his/her report. So it's advisable not to go quoting or reproducing chunks of it to anyone else, or here. I believe it's OK to say, e.g., "My surveyor feels that there might be damp in the xxxxxxxx", but don't quote your surveyor's words.

 

[AlanCumbria]

Thanks for the recommendation Amadeus and for your thoughts on being present at the inspection Penners. I think I'll do just that and be there. Good point about the copyright. Hadn't thought of that.

Just wish I'd found this site last week. It must look like I'm asking for advice and recommendations and then ignoring them. Just my timing has been bad.

Alan