Building Inspection

[kereninotech]

Hi All,

Just got a building inspection done for my first IP, all looks good except the folliwoing, should i be worried for any of the following?


1.0 The smoke alarms fitted are not hard wired at time of inspection.
2.0 The cover to the rear light is broken and the element is exposed.
3.0 There is a high moisture reading to the robe wall adjacent to the shower wall.
4.0 The grout appears to have broken down and we recommend re-grouting the shower area of the en-suite.
5.0 The silicone membrane to the base of the tiles of the vanity unit and of the bath tub has broken down.
We recommend installing a new silicone line to prevent water seepage to the area below.
6.0 The power point to the base of the mirror is cracked.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Propertunity]

The most serious thing is that you have a leaking shower. Renegotiate the price or get the vendor to fix professionally at their own cost.

The rest is cheap and easy to fix.

 

[HD_ACE]

I believe its the vendors responsibility to install hard wired smoke alarms before settlement. Along with rcds.

You can try to negotiate with vendor to have the other repairs done and go from there. The water problems will definatly need to be addressed.

Cheers

 

[kereninotech]

Propertunity and HD ACE, Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[kereninotech]

I have advice the REA, Response was as following

it's not structural it's maintenance. The moisture needs to be dried out and the leak attended to. I will discuss this with my vendors. Don't be concerned.

Would you consider moisture on a wall as structural issue or maintenance issue?
The wall has very high reading of Moisture how will you fix it easily?

I'm getting concerned about this now.

Thanks

 

[Jacque]

I have advice the REA, Response was as following



Would you consider moisture on a wall as structural issue or maintenance issue?
The wall has very high reading of Moisture how will you fix it easily?

I'm getting concerned about this now.

Thanks

Don't stress. High moisture readings around bathrooms are surprisingly common on the many hundreds of building reports I've read in my time
If it is a leaking shower (most likely problem) and depending on the age of the home, you may need to retile and rewaterproof in the shower stall area only. Sometimes the moisture reading can also be high if the shower has been recently used as well. Take another look for obvious signs of damp and/or get a bathroom specialist or plumber to check it out.

 

[DaveM]

Would you consider moisture on a wall as structural issue or maintenance issue?
The wall has very high reading of Moisture how will you fix it easily?

I'm getting concerned about this now.

Generally its a straight forward repair of either a leaking shower tap/rose inside the wall, or of the waterproofing membrane in the shower base.

Repair will be $300-600 for a plumbing repair and patch, up to $1500 or so for a strip out bottom tiles, re-waterproof and retile job.

This would not stop me buying a place, and as Jacque above mentioned, its a pretty common thing to find on reports.

 

[DaveM]

Also Jacque is a self confessed bookworm, there is nothing she loves more than curling up in bed with a good building and pest inspection report

 

[kereninotech]

HI Jacque and DaveM

Thanks for your reply, i want to buy the property. The Measurement reading is from the robe wall adjacent to the shower wall, See photo below taken by building inspector the reading is so high that it maxed out his meter. My concern is the robe wall might be already damaged with this kind of reading?? I’m paying around $500K for this property including costs.

I don’t want to spend fixing more after settlement.



Thanks

 

[Chris B]

Depending on how the building inspection clause is worded in the contract, you should be able to amend the contract to insist that the repairs are completed prior to settlement OR negotiate to reduce the price you are willing to pay and arrange for repairs to be completed yourself after settlement.

The 2nd option will be more of a hassle for you but you should be able to reduce the price by more than the estimated costs (since you have the inconvenience and the costs may end up being greater than expected).

Chris
http://capitaladvantage.com.au/

 

[DaveM]

Well, what does the inspector say? Thats who you are paying for advice

From my previous post, you will be up for max $2k remediation unless its a top end bathroom. Is the wall concrete render or plasterboard?

Have the repair attended to by the vendor PROPERLY (ie no Megasealed or similar hydrobarrier snake oil) or reduce price by 2k to cover it.

 

[kereninotech]

The inspector said it is not a major issue, should be able to fix without any huge cost. I have left it for the vendor to fix.

 

[ok180]

The inspector said it is not a major issue, should be able to fix without any huge cost. I have left it for the vendor to fix.

I wouldnt get the vendor to fix anything, they will just go for whatever is cheapest if they agree to it which might not solve the problem.

Get your own quotes, allow for the worst case scenario and get the vendor to reduce the price accordingly. If you paid a fair price for the property they shouldn't mind dropping the price a bit to fix the issues.