Put an offer on a house we fell in love with (PPOR) accepted, very very excited to move as currently we are stuck in a 1 bedroom place with a baby, 2 dogs and under the flight path and have been looking for awhile for the perfect house for us.
Building and Pest was to be conducted yesterday and 3 hours prior to the inspection r/e forwarded us an email from the sellers?
"When we purchased the property 10 years ago we acknowledged that there was some settling of the house however it was considered insignificant and the house was structurally sound. No further settlement has taken place during our ownership and the house has been checked recently by qualified builders and engineers and found to be structurally sound. These qualified people advised that further settlement is considered very unlikely especially given the amount of time that has passed and the age of the home.
It is also interesting that the demolition and rebuilding of the house next door has had no impact on our house whatsoever, so we can assume that the ground is very stable. Apparently there was a lot of impact at ground level when these works were carried out. So we are pleased that we were not affected.
All work done on the house is council approved. We have paperwork, however the purchasers will likely receive their own confirmation of this during searches.
Could you please pass this information on to the purchasers."
Some dot points from the engineers report
-The house appears to be well maintained with no obvious outstanding maintenance required.
-A visual examination of the structure both externally and internally revealed very little structural distress or evidence of damage caused by gross foundation/floor slab movement, as is normally the case when houses move.
-In summary, the results of the Laser Level Survey around the exterior of the building found that settlement of the foundations has occurred at some time. The extent of the settlement from the rear master bedroom corner (R/H back corner) to the front bedroom corner on the R/H side of the building was measured as progressively dropping or falling 145mm over the length of the building.
-A variation of the foundation levels in areas around the dining/lounge room was also observed, with a gradual but distinct fall from the rear L/H back corner of the house (dining room) to the front L/H corner (lounge room) totalling 50mm.
-The results of the Hydraulic Level Survey across the interior floor surface of the building found that settlement of the concrete floor slab has also occurred that closely reflects that found in the external foundations. The extent of the settlement from the rear master bedroom to the front bedrooms in the extended part of the building was found to be progressively dropping or falling 167mm over the length of the building.
-A comparison of the floor slab levels in the dining/lounge room areas also found a gradual but distinct fall from the back L/H corner of the house (dining room) to the front L/H corner (lounge room) of 34mm
-Given the age of the building, the settlement over-all is considered significant.
-The evidence would suggest that, given the age of the dwelling and the method of construction, further gross movement is not considered likely, however minor movement (secondary consolidation) may continue to occur due to environmental conditions (the marine clays) below the surface of the ground.
-CONCLUSION:
As with any foundation/floor slab movement on a compressible marine clay base, on going monitoring is always recommended. If in the unlikely event that further gross movement continues to occur, then please do not hesitate to contact us for further advice.
So next step is my husband is going to speak to the engineer today, firstly extend building clause as expires tomorrow (only had 7 days)
Totally and utterly devastated
Stepping into the house you can not tell there is any angles unless you roll a marble on one of the bedroom floors
We plan on living in the house for 10 plus years but the main concern is re sale in the future would obviously cause us issues if not fixed
So what do we do now - obtain a quote for underpinning or whatever would rectify the issue, (have been told roughly between $50-$100k). reduce offer to less the quote and then walk away from the house if offer not accepted???
Is it dodgy that this was only brought up from the agent 3 hrs before inspection, what was the point of initial price negotiations, surely they didn't think anyone would just accept this and buy the place anyway.
Building and Pest was to be conducted yesterday and 3 hours prior to the inspection r/e forwarded us an email from the sellers?
"When we purchased the property 10 years ago we acknowledged that there was some settling of the house however it was considered insignificant and the house was structurally sound. No further settlement has taken place during our ownership and the house has been checked recently by qualified builders and engineers and found to be structurally sound. These qualified people advised that further settlement is considered very unlikely especially given the amount of time that has passed and the age of the home.
It is also interesting that the demolition and rebuilding of the house next door has had no impact on our house whatsoever, so we can assume that the ground is very stable. Apparently there was a lot of impact at ground level when these works were carried out. So we are pleased that we were not affected.
All work done on the house is council approved. We have paperwork, however the purchasers will likely receive their own confirmation of this during searches.
Could you please pass this information on to the purchasers."
Some dot points from the engineers report
-The house appears to be well maintained with no obvious outstanding maintenance required.
-A visual examination of the structure both externally and internally revealed very little structural distress or evidence of damage caused by gross foundation/floor slab movement, as is normally the case when houses move.
-In summary, the results of the Laser Level Survey around the exterior of the building found that settlement of the foundations has occurred at some time. The extent of the settlement from the rear master bedroom corner (R/H back corner) to the front bedroom corner on the R/H side of the building was measured as progressively dropping or falling 145mm over the length of the building.
-A variation of the foundation levels in areas around the dining/lounge room was also observed, with a gradual but distinct fall from the rear L/H back corner of the house (dining room) to the front L/H corner (lounge room) totalling 50mm.
-The results of the Hydraulic Level Survey across the interior floor surface of the building found that settlement of the concrete floor slab has also occurred that closely reflects that found in the external foundations. The extent of the settlement from the rear master bedroom to the front bedrooms in the extended part of the building was found to be progressively dropping or falling 167mm over the length of the building.
-A comparison of the floor slab levels in the dining/lounge room areas also found a gradual but distinct fall from the back L/H corner of the house (dining room) to the front L/H corner (lounge room) of 34mm
-Given the age of the building, the settlement over-all is considered significant.
-The evidence would suggest that, given the age of the dwelling and the method of construction, further gross movement is not considered likely, however minor movement (secondary consolidation) may continue to occur due to environmental conditions (the marine clays) below the surface of the ground.
-CONCLUSION:
As with any foundation/floor slab movement on a compressible marine clay base, on going monitoring is always recommended. If in the unlikely event that further gross movement continues to occur, then please do not hesitate to contact us for further advice.
So next step is my husband is going to speak to the engineer today, firstly extend building clause as expires tomorrow (only had 7 days)
Totally and utterly devastated
Stepping into the house you can not tell there is any angles unless you roll a marble on one of the bedroom floors
We plan on living in the house for 10 plus years but the main concern is re sale in the future would obviously cause us issues if not fixed
So what do we do now - obtain a quote for underpinning or whatever would rectify the issue, (have been told roughly between $50-$100k). reduce offer to less the quote and then walk away from the house if offer not accepted???
Is it dodgy that this was only brought up from the agent 3 hrs before inspection, what was the point of initial price negotiations, surely they didn't think anyone would just accept this and buy the place anyway.
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