Houses

[rachhere]

That seems a crazy amount of moisture to keep gathering that quickly after using the dehumidifier. I would just get the experts in. It sounds like you recently moved. I take it no damp was picked up by a survey?

[kenny]

10 hours ago, Ian Nacho said:

Any ideas to what may be causing this damp around my fireplace? My house is early 1900s so solid brick wall construction and I’ve been getting this weird damp area around the fireplace since I’ve moved in. Whenever I put a dehumidifier on in the room for a few hours it 90% dries up but within a few hours it’s back, seemingly getting worse when I put my heating on. From what I’ve researched so far it may be caused by the fireplace not being sealed up properly as there is no external ventilation external to the chimney but I just wondered if there was anyone on here with any expertise as I don’t really fancy getting ripped off by some so called damp expert injecting stuff into my walls which does nothing. 

You normally need the vent when the chimney breast is blocked up, in this case the old fireplace appears to be open. So you should'nt need a vent.

 

I would pay for a damp survey, they are normally cheap to have carried out. We used timberwise for ours.

[Ian Nacho]

9 hours ago, rachhere said:

That seems a crazy amount of moisture to keep gathering that quickly after using the dehumidifier. I would just get the experts in. It sounds like you recently moved. I take it no damp was picked up by a survey?

There was wallpaper on it before so was all hidden. 

[Raj]

12 hours ago, Ian Nacho said:

Any ideas to what may be causing this damp around my fireplace? My house is early 1900s so solid brick wall construction and I’ve been getting this weird damp area around the fireplace since I’ve moved in. Whenever I put a dehumidifier on in the room for a few hours it 90% dries up but within a few hours it’s back, seemingly getting worse when I put my heating on. From what I’ve researched so far it may be caused by the fireplace not being sealed up properly as there is no external ventilation external to the chimney but I just wondered if there was anyone on here with any expertise as I don’t really fancy getting ripped off by some so called damp expert injecting stuff into my walls which does nothing. 

I'd get someone in to check that out especially with the electrical socket where it is.

We used these years ago when we had an issue- needed the whole downstairs re-doing upto waist high.

 

Damp Proofing Coventry, Rugby, Leicester, Northampton, Market Harborough, Wellingborough, Coalville, Kettering, Rising Damp Experts (dampcoltd.co.uk)

 

 

 

[FoyleFox]

2 hours ago, Ian Nacho said:

There was wallpaper on it before so was all hidden. 

They should put a device on the wall to check for damp, rather than just a visual inspection.

[FoxesDeb]

3 hours ago, Ian Nacho said:

There was wallpaper on it before so was all hidden. 

 

1 hour ago, FoyleFox said:

They should put a device on the wall to check for damp, rather than just a visual inspection.

As Foyle says, a survey should pick up damp whether it was covered or not, that's why they're so important, to pick up problems that aren't visible. 

[Raj]

1 hour ago, FoyleFox said:

They should put a device on the wall to check for damp, rather than just a visual inspection.

They do don't they? Im sure they do

[FoyleFox]

4 minutes ago, Raj said:

They do don't they? Im sure they do

They should, yes. I saw the lady do it when we had a revaluation survey done. But @Ian Nacho said he had no damp detected in his survey and queried that it may have been missed as the affected area was behind wallpaper. The check shouldn't be visual, is exactly the point, it's a device which measures damp, wallpaper or no wallpaper.

[Raj]

13 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

They should, yes. I saw the lady do it when we had a revaluation survey done. But @Ian Nacho said he had no damp detected in his survey and queried that it may have been missed as the affected area was behind wallpaper. The check shouldn't be visual, is exactly the point, it's a device which measures damp, wallpaper or no wallpaper.

Oh yeah sorry didnt read the last few posts.

[Guest binic16]

Thats definitely rising damp .

[Haywood_6]

We're first time buyers and had our offer accepted on a house today. Can anyone recommend a good conveyancing solicitor? We've been qouted £2300 from Lifetime Legal which is who the estate agents recommended! Hoping to find something for a bit less.

[Raj]

1 hour ago, Haywood_6 said:

We're first time buyers and had our offer accepted on a house today. Can anyone recommend a good conveyancing solicitor? We've been qouted £2300 from Lifetime Legal which is who the estate agents recommended! Hoping to find something for a bit less.

I used one on Uppingham Rd Leicester.

They were pretty decent and a good price.

 

https://imylegal.co.uk/

 

Dont go with the estate agents recommended  one...they are In the cut and it'll cost more

[vandamman]

On 29/03/2023 at 21:03, Ian Nacho said:

Any ideas to what may be causing this damp around my fireplace? My house is early 1900s so solid brick wall construction and I’ve been getting this weird damp area around the fireplace since I’ve moved in. Whenever I put a dehumidifier on in the room for a few hours it 90% dries up but within a few hours it’s back, seemingly getting worse when I put my heating on. From what I’ve researched so far it may be caused by the fireplace not being sealed up properly as there is no external ventilation external to the chimney but I just wondered if there was anyone on here with any expertise as I don’t really fancy getting ripped off by some so called damp expert injecting stuff into my walls which does nothing. 

Based on the fact you’ve said it varies according to humidity and temperature, the damp is probably due to salts in the chimney which attract moisture. The chimney walls may also have been replastered in a gypsum based plaster at some point which trap moisture and salts. Check the chimney stack externally for signs of leaks and do vent the chimney if you can. If it’s a solid floor, make sure that no wall plaster is in contact with the solid floor. Also, some of the damp appears to be to external walls, so check the external ground levels against the damp proof course. The internal walls may have to be replastered with a breathable plaster and salt affected walls treated with a waterproof solution. 

Edited 19 April 2023 by vandamman

[lcfc278]

12 hours ago, Haywood_6 said:

We're first time buyers and had our offer accepted on a house today. Can anyone recommend a good conveyancing solicitor? We've been qouted £2300 from Lifetime Legal which is who the estate agents recommended! Hoping to find something for a bit less.

I'm not sure what they're like now but we used Premier Property Lawyers a few years back for ours. It's all online so you can login and see your status and documents etc. They were pretty good when we used them, occasionally had to call to push them along on some things but I'm sure that's fairly common. I think you can get a quote on their website as well.

[TeamRocket]

Okay can some help am almost at the end of buying a house all paperwork etc have been done and a date was discussed but not confirmed, bank has said they going to transfer founds on Thursday. The day our solicitor and we agreed to but not confirmed other than he saying yeah that'd good. Does this mean  that's the day we get the keys? Old owners have moved out etc. Also when should I do the home insurance part the bank said they wouldn't give us the funds but said they will give it on Thursday am confused. Thanks 

[VLC86]

1 minute ago, TeamRocket said:

Okay can some help am almost at the end of buying a house all paperwork etc have been done and a date was discussed but not confirmed, bank has said they going to transfer founds on Thursday. The day our solicitor and we agreed to but not confirmed other than he saying yeah that'd good. Does this mean  that's the day we get the keys? Old owners have moved out etc. Also when should I do the home insurance part the bank said they wouldn't give us the funds but said they will give it on Thursday am confused. Thanks 

Yeah banks release the money upon completion to the solicitors so it’s highly likely that’s when you get your keys.

[FoyleFox]

If Thursday is your completion day, that's when you need to start the house insurance too. 

[TeamRocket]

21 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

Yeah banks release the money upon completion to the solicitors so it’s highly likely that’s when you get your keys.

Cool does it happen really  quickly? Just  seem mad considering everything else took forever 

[TeamRocket]

3 hours ago, FoyleFox said:

If Thursday is your completion day, that's when you need to start the house insurance too. 

Well am guessing it is cos that the day I said would be good and the bank said they would release the money to my solicitor then. I was happy  doing the home insurance earlier as I wanted to make sure there was no hick up about the bank not releasing the funds but when I asked the solicitor they said that wait for when you get the keys as somethings would need to be checked like door look type,smoke alarms, cctv etc. Also what level of home insurance is good? Cod the few I have seen insurance the house for 500,000 to 1 million and the house aint even worth that much nor are my valuable ( probably only valued item I have is my lcfc kit).

[VLC86]

48 minutes ago, TeamRocket said:

Cool does it happen really  quickly? Just  seem mad considering everything else took forever 

The searches and solicitors generally being hopeless are the longest part so once they are done it can go pretty quickly.

[Izzy]

We've been putting off moving house for years but now the time has come - we desperately need something bigger.

 

It's been 20 years since we moved here so I can't even remember the whole end to end process of moving house and just thinking about it all stresses me out.

 

We've just applied for a MIP and once that's agreed I guess we start looking for a new house and put ours on the market.

 

Apart from the obvious declutter/clean your windows etc, does anyone have any tips on how best to prep your house before it's valued?

 

Any tips/tricks to get the maximum valuation?

 

[Nick]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

 

Any tips/tricks to get the maximum valuation?

 

There's two types of estate agency:

 

1. Agents  and agencies that get paid commission or fee up front for getting the listing on their books where they say you'll get ££££££ for it but it stays on the market for ages but they don't care so much as they already have their commission - this includes all your purple bricks types online agencies etc too.

 

2. Agencies that only get a percentage of the sale upon completion. These are more motivated in selling your house, chasing buyers and solicitors. I would go with one of these but try and get a good percentage rate around 1.5% is perhaps average depending on size and worth of the property. These agencies actually want to sell your house and get nothing until they do but may value the property at the price they think they can realistically sell it for but will likely agree to start at your top end of the valuations to give the property 'a go' at that price and reduce if necessary with your agreement if it doesn't ping out straight the way.

[FoyleFox]

20 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Apart from the obvious declutter/clean your windows etc, does anyone have any tips on how best to prep your house before it's valued?

 

Any tips/tricks to get the maximum valuation?

 

Declutter is definitely a big one, showing the house has storage space. Adequately spacing furniture so the house flows well. Each room should show its purpose.

Make sure it's clean and tidy. Particularly include a tidy garden. Repairing anything which isn't quite right or hide it well. 

If you've got any ultra bold feature decorating, change it to neutral.

[FoxesDeb]

47 minutes ago, Izzy said:

We've been putting off moving house for years but now the time has come - we desperately need something bigger.

 

It's been 20 years since we moved here so I can't even remember the whole end to end process of moving house and just thinking about it all stresses me out.

 

We've just applied for a MIP and once that's agreed I guess we start looking for a new house and put ours on the market.

 

Apart from the obvious declutter/clean your windows etc, does anyone have any tips on how best to prep your house before it's valued?

 

Any tips/tricks to get the maximum valuation?

 

Maximise the kerb appeal so it looks appealing as soon as someone pulls up, and in the exterior photos on the listing. Make sure your front door is painted/clean, if you've got a garden and/or driveway make sure it's as immaculate as possible. Even just a pretty hanging basket outside a terraced house can make a difference. 

 

Presumably you haven't got the option to extend where you are?

[Chelmofox]

45 minutes ago, Izzy said:

We've been putting off moving house for years but now the time has come - we desperately need something bigger.

 

It's been 20 years since we moved here so I can't even remember the whole end to end process of moving house and just thinking about it all stresses me out.

 

We've just applied for a MIP and once that's agreed I guess we start looking for a new house and put ours on the market.

 

Apart from the obvious declutter/clean your windows etc, does anyone have any tips on how best to prep your house before it's valued?

 

Any tips/tricks to get the maximum valuation?

 

Nothing useful to say on maximizing valuation.  Just try to make everything look as spacious as possible without obviously being made to look like a showroom house.  I found local estate agents were strangle useless at pointing out any benefits of our location. We got more interest when we helped with the viewings.

 

After going through this myself, what i will say is that Estate Agents are the overly optimistic bunch of *&*S* around.  We got swept along with some overly optimistic valuations before selling for what i originally thought was a reasonable price. There will always be someone nearby who has managed to sell at a high valuation, and that swept us along a bit. Estate agents were always saying 'we will be getting loads of interest even at that price', only to have a handful of viewings. The mass viewing were only a 'week or so' away. They never came until we dropped.

 

I know its hard, but try and build a realistic picture of what you think the price should be. If they go above that and you get very little interest, then it will mean you wont be disappointing if you have to reduce to get interest.

 

This is the 2nd time ive sold and im convinced more than ever its a process of people being in the right mindset at the right time.  Houses are bloody expensive, and there aren't thousands of families financially or mentally ready to buy your house.  

 

As for solicitors - hope you get good luck with that! The buyers of ours used the biggest bunch of charlatans going.