Hello again, thank you all for your advice on the oil boiler topic, I just received a 122 page survey from the estate agent, does anyone know someone who can look at it and translate the bad things to me ? Also I noticed on my second visit that the front of the house looks like it has dropped a bit on one side, there was no mention of subsidence, in the survey do they mention this kind of thing or do I need to get another survey, any advice much appreciated
It should be mentioned in the risques naturelles. Look for words like “sol”, “géotechnique”, “argile”, “retrait-gonflement” in the documents.
1 Like
There should be a reference to the gouv website which covers geo risques. You look it up there.
Remember the diagnostic reports are very different to a British (structural) survey.
1 Like
Recently or long standing? How old is the building?
You can easily translate a pdf document using Google Translate or Deepl. You might need to split it into sections as there are size limits.
1 Like
I am not sure how useful it is relying on these surveys. When a neighbour bought her rather old house the survey mentioned a trace of insect activity which one would expect in such a property. It then added the caveat that the buyer should check further (so what was the point of the survey apart from box ticking to get paid?). It turned out the whole roof and top floor was riddled with Capricorn beetle and needed completely replacing. Because of the caveat in the report she had no come back.
3 Likes
There’s no structural reports in the diagnostiques. It’s not a UK survey - it’s very specific things - the building falling down is not one of them
The georisks diagnostique is not specific to your house - it’s an internet print off.
There are “UK surveyors” around (but tend to expensive because of mileage) - or Ingeneur Structural - or a half decent builder. But equally all old houses have movement …
1 Like
You’ve been given the diagnostic reports, not a survey. Each section should have a conclusion which shouldn’t be too difficult to translate.
If your worried about movement and think you can see where its dropped, I would walk away, it would always be something in the back of your mind and if real, an expensive fix.
How old is the property and what’s it standing on - is it on clay? Are there foundations? How thick are the walls and what are they made of? What is the state of neighbouring properties? Are there any cracks in the walls?
Our house is 350+ years old, has 50cm thick stone walls mixture of solid blocks of sandstone and flint and rubble infill covered in render, no foundations straight down onto bare earth. It stands on clay over sandstone.
It moves all the time, depending on the seasons and the extent to which the clay is wet (expanding) and dry (contracting). Because it’s been here 350 years and is still standing we don’t worry and sleep peacefully at night.
If your property is like ours you might too be able to take a phlegmatic view. On the other hand, if it’s modern, with modern materials, it’s likely to be an issue. Also, if you are not phlegmatic and won’t sleep at night and don’t have deep pockets, as @Mark has said, you might want to walk away.
1 Like
Locally, I know that prospective buyers do come to our Mairie and discuss all sorts of things. Especially important (these days) is climate related stuff…
Extreme drought/secheresse can result in movement of buildings and some communes have applied and been granted special acknowledgement so that building damage is covered by Insurance/help.
Likewise with flooding…
The Mairie will know the local situation and what horrors (if any) have occurred in recent years.
as others say… walk away if you have any misgivings !
1 Like