The roads were better today, but, nevertheless I left my car at the top of the hill - to be precise – at the top of an incline and walked to the property that I was inspecting, a three floored ‘town’ house, one of sixteen differently styled dwellings in a pleasant cul de sac. Although there were areas that I was un-able to see, I would not have been able to see them even on the clearest of days, because the roof slopes were facing the wrong way and I had no key to the allotments from which I could have seen them. However, I think it unlikely that there will be problems here, as there was no evidence of such within the roof space, so I hope that my Client will be happy with their purchase. This is a pleasant house in a quiet area, close to good local amenities and with an open outlook to the rear…   more »

Down came the snow and Bristol City Council ‘gritters’ stayed at home, or so it seemed. Falcondale Road was un-passable, so was Druid Hill, but I thought that Parry’s Lane was a possibility, but after three attempts, I had to admit defeat – rear wheel drive cars are not much use in these conditions, so it was forced holiday, working from home…   more »

Bankrupt builders are nothing new. The builders of Royal York Crescent went bust shortly after starting construction, due if I remember correctly the difficulties in obtaining money because of the Napoleonic War. For a long time it was left part constructed and it was then going to be used as a barracks – just to add insult to injury, but common sense prevailed and what was begun in the 1780’s was completed in the 1820’s, give or take a year or two. It was one of the longest crescents built in Europe at the time; maybe it still is. The flat that I saw today is in a listed building, so the UPVc double glazed rear windows would give a Conservation Officer apoplexy if he saw them and when he had recovered from that he would then insist that they be changed. I don’t think that he would have liked the ‘new’ ceiling that followed the line of the rafters, and to boot there is a fire protection ‘issue’. Hey ho, I don’t fancy Santa’s job at the moment, because it was very cold, very cold up on the roofs today…   more »

Well, the vendor of the maisonette that I looked at last Friday HAD a key to the top floor flat all the time. So he wasted everybody’s time and my patience. Still, I did get to look at the roof as well as inside the roof, so now my Client can be satisfied…   more »

Was what Mark Antony said to Julius Caesar though I suspect he said it to him when in Rome, not in Aqua Sullis,(Bath), where I was today looking at a pleasant two-bedroom and apartment sorry, I'm being American, flat on the second floor of a very substantial five floored house. In actual fact, my Client only mentioned one address so I assumed, rightly? that it was one house that had been divided into five units. No it was two houses divided into 10 units, with the flats running front and rear, across the two buildings. Not quite what I was expecting but… The flat is in a Listed Building in a cul-de-sac that overlooks ‘The Rec’ and as a result so does the kitchen window. To the rear it overlooks the Weir and the buildings beyond, so it's in a very convenient location where the residents have parking permits. Parking permits are not available for surveyors but I have to say that Warden I saw today was ‘old school’ and a bit of a gent, he must have been one of the countrymen, so I was able to park…   more »

Elizabethan houses were timber framed and many of them are still around today standing after more than 400 years of construction. No doubt the timber frame will have been attacked by both by woodworm and deathwatch beetle, some wet rot but, hey that's an Elizabethan house for you. Walls will be wonky; floors will be out of kilter and doors out of alignment but you would expect nothing less in house of that age. Today I have been to see a timber framed house that was being built. Whether or not it will last for another 400 years is anybody's guess but, it will be built with pre-treated timbers, so that should reduce the effects of woodworm, deathwatch beetle and some wet rot. The groundfloor is of solid construction a re-inforced 'raft' and is taken of piled foundations, so that should keep the walls straight, whilst the first floor is of tongue and grooved chipboard decking securely nailed to timber joists. The timber joists will be built into the timber frame its self secured into the concrete base on top of the piled foundations so that will hopefully keep the floors and doors all in good alignment. Being built 400 or so years later, insulation of the house should be excellent. Although it is in course of construction, to date I found it largely in good condition and hopefully it will be finished in a similar style. That being the case then hopefully it will still be standing in 400 years time, but I very much doubt I'll be here to see it, shame really…   more »

That is a bit of a slur on this architect but, I found the house that I looked at today, one which was designed, probably in the 1970s and obviously built at that time was all a bit 'awkward'. There was a chimney stack, but it served only the boiler; at the rear of the living room was a substantial stone built fireplace but it was a fake. It had a large beaten copper hood beneath a sloping ceiling finished with stained tongue and grooved boarding so it was all a bit dark. Looking at the agents particulars of the property, there was a magnificent balcony across the front, built over the living room, but there was no access to it; it too was a fake! It was such a fake that the surrounding metal railings were just plonked on the flat roof and held in place by their weight. Structurally the house was in reasonable condition and decoratively it was well maintained. But, it was all very 70s-ish and needs a ‘rebirth’ to bring it into 2010. Even then when one’s been to Sainsbury's and retuns with the week's shopping in hand, one has to trundle through the hall, up steps and into the living room, up the stairs through the dining room and eventually into the kitchen. If you then want to go to the main bedroom perhaps for a change of clothes, you have to go down the steps across the living room and up more steps beyond the fake fireplace that leads to the bedrooms; the layout is poor but no doubt the architect liked it…   more »

I had to get out my passport today to travel over to Wales well, across the Severn Bridge and into Chepstow, but not sure if that's England, Gloucestershire or Wales, Newportshire. It makes little difference; I was looking at two properties for book valuations. Five or so miles outside of Chepstow there are some delightful houses with wonderful views that are reasonably priced and at present, demand is starting to grow again and values are starting to harden…   more »

It must be me age, because I thought children went to school to be taught. So they are, I hear you say, but today in the playground of the Clifton C of E primary School, the children were out in force, seemingly for most of the day and their voices were at full volume. Not that I mind children's voices, but there's a time and place for everything and I don't want to hear them when I'm working! (really, then only on very special and limited occasions!) The maisonette I saw today, our American cousins might call it a duplex, had two of the most magnificent ceilings I have seen for many a year and quite frankly such ornate ceilings that I would normally expect to find in a far grander house, more likely in a stately home. I had hoped to get onto the roof, despite the fact that, God bless them, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Institution (RICS for short) has decreed that if there ain't no trap to examine the roof within the flat, then don't bother. Who are they kidding; what sort of surveyor I would be if I didn't make the effort to get into the roof space and then onto the roof? I tried, but no one seemed particularly interested, so I went away, very dissatisfied. I will not let it rest; I will get to the roof despite what the RICS say so that my Client can have a full report, but he'll have to wait though that is the fault of the vendor…   more »

I have just been to see a delightful one-bedroom flat in a seemingly renovated building that could have been filmed by the BBC, but it was not! Perhaps it should have been? The flat was pleasantly laid out and had good quality 2010 fitments, so it's before its time! However my Client asked me to make a detailed inspection of the building and having done so I found a tree growing out of one of the chimney stacks, not a Christmas tree as I was hoping at this time of year, but a Buddleia shrub. The other stack was so porous it was leaking and a bowl in the roof was indicative of a previous leak that was in actual fact still leaking. Serious dampness was penetrating the front wall within the hall, and the amount of rain water running down the rear elevation needs a damning, let alone redecoratong! There was no insulation in any of the roof voids and although my Client is, fortunately, not purchasing one of the top floor flats, those that do will find them very cold. None of the radiators are provided with thermostats so I don't think the developers were particularly ‘Green’. None of these points are off putting but all of these points need attention. So, the saying is true, all that glitters is not Gold, but it could be…   more »

I have just been down to the God-fearing city of Wells, but someone somewhere must have done something awfully wrong, because throughout the day it rained and it rained and it rained; I was about to wonder if Noah was going to get his ark out. However, when it rains, it is beautiful for a surveyor, because it shows up all the leaks. Here, however the roof had been recovered within the past 12 years and was, almost, as sound as a pound. The conservatory however had only been built the past five or so years and water was actually coming into it through one of the solid walls. Quite extraordinary, but then in this heavily wooded area with blocked outlets allowing water to flood all over the place, it wasn't all that surprising. Repairs however will of course be necessary. Most of the repairs in this instance are down to good 'housing' management or maintenance; clear the wretched gutters, keep the hoppers free and the downpipes unobstructed and such problems are unlikely to occur. The house itself was large, it is not extravagant but it was slightly awkwardly planned though with a little bit of planning ingenuity it may be possible to adapt it to have an ensuite and a bathroom within the existing accommodation, and at the same time enlarge one of the bedrooms by utilising wasted corridor space. The house has a pleasant walled garden and the newly built but matching garage. All in all, and despite the rain, a very pleasant property…   more »

This afternoon I looked at a very contemporary flat in the heart of Clifton; it was so contemporary it had a ‘ living’ flat roof made up the glasses and sedums that was partially waterlogged and looked rather like a football pitch, a third grade football pitch at that. For all the water it held, the ceiling was quite dry. There are however some suspect areas around the perimeter of the lower roofs where attention will be required which perhaps is quite surprising for a fact that he's so young. I shall of course point all of this out to my client who I suspect is already aware that something will be found, because despite being contemporary nothing is quite as straightforward as perhaps we would always like…   more »

I am quite sure that Queen Victoria would have had smelling salts but today little deodorisers plugged into the electrical ring main do the job, but what an appalling smell they give off. Of course one has to ask the reason why it was plugged in, in the first place and I suspect the answer is that it was masking the smell of damp. The boiler was on at full thrust, so the house was unbearably hot, even on a relatively cold day and again one has to ask the question why it is left on and the answer is that it is probably trying to dry out the house. Well there are two posing questions, but I don't think it's as bad as all that. However, significant condensation is evident in the house, in the roof space and in the front bedroom, where I would expect it, but not when the house is vacant and there's not even a bed in the room. The roof void is contaminated with condensation and this will l need significant ventilation to keep it as dry as possible. Some of the walls were seemingly damp to look at, but again most of this was due to condensation. I think there has been some past movement in the property but nothing too untoward. The house has a new roof but I was unable to get onto it despite there being ladders up to it, because it was raining, because it was windy and because Christmas is around the corner and I did not want to fall off!   more »

Well, when I finally got there through all the traffic all coming in to Bath to see the German market, to see the Christmas decorations and generally causing chaos I eventually got to the house I was seeing today, but I was almost washed out before I started. It was a property built in the late 1960s in a reasonably contemporary style because the bedrooms were downstairs and the living rooms upstairs. It had a flattish roof, in reality a roof with a very shallow pitch to it that is covered with felt, but its extension had an elongated triangular shaped roof that was covered with low profile sections of alloy tiles commonly found in New Zealand, which was a bit odd but nevertheless the roof was not leaking. The gutters and windows were in a good condition. The walls were in reasonably good condition but the cavity had been insulated or filled with rock wool quilt blown into it through small holes drilled in the walls, but never filled with a matching mortar so the elevations looked as though they had chickenpox; I would have been quite cross with the installer. Some window openings had been in filled and a fairly large area of wall had also been rebuilt but in no case were these contractors experts at their job, I suspect Bob the Builder had been on the site. Talking of which, the house stands at the top of a hill down which is a fairly steep and very large garden over which the house looks. It wasn't a bad house; it is a pleasant house but it was a house that does require a little bit of intelligent improvement, which my Client intends to carry out…   more »

In 1937 the Germans sent spies to Bristol to earmark engineering factories that they thought they may need to destroy during the war. One such establishment was the Engineer’s Arms, a public house on St Johns Lane, Bedminster, that is now known as, I think, the Hungry Horse! Suffice it to say that South Bristol was heavily damaged during that time, but the house I looked at today for my Client was not affected which was fortunate, because houses in the surrounding vicinity including some opposite were destroyed. This house has been fairly well improved since then and although there are no seriously impending problems, as far as I could see, it will require some renovation, certainly redecoration, probably a new kitchen and certainly improvement of an attached workshop. Although the rear garden faces south, it is very small as much of it is taken up by an air raid shelter that was certainly needed in the 1940s but not now. They were built like the proverbial brick ‘what's it’s’ and are very difficult to take down. The Germans may have been keen on Southville, but since then, so is everybody else…   more »

Thank God for parking spaces, because otherwise I would have been double parked in a road frequented by the BBC, on one side and the University of Bristol on the other. Parking in the road is free, so commuters stay there all day and delivery vans, builders, electricians, traders and surveyors have the double park and risk a ticket. The house I expected today was at one-time part of a nursing home, two semi-detached houses knocked together and then divided back into two units where my Client was purchasing one half, and a pleasant half it was. The exterior was all in reasonably good condition, as was the interior. There was a little bit of damp here, a little bit of damp there, but fortunately not everywhere. My Clients want to introduce a shower room in the basement, and with a little bit of luck the drains are just below this level, but it might be touch and go. They want more light into this lower level but that shouldn't prove too problematic, neither should reversing steps into this level. All in all, I was happy with the house, as I hope my Clients will be, particularly as they can park two cars off the road. However, moving in from the country could be a bit of a culture shock…   more »

A little bit of a hick up today meant that I was unable to make an inspection of the house I had intended, but that was a blessing in disguise. I was able to catch up on reports I have completed and get them out in the post. I could do it more days in the office like this….   more »