Please advise me....... We are in the process of buying a 3 bed bungalow built in the early 1980s. The property information pack has shown that the householder had to claim on insurance for an under concrete water leak. Pipes were replaced above ground. At the moment we cannot find out how much pipework was replaced and as the kitchen and bathrooms are at opposite ends of the building we suspect there would be lots of pipe work under the floor that has probably not been changed. We certainly did not notice pipes running around the rooms. Bitter experience of having to help my son deal with a similar problem in his house leaves me very worried about potential problems ahead. I feel like walking away. What do you think?
Sounds like this will be a constant worry for you, are you going to follow your heart or your head.............probably best walk away and leave the stress behind! Have you looked in the roof space for pipework?
Walk away, could end up a money pit! Leaks under concrete can cause so much grief,in most cases it's easier tolay a new mains around the house to bypass the problem,but you get a few that can cuase subidence in right condition if been leak a long time. Central heating pipes in concrete are more problems when they start leaking.
Look at taking out insurance against leaks. We get regular flyers from South West Water trying to get us to take out this kind of insurance. I never have done as our plumbing is straight-forward and was fitted by a genius, but I think I would consider it if I had buried pipes - especially ones that have shown themselves to be vulnerable in the recent past. Also look at other companies like Homeserve for similar. But do your homework properly and make sure you WILL be covered - check the small print.
it's a no brainer for me ,walk away .no point buying a potential time bomb ! in fact don't walk away ,run ,very fast .
As BB says - a sense of proportion is needed. Was the house built by a reputable builder? If it has concrete floor s throughout, surely the pipes would have been protected/sleeved? How do you know the leak wasn't caused by someone doing work to the floor? Depending on how much the house is worth, you could try haggling a discount to cover potential future repairs, or a few years of insurance cover. You might even that your normal household cover has the option to add for leaks, and that might be the cheapest way to do it. Do your homework.
Some insurance companies will not insure you for leaks now, if there was a claim for a leak by a previous house owner. Walk away, very fast.
How much do you like the house? Can you really not find another one you like just as much? If you go ahead and buy this one how much will it play on your mind for years? If you really, really, really want this house how much discount can you get on the price? Is that discount enough to compensate for the worry you will have? Are you prepared to have up all the floors and deal with this before you move in, ('coz it will be much, much easier to deal with at that stage)? No, I thought not. I suspect you knew what you should do before you posted the question. Good luck, with whatever you decide. ps... you might find this thread useful; http://community.screwfix.com/threads/best-practice-to-fill-level-the-floor.191294/ Regards, Cando
What you have here is a risk which has a probability (chance of the pipes leaking) and an impact (cost to remedy). You have some choices, one is to accept the risk i.e. buy the house and be prepared to face the consequences should the worst happen. You should of course understand what the cost to remedy burst pipes might be. I know housing stock is short and you may not have many alternatives - you either buy this house or wait for another which could take a long time. If I were in this situation, I'd look into the costs of remedying burst pipes so at least I know the financial burden I might be getting into and some professional advise as to how likely it is the pipes might burst. I'd then take this back to the sellers and seek an appropriate amount of money off the price. Depending on where that gets you, you then take a decision whether to proceed or walk away.
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