Pluming red flags before a house buy!

Sarahsar

New Member
Hi all,

Offer accepted on a house - some issues which we have concerns about. We had a decent budget to do repairs but fear it could tip into being over budget for us. We are motivated first time buyers happy to have some Reno work done and intend to use tradespeople.

Bathroom has what looks like water damage to the floor with a caved in tile and other cracked tiles. I also suspect the bath has dropped and someone has tried to cover it up with suspiciously white and fresh grouting.

kitchen sink is smashed (which we would do of course replace) but it’s also backed up so plumbing does seem to be an issue.

I’d love some advice on what you suspect it could be and if I could be in way over my head in terms of how big a job it is!

Survey booked in but part of me feels I already know what we are going to be told and that money is better spent cutting our loses and putting it towards another property.
TIA
 

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If the bathroom floor is wooden then I would suggest that it is completely rotten and needs replacing. If it is solid concrete on the ground floor, then their are serious structural issues. It's not just the bath being crooked but the other broken tiles. The sink is a localised damage issue.
 
Thanks so much for the input. It’s pretty concerning - we were heading towards a survey but thinking it’s not even worth wasting money getting to that point! Think it’s had renters in for years who have sadly not looked after the place at all.
 
I wouldn't give up so readily. Poorly laid floor tiles will crack, the sink waste can be replaced (with the sink) and it looks like the bath had one of those naff L-shape trims stuck on at some point. Okay the silicone isn't much better.
The burning question is do you like the house and its location? Most if what we've seen could simply be cosmetic/neglect.
 
While I agree with @WillyEckerslike that most of the time what matters is how much you like the property and whether the price reflects the condition and any required repairs, if you’re a first time buyer and inexperienced with DIY and dealing with tradespeople then you should be careful not to take on more than you can handle. Don’t be afraid to ask a builder to come and view the property with you and give you a quote for fixing the bathroom floor. There are lots of red flags in the pictures you posted that the bathroom floor may be rotten, but it may just be the photos. You can, for instance, get a feel for the condition of a floor by how much bounce it has as you walk around. I certainly would’t waste money on a survey until I had a clearer idea of what’s going on in the bathroom - the survey will likely just point out the obvious damage in the bathroom and advise you to carry out further investigations of the state of the floor.
 
Thank you both. We are keen on the location and the house itself has lots of potential. It has a heap of other more obvious issues - we were trying to be optimistic about the jobs I’ve posted here - but slowly had a few niggles that these jobs alongside the expected ones may be the straw that break the camels back.
 
That Belfast sink is dangerous imo, and th price should reflect replacing that and the dangerous floor tiling.
 
Thanks all. Really appreciate the contributions. Aiming to get a builder in as soon as we are able. Is anyone able to give a ballpark figure of what we’d be looking at for replacing some (optimistically thinking!) floorboards?
Cheers
 
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