Property Checklist for Winter

January 22, 2015 By

ricsRMA Surveyors Ltd, Newbury have been reading an article from RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) which offers a checklist to homeowners on how to look after their properties during the winter months. With another cold snap predicted in the forthcoming weeks, it’s worth a read.

Below is a snapshot of the RICS winter property checklist; for the full article, click here.

  • Roof: Inspect the roof and replace any cracked tiles.
  • Loft: Check the insulation is in good condition (up to current standard). Avoid over insulating. It is important that the tanks and pipes in the loft do not freeze, so do not insulate below the tank. Make sure the lid is on the cold-water tank.
  • Gutters and drains: Clear them of leaves and debris. Take particular care that the gulley’s are clear. Overflowing gutters can drench walls and cause damage.
  • Walls: 33% of heat lost in the home is through the walls. Cavity wall insulation is a good option and can boost its value and saleability while reducing your energy bills. Check the pointing – frost can play havoc with poorly maintained walls.
  • Windows: It is important to minimize draughts. If double-glazing is not in place (it cuts heat loss through windows by 50%), consider fitting cheaper options such as secondary glazing or put polythene across the window frames.
  • Boilers: Have your boiler serviced.
  • Heating: Check your heating system is in order; insulate hot water tanks, and bleed radiators.

While many of these simple tasks can be undertaken safely in the home it is important that people seek the advice of reputable professionals when looking to complete larger jobs. RICS advise people to avoid using builders and tradespeople who cold call. To find a local, trusted chartered surveyor in your area go to www.ricsfirms.com.

If you require advice from a Chartered Building Surveyor in Berkshire, contact RMA Surveyors Ltd on 01635 579208.

Filed Under: Newbury, Residential, RICS, RMA Surveyors, West Berkshire Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

3D Printed Buildings

November 27, 2014 By

3D-printed-homesAt RMA Surveyors Ltd, Newbury, we’re always looking to see what the future will bring in terms of building technology.

We’ve been interested to see how 3D printing has been adopted by the construction industry. In particular this collaboration between a leading architecture firm (Foster + Partners) with a concrete company (Skanska) to develop a commercial technique for creating 3D printed buildings.

Click here for further reading and to view the pictures of ten 3D printed houses, which were built in 24 hours. This technology will change the face of construction as we currently know it. It will also be interesting to see what defects may be thrown up by such technology in the future.

To see the robot that prints these 3D printed buildings in action, click here.

Filed Under: Construction, Economic, Industry News, RMA Surveyors Tagged With: , , ,

Commercial Building Survey

November 21, 2014 By

Steel clad roofRMA Surveyors Ltd recently undertook a commercial building survey of an office unit located in Kingsclere Business Park, nr Newbury.

Part of our remit was to inspect the roof, which was a low pitched profile, steel clad roof that could not be easily accessed from ground level. We organised for a lift access platform to be hired and meet us out on site to undertake this part of the inspection.

We advised the client in advance that this would be necessary and it would be worthwhile investigating the condition of the roof covering given that it was likely to be original to the property, which was constructed in the 1980s.

We discovered that the protective paint to the roof covering was rusting in places and that one of the internal gutters was blocked. Both of these items could be potentially costly to rectify, involving the requirement for scaffolding to be employed to safely access these elements.

There was no way to determine this prior to our inspection and our client would have been in a strong position to renegotiate the terms of sale taking into account the defects noted.

If you have a commercial property that you are considering purchasing or leasing, please contact us for advice and a free, no obligation quote.

Filed Under: building survey, Building Surveying, Construction, Defects, Newbury, RMA Surveyors, Surveys, West Berkshire Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Party Wall Matter

October 17, 2014 By

Party Wall workWe recently acted as a Party Wall Surveyor for an adjoining owner, in Newbury, Berkshire.

The works being undertaken by the next door neighbour included an extension to the rear of the building and some cutting in and weathering of the Party Wall.

The owner that we acted for was concerned that their second floor flat may be affected by the works. We checked that the Party Wall notice that had been issued was valid, contacted the building owners surveyor and liaised with them to confirm the method and approach to which works affecting the Party Wall should be undertaken. In addition we took a schedule of condition of the property prior to the works commencing.

We have now issued an Award and works are underway.  Our final piece of involvement should be to attend site once works have been completed to ensure they have been undertaken satisfactorily and have not affected our appointing owner’s property.

If you have a Party Wall enquiry or have been served with Notice under the Party Wall Act, please contact us on 01635 579208 or by using the contact form. We will be happy to act on your behalf.

Filed Under: Building Surveying, Construction, Party Wall, Party Wall Awards, Residential, RICS, RMA Surveyors, West Berkshire Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Traditional Building Pitfalls

October 8, 2014 By

ricsRMA Surveyors Ltd, Newbury have been reading an interesting discussion on RICS regarding the care and repair work of Victorian and Edwardian age buildings and the pitfalls often made that result in ‘inherent defects’ in later life.

RMA Surveyors Ltd are a proud member of RICS, with experience in dealing with traditional buildings and period properties. If you’re looking for advice from a local, trusted chartered surveyor in Berkshire, please call us or complete the form with your query.

Read the full article or see the snapshot below:

The top 10 inappropriate works commonly carried out on traditional buildings

  1. Replacing original good quality sash windows with inappropriate modern aluminium or PVC-U casements and stripping out original period doors.
  2. Unnecessarily injecting chemical damp-proof courses (or injecting them incompetently), and re-plastering or rendering main walls with cement-based materials rather than traditional lime, thereby  trapping damp in the walls.
  3. Encouraging damp, rot and beetle infestation by blocking ventilation to floors and roofs, and by allowing high ground levels (such as flower beds) to build up against external walls.
  4. Removal of chimney breasts or load-bearing internal spine walls without providing adequate support to the remaining masonry above.
  5. Neglecting badly eroded mortar joints to external masonry, allowing damp to penetrate and frost damage to occur.
  6. Re-pointing walls with cement mortar that prevents walls from ‘breathing’, and re-pointing in visually dominant ‘show off’ styles (such as protruding ‘weatherstruck’ pointing).
  7. Botched repairs to flashings to stacks and roofs with short-life materials such as self-adhesive tapes or mortar fillets.
  8. Failure to provide enhanced structural support to roof structures where original lightweight slate coverings have been replaced with heavier concrete tiles.
  9. Not lining old flues before lighting fires or using appliances, and failing to cap and ventilate disused flues.
  10.  Weakening floor joists with excessive cutting for cable and pipe runs.

RICS members have a pivotal role to play in both these areas to ensure that the future of our important stock of traditional buildings does not continue to be carelessly endangered.

Filed Under: Building pathology, building survey, Building Surveying, Construction, Defects, Newbury, Residential, RICS, RMA Surveyors, Surveys, West Berkshire Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,