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Grit-blasted & 2-pack epoxy 2yrs ago - survey needed?


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Heya, 

 

We are considering putting in an offer for a 57ft 1995 narrowboat but are wondering whether or not we should offer subject to survey, as the boat spent many years on land and was then grit blasted and blacked with 2 pack epoxy prior to sale in 2017. The boat was not surveyed prior to purchase by the current owner.

 

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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1 minute ago, MarylkaDavieski said:

Heya, 

 

We are considering putting in an offer for a 57ft 1995 narrowboat but are wondering whether or not we should offer subject to survey, as the boat spent many years on land and was then grit blasted and blacked with 2 pack epoxy prior to sale in 2017. The boat was not surveyed prior to purchase by the current owner.

 

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

If the £1,000 or less that you would spend on a survey is significant to you, this makes it all the more important to get a survey.

 

There is a small number of members on here who don't need surveys because of their experience. But none of them would ask your question in the first place.

 

My survey, on a ten year old boat from a fine builder, saved me more than it cost.

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26 minutes ago, MarylkaDavieski said:

Heya, 

 

We are considering putting in an offer for a 57ft 1995 narrowboat but are wondering whether or not we should offer subject to survey, as the boat spent many years on land and was then grit blasted and blacked with 2 pack epoxy prior to sale in 2017. The boat was not surveyed prior to purchase by the current owner.

 

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Had it had a clean bill of heath from a reputable surveyor in 2017 and then been 2 pack'd before returning to the water,  I'd quite possibly have accepted the calculated risk after a bit of due diligence.  Since it wasn't, the 2 pack could be covering a multitude of sins so the risk is unquantifiable.  When you look for your surveyor, do note the "reputable" bit above. Make sure that your deposit is fully refundable if you decide not to proceed.

 

Good luck with your purchase, whatever you decide with this one.

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3 minutes ago, MarylkaDavieski said:

Thanks for your answers.

 

I've spoken to a couple of places and some have said 'we do surveys but not for insurance' - does that mean they are for young boats only?

 

It possibly means that they are not confident that they can do a survey and 'get it right'. If they do a survey that an insurance company then base their cover on, and then something is found that the surveyor missed the Insurers would no doubt claim off the surveyor.

When they do a survey for a private individual (who has no chance of making a successful claim - I know I have tried) they know they can 'get away with it'.

 

If your location is London, (as stated) you need to be very careful who you employ, there are nightmare stories of people using (for example) Marine Electricians who then leave the boat in a dangerous condition. Many boaters in London are just looking for cheap accommodation and have no boating skills, this leaves them very vulnerable to being 'ripped off'.

 

Give your location and ask for suggestions from folks who have actually experience  of the person to be employed.

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4 hours ago, MarylkaDavieski said:

Heya, 

 

We are considering putting in an offer for a 57ft 1995 narrowboat but are wondering whether or not we should offer subject to survey, as the boat spent many years on land and was then grit blasted and blacked with 2 pack epoxy prior to sale in 2017. The boat was not surveyed prior to purchase by the current owner.

 

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

So has it ever been surveyed 

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13 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The survey on our boat cost me over £20,000 in faults that the surveyor didn't find.

Had he found them and reported on them I wouldn't have bought the boat.

 

Caveat Emptor.

I think Alan's experiences say you cant rely on the survey to tell you everything that is wrong but for a novice, they will tell you a lot about what is wrong. Therefore in my view they will pick out enough problems to get your money back or show up a load of issues that mean you can pull out of the sale. If it really is a lemon and not picked up by the survey, you are in no better position by not surveying it but are likely to learn a lot more about the bote. For me then, if you don't know these boats, get a survey done.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am sorry you have had this experience because it is really hard to invest the money in a survey on a boat that you have already invested a certain amount of emotion on. 

It is much worse not to have followed your head though and there are a lot of boats out there that are a complete can of worms. The fact that a boat was standing on hard standing for a long time would make me wonder why. Perhaps a self build which could mean it's fantastic or it could mean it's Heath Robinson 

 

 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

The fact that a boat was standing on hard standing for a long time would make me wonder why. Perhaps a self build which could mean it's fantastic or it could mean it's Heath Robinson 

Or, it could have been standing on dry-land as if it was in the water it may have been under the water.

A surveyor has obviously answered the question for the "Midwife".

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Surveys are supposed  to be objective but there is often some subjectivity in them too.  Same as MOT's, I have just had a car fail the MOT, quite rightly too. Thing is though that a couple of last years recommendations didn't get fixed last year and didn't show up this year at all, same garage too. So a boat survey can have quite a long list of 'faults' that really don't matter much and might not bother another surveyor. The big stuff does matter but the next ten items might not be worth worrying about, unfortunately it is only after owning half a dozen boats that you realise this and stop worrying.

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8 hours ago, Boat_Midwife said:

Survey back and....

 

 

She was a mess :( Thanks for your input, everyone and for the important lesson learned!

 

Keep on searching x

 

It might seem like an expensive way to find out the boat was no good, but it's probably saved you thousands. And had the survey given the opposite verdict it might have felt like an expensive way to find out the boat was in good condition. Either way surveys are a costly business and the best you can do now is ask your surveyor whether he can do you a deal on any subsequent survey.

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