Buying a House with Natural Water Stream underneath It

777 on 13/07/2018 - 18:30
Last edited 17/07/2018 - 15:28 by 1 other user

Hi All

Just hoping to get some opinions on buying a three level brick house with a natural stream of water/well underneath it.

Current owners have tapped into and put their own pump on it. House is over 25 years old and council has no idea a out this. Melbourne water is unsure about it either. Building inspector found lot of moisture around the area under the house and advised to get boring specialists or get the Geo Technical survey done.

Have any of you guys experienced the same?

We really like the house but these surveys are going to add to a lot of cost in case we decide not to go ahead.

Any help would be greatly appreciated đŸ˜€

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Halo375 on 13/07/2018 - 18:53
    +2

    Water and brick houses do not mix well…

    • chumlee on 13/07/2018 - 19:08
      +3

      Water and any house don't mix well

      • holdenmg on 13/07/2018 - 20:08
        +14

        Except maybe a House Boat. lol

        • chumlee on 13/07/2018 - 20:09
          +4

          I'll pay that

        • Xiaomi on 14/07/2018 - 21:56
          +1

          comment of the year

  • iratepirate on 13/07/2018 - 18:53
    +1

    Talk to the vendor - tell them your concerns, might be able to talk the price down substantially. What local council area?

    Three levels of brick over soft ground has my spidey senses tingling. Any cracks in the brick work?

    • 777 on 13/07/2018 - 23:12

      Vendor doesn't want to negotiate o or the price at all give or take for them unfortunately
      No cracks at all house is well built

  • garetz on 13/07/2018 - 19:19
    +1

    Unless your getting it for a bargain price get far away as quickly as possible as soon as you can.

    • 777 on 13/07/2018 - 23:14
      +1

      Not really a good bargain considering the prices are falling in capital cities

      • MrFrugalSpend on 14/07/2018 - 11:03
        +2

        You are correct for Melbourne as for this place, and Sydney, but dont drag the rest of us into a generalised statement about "capital cities". Melbourne and Sydney had huge spikes that are normalising, other places like Adelaide, Brisbane etc didn't really have this bubble so shouldnt really be falling.

  • entropysbane on 13/07/2018 - 19:33
    +5

    Might be advantageous if you found yourself under siege for a few months.

  • payton on 13/07/2018 - 19:59
    +4

    cut a hole on the floor, hey presto you no longer need to pay Sewerage Access fee, and every room is a restroom!

  • Fier2 on 13/07/2018 - 20:03

    If you got a stream underneath and the pomp is already installed , it basically mean you gonna make huge savings towards water usage every year like having a 0$ bill. As i supposed the actual owner must have also fitted a purifier. The only concerning point is to enquire with the council if the house itself was construct legally and about moisture , well most of places have moisture dut to the material used not fit so maybe having a professionnel looking through to see if the house might collapsed or not might be a great idea. But definetly a good investment in my opinion.

    • 777 on 13/07/2018 - 23:17

      No water purifier just water getting pumped out for plants
      Isn't the cost of running pump on electricity would be high
      Council have no records as it is over 10 years old
      Can't see any French drains or moisture barriers installed

  • CheapSticks on 13/07/2018 - 20:12

    May I know where is this?

    There are areas in Sydney where there are houses built over natural water stream. The surprising thing with the property you are looking at is the council is not aware. Due to which I wudnt have gone ahead with the property if i were you.

    • 777 on 13/07/2018 - 23:19

      No not in Sydney, it is in Melbourne about 200-300 Mts away from river and the house is on a slope

  • jason101 on 13/07/2018 - 20:19

    As long as this water isn't polluted I think this is every ozbargainers dream. Get a water sample tested yourself and talk to any elderly neighbours that have been around for a while, pretty sure they would all be in on the take.

  • neo on 13/07/2018 - 21:34
    +3

    Building inspector found lot of moisture around the area under the house

    That would be ringing alarm bells for me.

    • 777 on 13/07/2018 - 23:24

      Thanks:) things is building inspector isn't sure if it is a overflow from pump or coming from the ground

  • [Deactivated] on 14/07/2018 - 07:54

    Don't do it, thats reaaally bad Feng Shui.

  • Stegasaurusnext on 14/07/2018 - 09:00
    +4

    Hi, I advise on this for a living (hydrologist). Happy to have a quick look at things for you
    What Creek? Vertically, how high do you think the footings are above the water level of the creek (guess is fine)? What date was the inspection done and was there long term damage observed or just moisture at the moment? Address or postcode would help too, Pm me if you'd prefer.

  • Ryanek on 14/07/2018 - 09:42
    +1

    Run Forest run!

  • MrFrugalSpend on 14/07/2018 - 11:16
    +1

    Dont buy it without the expert advice, its not worth it.
    Theres focus on discussions here around the structure, that will depend highly on the local geotechnical considerations and whether the engineer designed for it… domestic construction 25 years ago, chances are there would be problems, but there should be evidence of it within 25 years unless they covered it up.

    I'd suggest a special condition that the vendors sign a declaration in the contract stating they have disclosed all relevant information about repairs or structural issues they are aware of, or should have reasonably been aware of as the owners… they will think twice of they have something to hide as you could later sue them if you discover deliberately covered-up issues.

    However there is another significant concern, rising damp, mould, rot, and the health concerns and need for remediation that may cause. Toxic mould could grow from the moisture and lead to serious health complications including death.

    • mbck on 14/07/2018 - 12:58

      Yeh the mould

  • spacemansam on 14/07/2018 - 14:33
    +1

    We bought our house last year and should definitely have got a building inspection.

    Turns out there was heaps of water just sitting under our house because the old ceramic pipes were blocked around the house leading to pretty much all the rainwater getting stuck under the house.

    This meant that a lot of the stumps had sunken leading to cracked walls, doors not closing etc. We also had to get all the pipes replaced to PVC. A lot of work and money to get it all sorted.

    So it's probably worth spending the $$$ on the technical specialist cause if they do find something drastic, it may save you from losing a crap load of money in the future

    Good luck and keep us posted!

  • AlanJ on 14/07/2018 - 17:22
    +1

    I imagine the long-term effects of such a construction would be very hard to predict, but there is potential here for huge unwanted expenses, if not right now (with the services of your technical specialists) then in the future, when those long-term effects may make you rue the day you ever took the chance with the most expensive item you will ever buy. There are so many houses available which don't have streams running beneath them, why not just turn your attention elsewhere? Walk away.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join