Home » News » Life of a Building Surveyor – Part 5
Sep 10, 2018 in Building Surveying

Life of a Building Surveyor – Part 5

When working beyond the central belt, it is not uncommon to find yourself passing large country estates. These estates and the buildings within are shining examples of Scotland’s architecture and can be well maintained with the grounds groomed to perfection. In contrast to these buildings of grandeur, other historic, traditional buildings within rural areas have been left to deteriorate into a dilapidated condition. This can be due to their purpose now being obsolete or that the owner simply does not have the capital to maintain and modernise them.

My latest trip into the Highlands took me to a dilapidated steading which had not been maintained or used for any meaningful purpose for what appeared to be decades. Thankfully, the steading’s new owners have real ambition for both the steading and former hotel to which the steading is annexed.

Whilst GLM have been engaged for the full refurbishment of all buildings on the site, my personal brief is to make the structure of two of the larger buildings at the steading structurally sound and watertight before the onset of the winter weather. This will allow the interior works to continue on the building through winter before moving onto other buildings in the new year.

At first glance the steading appeared beyond repair, but upon closer inspection much of it can be saved and materials salvaged to reuse in the works. It is easy to be drawn into the dramatic deterioration, such as the collapse of some of the roofs and missing slates and the untrained eye may think all buildings on this site are beyond saving. However, as a surveyor you are trained to take a patient and methodical approach to such buildings. Whilst it is undeniable some roofs and walls require a full rebuild, much of the steading’s underlying structure is in excellent condition considering its neglect. Several roof slates are loose and have slipped, but it is likely that patch repairs will be sufficient to prolong the roof’s life for at least another 10 years. Once the debris has been cleared and repairs have been undertaken including the re-bedding of stones, repointing of stone walling, new gutters and rain water pipes the site will be unrecognisable from its current condition.

A surveyor’s advice would always be to regularly maintain a building to prevent it deteriorating. However, getting the right advice if your building does fall into disrepair is crucial and could save you valuable time and money.

Neil Dickson

Building Surveyor

Check back later in September for the final instalment in the series

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. We use necessary cookies to make sure that our website works. We’d also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. By clicking “Allow All”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
These cookies are required for basic functionalities such as accessing secure areas of the website, remembering previous actions and facilitating the proper display of the website. Necessary cookies are often exempt from requiring user consent as they do not collect personal data and are crucial for the website to perform its core functions.
A “preferences” cookie is used to remember user preferences and settings on a website. These cookies enhance the user experience by allowing the website to remember choices such as language preferences, font size, layout customization, and other similar settings. Preference cookies are not strictly necessary for the basic functioning of the website but contribute to a more personalised and convenient browsing experience for users.
A “statistics” cookie typically refers to cookies that are used to collect anonymous data about how visitors interact with a website. These cookies help website owners understand how users navigate their site, which pages are most frequently visited, how long users spend on each page, and similar metrics. The data collected by statistics cookies is aggregated and anonymized, meaning it does not contain personally identifiable information (PII).
Marketing cookies are used to track user behaviour across websites, allowing advertisers to deliver targeted advertisements based on the user’s interests and preferences. These cookies collect data such as browsing history and interactions with ads to create user profiles. While essential for effective online advertising, obtaining user consent is crucial to comply with privacy regulations.