surveyors and osmosis

[tyce]

following on from my osmosis thread, thanks all for advice.
my boat was surveyed in april this year for me purchasing it. it was given a clean bill of health and states no osmosis present.
so do i have any sort of case against the survey or has the fact it has had the season in the water null and voided it.
any advice greatly recieved

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[cliff]

First and foremost, the actual wording of the report is important and I doubt if the surveyor actually wrote "no osmosis present". He probabley wrote something like "no evidence of osmotic blistering was noted at the time of survey" or words to that effect meaning he did not observe any physical signs of osmosis (blistering). It does not mean there is no osmosis present, only that he (she) did not observe any.

Secondly, like an MOT for vehicles, the inspection/test is void immediately after the time of test. Imagine the scenario where whoever takes the boat back to its mooring / berth gives teh corner of teh pontoon (or other hard object) a little "love kiss" and scratches, or worse cracks, the hull. The surveyor's report theat there was no hull damage is therefore wrong within half an hour after the inspection.

From your description of the problem on your boat could it not be the voids are actually manufacturing defects from teh time of lay-up? I personally have seenlargish voids below the gel coat where the mat/resin has not bonded.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jonjo]

First contact the surveyor and invite him around for a second inspection.

Did his survey report quantify the number of test patches inspected below the waterline? Did the survey quote moisture readings?

Second follow up on the history of Hunter production, there are two documented periods when their moulding and layup standards were so bad Hunter had to carry out post delivery repairs.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Koeketiene]

He probabley wrote something like "no evidence of osmotic blistering was noted at the time of survey" or words to that effect meaning he did not observe any physical signs of osmosis (blistering). It does not mean there is no osmosis present, only that he (she) did not observe any.

Illustrates a point a made in another thread - surveys are nearly always a waste of money. Surveyors will either point out the bleeding obvious, or be extremely vague.
Since both end of the market (buyers and sellers) form their client base, they will always cover themselves both ways.
Friend of mine had a boat surveyed - surveyor would not lift the floorboards to look in the bilges, would not look behind some pannels to check on the wireing. Conclusion of the survey - everything "appeared" fine. I could have told him that - for free!

All in all, you're better off taking a friend who knows about boats.

<hr width=100% size=1>Experience is a good teacher, but she sends in terrific bills.

 

[muchy_]

Quite agree, I would only have it done (under protest) if it was needed for insurance purposes. Other than that it's not worth the paper it's written on. I've found our house survey to be the same, worded in such a way thats it's covered the surveyers back.

<hr width=100% size=1>Is it the weekend yet?

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Tyce,

In all my years of repairing hulls I have never once seen voids under the gelcoat that were caused by osmosis or wicking that did not have blisters over them.

However, I have seen a quite a few with voids under the gelcoat and no blisters at all; the prime cause is in the lay-up, too much resin and glass applied at one time will generate a lot of heat and this forms bubbles, often in tight areas such as toe rails and cockpit combing. I had to remove all the gelcoat below the waterline on a 9 metre cat a couple of years ago, water had started to get thru the gelcoat and fill the voids, it was only a matter of time before she would have started blistering.

Get the original surveyor back and show him an area that has been exposed and ask him what he can do to assist you. Yes I know all surveyors cover their backsides first but I have had a few wins with the assistance of surveyors in the past.

I hope this helps.

Andavagoodweekend........



<hr width=100% size=1> Old Salt Oz /forums/images/icons/cool.gif Growing old is unavoidable. However, growing up is still optional.

 

[pcatterall]

The devil is in the detail as they say.
The surveyors full report should say just what he did, ie number and location of meter readings and of test patches.
The fact that you have used it for a year should not invalidate any case you may have (but it may complicate matters)
If the surveyors report actually stated that 'no osmosis was present' and a year later the hull was riddled with it (I hope its not!) then you can still make a case.

<hr width=100% size=1>