Water ingress in existing property one day before the contract

Hello dear community,

we have fallen in love with a charming semi-detached house (built in 2005), when a day before the notary appointment we received a call that there had been water ingress in the cellar. According to neighbors, the water was 5 cm high in the cellar. We immediately called in an expert who insisted during the on-site visit that he would only take over the property after the screed had been replaced. Now we have the written statement and interestingly it only mentions professional drying etc. The drying was at least initiated very quickly – so we have hope.

Here is the question:

- Which next steps would you take (we still basically like the property)?

- Which acceptance conditions would you include in the purchase contract? I have already read something about building biologists, what do they check and which results would let you sleep peacefully?

- What else should be considered in our situation?

I would like to thank you in advance for your ideas and your effort. We are currently a bit at a loss as to how to proceed now.

Regards,

Ackermann96

Is there an insurance that covers the damage or its repair? Basically, this insurance of the previous owner would be responsible for that.

And then, besides the repair, it is also interesting to know where the water is coming from and how to prevent this problem in the future. In my opinion, this is almost an even more important point.

In any case, the cause of the water intrusion should be clearly identified and permanently eliminated. It must also be known whether the damp building components (floor + wall) have internal insulation. If so, and if it consists of mineral wool, it must be demonstrably dried out again or rather replaced. For example, if there is mineral wool insulation beneath the basement screed, the screed together with the insulation must be removed and replaced. If it is a bonded screed on the floor slab without insulation layer, building drying may be sufficient. Even with built-in EPS/XPS insulation, residual moisture may remain in the construction after complete wetting and drying, which could fundamentally promote mold growth.

If building drying is sufficient for the proven construction of the component, the maximum and permissible residual moisture content of the screed must be verified and documented using the CM method (tile layer or screed company).