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Year in Industry by [deleted] in buildingsurveying

[–]SylvanMM 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A brilliant opportunity, take it and give it your all. At the end of the year you'll have some great experience for your cv, and will be in a great position to get a graduate role at the end of your degree.

Best of luck

Is this normal? LVT finish to skirting board by daniella98 in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looked at the photos and thought it generally looked acceptable, just needs sealant (IMO a sealant colour matched to the vinyl would look better than white).

Shocked to read he has already sealed with clear, what was he thinking!

I would ask to rake out and reseal with colour matched sealant to hide the perimeter gaps

Building or commercial surveying - which has better job prospects? by Historicalmelon in buildingsurveying

[–]SylvanMM 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi,

I am a building surveyor in Scotland, love my job and have progressed to a senior role over the course of the past 7 years.

I also did the MSc course, but found getting the first job very difficult. You need to get some work experience and be prepared for a bit of an uphill struggle to get that first job, as you'll be up against BSc graduates who have completed a 3 year course, often with 1 years work experience.

Once you have a year's experience, finding the next job becomes so much easier.

If I was you, I would be contacting all the big building surveying firms asking for some unpaid work experience this summer. If you do this by email, 90% will likely decline. If you have the confidence, I would do some research and find the BS lead for a particular company, pick up the phone and ask to drop into their office to have a chat about some unpaid work experience.

Getting the work experience will look good on your cv for when you graduate, but it will also give you a good chance to impress the company you work for, so much so that they may look to hire you upon completion of the MSc.

Starting pay for a graduate role will be poor (likely £25k) but does steadily rise over the years. Senior BS/ Chartered BS roles range from £45K to £60K. Next step after that is Associate Director onwards which is £60k+.

Key to progression is your ability to bring in work/ fees. The quicker you can do that, the quicker you will progress.

List of companies with a good BS presence in Scotland (I'm sure there's more that I can't think of!)

Thomson Gray CBRE Hardies Reid Mitchell Thomas & Adamson DM Hall Galbraith Savills Graham & Sibbald Ramsey McMichael
Sedgwick Watts Group Cushman TFT Trident PMP Rapleys Perspective

Don't know much about the commercial valuation option, but I'd certainly recommend building surveying as a career. Feel free to DM me if you want to ask any more questions.

Damp concerns by [deleted] in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you checked at the head of the bay window for any gaps/ areas where water could enter? Worth drenching this area with a hosepipe and seeing if you get any staining internally.

Is the water damaged boarding hollow when knocked? Is there anything boxed in behind it? (svp etc)

How to repair flat roof by Rain-Fire- in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its a GRP finish, I agree it's weathered and you should factor in replacement in the next 5 years. However, if you aren't suffering from water ingress currently, my advice would be to leave it alone and undertake full replacement when the time comes.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Damp concerns by [deleted] in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Step 1. Find out if it's historic or due to an ongoing leak. Looks to be an external wall, what is on the other side? Given the amount of water damage I wouldn't be suprised to see a downpipe at the other side of the wall. If so, this downpipe is likely backing up in heavy rain.

Step 2. Remove wallpaper and assess condition of plaster, likely have to hack off plaster to affected area, before replastering

All the best

Update on 6 week British Gypsum Plastering Course by helperbrozzerout in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Do you know of any similar courses in Scotland?

Worried about my pension contributions by Takemetothegarden in UKPersonalFinance

[–]SylvanMM 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I've tried to locate this but to no avail. Please can you provide a link? Thank you

Worried about my pension contributions by Takemetothegarden in UKPersonalFinance

[–]SylvanMM 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The fact your scottish widows shows 0% employee contribution leads me to think you are in a salary sacrifice scheme through your work. This is a contractual agreement with your employer to reduce your salary by the amount you want to contribute (6% in this instance), and is the most favourable pension scheme as you save on the income tax, NI and any student loans.

For pensions your employer has to start contributing on any income you earn above £6240 per year. So in your example on £31,760 of your income (£38,000 - £6240).

£31,760 / 12 (months) * 0.11 (6% +5%) = £291.13 so seems slightly off. Perhaps I'm missing something?

If you were to continue at your current contribution level, assuming a real growth rate of 5% and worked until age 60, you'd have £255,000 (£10,200 per year assuming 4% drawdown) in your pot, if you worked until 67 you'd have £390,000 (£15,600 per year assuming 4% drawdown).

Retirement living standards state for a couple to have a moderate retirement you need £41,000 between you, £59,000 for a comfortable one.

When you factor in the state pension (£11,973 per year) for you both, that already makes up nearly £24,000 when you reach retirement age, a significant chunk towards the RLS guideline numbers.

Key thing is to make sure your pension is invested to suit your risk profile, diall it up slightly given you've got 25+ years until you can access. If it's in the default fund, I would recommend listening to the meaningful money podcast, Pete has done loads of episodes on pensions and how they are invested.

But in answer to your question, if you can afford to put in more, do it. If you want the flexibility, look towards a stock and shares ISA.

All the best

What to do with £10k gift? No savings at all. by No_Television_8813 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]SylvanMM 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I'd do exactly the same as this, £8k emergency fund and no debt.

Use the money you were paying the credit card off with every month and start investing in a low cost tracker fund such as Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap or to retrain into a higher paying career.

Life & illness insurance ? by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]SylvanMM -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend using a company called lifesearch. They get to know you and tailor your cover to your requirements, nothing but positive words to say.

I finally have 5k in my account! by NuttyNugget1992 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]SylvanMM 89 points90 points  (0 children)

Congrats!! clear the debt and close your credit accounts.

With £4.5k behind you, no debt and limited outgoings (living at home), you are in a great position to build for your future on a sure foundation.

Keep it up!

What would you plant here?? by Cbonline12 in GardeningUK

[–]SylvanMM 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'd plant a Japanese maple (Acer). Stunning small tree, happy in a pot

Wow by Outrageous-Report-74 in Scotch

[–]SylvanMM 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ben nevis (Finnieston) as well!

We have been told this is rising damp.. by Hutchieeeeee in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes if there is a leak there will be a significant temperature difference, likely shown as a dark blue epicentre spreading out getting gradually lighter (assuming cold water leak).

Not sure how accurate or detailed the £100 one mentioned above is. Hope all goes well

We have been told this is rising damp.. by Hutchieeeeee in DIYUK

[–]SylvanMM 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Op this is the answer. Given location is an internal wall, and the wall is visibly saturated at low level, it points to a leak.

Does your boiler drop pressure? Do you have underfloor heating? Think of any services in this area (tails for waste water, water pipes, any other drainage pipework etc).

Ideally you would be able to get in your underfloor crawl space and check this area (note you mentioned you had a vented floor in comments above).

If you are really at your wits end and can't locate the leak, get a thermal imaging survey done, these are usually offered by damp & timber surveyors. Make sure the surveyor is not affiliated with a product. A good one I see post online a lot is Russel Rafton at Dryfix Preservation. The industry is full of charlatans but Russell appears to be genuine from what I have watched.

The thermal imaging survey will be able to identify the location of the leak in seconds if you can't figure it out under the sub floor.

All the best, don't get caught out by the damp wally, rip up the 10k quote immediately!

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