Age and type of house

The ground storey is masonry and the upper storey is timber frame. Why is a single rating for walls too coarse?

Because the two storeys are different construction. Masonry below and timber frame above should not share one wall rating that pretends they are the same element. Cracks, damp and lintels in the brick or block are not the same finding as studs, sheathing and a sole plate upstairs. The survey should separate them. One number hides which part was actually seen. A tidy ground floor does not show that the upstairs frame, behind its linings, is sound.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

Mixed construction is common where a masonry ground floor carries a timber-frame top storey, or where a later upper floor was added. The lower walls are judged like masonry: joints, movement, damp-proof course, lintels. The upper walls are judged like a frame: cladding, render or slips, a ventilated gap, and timber that is usually hidden. A single 'walls' rating averages a crack in the brick with an unseen stud. Readers then repair the wrong storey. The report should say, storey by storey, what was visible at openings, in the loft and at any damaged patch.

Ask the firm to split the rating if it has not. Do not let a rating 1 on the ground-floor brick slide upward, and do not let a render stain upstairs condemn the masonry. Fitted linings upstairs were not stripped. The sole plate at the junction, if it sits behind a floor or a skirting, may be the least visible piece and the most important. Say so if it was covered. An empty gap in any cladding is not itself a defect until someone has identified what the gap is. The two storeys need two descriptions before you brief a builder.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Will you rate or at least describe the masonry storey and the timber storey separately?
At the junction, was the sole plate or the bearing seen, or was it covered?
Which defects belong downstairs only, and which belong to the frame?

What are the typical next steps?

Brief builders storey by storey, using the survey's split.
Do not average the two constructions into one wall verdict.
If the junction was hidden, keep that as a limit rather than a pass.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Can the upper frame be sound if the ground floor brick is sound?

It can be, but this survey has not shown that by giving one rating. The frame needs its own look.

Is the upper storey a traditional cavity because the ground floor is masonry?

No. Timber frame above is not a masonry cavity. Do not copy cavity repairs upstairs.