Age and type of house
Stored timber blocks the skirt vents of a park home. What underfloor air to the chassis is restricted?
The underfloor air that should pass through those skirt vents to the chassis is restricted. Skirt vents are the openings that let outside air under the park home, across the steel chassis and the floor void. Timber stacked against them blocks that path on the sides where it stands. The survey has seen stored timber covering vents. It has not measured the remaining airflow, and it has not inspected the chassis for corrosion caused by still, damp air. Blocked vents are a restriction you can see. They are not a test of the steel underneath.
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?
A park home sits on a chassis, and the skirting is not that structure. Vents in the skirting let the void breathe. Stored timber over them leaves moisture under the floor with a poorer way out, so the chassis can stay damp. The survey can record the timber and the covered grilles. It cannot, from that stack, see the beams or the underside of the floor. GOV.UK treats a park home as a special case when buying. This note does not set the pitch fee or replace the written agreement.
Ask the site owner and the seller, through your solicitor, who may move the timber and whether the chassis void is meant to be accessible. A separate look under the home, with permission and safe access, would be needed before anyone comments on the steel. Do not read a blocked vent as a measured loss of chassis section. The survey has recorded the obstruction. It has not diagnosed the frame beneath it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which skirt vents are covered by stored timber, and on which sides?
- Did you see any clear path for underfloor air to the chassis, or were the vents blocked?
- What of the chassis and floor void could you not see because of that timber?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the stacked timber as a block on underfloor air, not as a chassis survey.
- Ask who can move it and whether the void is safely accessible.
- Do not take the pitch agreement as having described the chassis.
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
Does the timber only matter if the chassis is already rusty?
No. The restriction is the blocked vent, whether or not rust is already visible. The survey saw timber over the skirt vents and did not inspect the chassis through that stack. Waiting for obvious rust before you treat the vents as blocked would ignore the path the report has already recorded.
Will moving the timber after the visit rewrite this note?
Moving it later may restore the air path, but it does not change what the surveyor found on the day, and it does not inspect the chassis by itself. If the void is then opened properly, that is a new look. The written agreement for the pitch is still a separate document, and this survey has not replaced it.