A little history - Last year May 2013 I had some extension works to extend our kitchen/diner and put in a central heating system through out the house (previously had storage heaters).
New pipes were put in place, a new man hole was put in our back garden for access (previously shared neighbors man hole), the old redundant pipes were blocked off and all seemed to be fine.
However very soon after the works were completed (July 2013) within weeks we had a stale smell coming in from the newly created bathroom and in our utilities area.
A month into it and the smells were strong enough to get the whole ground floor to stink.
We have had traps rechecked/swapped and recently CCTV drain checks (my own costs), however nothing was found to indicate what or where the smell was coming from.
The only thing we were able to identify and say with confidence is that we have a rat problem now as there was rat feces located in the suspended floor/insulation near the kitchen/bathroom area. In the 3 years I lived in this house, prior to the extension there were no rat issues and the scratches and smells are only coming out from the bathroom and utilities area in the kitchen.
The walls where the sink and washing machine are located have some holes in them, which I believe was for the plumbing however the smell only seems to be exiting from behind the washing machine area and not the sink.
Biggest Problem - It is a 'friend' who has carried out the work and I have given him until now to rectify the problems and clearly 9 months hasn't been sufficient to do get to the cause even after multiple visits.
I obviously can go to building control and make a complaint but I do not want to take that route for obvious reasons.
What others routes do I have as I really need this resolved and so far no one has been able to find the route cause....?
New pipes were put in place, a new man hole was put in our back garden for access (previously shared neighbors man hole), the old redundant pipes were blocked off and all seemed to be fine.
However very soon after the works were completed (July 2013) within weeks we had a stale smell coming in from the newly created bathroom and in our utilities area.
A month into it and the smells were strong enough to get the whole ground floor to stink.
We have had traps rechecked/swapped and recently CCTV drain checks (my own costs), however nothing was found to indicate what or where the smell was coming from.
The only thing we were able to identify and say with confidence is that we have a rat problem now as there was rat feces located in the suspended floor/insulation near the kitchen/bathroom area. In the 3 years I lived in this house, prior to the extension there were no rat issues and the scratches and smells are only coming out from the bathroom and utilities area in the kitchen.
The walls where the sink and washing machine are located have some holes in them, which I believe was for the plumbing however the smell only seems to be exiting from behind the washing machine area and not the sink.
Biggest Problem - It is a 'friend' who has carried out the work and I have given him until now to rectify the problems and clearly 9 months hasn't been sufficient to do get to the cause even after multiple visits.
I obviously can go to building control and make a complaint but I do not want to take that route for obvious reasons.
What others routes do I have as I really need this resolved and so far no one has been able to find the route cause....?
