House is 5 years old.
Not low lying. 9ft above the sea level.
We've been told it's on clay. Also before the construction they had to remove lots of big trees.
Damp concrete floor
- Thread starter Fixnot
- Start date
House is 5 years old.
Not low lying. 9ft above the sea level.
We've been told it's on clay. Also before the construction they had to remove lots of big trees.
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Fixnot, Hi.
Have been following this post, a 5 Year old property? I had made an assumption reading the post that the property was 20/30/50 + Years old? this type of problem is prevalent in that age and older property.
Question, was the property backed by a NHBC Guarantee? [spit- spit] or some sort of an Architects guarantee as to efficacy of both design and build quality?
It appears that you have what I know as a Latent Defect, a problem that developed some way down the line from construction.
From your description of the problems you have with the property it appears that there is a serious lack of DPM in several rooms, it is possible that there is a case for the Builder / Architect / Designer / even local Building Control to answer some questions as to inspection during construction.
One way of proceeding may, I stress the word MAY be to employ the services of an independent Surveyor who can professionally verify the problems. Following this it is possible to pursue the builder or the Guarantor for design / Inspection.
Your insurance Policy may have a section that will give legal protection, don't hold your breath here with them, but put up a good professionally backed claim to the Insurer then at times they may back your proceeding against the Builder / Architect / Guarantor.
Have been following this post, a 5 Year old property? I had made an assumption reading the post that the property was 20/30/50 + Years old? this type of problem is prevalent in that age and older property.
Question, was the property backed by a NHBC Guarantee? [spit- spit] or some sort of an Architects guarantee as to efficacy of both design and build quality?
It appears that you have what I know as a Latent Defect, a problem that developed some way down the line from construction.
From your description of the problems you have with the property it appears that there is a serious lack of DPM in several rooms, it is possible that there is a case for the Builder / Architect / Designer / even local Building Control to answer some questions as to inspection during construction.
One way of proceeding may, I stress the word MAY be to employ the services of an independent Surveyor who can professionally verify the problems. Following this it is possible to pursue the builder or the Guarantor for design / Inspection.
Your insurance Policy may have a section that will give legal protection, don't hold your breath here with them, but put up a good professionally backed claim to the Insurer then at times they may back your proceeding against the Builder / Architect / Guarantor.
They should end the exemption for houses from the Sale of Goods Act.
House had a 2 year guarantee and now is over 5 years old.
We don't see ourselves being involved into legal battles. A relative had a much serious problem with their property and went into a battle. At the end they recovered partially. But the amount of stress involving the whole family, it wasn't worth it.
Yes, we do have own saga here, but don't need a ''watchdog drama"...
We thank you all for the advice.
We don't see ourselves being involved into legal battles. A relative had a much serious problem with their property and went into a battle. At the end they recovered partially. But the amount of stress involving the whole family, it wasn't worth it.
Yes, we do have own saga here, but don't need a ''watchdog drama"...
We thank you all for the advice.
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If it is as damp as your description suggests, it is possible that any dpm under the concrete is defective or even missing (though that would be unusual). If so, it could be made worse by being on clay.
If you try to rectify this yourself, putting some sort of dpm/liquid coating on top of the slab will be ineffective.
The only proper solution might be to take up the slab and relay with effective dpm and insulation, on a room-by-room basis? Very disruptive, though.
If you try to rectify this yourself, putting some sort of dpm/liquid coating on top of the slab will be ineffective.
The only proper solution might be to take up the slab and relay with effective dpm and insulation, on a room-by-room basis? Very disruptive, though.
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Interesting to hear the property is only 5 years old!
I was going to ask if the walls were of stone construction..
Anyway, slightly off topic, I was reading that in old properties, replacing a concrete floor with a timber floor plus ventilation often fixes the problem as old properties need to breathe.
If the walls were stone and contained water, then during the dry periods, the water would naturally discharge down into the floor, so you may not see weather/water connections perhaps.
I was going to ask if the walls were of stone construction..
Anyway, slightly off topic, I was reading that in old properties, replacing a concrete floor with a timber floor plus ventilation often fixes the problem as old properties need to breathe.
If the walls were stone and contained water, then during the dry periods, the water would naturally discharge down into the floor, so you may not see weather/water connections perhaps.
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