New build damp ...thermal bridge...bodge job :)

[jaimeontour]

Hi.
Bloc and beam with poly expanded block...
We moved into a shared ownership house ,its only a year old...we noticed moisture under the sink unit in July 2010 by Sept 2010 it was rotting the unit by January mould had expanded a fair distance and high condensation found on water supply pipe..
Chartered surveyor said ground level is to high (builder said double dpc so not a problem) and we have noticed the screed in has bridge the edge insulation also draught coming from most skirting board areas....
The dpc under the internal skimmed wall has a slight gap under it enough to push a knife through....is this normal

 

[studips]

with the sink area, are you sure there are no weeps? as for the rising main, if you lag the pipework then you should control the condensation problem - warm moist air can no longer touch a cold water pipe and form condensation on the pipe.

as for the rest, you can start the ball rolling with a call to nhbc and putting the faults in writing to the builder. you have a chartered surveyor, so involve them - they should be able to tell if there is a genuine issue.

and good fortune.

 

[jaimeontour]

Yep thanks for the info....Done all the above ...
We have draughts coming from under the skirting board also ,,,,when we took the skirting boards off, wind blows from under the dpc laid under the inner wall(plasterboard).....
The surveyor got a thermal camera on it and from inside along all perimeters in the house the skiting board area is the same temp as outside....nice....

Great in summer pants in winter...no wonder the bill are so high..
There are airbricks <for the under floor void, that are below ground level....choice builders.....i think not.....how can they get away with such bad builds...where is the site manager..

 

[noseall]

Excessive condensation on a cold main can sometimes be attributed to a pipe in constant use.

In other words, if all the cold taps in the house are switched off and there is still a lot of condensation present, this usually indicates that there is either a cold water leak or that a valve or similar is constantly running.

 

[jaimeontour]

Yep used to get condensation on pipe when shower/bath used...the kitchen unit was not allowing ventilation to get to it ...now the unit has rotted away and its dry as Ghandis flip flop....
The remaining damp seems to be from a number of things...high outside ground level ...buried airbricks...french drains that are french ponds due to no perfererated drain at the bottom...general drainage around property is poor...
We have a NIBE exhaust heat system that vents the house...had it tested and all is running to spec and to building regs...
Did I say this house is only a year old....
Wish I could say the building company but im sure its against the rules....

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where are my Key ear here they are......