New'ish House With Problems

[N0D0ughDaz]

Hi All,

This is a question for the pro's out there!

We moved into our house 2 years ago.
The house was built 4 years ago.
There has only been 1 other family that lived here (obviously for 2 years before us).

We have just found out a potential nightmare.
The en-suite shower has been leaking for what seems some how and behind the tiles the walls (plasterboard) are falling apart and are all damp (soaked).

So in theory our shower has lasted 4 years!

We are dissappointed that this is such a big problem after only 4 years of the house being built and on the face of it it seems that it could be the shower wasn't installed properly (or it wouldn't of leaked).

Is there or should there be any sort of warranty with a newly built house that should cover this problem?
Or is this totally my problem?

I am starting to feel this is gonna cost big bucks which is not welcome in this credit crunch.
I would understand if was an older house, but 4 years?

Any help on what guarantees should come with a newly built house and where we stand?

Thanks in advance!

 

[^woody^]

A new house may come with the NHBC Buildmark or Zurich Building Insurance. If you have either of these then you would know about it from the purchase documents.

However, showers are not covered on the NHBC warranty after 3 years and it may be the same for the Zurich insurance

There are a number of reasons why this issue may not necessary be the developers fault, so yes it is your problem.

Check your own building insurance policy, to see if it covers this problem

 

[denso13]

Check your building insurance as a first step, if this covers you then an NHBC warranty wouldn't help, even it the property had NHBC cover.

 

[Tipper]

Buildings insurance typically covers the damage caused by a leak but not repair of the leak itself.

 

[Shytalkz]

My house is six years old. Same thing viz crappy construction, unfortunately all too common with spec housing. Lots of mess. Not covered by NHBC Warranty; covered by house insurance, subject to policy excess (£50 escape of water). £2500 plus VAT.

The damaged item is not usually covered by insurers as Tipper says. You can however, offset costs for such by agreeing to do work yourself such as redecoration, which does come under the terms of the policy.

Cute wording in quotes you get (see below as to how insurers deal with claims) could ensure that the damaged item that caused the leak can be lost within the repair costs, but that's fraud, so I can't advocate that.

Depending on who your insurer is, you may be able to get your own contractor to do the work subject to quotes being approved, otherwise it's a panel contractor foisted upon you by insurers; the latter have ceiling claim-costs, below which they self-administer claims and it's interesting to see how expensive smaller stuff is to get repaired, under that system.

 

[Nige F]

Shouldn`t cost an absolute fortune will need stripping and p/board replacing with aquapanel then re-tiling .With shower tray positioned /sealed correctly . You cant expect site boys to do any better than you got Fact.

 

[jewel1]

I would advise you to trace the builder responsible. Many firms now have Trustmark or CPA (consumer protection association) membership and that can cover their workmanship in an insurance backed guarantee for 10 years. Worth checking if you're now facing a major problem.
In the meantime, the obvious applies: Don't use the shower - have someone confirm that nothing else is leaking (is the roof space dry?, toilet, basin, etc), encourage ventilation to aid drying and use a dehumidifier for a few weeks to draw the moisture out of the wall.
If the damage has destroyed your plasterboard it may need to come off - no point dehumidifying with it there. Get at least 3 WRITTEN QUOTATIONS, not estimates for the repairs.