Builder almost brought the house down..literally
Discussion
hyphen said:
surveyor said:
In my valuation days if I came across stitching / cracks I would be asking for a Structural Engineers Report.
Am I right in saying that, if the house was rendered after repair, a surveyor wouldn't be able to guess stitching/cracks and that the most that would be put in the report would be "Historical movement observed"?TA14 said:
hyphen said:
surveyor said:
In my valuation days if I came across stitching / cracks I would be asking for a Structural Engineers Report.
Am I right in saying that, if the house was rendered after repair, a surveyor wouldn't be able to guess stitching/cracks and that the most that would be put in the report would be "Historical movement observed"?Would this fall foul of the new law? If I was selling I'd argue that it was all fixed so not a material fact to be mentioned when marketing... would most likely to have to discolose the works during pre contract enquiries though.
surveyor said:
Would this fall foul of the new law? If I was selling I'd argue that it was all fixed so not a material fact to be mentioned when marketing... would most likely to have to discolose the works during pre contract enquiries though.
That was my feeling as well as a non-expert.As a buyer it would put me off, however irrational, unless it was my "forever home"
Update;
Render is off the walls. Lots of cracks but only afew have damaged the stonework.
Structural engineer revisited and is writing a report on exactly how he wants the repairs carried out. He also climbed into the loft where the builder had said that there were no cracks. There were fecking cracks they had blantantly lied about.
The builder also tried to progress with boxing in the RSJs against the explicit instructions as they were told only to carry out stabilising work and to expose and repair the damage they caused and then to get off the site. They alos tried to effect a replacement of a large wooden lintel with bricks which the structural engineer says is the lintel that actually saved the wall from collapse. Still not squared the door frame.
Engineer is coming back to inspecta agin once the hellibars are in, before they re-render.
Surveyor is coming back to give an opinion of whether the damage is disclosable and what effect that may have on the value.
Render is off the walls. Lots of cracks but only afew have damaged the stonework.
Structural engineer revisited and is writing a report on exactly how he wants the repairs carried out. He also climbed into the loft where the builder had said that there were no cracks. There were fecking cracks they had blantantly lied about.
The builder also tried to progress with boxing in the RSJs against the explicit instructions as they were told only to carry out stabilising work and to expose and repair the damage they caused and then to get off the site. They alos tried to effect a replacement of a large wooden lintel with bricks which the structural engineer says is the lintel that actually saved the wall from collapse. Still not squared the door frame.
Engineer is coming back to inspecta agin once the hellibars are in, before they re-render.
Surveyor is coming back to give an opinion of whether the damage is disclosable and what effect that may have on the value.
Cogcog said:
Update;
Render is off the walls. Lots of cracks but only afew have damaged the stonework.
Structural engineer revisited and is writing a report on exactly how he wants the repairs carried out. He also climbed into the loft where the builder had said that there were no cracks. There were fecking cracks they had blantantly lied about.
The builder also tried to progress with boxing in the RSJs against the explicit instructions as they were told only to carry out stabilising work and to expose and repair the damage they caused and then to get off the site. They alos tried to effect a replacement of a large wooden lintel with bricks which the structural engineer says is the lintel that actually saved the wall from collapse. Still not squared the door frame.
Engineer is coming back to inspecta agin once the hellibars are in, before they re-render.
Surveyor is coming back to give an opinion of whether the damage is disclosable and what effect that may have on the value.
Photo's - every step. Build an album.Render is off the walls. Lots of cracks but only afew have damaged the stonework.
Structural engineer revisited and is writing a report on exactly how he wants the repairs carried out. He also climbed into the loft where the builder had said that there were no cracks. There were fecking cracks they had blantantly lied about.
The builder also tried to progress with boxing in the RSJs against the explicit instructions as they were told only to carry out stabilising work and to expose and repair the damage they caused and then to get off the site. They alos tried to effect a replacement of a large wooden lintel with bricks which the structural engineer says is the lintel that actually saved the wall from collapse. Still not squared the door frame.
Engineer is coming back to inspecta agin once the hellibars are in, before they re-render.
Surveyor is coming back to give an opinion of whether the damage is disclosable and what effect that may have on the value.
Useful if it goes legal - but also in case of Surveys in the future - just in case. A lot easier to record what has been done, then to have an engineer want to strip render to see what works have been carried out at some point in the future.
surveyor said:
Photo's - every step. Build an album.
Useful if it goes legal - but also in case of Surveys in the future - just in case. A lot easier to record what has been done, then to have an engineer want to strip render to see what works have been carried out at some point in the future.
They have that and the engineer is in at each step, providing a report each time.Useful if it goes legal - but also in case of Surveys in the future - just in case. A lot easier to record what has been done, then to have an engineer want to strip render to see what works have been carried out at some point in the future.
They had the surveyor back who did their purchase survey. Sadly it was clear from the start that he knows the builder well (small town) and was very uncommital in his views. They have a new surveyor in next week.
Couple of things to note OP;
1) IIRC Helibar is an off the shelf product which anyone can buy. I'll stand corrected, but for the Helibar warranties to be valid the product had to be installed by one of their approved installers. IIRC.
2) I presume your solicitors are specialists in construction disputes? Construction law sets out very strict dates / timescales for you as the client to issue "pay less" notices if the builder bill you for anything. If you don't follow the stated dates / timescales your case is totally null and void regardless of what has happened work wise, so worth checking your solicitors are clued up on this.
Good luck - a close friend has just lost £32k to a cowboy which resulted in them having to knock down a poorly built extension. It's horrible and my thoughts are with you & your family.
1) IIRC Helibar is an off the shelf product which anyone can buy. I'll stand corrected, but for the Helibar warranties to be valid the product had to be installed by one of their approved installers. IIRC.
2) I presume your solicitors are specialists in construction disputes? Construction law sets out very strict dates / timescales for you as the client to issue "pay less" notices if the builder bill you for anything. If you don't follow the stated dates / timescales your case is totally null and void regardless of what has happened work wise, so worth checking your solicitors are clued up on this.
Good luck - a close friend has just lost £32k to a cowboy which resulted in them having to knock down a poorly built extension. It's horrible and my thoughts are with you & your family.
Update:
Helibars installed and engineer is Ok with them. Plasterers coming Monday.
I sense the builder will now want paying.
Had a 2nd surveyor in who says as long as the engineer writes a full report there should be no diminuation beyond the possible reduction in potential buyers which is hard to quantify.
Their insuers lawyer says they have no claim for the lost wages of trades or the pain caused.
Nexyt thing is a sit down ith the builder to see what he expects to get paid.
Helibars installed and engineer is Ok with them. Plasterers coming Monday.
I sense the builder will now want paying.
Had a 2nd surveyor in who says as long as the engineer writes a full report there should be no diminuation beyond the possible reduction in potential buyers which is hard to quantify.
Their insuers lawyer says they have no claim for the lost wages of trades or the pain caused.
Nexyt thing is a sit down ith the builder to see what he expects to get paid.
Cogcog said:
Update:
Resolved!
Engineer has written it up as a full repair.
Meeting with the builder boss, he started wanting full payment (!) of £7.5K, Dropped to £3,600 then eventually £1725, with him paying the cost of the engineers.
Sounds like a result. Well done and good luck!Resolved!
Engineer has written it up as a full repair.
Meeting with the builder boss, he started wanting full payment (!) of £7.5K, Dropped to £3,600 then eventually £1725, with him paying the cost of the engineers.
Who's going to finish the job now?
Cogcog said:
dmsims said:
What are you paying the builder for ?
The steels and the intial engineer who did the calculations. Legal advice was to pay the basics so that we were not just walking away, but had paid for what we had used and would have had to use anyway.
elanfan said:
All finished now OP? Pics?
I think the builder got off very lightly indeed! The HSE should prosecute him, your daughter should be compensated by him and he should have his reputation shredded locally!
I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!I think the builder got off very lightly indeed! The HSE should prosecute him, your daughter should be compensated by him and he should have his reputation shredded locally!
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