Knotweed and a New House.
Discussion
I'm looking at a new development of 10 homes on a piece of land which had a Knotweed problem. It's been dug out completely, inspected and comes with a 10 year guarantee, but should I still be concerned? My assumption is that after a couple of years, assuming it stays away, there is no issue?
If you're concerned about it now, then any future purchaser will probably have concerns as well particularly as the ten year guarantee runs down/expires. Ten years is not a long time, is it an insurance backed guarantee, or a company one? Also imagine having to wreck your garden in a couple of years to re-treat if it returns. I'd want to see an awful lot of detail as to what has been done to eradicate it, are you certain it has been completely removed or has it been encapsulated?
I'm risk averse so would look elsewhere, but if it's what you really, really, want I'd be looking for a lot more detail and an extension to the guarantee, plus making very sure that it is not still present anywhere on nearby land.
I'm risk averse so would look elsewhere, but if it's what you really, really, want I'd be looking for a lot more detail and an extension to the guarantee, plus making very sure that it is not still present anywhere on nearby land.
I'd be very, very cautious.
From what I've read completely clearing it is a very long and expensive operation.
I'd want to assure myself that it was done properly and by whom.
The house may come with a guarantee but I doubt that includes buying it back if it gets really messy.
I'm vey risk averse so I'd be walking away from a house with the slightest mention of it.
From what I've read completely clearing it is a very long and expensive operation.
I'd want to assure myself that it was done properly and by whom.
The house may come with a guarantee but I doubt that includes buying it back if it gets really messy.
I'm vey risk averse so I'd be walking away from a house with the slightest mention of it.
FailHere said:
If you're concerned about it now, then any future purchaser will probably have concerns as well particularly as the ten year guarantee runs down/expires. Ten years is not a long time, is it an insurance backed guarantee, or a company one? Also imagine having to wreck your garden in a couple of years to re-treat if it returns. I'd want to see an awful lot of detail as to what has been done to eradicate it, are you certain it has been completely removed or has it been encapsulated?
I'm risk averse so would look elsewhere, but if it's what you really, really, want I'd be looking for a lot more detail and an extension to the guarantee, plus making very sure that it is not still present anywhere on nearby land.
I'm getting more details but, as I understand it, the Knotweed was found in an adjacent field to the development and there is a house, which is also part of the development, between our plot and the patch. It was all dug out and then some sort of treatment put down. I'm not sure what is really relevant. The whole site is covered by the guarantee but if it's that far away I not sure I should worry.I'm risk averse so would look elsewhere, but if it's what you really, really, want I'd be looking for a lot more detail and an extension to the guarantee, plus making very sure that it is not still present anywhere on nearby land.
We really love the house and the area so don't want to walk away; equally, I don't want a massive problem in future.
JohneeBoy said:
TLandCruiser said:
Is the development near a railway line?
Within a KM, I'd say. Why?I would check with your morg company if they had an issue, I once bought a place a few years back that had a tube line at the back of garden, the garden was 250ft long no sign of knot weed but the potential of it caused issues with the morg application, different lenders have different rules though. Annoyingly I got so focused on the knotweed potential I missed other biggers issues grrrrr
Edited by PostHeads123 on Monday 1st August 19:57
We had aabout 10 plants pop up in the meadow next to our street. It seems it had come down the small stream and taken root. By the time we noticed it had spread about 30m. The biggst plants were bushes and the smallest were simply shoots out the ground.
Some local gardeners pointed it out to us.
I personally took on the job of clearing it.
Three months intensive treatment of roundup and it was gone.
That was 5 years ago and no sign of it since.
Just be sure to keep an eye out for it's very obvious pale gree fig shaped leaves and red stems. At the first sign hit it with a few doses of systemic roundup or equiv.
Never be tempted to cut it or pull it out.
We read all the scare stories but it turned out to be very easy to clear using a good systemic weedkiller.
I've bought a stash of 5L bottles of rosate (same as roundup but cheaper!) off ebay just in case the EU bans it and the weed comes back one day!
I'd buy the house if you love it. :-)
Some local gardeners pointed it out to us.
I personally took on the job of clearing it.
Three months intensive treatment of roundup and it was gone.
That was 5 years ago and no sign of it since.
Just be sure to keep an eye out for it's very obvious pale gree fig shaped leaves and red stems. At the first sign hit it with a few doses of systemic roundup or equiv.
Never be tempted to cut it or pull it out.
We read all the scare stories but it turned out to be very easy to clear using a good systemic weedkiller.
I've bought a stash of 5L bottles of rosate (same as roundup but cheaper!) off ebay just in case the EU bans it and the weed comes back one day!
I'd buy the house if you love it. :-)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Knotweed now all died off after intensive treatment with ROUNDUP ROOT AND TREE STUMP KILLER, (not ordinary roundup).
If it pops up again next Summer it will be getting more of the same.
Thanks to all for the advice.
Knotweed now all died off after intensive treatment with ROUNDUP ROOT AND TREE STUMP KILLER, (not ordinary roundup).
If it pops up again next Summer it will be getting more of the same.
Thanks to all for the advice.
Is it a perfect house a forever house? Better than anything else you've seen?
Selling it will be a challenge for obvious reasons.
I'd not touch one personally.
Question is - KW is a cancer and ruthless and relentless do you want the stress in dealing with it? What if your KW then went to a neighbours garden would you be liable / even if not I'm sure that could ruin relations.
Go into it with a clear head and a lot of expert advice and ensure you have experts fully survey the plot. Not doing this even though would be not cheap would be utter madness IMHO.
Selling it will be a challenge for obvious reasons.
I'd not touch one personally.
Question is - KW is a cancer and ruthless and relentless do you want the stress in dealing with it? What if your KW then went to a neighbours garden would you be liable / even if not I'm sure that could ruin relations.
Go into it with a clear head and a lot of expert advice and ensure you have experts fully survey the plot. Not doing this even though would be not cheap would be utter madness IMHO.
We looked at a house that had some in the garden and we were told that it actually isn't quite as bad as everyone thinks and it treatable. It is grim I've seen photos of it popping up through your skirting and floorboards!
The problem is it penetrates concrete etc and grows reasonable distances underground unsettling foundations etc.
Its worth doing your research, it can propagate from a 1 inch cutting which is why it can be such a problem, and require a lot of care when removing it.
It really has to be killed by getting to the rhizome which is the heart of the plant, however it tends to be under the ground.
Multiple attacks of a very strong weed killer with a key ingredient seems to be the key ideally injected into the lower stems I understand this might need a few attempts over a few seasons.
https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=knotweed+rh...
The problem is it penetrates concrete etc and grows reasonable distances underground unsettling foundations etc.
Its worth doing your research, it can propagate from a 1 inch cutting which is why it can be such a problem, and require a lot of care when removing it.
It really has to be killed by getting to the rhizome which is the heart of the plant, however it tends to be under the ground.
Multiple attacks of a very strong weed killer with a key ingredient seems to be the key ideally injected into the lower stems I understand this might need a few attempts over a few seasons.
https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=knotweed+rh...
I have just acted on the purchase of a property that had a known knotweed problem. The buyer was prepared to proceed buying the site for development purposes but had a specialist company treat the plants and provide an insurance backed warranty. The company providing the new build warranty were happy with that.
A few years ago it was a real scare story but as the problem has become more widespread an industry has arisen to deal with eradication. It is not easy to do and I would generally employ a specialist but that is more for the reassurance of the warranty.
A few years ago it was a real scare story but as the problem has become more widespread an industry has arisen to deal with eradication. It is not easy to do and I would generally employ a specialist but that is more for the reassurance of the warranty.
I think your biggest problem will be re-selling. I am a very risk adverse person and I wouldn't touch a house that had previous knotweed problems, or subsidence.
I can't be the only one who thinks like this so it does reduce the potential list of buyers but that doesn't mean you wont be able to sell.
The problem would be where people make an offer, the process starts, they find out and pull out.
I can't be the only one who thinks like this so it does reduce the potential list of buyers but that doesn't mean you wont be able to sell.
The problem would be where people make an offer, the process starts, they find out and pull out.
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