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Burst pipes after freeze in a house I'm buying.

Entertainer
Entertainer Posts: 617 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
I am in the process of buying a house and just before we exchanged the vendors left the heating off in January (it is empty) and it froze up and all the pipes leaked. They've had two dehumidifiers going for a couple of weeks at least but despite this, there is mould on the walls still and on the plasterboard under the floorboards. The damp meter goes off the scale. The floorboards upstairs are warped and need replacing, all the carpets are spoiled (they would probably be replaced anyway) and I'm not sure about the plasterboard.

I've had three builders down and none of them are giving me any definitive answers about what it would cost. I imagine it would take months(?) to dry out. I've negotiated 10k off the price but am beginning to wonder what the full extent of this could be. Someone told me that they heard of a friend who had frozen pipes and they had a bill of £45,000!!!

If anyone has any experience of this, I'd be grateful for their input.
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Comments

  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post I've helped Parliament
    Did you exchange?

    If not don't,
    get them to fix with your guys checking so no cover up

    or walk

    Hope you are insured if you did exchange.


    We had a small leak and it traversed over 20 foot through the structure still found some evidence months later when we moved a bit of carpet.
  • Entertainer
    Entertainer Posts: 617 Forumite
    Not exchanged yet (likely in the next couple of days.)
  • g_attrill
    g_attrill Posts: 691 Forumite
    Where was the leak and how much got wet, was it one corner of the house or did it run out across the whole floor area?

    Are the vendors able to pay the full repair costs? Have their insurance agreed to cover everything? If so then sit tight until it's all done to your satisfaction. If not and they can't afford to pay then I think you would want to knock quite a lot more off to be sure. If the plaster has been soaked then it will need to be replaced (maybe back to the bricks?!), the ceilings might need replacing, possibly light fittings or sockets?
  • vegasvisitor
    vegasvisitor Posts: 2,295 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    House we are hoping to buy had burst pipes over the xmas/ny period. The owners had been away and the boiler had either failed or was off. So the boiler needed replaced, and a shower room floor had to be lifted, and the hall and living rooms ceilings got replaced (decent crack in them). I did see dehumidifiers sitting there (unplugged as if they were due to be taken away) when we first viewed. There was no smell of dampness or any visual sign of the water, so I assume it is now all ok???

    Don't frighten me now guys..... Maybe some leaks are worse than others?
  • olly300
    olly300 Posts: 14,736 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Entertainer wrote: »
    Not exchanged yet (likely in the next couple of days.)


    Phone your solicitor up now and tell them the problem.

    Also state you won't exchange until they pay for the damage.
    I'm not cynical I'm realistic :p

    (If a link I give opens pop ups I won't know I don't use windows)
  • poppysarah
    poppysarah Posts: 11,522 Forumite
    Find another one or leave it until they've sorted it.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 46,957 Ambassador
    Academoney Grad Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary
    Your mortgage lender may also have a view.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on The Coronavirus Boards as well as the housing, mortgages and student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
  • PamVegas
    PamVegas Posts: 40 Forumite
    The exact same thing happened to us and we have pulled out and moved into rented so as to not lose our buyers who were ftb's and still wanting our house. The leak was found the day before exchange and when we saw the property the week after the ceilings were still wet in some rooms and the walls were very damaged and going mouldy already. Vendor didnt want to go through insurance and wanted to get it fixed himself without our approval so we werent willing to risk it. We took alot of pictures and sent them to a builder friend who said the plaster walls needed pulling out back to joists to check they hadnt been damaged badly by the water. The vendor supposedly finished the work within two weeks which there is no way he has done it properly. So glad we hadnt exchanged.
  • Estate_Agent
    Estate_Agent Posts: 80 Forumite
    Don't exchange. The vendors are liable and it is down to them to make good. The two worst things in a house are fire and water. At least with fire you can see what is damaged, the same is not true with water. This is an insurance job for the vendors. If they are unwilling to play ball walk away from the property and find another. Drying out can take months.

    Take at look at this article:

    http://www.jugglefrogs.co.uk/news/flooded-house/
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    silvercar wrote: »
    Your mortgage lender may also have a view.

    Exactly. Have you spoken with them to establish if they're still willing to lend, or whether they want a re-inspection after drying out, etc etc...?
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