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Dry Rot..... Help!
bubblesla_2
Posts: 1 Newbie
I wonder if anyone could give me some advice??
I had a major outbreak of Dry Rot in my house at the end of last year (it is an old 1900 mid terrace). The outbreak was caused by a hidden leaky pipe, and so was covered by my insurance company. The downstairs of the house was gutted and rebuilt (walls stripped back to the brick, all timber removed and replaced etc) and half of upstairs was also treated. The work took 5 months to complete and cost £29500! Thank god my insurance covered it.
A month before the work was finished I got a letter from the contractor informing me that they could hear water hitting the back of the fireplace (bearing in mind I had not been living in the house for 6 months prior to recieving this letter!), and that I should get a roofing contractor out to inspect and repair the chimney. I did as they had suggested and three weeks after moving back into my property I had the flashings around the chimney replaced.
On Monday evening I found the dreaded ‘red dust’ around the skirting board next to my fireplace. The contractors came out to inspect on Tuesday and they found a ‘fruiting body’ in an air vent within the chimney.
They are now saying that this new outbreak has been caused by the leaky chimney.
However, when the remedial work was carried out they did not ‘open up’ the chimney breast – so in my opinion they could not have treated the area correctly. Therefore the rot could have been there all along and just never treated. Also, as they knew there was a leak within the chimney and knew the extent of the problem – why did they not investigate it? Surely they must’ve realised that the rot could also be inside the voids within the chimney breast.
Also, I had the chimney fixed at the beginning of March this year, surely the rot would have died by now if the water supply had been cut off for so long. On the other hand, even if the leak from the chimney was feeding the rot, surely they have not done their job properly in respect of treating the masonry and eliminating the dry rot spores. It has after all only been 5 months since I moved back in.
I have contacted my insurance company and they are going to request a report from the contractor – but as they carried out the work originally, surely they are biased and will do all they can to ‘wriggle out of it’!
If anyone has any advice on this matter then I would be extremely grateful.
I had a major outbreak of Dry Rot in my house at the end of last year (it is an old 1900 mid terrace). The outbreak was caused by a hidden leaky pipe, and so was covered by my insurance company. The downstairs of the house was gutted and rebuilt (walls stripped back to the brick, all timber removed and replaced etc) and half of upstairs was also treated. The work took 5 months to complete and cost £29500! Thank god my insurance covered it.
A month before the work was finished I got a letter from the contractor informing me that they could hear water hitting the back of the fireplace (bearing in mind I had not been living in the house for 6 months prior to recieving this letter!), and that I should get a roofing contractor out to inspect and repair the chimney. I did as they had suggested and three weeks after moving back into my property I had the flashings around the chimney replaced.
On Monday evening I found the dreaded ‘red dust’ around the skirting board next to my fireplace. The contractors came out to inspect on Tuesday and they found a ‘fruiting body’ in an air vent within the chimney.
They are now saying that this new outbreak has been caused by the leaky chimney.
However, when the remedial work was carried out they did not ‘open up’ the chimney breast – so in my opinion they could not have treated the area correctly. Therefore the rot could have been there all along and just never treated. Also, as they knew there was a leak within the chimney and knew the extent of the problem – why did they not investigate it? Surely they must’ve realised that the rot could also be inside the voids within the chimney breast.
Also, I had the chimney fixed at the beginning of March this year, surely the rot would have died by now if the water supply had been cut off for so long. On the other hand, even if the leak from the chimney was feeding the rot, surely they have not done their job properly in respect of treating the masonry and eliminating the dry rot spores. It has after all only been 5 months since I moved back in.
I have contacted my insurance company and they are going to request a report from the contractor – but as they carried out the work originally, surely they are biased and will do all they can to ‘wriggle out of it’!
If anyone has any advice on this matter then I would be extremely grateful.
0
Comments
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Don't think the fact that the water stopped dripping would stop the rot. Can't offer any advice in afraid, good luck though!0
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