Plaster not dry after 2 weeks !!!! (renting)

cf11liam

Me and my girlfriend moved into a gorgeous 1 bedroom ground floor flat on the 31st December 2008, when we were supposed to move in on January 3rd. (we had no choice really)

The plaster in the living room wasn't dry on the walls and the room looked like a building site, we were told that it would take no longer than a "couple of days" for the plaster to dry, and then to paint it, and then lay the carpet.

2 weeks later, and nothing has changed, apart from the Landlord brought around a oil fuled fin heater last week but the plaster is still not dry (I can only asume this is because it's a semi dettatched house and this is the external wall, and it's not drying due to the cold weather)

The Estate agents we went through said that they will bring a de-humidifyer around tommorow for us, so that the Plaster will dry/set quicker, and they can get on with painting and finishing the room off.

Now, the reason I am posting this is to see if anyone has had anything similar happen in the past? How did you go about resolving it?

Ideally I want money off, and rightfully I think. We've paid the bond and the rent in advance (£650 bond, £550 rent) We've only been able to use the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen for 2 weeks and I can only assume it will be another week minimum before it's finished, so technically 3 weeks, where we've paid for the full flat. (1 double bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 1 living room)

What do you advise is a reasonable ammount to ask to be knocked off?

The electric bill is going to be high aswell, as we've been told "the heater will dry it quicker" and that didn't really work.

gemmalouanna

Has the wall just been re-plastered for cosmetic reasons or something else? We had damp proof course re-injected last Feb and still not dry by Dec - the company have come back removed plaster, re-injected, re-plastered and about a month has passed and finally it is nearly all dry and our room doesn't smell of damp - could yours be similar?

Also we were told by builder that using de-humidifyer was a bad idea for trying to dry out plaster - can cause it to crack badly????

cf11liam

There was something to do with the walls being damp before we moved in that the previous tenant had mentioned, so thats why the work was being carried out. Can it really take 10 months? That's a very long time!!

With the de-humidifyer situation, this was suggested at first by a few people I spoke to about the situation, and that the heat from the heaters was a bad idea and could cause it to crack.

This is the nicest house that either of us have ever lived in, everything is brand new and top spec, and we don't want to get relocated because of this problem in the back room.

gemmalouanna

The plaster should not take as long as ours did to dry, but in my guarantee it says "walls should be completely dry within 12 months", so I just kept hoping it would dry out, after 10 months I got fed up and contacted them and they said it needed re-injecting which looks to have finally sorted it for us!

Strange about the different ideas about heater/de-humidifyer...ideally we wouldn't need either!

Does the room smell damp? We haven't used our living/dining room for 2 years due to smell so you can imagine how happy I am to now walk into a normal smelling room! If there is an underlying problem your plaster is never going to dry...

Hope the landlord sorts it for you!

cf11liam

It's drying in patches to be honest, the 1 wall is completley dry, and the top wall where the patio doors are is bone dry, it's the wall thats also the external wall on the other side drying in patches very very very slowly, some parts look like they aren't drying at all.

the room doesn't smell damp

I'm more concerned about paying the rent to be honest, for a room we can't even use and haven't been able to use since paying full rent for the flat.

Do you think I'd be out of order asking for half of the rent to be knocked off? And something about the electric bill, because of the cost of those electric heaters which the Landlord brought around himself?

Thanks

PasturesNew

I'd expect it to be OK to paint over after 3 weeks. Certainly get one coat of watered down white emulsion on it there, make it look a bit better.

gemmalouanna

cf11liam wrote: »

It's drying in patches to be honest, the 1 wall is completley dry, and the top wall where the patio doors are is bone dry, it's the wall thats also the external wall on the other side drying in patches very very very slowly, some parts look like they aren't drying at all.

the room doesn't smell damp

I'm more concerned about paying the rent to be honest, for a room we can't even use and haven't been able to use since paying full rent for the flat.

Do you think I'd be out of order asking for half of the rent to be knocked off? And something about the electric bill, because of the cost of those electric heaters which the Landlord brought around himself?

Thanks

Really not sure - you have nothing to lose by asking, it if unfair for you and your girlfriend paying for rooms you aren't using - but the LL needs to sort if there is an underlying problem as it only gets worse - Good luck

poppysarah

I'd ask for a reduction. A newly plastered room is pretty minging tbh and should be allowed to dry out slowly. It'll take longer if the wall it's (directly?) attached to is exposed to a prevailing wind.
You could always ask on one of the DIY newsgroups whether the length of time is excessive at this time of year. When our extension was plastered the rooms felt strange for a couple of days but it looks dry after 2. That was on a double skin wall though in summer.

cf11liam

Brilliant

thanks for the advice guys