History of heave in new build 8 yrs old

mrsbounce

We have seen perfect house for us and whilst talking to vendor heave was mentioned 4 yrs ago, it has all been sorted under nhbc guarantee and they have lots of paperwork and monitoring reports which have shown no further problems. The nhbc has been extended for a further 6 yrs so we are assuming this is a good thing.

Trying to get info on heave is quite confusing as its banded with subsidence which is different and more problematic from what I can understand.

The actual crack was slightly bigger than a settlement crack but according to vendors you wouldnt of been able to fit a pencil in the gap (so quite small)

So with everything being sorted would you consider a house with a history of heave?

Nothing else we have seen comes close to this house but I dont want to make a big mistake, we are hoping for this to be our house for at least next 15 years kids left school.

thanks

maninthestreet

I thought heave was considered worse than subsidence. Settlement cracks are a different thing altogether, and are normally considered far less serious than either heave or subsidence.

Jonbvn

Heave is caused by expansion of soil beneath the building/structure. It is prevalent in cold climates where the ground freezes (and hence expands).

Do the reports you have indicate the reason why the soil heaved? Usually, it is related to a change in the moisture content of the soil. The most common cause of heave is removal of trees causing the moisture content of the (usually clay) soil to increase and swell.

mrsbounce

There was a hedge along the line of the property which was taken out and not sealed?? which has now been sorted out as far as i can remember.

maninthestreet

How do you seal a hedge?

daveyjp

What was there before the houses were built? Old OS maps are useful in this regard.

mrsbounce

Haha sorry not very clear am I :rotfl:

Before the houses were built there were a row of hedges which were removed but the builders did not seal the roots in the clay soil (that doesnt sound right either!!) there has been monitoring for last 4 years and no further problems...

im no doubt saying this wrong again!

Cannon_Fodder

mrsbounce wrote: »

We have seen perfect house for us and whilst talking to vendor heave was mentioned..

Would appear to be a contradiction in terms - 'perfect' and 'heave' in the same sentence...!

Dim and distant memory of insurance law (that I am happy to be corrected on, as it is being dredged up from rarely used grey matter!), brings to mind that you cannot pursue a claim for the same insurable event twice. If inadequately dealt with, you'd potentially have to get the original fixing contractor to re-visit - and what if they have disappeared/folded by then..?

If the original damage was slight, there is a fair chance any minor repetition would be even less noticable, and I can just see the NHBC people saying, oh sorry that's "cosmetic"...
http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Homeowners/Problemswithyourhome/FAQ/#d.en.34762

[ Cracking to walls - "Cracking which is cosmetic, or is caused by shrinkage, thermal movement or movement between different types of materials, is not covered." ]

However the problem re-appears, I wonder if will you really be able to rely on the NHBC guarantee ?

4 years might seem long enough to have fair confidence that it won't reoccur, but if I was totally smitten with the house, I'd want an independant, written, guaranteed opinion from an expert in the subject.

Otherwise, why risk it?