Dry Rot in 1st foor flat - who is responsible?

G_M

katherine12 wrote: »

In terms of getting a surveyor... I presume this just means getting a few people over who offer the service to fix it to take a look and give us a quote? Or is there another type of independent "surveyor" who would assess the damage for dry rot but not from the perspective of trying to get the job to fix it? I'm going to Google it now to try and find out.

Many thanks!!

NNNOOOOoooooo!
Do NOT get a 'salesman' who describes himself as a surveyor but who works for a damp/dry rot specialist firm.

Of course he will diagnose dry rot. And offer the services of his firm to fix it. His job is to drum up business.

Of course, his 'survey' will be free (well, he's going to get paid when he 'finds' the dry rot isn't he?).

You need an independant specialist. Pay someone who will give you an objective, profesional survey.

Google "independant dry rot survey".

GDB2222

Or google Chartered Surveyor.

GDB2222

I'm not sure what you do if your neighbour does not have the cash to pay for it, though. Their mortgage lender might be cajoled into lending, as otherwise the value of their security could be drastically diminished - I mean drastically!

This is going to be a horrible messy job, particularly for the OP as the dirt goes downwards mostly.

sooz

Do you so far only have the word of a carpet fitter, via your neighbour, that this is dry rot? Or has anyone been in to take a look and lift a board to have a look?

It doesn't sound right that the carpet fitter diagnosed this. (and what was your neighbour thinking putting carpet in a kitchen anyway? ). And if a specialist has been out & actually diagnosed true dry rot, why on earth would the neighbour say that they will have to wait to save to fix it? Dry rot needs urgent attention.


If damage is being caused by something which your neighbour could not have reasonably been able to maintain, such as a slow leaking pipe in a wall, you may still covered by insurance. Don't rule it out.

Arthritic_Toe

Sorry to hear this. As someone who has just swallowed a £10 grand bill to rectify dry rot, I can empathise. I know I'm not being much comfort here, but heres a couple of things for your information:

Firstly, the diagnosis is easy - Google dry-rot pictures and you will see that its a distinctive fungus with white 'tendrils' that can spread rapidly through a building. It has a strong 'mushroomy' smell. Once you have self-diagnosed, you can then get quotes for the remedial work. Rentokill and Peter Cox are 2 of the big names, and they will offer long and reliable guarantees, however local builders will be cheaper. The treatment itself is horribly destructive and will involve removing and replacing all the infected timber to a distance of 1 metre past the last visible evidence of the rot. This obviously necessitates removal and replacement of the ceiling in the affected area. If the fungus has penetrated the brickwork, this is injected with a fungicide.

Our full structural survey, conducted less than a year previously, had completely failed to spot the dry-rot (why did we bother?), but there is no comeback as they include enough caveats to absolve themselves of any responsibility.

Anyway - I feel your pain. Good luck with it.

Jenniefour

katherine12 wrote: »

thanks for the advice guys, this has been really helpful. I never thought about asking the neighbour to get a loan to get it sorted but that seems like a great option if they can't afford to pay upfront and we want to sell this year.

As another poster hads mentioned this is a case where a bit of extra mortgage would be well worth considering, if it's possible. The do need somehow, though, to address how they will pay their half as this is a problem that gets worse the longer it's left. And extra bit of mortgage will be cheapest option is they do need some kind of loan.

I am hoping the dry rot is contained in their kitchen since they recently had their whole flat re-carpeted which was done without problem, until the carpet layer got to the kitchen and refused to do it telling them that they had to get the dry rot sorted first.

Well, that might be reasonably encouraging, you do have some rough indication of the floor area affected. Nonetheless, I would still get get a paid professional opinion on it. Not salesperson, as already been mentioned.


Many thanks!!

Good luck with that.

katherine12

Thanks for all of the advice guys. It does sound a bit scary... thinking about them hacking my ceiling apart! Anyway I am going to get an independent survey and have also posted the job on rated tradesman to get some quotes.

Arthritic Toe would you by any chance have recommendations of who did your work 9not sure if you live in London as to whether this would be applicable)

25rts

The important thing is to have dated photographic evidence as to the cause of the outbreak ie leaking pipework, leaking gutter etc. Irrespective of what your insurance policy may say from experience they sometimes pay out.