Help.... Advice required on Barratt Home purchase......

Suey64

Hi,

I really need some advice about our house... about a year ago we purchased a Barratt home, it was 3 years old at the time so not brand new and hopefully rid of its teething problems however about 4-5 months after we moved in we noticed the floorboards were really squeaky so I called the NHBC (as we are covered for another 7 years with them) and they basically said that there was nothing they would do as the property was built to structural satisfaction! We have since had 2 of the rooms re-nailed at our own cost but this has not really helped much and is driving us insane. We have spoken to several builders and joiners who all say that because of the way new houses are now built the only way to completely correct it is to re-build... obviously not an option :mad:

Has anyone else had this problem? I really feel that Barratt homes should take some responsibility am I wrong?

irishesman

Suey64 wrote:

Hi,

I really need some advice about our house... about a year ago we purchased a Barratt home, it was 3 years old at the time so not brand new and hopefully rid of its teething problems however about 4-5 months after we moved in we noticed the floorboards were really squeaky so I called the NHBC (as we are covered for another 7 years with them) and they basically said that there was nothing they would do as the property was built to structural satisfaction! We have since had 2 of the rooms re-nailed at our own cost but this has not really helped much and is driving us insane. We have spoken to several builders and joiners who all say that because of the way new houses are now built the only way to completely correct it is to re-build... obviously not an option :mad:

Has anyone else had this problem? I really feel that Barratt homes should take some responsibility am I wrong?

Had the same problem with an Abbey home in a number of the bedrooms. Tried renailing them, but no joy. Ended up lifting all the carpet and screwing the boards down and the squeeks have gone.

As you have discovered, the NHBC will only cover servious structural problems

Suey64

Hi

We had a joiner in to do that but still get the horrible creaking, I think it is because the floor bows slightly under an adjoinging wall!

Glad we were not alone though.

Cheers

pusscat

Have you called and spoken to Barratt? I found them really helpful in a previous house when it transpired that they had put a nail throught he en suite shower pipe when it was installed - took it 3 years to rust away and then all hell broke loose - they replaced the entire kitchen, including decoration, light fittings, ceiling, units etc without a murmur.

Worth a try - phone their customer services people

Puss

virgo149

Sorry to hear of your predicament. We've lived in a 5 yr old westbury house since new with extremely squeaky floorboards. My husband has had to pull all the carpets up to fix. As you can see we are moving now - but to 2 year old house so will probably have the same problems again. Basically unless something serious structurally happens the NHBC really won't help. Not a lot of good now, but always worth checking what really is covered before buying nearly new. I have no new advice in addition to the other posters but it does get better dependent upon the time of year we've found (and you do get used to it after a while - unless you have a herd of children running around upstairs!). Until builders return to old style floorboards this problem will never been resolved.

david29dpo

its the cheap chipboard they but down these days. having worked on site for many years in the past, new builds are build to a price and cuts have to made. sorry to say but barratt are one of the worst out many companies i have worked for as far as quality goes.