Conservatory Bought In Repossesion - Know Builder But Not "Under Warranty" - Help

billybear1

Hi all,

I am going to ring CAB tomorrow as need to speak to their property team, but was wondering if anyone on the forum may be able to offer some advice.

We bought a repossession property and so received not documentation for our conservatory which looked to be suffering from subsidence (it isn't as we have had the footings checked, a local builder seems to thing the wall is not sitting on the footings correctly) We have spoken to the company that built the conservatory and they said that we are not covered under the warranty of the conservatory as it is a new owner.

When speaking to some builders who have quoted they suggest that the work should still be covered, just not the fixture e.g. the plastics etc. When trying to get the documentation from the conservatory company they are unwilling as it is not our contract and cannot find it as as a company they have "lost" a vast majority of quotes and invoices on their system...

Just wondered if anyone has any ideas of what we can do, or should we just get it paid for by a new builder?

zzzLazyDaisy

In law, as you were not a party to the contract, you don't have any contract to rely on (if that makes sense) so you are dependent on the warranty covering the defects AND being transferable (some expressly state that the warranty is not transferable).

To be honest, without the paperwork and a contractor who is not willing to play ball, you are probably stuffed. The best you could do would be to take them to court for breach of contract.... but.... you have no contract with them, and unless you have the paperwork to show that you are entitled to rely on the warranty, your claim would fail (circular argument, I know, but I am just using it for illustration).

Basically you only have the rights that the contractor chooses to give you...

capeverde

I think every double glazing company has the 'not transferable guarantee' clause. It used to be people moved house on average every 6 years, hence a great saving was made on a 10 year guarantee. Also, if someone has lived with a particular problem they may be less likely to report it, but if you move into a new house, odds are you want it to be perfect so will be sniffing round for the smallest problem.

Re the conservatory, post some pictures. Its not usual they have subsidance problems as they really dont carry that much weight. Unless a builder has dug down and exposed the footings theres no way anyone could come to the conclusion that the brickwork wasnt sitting on the footing.

billybear1

We have dug down to the end of the footings outside and you can see the footings however this is only a very small exploration hole, so not sure what can be gleamed from that...?

capeverde

well that has moved. Is it the same on the outside brickwork? I ask because many companies would have built just the outside skin off the footing. they would then concrete the floor slab and lay the internal course off this. Just surmising if the dpm was creased up maybe the slab by the edge wasnt very thick and gave way.Weight wise the internal skin is only carrying its own weight, which spread across the width is hardly anything. Actually why haven't the tiles sunk with the floor? This really is a strange one. normally you would expect to see a staggered crack more vertically. The internal tiles are on concrete?

billybear1

I think the internal slabs are on concrete... There is only slight sinking on the outside though it seems and only in the corner. It all seems to be on one side of the conservatory too again it slightly odd. There is one tile that looks like it has slightly sunk over time - although this might be just an anomaly.



When the company that built it come out to check they said it was because the builders that have built the house originally filled the area with rubbish that is why it has sunk... They wanted to take the whole thing down and build it again at a cost of £4k!

billybear1

Portly_Pig wrote: »

If the ground was filled with rubbish they should have taken appropriate measures when doing the footings.

100% agree - our neighbours have a copy of their warranty terms so will seek to get those, however I have a feeling that they will say it is non transferable as the conservatory people said.

capeverde

If its cracking on the outside as well it would be safe to say its the footings not upto scratch. For them to blame the original builders is nonsense, because regardless of what they had done, it was down to the conservatory company to find solid ground. Actually by saying that, they are admitting they built it incorrectly, full knowing that there would be a problem. Whether it was made up ground or clay, they still had a responsibility. Ive had to go down around 15 feet before on a conservatory and on other occasions weve had to have them piled.

This doesnt help you. You have two choices other than just living with it. You can take the conservatory down and start from scratch, or you can remove 1m sections of the wall at a time and underpin / reinstate the footing. If it was me, Id be tempted to start on the corner you said was bad and dig down on the outside of the footing around 1m across. You will then see what needs doing. You can take a section of wall down without removing the building. Doing it this way could take as little as 3 days or a good week if the whole lot needs doing. Very little material costs and a man and labourer should bring it in for under a thousand.

billybear1

Very much appreciate your reply here so thank you for that. We have had a quote for taking the internal wall down, bringing up the floor and re-levelling and rebuilding the internal wall and just re-pointing the exterior wall for £1,000 - £1,500 but I need to ring tomorrow as they suggest going back to original builder, before they price it up. That seems to solve the issue of the look of it, but not the actual weak footings.

Apart from that, trying to get a good quote from a builder is proving difficult, no one wants to come out and quote us!

capeverde

Dont forget, the load is on the external wall. The internal wall is for all intention decorative and to provide a cavity. You could even pull that internal wall down and replace it with a timber studded one, pop in some 50mm celotex and plaster it. If the external wall is cracking as well though, you really need to sort the footing out properly. Its really not that much of a difficult job.

billybear1

I will get a picture of the external wall as as I said it hasn't sunk in any comparison to the internal one and keep you updated on what the quotes I get are for and how much they are... Thank you for your help on this