Damp Issues

saxy1

Not sure if this is right place to post so feel free to move..

We have severe damp issues and water ingress on the gable end of our house.....have had several builders opinions and the suspicions are that the cavity insulation installed by previous owners may be to blame......it has a 25 year warranty which is still valid and we have contacted the company to come and inspect, which they are doing next week. Also our documents show that the previous owner signed paperwork on completion to say that they knew of no dampness or water ingress, we know from neighbours that this is not true....what should we do?

Thanks in advance

neilmcl

Wait and see what they say, there's nothing you can do but rely on the warranty I'm afraid and if the company says the problem isn't covered or the damp isn't related then unfortunately there's nothing you can do as you have no contract with the original installers.

ThumbRemote

If you can get some evidence that the sellers knew of problems but lied on the sale documents, talk to your solicitor.

neilmcl

And also how long have you owned the house yourself?

saxy1

We have owned the house since August 2006

Hintza

Over six years ago, you will be on to plumbs! Better just hope that the cavity people don't duck the issue too.

bingo_bango

Not necessarily a dead duck...

See Sections 14B and 32 of the Limitations Act. As the previous owner made a statement which would appear to be false, then you might be able to argue negligence, which means you are not statute barred from pursuing them.

I'd follow through with TR's suggestion in post 3 .... if you have proof.

arcon5

bingo_bango wrote: »

Not necessarily a dead duck...

See Sections 14B and 32 of the Limitations Act. As the previous owner made a statement which would appear to be false, then you might be able to argue negligence, which means you are not statute barred from pursuing them.

I'd follow through with TR's suggestion in post 3 .... if you have proof.

Except there's nothing to indicate the previous owner did know about the issue. In fact it's very possible the previous owners didn't even have an issue with damp and this is a more recent thing - after all ops lived there for 7 years.

ThumbRemote

arcon5 wrote: »

Except there's nothing to indicate the previous owner did know about the issue. In fact it's very possible the previous owners didn't even have an issue with damp and this is a more recent thing - after all ops lived there for 7 years.

OP does say that the neighbours have stated the previous owners had problems with damp or water ingress.

They need to find out from the neighbours as much as they can - especially names of companies that may have been out to look at it. Then contact the companies to see if they have any records.

I suspect that pushing 8 years on they'll have no luck, but it's worth a try.

arcon5

ThumbRemote wrote: »

OP does say that the neighbours have stated the previous owners had problems with damp or water ingress.

They need to find out from the neighbours as much as they can - especially names of companies that may have been out to look at it. Then contact the companies to see if they have any records.

I suspect that pushing 8 years on they'll have no luck, but it's worth a try.

Yes I accept that, but that doesn't mean they knew of any issue when they sold the property. Especially if they had work done to the cavity wall - it's likely this resolved it and the issue has only just re-surfaced.

I still think op would have a difficult time trying to get anything from the previous owners.

Hintza

And what did the survey say when the OP bought the property?