help needed Re cowboy builder

MISHEL02

Hi, I’m looking for some much needed advice about a single story side extension that I had built 4 years ago.
The original builder dug the foundations out and found a pipe. He told me that this was an old rainwater or soakaway drain that was no longer in use so wouldn’t be a problem. It is not part of my sewage drains as they are on the other side of the garden. So I had no reason to doubt him at the time. Anyway the next day the foundations had filled up with water and it had no rained. When questioned he said that the drain must have emptied out but was now empty. This happened for the next couple of days and he had to hire a pump to get the water out. I was very worried but he said that once the concrete was poured it was seal the drain up. The building inspector never questioned the foundations so I thought everything was ok.
The building inspector did ask for a block and beam floor to be laid. Once the concrete was poured I noticed that the water filled up in the middle where they had dug down for the block and beam floor. The water was still filling up the hole but it had been raining heavily so that was the reason I was told it had happened.
The walls went up and the floor down and as days turned into weeks and weeks into months we were messed about by the builder. He turned up late, didn’t turn up at all, we had countless arguments and he finally walked and didn’t come back and I had a shell with no roof and no windows. We had stupidly paid him and as he kept asking for more money and we said no, he said ok and left us right in it.
We had to get another builder to finish the job which cost a fortune and the building inspector made us rip stuff out and start again as it was all wrong. By this time we were well fed up, had ran out of money and wanted the shell finished.
The first thing I noticed was that the extension was very cold, much colder than the existing house. This made no sense as it was more insulated than the existing house. There is insulation in the walls, floor and roof.
As weeks went by there was a horrible musty smell in the extension (which was meant to be a bedroom for my son) and it was even colder. The skirting boards began to fall off and the laminate floor sunk in the corners. I was very worried by this point and moved my son out of the room. There is green mould on the outside walls where the floor meets the extension the whole way round and the soil is very damp, even when it dry outside.
My main issue is I have no idea who to call and who will tell me what is wrong. I trust no one and cannot afford to be ripped off again. I have saved some money to try and get the problem fixed but it cannot be wasted.
My fence fell over and the post had to be put back in and when my uncle dug down the hole was full of water and this particular fence post is in line with my extension foundations and in line with where this pipe was running.
Can anyone give me some advice about what could be wrong and who I can turn to please?

MX5huggy

Unfortunately you know what's wrong, that pipe was live, burying it in concrete would not seal it. If you're lucky digging down on the outside of the extension find the pipe and work out what it is. Internal digging would of course be more disruptive but you need to bite the bullet.

MISHEL02

a neighbour suggested it could be a land drain from the other neighbours property. Who should I call out to investigate the problem for me?

themull1

I'm no expert, but the first thing i would do is get the building inspector back - if he passed the extension as ok, he will need to see whats going wrong, before you get anyone else involved. Is the builder still trading? Have you been in touch with him?

Furts

themull1 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but the first thing i would do is get the building inspector back - if he passed the extension as ok, he will need to see whats going wrong, before you get anyone else involved. Is the builder still trading? Have you been in touch with him?

The Building Inspector will know of your problems. Go back and seek advice, but plan your approach carefully. You may need to grovel, you may need a local councillor involved, you may need to eat humble pie.

There are a couple of scenarios to be aware of:

Did you get details of mains sewers and surface water drains before you commenced work? Were these brought to the attention of the council? Did they request any?

Did the Inspector see the drain, or was it deliberately concealed?

Why did you not mention the drain, the water, and the concerns to the Inspector and get it investigated at the time before proceeding with the works? You have paid for the Inspector to visit you and represent your concerns, so you appear to have failed in your duty of care to yourself.

If you suggest that the Inspector has been negligent you are on a path to hell. Get the Inspector on your side.

If this all comes as a surprise to the Inspector then there is likely to be Enforcement action against you. This is a serious situation to be in. Hence get a good local councillor on board who knows who to speak with in the Council. This will soften, or delay, or gain sympathy with the likely bad news.

Gastines3

It might be worth finding out where your water main supply is? If you are on a meter,turn all your taps off and see if the meter is still clocking up.Also worth checking if you think your bill is very high for the amount you use.Your supplier should be able to help you in this but as with most things these days,if it's on your land,you will get the bill to correct it.

MISHEL02

themull1 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but the first thing i would do is get the building inspector back - if he passed the extension as ok, he will need to see whats going wrong, before you get anyone else involved. Is the builder still trading? Have you been in touch with him?

The original builder who did the foundations went bankrupt and the building inspector has since retired

MISHEL02

Gastines3 wrote: »

It might be worth finding out where your water main supply is? If you are on a meter,turn all your taps off and see if the meter is still clocking up.Also worth checking if you think your bill is very high for the amount you use.Your supplier should be able to help you in this but as with most things these days,if it's on your land,you will get the bill to correct it.

We are not on a water meter, but our mains water supply is at the front of the house and this mystery pipe is at the side of the house. We recently had another leak from the mains water pipe and it was all replaced so Im quite sure these are not linked

MISHEL02

Furts wrote: »

The Building Inspector will know of your problems. Go back and seek advice, but plan your approach carefully. You may need to grovel, you may need a local councillor involved, you may need to eat humble pie.

There are a couple of scenarios to be aware of:

Did you get details of mains sewers and surface water drains before you commenced work? Were these brought to the attention of the council? Did they request any?

Did the Inspector see the drain, or was it deliberately concealed?

Why did you not mention the drain, the water, and the concerns to the Inspector and get it investigated at the time before proceeding with the works? You have paid for the Inspector to visit you and represent your concerns, so you appear to have failed in your duty of care to yourself.

If you suggest that the Inspector has been negligent you are on a path to hell. Get the Inspector on your side.

If this all comes as a surprise to the Inspector then there is likely to be Enforcement action against you. This is a serious situation to be in. Hence get a good local councillor on board who knows who to speak with in the Council. This will soften, or delay, or gain sympathy with the likely bad news.

This sounds very scary! The building inspector has retired. The council asked where the sewage drains were and these were on the plans.

the builder hid the broken pipe from the building inspector, at the time he was very picky and changing all sorts of things on my plans to more expensive stuff and it was costing me a fortune. When I spoke to someone at the council they laughed and told me I had been unlucky as this BI was a nightmare. My builder told me he didnt need to know as it wasnt a problem and he was confident it was an old no longer used land drain. Now I know that was the wrong thing to do

Furts

By speaking with the Council and commenting that the man who was paid by you to represent your interests was costing you money is bizarre. It is giving a green light to ensure you end up with the problems that you have experienced.

In essence, you need professional advice from a trusted, qualified, knowledgeable source. This will incur cost.

You also need to determine:
Is it foul water drainage?
Is it surface water drainage?
Is it a land drain?

None of the scenarios is good news but the first two could lead you to serious problems with the Council and the Water Authority. The land drain could be causing problems up the run, and creating irate neighbours.

All three scenarios will incur costs to rectify and and could mean demolition of your extension if a re-routing is not possible.

MISHEL02

do you know the best place to find a trustworthy person? Do I need a survey or just a builder?