Undeclared Leaking Basement

Milbert

Hi Everyone, new to this forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place.

Me and my partner finally completed buying our first house this week (mid-terrace Victorian), everything has been great so far and we're loving the whole experience!

However, after a bit of rain I noticed that the basement leaks in a couple of places where the wall meets the basement floor, it's an unconverted basement with the boiler and some white goods in it. The rain was heavyish and caused most of the floor to be covered in water with the worst parts having an inch or so pooling.

The thing that irks me about this is that the seller didn't declare this anywhere and I feel that they should have. They had lived there for about 10 years and left some of the cleaning equipment down there, so they were aware this happens. We had a home buyers survey done (on a dry day) in which the basement was described as "typically damp for a basement" and possible leakage was not mentioned. We visited the property twice (dry days) and both times the basement had no standing water. We spoke to the neighbours after we found the water and they said the same thing happens in their basement and in the peoples next door to them.

Fixing this problem will cost a lot of money and if we ignore the problem it will be difficult to sell in the future when declare it (I'm not dishonest enough to lie). I'd like to know if the seller has done something illegal here, is in breach of contract or if the surveyor should have picked it up? Or if it is just a case of tough luck, live and learn on our behalf?

Any help would be appreciated!

Milbert

davidmcn

Your surveyor told you it was typically damp for a basement. Exactly how damp is going to depend on whether it's been raining (which is why surveys include a weather report!), they can't really test it out otherwise.
Can't think of any reason the sellers ought to have told you, unless you asked them specific questions about it?

Doozergirl

It *does not* need fixing. That is completely typical damp for a basement!

I can't believe how many people think that underground rooms should be dry. It defies logic.

It is important to have ventilation in cellars and sub-floor spaces specifically because they are damp. And that does mean pooling and puddling during rainy periods - which is very typical, or sometimes even flooding which is also pretty common.

Damp proof courses are in there to protect the house above ground from what happens below.

You can spend a fortune fixing your problem that is not a problem.

aneary

I would be careful if you have to replace the boiler at any point boilers with lots of electrics (new ones tend to) don't fair well in basements/cellars.

Also if there are white goods there make sure they are on a platform so they do not touch the floor and that any sockets are high up.

sammyjammy

Its quite normal, I don't ever have standing water in mine because I live on a hill but I know plenty of people that do. I don't keep anything in my cellar that can suffer from damp and I certainly wouldn't have white goods or a boiler down there.


You have no comeback to the seller I'm afraid, they didn't lie.

G_M

Did you ask them and did they say "the basement is dry and never leaks." In writing.

No? Then no come-back.

Fo a basement to be dry enough to be a habitable room it needs to be fully 'tanked', and ventilated. Clearly this one isn't, and you knew that.

So it is not a habitable room, and as others have said, it would be expected to get damp. It's underground!

Slithery

This is totally normal for an unconverted basement.

Rambosmum

It's a basement. They are damp by nature. It's why they are so costly to convert.

Ours has damp areas and get worse with rain. It literally comes up through the floor. It's fairly obvious that a room where the floor is below the water table is going to be damp and get worse as the water table rises.

Davesnave

Milbert wrote: »

is just a case of ..... live and learn on our behalf?

In a word, yes.

To your credit, you at least acknowledge that you might not appreciate what's normal.

As it is, there is no tough luck involved.

NikonD7000

Hello. I hope it is ok to join this thread rather than start a new one. I am in a similar position of having a basement which floods when it rains heavily. It affects the boiler room, a downstairs shower room, and a third study/small bedroom which is unusable as a result. However, unlike the OP, in my case the vendor was specifically asked about this and lied in writing. It came up on the legal searches, which specifically mentioned the three rooms affected and gave a date. The vendor put in writing that this had been due to burst water pipes, all of which had been replaced and no flooding had ever occurred (this was not the only thing he lied about).
We subsequently discovered a number of sump pumps along that side of the house, which keep the water at bay most of the time. However, at times of very heavy rainfall, the floors of the affected rooms can be under several centimeters of water. We also discovered our neighbour had a similar problem in their kitchen (not basement), and solved it by fitting a drainage channel along that side of the house.
I have two questions.
1) As the previous owner falsely denied in writing that there had ever been a problem, so I have any legal comeback?
2) Would digging a drainage channel be feasible as it is a basement? What kind of professional would I need to consult about this?

Many thanks

G_M

NikonD7000 wrote: »

I have two questions.
1) As the previous owner falsely denied in writing that there had ever been a problem, so I have any legal comeback?
2) Would digging a drainage channel be feasible as it is a basement? What kind of professional would I need to consult about this?

Many thanks

1) Possibly. How long ago did you buy? Have you spoken to a litigation solicitor?

2) Possibly. Either ask a surveyor or google (bing or duckducckgo) 'undeground drainage engineer'...