Advise on NHBC warranty

laurenbongo

Hi all,

Just a bit of advise wanted regarding NHBC and what is covered under a house warranty.

My house is 8 years old and noticed some loose tiles at the bottom of the ensuite shower. I took these off so i can get them put back on securely and noticed that there is a huge amount of wood rot and mould behind these tiles. It looks as if the builder didn't use any form of waterproofing when building.

I have a feeling this would cost me a fair bob to fix. Would this be covered under the warranty? Seeing as the builder didn't install properly?

Help please

Furts

The warranty is covering structural and building items - walls, roofs, and so on. General day to day, or lesser items are your responsibility. Wet getting behind tiles would fall under this - unless you can think of a way of calling it structural. This might sound a strange statement to make, but a random example - if you had a timber frame home, and the wet had caused quantifiable damage to this frame then one could try this approach.

But in most cases it will be down to you to repair it.

IAmWales

It's difficult to get NHBC to do anything with genuine structural faults. You've no hope with this.

laurenbongo

Sigh. I figured this was the case. It's disgusting that these builders can get away with stuff like this and force the homeowners to pay up when they don't do things properly.

Thank you anyway

pmartin86

laurenbongo wrote: »

Sigh. I figured this was the case. It's disgusting that these builders can get away with stuff like this and force the homeowners to pay up when they don't do things properly.

Thank you anyway

You own a home...if this is beyond your comprehension, might I suggest you sell up and rent? When you own a home, to put it bluntly, !!!! happens.

missile

NHBC are funded by builders and are loathe to side with home owner. I had to get a surveyor before they would agree structural defects were the builders fault.

That was within 2 years of completion, after 2 years I would suggest you have no chance.

Warwick_Hunt

What was the grout and silicone like before you removed the tiles?

martinsurrey

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

What was the grout and silicone like before you removed the tiles?

This will be the NHBC's first question.

You are supposed to replace silicon every 12 months, and re grout every 4-5 in wet areas.

No body does, but then you have to live with the consequences if they fail.

Lizabeth21

We moved into a brand new house in 1999 - a few years later same thing happened to us. I was cleaning the shower, noticed the tiles were moving and just like you the bottom ones came away easily. All the plaster board was completely soaked having been in the shower tray with tiles over then silicone.
We had to have the whole shower area wall replaced with marine ply and the tray refitted and the area retiled. Never considered going back to the builders.

SuzieSue

pmartin86 wrote: »

You own a home...if this is beyond your comprehension, might I suggest you sell up and rent? When you own a home, to put it bluntly, !!!! happens.

Yes, but something so basic should not happen to a new house. There needs to be inspections to stop this sort of thing happening but the government won't put anything in place. So people are forced to pay a lot of money to buy new builds with serious defects.

The NHBC is useless but that is the government's fault because they won't do anything about it. There is so much consumer protection in place for low value goods but nothing for the most important and expensive asset most people will buy.

Furts

SuzieSue wrote: »

Yes, but something so basic should not happen to a new house. There needs to be inspections to stop this sort of thing happening but the government won't put anything in place. So people are forced to pay a lot of money to buy new builds with serious defects.

The NHBC is useless but that is the government's fault because they won't do anything about it. There is so much consumer protection in place for low value goods but nothing for the most important and expensive asset most people will buy.

Well done for stating this. This situation has existed for generations and there is no likelihood of any change. It really is buyer beware. Which moves to the next question ...what should buyers be doing to protect their interests when buying a new home?

Therein lies some awkward truths.