Is my Roof/House Safe?

Hatty1601

Hi, We recently moved into a new build barn conversion in December and with all the wet whether we have had recently, a few issues have appeared. To be fair the building company have sorted the issues so far however upon looking up through the loft hatches today (in the non vaulted part of the house) the electrician we had round to quote for CCTV raised massive concern about the structural integrity of the roof.

Our house is and L shaped one story with a pitched roof and at the point of the turn in the house there has been a breezeblock wall built up and the main wooden beam that holds the roof is resting on 2 bits of scrap slate and this is resting on the breeze blocks. I am also dubious about how the rest of the roof is supported as in places the wood doesnt meet properly, you can see the nails and gaps where it has been poorly cut. (i would attach pics but it just wont let me?!) and there is exposed next to the water pipes for the bathrooms.

We have contacted the building company but wondered if anyone could offer opinion on if we are right to be concerned or just over reacting haha!

thanks!

Debbie_Savard

Really need pics. Post a link to imgur without the http and we'll add that.

First reaction is how would your sparks feel about a roofer telling him his wiring was wrong?

Davesnave

You can post broken links and someone will fix them.

This is really something that needs to be shown in some detail before those in the know can comment.

Furts

Barn conversions are always an alarm bell ringing. There can be a multitude of issues present and a multitude of issues hidden.

A couple of pointers... do you have a barn conversion warranty in place? Do you have all the details of the Buildings Regulations Inspections plus the comments and observations. What survey did you commission before parting with your money? What did this survey reveal, if anything?

Hatty1601

Hopefully this works?

//imgur.com/a/mrVPe

Debbie_Savard

Yep. https://imgur.com/a/mrVPe

OMG! :eek: I'd be calling your conveyancing solicitor at 9am tomorrow. How did that get signed-off by Building Control?

Hatty1601

added one more image too. really hard to get a pic of the wood joins

Furts

No doubt you know a new home purchase is buyer beware. This is even more so when it is a barn conversion. Consequently a full survey is a must. If you never had this undertaken then you should be getting one soon.

I cannot put your photos into context, but the impression being sent out is one of dodgy plumbing, even more dodgy wiring, no vapour membrane, no foil check plasterboard, missing roof insulation. undersized timbers, lack of preservative treatment, poor structural integrity, no padstones installed, inadequate shimming ... I will stop there. I am sure you get the idea!

In all this there are so many questions that arise in addition to the elephant in the room. The elephant is if these doubts arise from just a couple of photos then what else is wrong with your barn conversion?

Davesnave

I think we have seen enough to determine that this is not a top-notch job, so the questions Furts has raised are most relevant now, especially with regard to guarantees you may have in place and whether you employed a surveyor to conduct a full inspection before taking ownership.

Hatty1601

Yikes!! I will admit, i'm quite naive when it comes to knowing what went on during the purchase (my husband dealt with everything) i'll get onto to him at work now and ask!!!!

Nevertheless thank you for the help so far guys! I'll be having interesting conversations tomorrow!!!

Furts

Hatty1601 wrote: »

Yikes!! I will admit, i'm quite naive when it comes to knowing what went on during the purchase (my husband dealt with everything) i'll get onto to him at work now and ask!!!!

Nevertheless thank you for the help so far guys! I'll be having interesting conversations tomorrow!!!

Do not go in all guns blazing. You need to calmly go back to stage 1 and logically work out what has happened during the barn conversion.

Also forum folks do not know what country you are in, nor what contract you had, nor what inspection regime was in place, nor what purchase arrangements were in place, nor what warranty details apply. I say this to give a balanced approach. For example, to give one scenario, this could have been built by mates working cash in hand evading all accepted regulations. I have seen this done, I have been part of it, it does happen!

Basically your photos do not tell the full story, nor can one use small shots to form a full picture

You would be wise to be discrete on getting a survey done. Only you know your commercial relationship with the builder/developer but you need to keep them on your side to get things sorted.