Problem with new build

Hutch100uk

I'll keep it as short as I can. My new house is now 20 months old. Horrible dead patches of grass started appearing at front of house. I re-seeded. Dead patches came back worse.
I dug out the worst patch and was full of builders rubble and waste.
Complained to builder but they said as it hadn't been reported in the first 12 months, they could no longer do anything.
So, I decided to dig out a deeper hole to get plenty of new soil in etc. I discover the soil is soaked in turps (it stank of it) and then I actually dug out a bottle (which had clearly contained the turps).
I've emailed video footage of me digging the bottle out and have kept all the soaked soil in bags.
My question is, can I insist they rectify?

PasturesNew

Time: 2-3 hours digging.
Reseeding: £5-10 for seed and stuff.....

Better use of time/money than trying to pursue the developer for months on end, reading/writing letters and getting hot under the collar.

It's an annoying bit of grass at the end of the day, it's not like a huge internal/house issue's reared its head.

eddddy

You could check the terms of your new build warranty. Who is it with?

It may be a bit of a long shot, but maybe you could suggest the land is contaminated by the turps. The NHBC buildmark warranty says:

The first two years after legal completion of the first purchase of the home is the builder warranty period. If you tell the builder during this period that they have failed to meet the NHBC requirements, they must put this right within a reasonable time. This includes:

....

Removal of contaminated land
Taking action to treat, isolate or remove contamination from the land in line with any statutory notice that applies, or improve the condition of the land to prevent a statutory notice from being issued.

Link: http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Homeowners/WhatdoesBuildmarkcover/

The .GOV website says:

Contaminated land
...
Land can be contaminated by things like:
...
- chemical substances and preparations, like solvents

Link: https://www.gov.uk/contaminated-land

Hutch100uk

PasturesNew wrote: »

Time: 2-3 hours digging.
Reseeding: £5-10 for seed and stuff.....

Better use of time/money than trying to pursue the developer for months on end, reading/writing letters and getting hot under the collar.

It's an annoying bit of grass at the end of the day, it's not like a huge internal/house issue's reared its head.

I agree and I have done this twice now but the soil is clearly contaminated so its potentially just going to keep happening!

Hutch100uk

eddddy wrote: »

You could check the terms of your new build warranty. Who is it with?

It may be a bit of a long shot, but maybe you could suggest the land is contaminated by the turps. The NHBC buildmark warranty says:



The .GOV website says:

Thank you, so the builder has lied about that also. I have sent them the link and shall see what they say.

I realise this is just a patch of grass but, they have been patronising in their replies - even sending me a 'garden maintenance' guide as they accused me of not watering the grass!

Thrugelmir

If you want a decent lawn. I'd remove the existing turf and start over. Not just remove the rubble but dig in plenty of soil improver of some kind. Well worth the effort.

Hutch100uk

Thrugelmir wrote: »

If you want a decent lawn. I'd remove the existing turf and start over. Not just remove the rubble but dig in plenty of soil improver of some kind. Well worth the effort.

I can't really do this as the front lawn runs across both mine and next door's land. I'd have to dig their's up too and do the whole lot. That is why the builder should be doing it.

Davesnave

Finding rubble, bricks, compacted soil and 'mislaid' items is pretty routine with new builds.

You might be lucky and get a response that saves you a bit of work, but the soil will decontaminate itself gradually as the white spirit leaches out over time. We will probably have more rain, so just turning over the soil will help.

Also, your part of the front lawn ends wherever the boundary is, so this doesn't involve the neighbour, unless they want it to.

Cakeguts

I think there may be a runway under the gardens of some houses built on an old military airport somewhere.... Lots of topsoil......