New build home had no roof for a year

Folicky

I'm interested in a home that is a new build. However I recently found out thatthe house sat with walls, floors etc but no roof for around 9-12 months. There was a problem with overhead electricity cables, they are now under the house for both my home and the adjacent new build home.

Should I be concerned that the house had no roof for a long time in terms of damp, etc?

Thanks

AdrianC

How's the structure constructed?

Timber frame and panelled? Or masonry?

carldaughtery

No roof for one year? That's a big cause of concern. There are high probabilities of dampness and subsequent mold infestation. If it is possible you can conduct property inspection to identify the damages. Perhaps you can negotiate for the price after home inspection.

AnotherJoe

Where I live there's a ton of new houses being being built. They are open to the elements for many many months. Everyone at least 3 months many 6b. Ok so this one was a bit longer but I presume it wasn't plastered etc it was just bricks and breeze blocks? I very much doubt there's a chance of damp and mould any more than any of these other houses.
I'd worry more about the generally highly shoddy approach taken to building new houses and the likely hundreds of other issues it's likely to have.

ciderboy2009

OP - assuming that it's traditional brick/masonry construction then you can ignore carldaughtery as there's unlikely to be anything to worry about.

Presumably therewere no windows & doors either so the house would have been well ventilated?

If the house is timber frame then I would be worried about the builders full stop as, if they left the timber frame open to the elements for a year, then what other stupid mistakes have they made?

Section106

A year with no roof?

Pah! That's nothing. The purchasers of these luxury apartments:-
www.thewinerackapartments.com/

...will be living in a building which was half-completed and left exposed to the elements for nearly a decade before the builders started work again.
www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich-waterfront-s-skeleton-building-is-unlikely-to-be-completed-1-972851
www.rgcarter-construction.co.uk/r-g-carter-awarded-contract-develop-winerack-ipswich-2/

Assuming the house was brick/block construction then my only concern would be whether the top courses of the building had been protected from frost during the delay. If the building control arrangements were so lax that construction was completed on top of frost-damaged walls then there would be a lot more to worry about than the mere delay in completion.

But as AnotherJoe suggests, that would be par for the course with new build in any event.

Annie35

I live in a house that was a shell for 8-9years (had a roof but no windows (nor boarded up! or plaster), suspended wood floor also! It's absolutely perfect. No damp, no warp. Small builder tho so built (& eventually finished) very well

The persimmon I also lived in that was chucked up in a few dry weeks was awful in every way, so it's all individual get a good survey

Folicky

Thank you guys. I contacted a surveyor earlier and all he offered was a new build snag list survey not one that would look at things like damp etc.

But I appreciate the help and intell.