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Persimmon damp house - advice needed
megangoeseast
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi there,
I moved into a new build Persimmon home (my first home) in December 2017. By the March 2018, we had black mould and damp coming from the attic, onto the bedroom walls and top corners. After contacting Persimmon, they initially did very little and took 8 weeks before doing anything. It was then apparent that 9 other homes of the same type had the same issue on the estate and Persimmon therefore stopped building these houses. They then informed us there was an issue with condensation and drainage from the guttering due to a design fault with the roof (it's a parapet roof design). The fact they stopped building these houses immediately suggests that they had made a big mistake with the design. They placed a dehumidifier in the attic and left it there switched on 24/7 for 2 months. This was at our own cost. They then had to come in and place air bricks along the front wall of the house to help with the ventilation.
By this point, there were still damp patches and mould across all the bedrooms on the front of the house which Persimmon then painted over and informed us the air bricks would solve the issue.
What made this all so much worse is that I am asthmatic and therefore suffered hugely with my asthma and contracted a chest infection. Whilst it can not be said for certain that the damp directly caused this, it obviously makes asthmatic people more vulnerable to infections etc I noticed that sleeping upstairs made my asthma so bad that I would need my inhaler several times within the night and eventually decided to move out to live with family because it was so bad. As Persimmon did very little, we decided to seek legal advice and found a solicitor. He tried to engage with Persimmon who dragged their feet at every moment but eventually met with us and offered to buy us 'plants' as compensation. We rejected this and now 2 years later, Persimmon are still barely engaging with our solicitor, so we have just signed papers for court proceedings to begin.
However, as of 2 weeks ago, we have noticed damp and mould now growing down the walls on the back bedrooms, meaning the problem has not been fully solved. My partner went into the attic and there are water droplets up there, with mould growing on some of the wooden frames. Obviously heading into winter makes this problem worse as we did not appear to have much problem during the summer, warmer months. My concern is the size of the problem...the walls they originally painted have yellowed over the last 12 months, does the plastering need replacing due to the damp damage? Does the roof need completing replacing? What is the potential damage of having mould growing on the wooden frames in the attic? And do you think we have enough of a case to take this successfully to court? We just want a dry house that doesn't have damp and mould all over the place every time we head into winter. However I am not knowledgeable enough in this area to know what we should do or how to fight this with Persimmon. Has anyone else taken a developer to court before? My mother spoke to a site development foreman (different developers) who informed her that we will probably need to move out and have the roof entirely replaced with a new design, otherwise the problem will return. It also currently affects the sale of our house as it is not currently in a sell-able condition.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and all advice appreciated.
I moved into a new build Persimmon home (my first home) in December 2017. By the March 2018, we had black mould and damp coming from the attic, onto the bedroom walls and top corners. After contacting Persimmon, they initially did very little and took 8 weeks before doing anything. It was then apparent that 9 other homes of the same type had the same issue on the estate and Persimmon therefore stopped building these houses. They then informed us there was an issue with condensation and drainage from the guttering due to a design fault with the roof (it's a parapet roof design). The fact they stopped building these houses immediately suggests that they had made a big mistake with the design. They placed a dehumidifier in the attic and left it there switched on 24/7 for 2 months. This was at our own cost. They then had to come in and place air bricks along the front wall of the house to help with the ventilation.
By this point, there were still damp patches and mould across all the bedrooms on the front of the house which Persimmon then painted over and informed us the air bricks would solve the issue.
What made this all so much worse is that I am asthmatic and therefore suffered hugely with my asthma and contracted a chest infection. Whilst it can not be said for certain that the damp directly caused this, it obviously makes asthmatic people more vulnerable to infections etc I noticed that sleeping upstairs made my asthma so bad that I would need my inhaler several times within the night and eventually decided to move out to live with family because it was so bad. As Persimmon did very little, we decided to seek legal advice and found a solicitor. He tried to engage with Persimmon who dragged their feet at every moment but eventually met with us and offered to buy us 'plants' as compensation. We rejected this and now 2 years later, Persimmon are still barely engaging with our solicitor, so we have just signed papers for court proceedings to begin.
However, as of 2 weeks ago, we have noticed damp and mould now growing down the walls on the back bedrooms, meaning the problem has not been fully solved. My partner went into the attic and there are water droplets up there, with mould growing on some of the wooden frames. Obviously heading into winter makes this problem worse as we did not appear to have much problem during the summer, warmer months. My concern is the size of the problem...the walls they originally painted have yellowed over the last 12 months, does the plastering need replacing due to the damp damage? Does the roof need completing replacing? What is the potential damage of having mould growing on the wooden frames in the attic? And do you think we have enough of a case to take this successfully to court? We just want a dry house that doesn't have damp and mould all over the place every time we head into winter. However I am not knowledgeable enough in this area to know what we should do or how to fight this with Persimmon. Has anyone else taken a developer to court before? My mother spoke to a site development foreman (different developers) who informed her that we will probably need to move out and have the roof entirely replaced with a new design, otherwise the problem will return. It also currently affects the sale of our house as it is not currently in a sell-able condition.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and all advice appreciated.
0
Comments
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Have you contacted NHBC?0
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Have you engaged a surveyor?0
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You need independent expert advice.
My personal view is if the property is mortgaged the mortgage company should have powers to get involved.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-508275760
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