House repairs

loisharrison1987

Hi. 
We purchased our house just iver 1 year ago. We had a survey done and it identified damp in a certain area. We agreed to purchase the house on the agreement that the damp was resolved by the current owner. The owner was lovely and agreed to have it sorted, she paid a company to come and inspect and do the work needed, they diagnosed a small area of render that had blown and took that off and re applied. Anyway we bkugh the house having been informed the damp was inspected and sorted. However it is apparent now that the damp has not been sorted. The damp has now caused other issues, because we thought it had bee resolved. We are just waiting for a survery of the affected areas which is costing us £300 and then any cost to fix. Are we in a position to take this further, as we had put it in writing that we would only buy if the damp was sorted. I dont feel it was the owners fault as she was more than happy to sort the issue, I feel the company have been negligent in attempting to diagnose and treat the issue incorrectly. I've never been in this position before so any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Lois 

staffie1

If it were me, I would have sent an engineer to inspect the work prior to exchange. I doubt you have much of a case unfortunately.

loisharrison1987

Yes I agree, if I'd have been a bit wiser then I would have definitely done this. Unfortunately this was my first time buying a house and I suppose I was ignorant. Thank you for your help.

staffie1

We’ve all done it - I certainly have! But it’s a valuable lesson for next time.

loisharrison1987

staffie1 said:

We’ve all done it - I certainly have! But it’s a valuable lesson for next time.

Yup, I've learnt lots of lessons with the house, all part of growing up I suppose

ProDave

Ask if the remedial work done by the vendor came with any form of a guarantee?

loisharrison1987

ProDave said:

Ask if the remedial work done by the vendor came with any form of a guarantee?

I got the company over a couple of months in to have a look as I wasn't convinced they had solved the issue. He came, had a look and said ill get back to you.....never seen him again 

HampshireH

"The damp has now caused other issues, because we thought it had bee resolved"

A year is quite a long time for a damp issue to suddenly reappear with no evidence between then and now.

What does the bit I quoted mean. How has it caused other issues because you thought it had been resolved?

Is it in the same place? I would try again and get the 1st company back. However..... would you want them doing the work? 

sheramber

Is it definitely from the same area or could it be another area of render has blown.

AdrianC

loisharrison1987 said:

We purchased our house just iver 1 year ago. We had a survey done and it identified damp in a certain area. We agreed to purchase the house on the agreement that the damp was resolved by the current owner.

And this is why you never do that...

You get a contribution towards the work. If it's worth it. For minor works, it probably isn't.

The owner was lovely and agreed to have it sorted, she paid a company to come and inspect and do the work needed, they diagnosed a small area of render that had blown and took that off and re applied. Anyway we bkugh the house having been informed the damp was inspected and sorted. However it is apparent now that the damp has not been sorted.

Was there a guarantee on the work? Is it transferable to you?

Are we in a position to take this further, as we had put it in writing that we would only buy if the damp was sorted.

And you agreed that it had been to your satisfaction, because you then bought it.

I feel the company have been negligent in attempting to diagnose and treat the issue incorrectly.

You aren't their customer. They owe you nothing... unless the work came with a transferable warranty, or they're willing to come to some kind of goodwill arrangement.

But why would you want to use that same "negligent" company?

MovingForwards

What room is this damp issue in?
Have you looked at the guttering outside?