Seller didn't disclose a defect

suchadipstick

I viewed the bungalow on two separate occasions in June, when there was a very warm spell. I walked round inside and out, but on both occasions the internal doors, windows and patio doors were all open and there was no obvious smell, because of this. On my second viewing I took someone else along too and they didn't notice anything untoward either. However, on the day we moved in, you could smell the bad odour.
As regards to the cavity wall insulation, I have no idea if this was done correctly, or not: this place is in East Anglia, so I don't know whether that has any bearing on things.
I should point out that the house was rendered, probably about 5 years ago, when the extension was done: there are no visible cracks, or missing areas on the north, or south facing walls, however, on the east facing wall, there are a few patches where the top coat of sandtex has bubbled a little.
The floor isn't concrete, but consists of floorboards over joists and there is no sign of leaking from around any of the radiators. We have gas central heating.
I have been up and down the road, looking at neighbouring properties and all appear to have the same construction, with air bricks under the front bay windows, like mine.

lincroft1710

Has the adjoining semi any damp. Cavity wall construction mostly dates from post WW2, so your bungalow was probably built after 1945.

Unicorn_cottage

I would say get rid of the carpets etc asap as these will be harbouring spores etc & will not be helping the situation. Do you have any relatives nearby that could help with that?

Thrugelmir

lincroft1710 said:

Has the adjoining semi any damp. Cavity wall construction mostly dates from post WW2, so your bungalow was probably built after 1945.

Speaking to your neighbour is a must. What's the condition of the roof, gutters like.  

Unicorn_cottage

Also can you post some pics? Would be really helpful...

macman

Saturated carpet and underlay don't dry out just because of a few warm days in August. They would hold water in them for weeks or months unless mechanically dried out. And even then, they'd smell. My guess is that this is more recent, whatever it is. 

Davesnave

East Anglia is one of the drier areas of the country.

Hmmm, I'm wondering if the vendor, attempting to be diligent, hired a machine, tried to clean the carpets in the affected rooms and made a complete hash of it, saturating both carpet and underlay. Stranger things have happened!

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Something might have happened between you viewing and moving in. 

Doozergirl

suchadipstick said:

I viewed the bungalow on two separate occasions in June, when there was a very warm spell. I walked round inside and out, but on both occasions the internal doors, windows and patio doors were all open and there was no obvious smell, because of this. On my second viewing I took someone else along too and they didn't notice anything untoward either. However, on the day we moved in, you could smell the bad odour.
As regards to the cavity wall insulation, I have no idea if this was done correctly, or not: this place is in East Anglia, so I don't know whether that has any bearing on things.
I should point out that the house was rendered, probably about 5 years ago, when the extension was done: there are no visible cracks, or missing areas on the north, or south facing walls, however, on the east facing wall, there are a few patches where the top coat of sandtex has bubbled a little.
The floor isn't concrete, but consists of floorboards over joists and there is no sign of leaking from around any of the radiators. We have gas central heating.
I have been up and down the road, looking at neighbouring properties and all appear to have the same construction, with air bricks under the front bay windows, like mine.

We could really do with photos.  

Another potential issue - are there airbricks at the back?  Through-flow is important.  When you build a new extension that is often of solid floor construction, you should extend the exiting air-bricks by laying drainage pipe under the floor of the new extension and place new air-bricks on the back of it.  

Photos and floor plans will be most helpful.  Not just of damp but of whole walls inside and out.  

There is always a reason and it is always curable, so let's find it.  

Splatfoot

Davesnave said:

East Anglia is one of the drier areas of the country.

Hmmm, I'm wondering if the vendor, attempting to be diligent, hired a machine, tried to clean the carpets in the affected rooms and made a complete hash of it, saturating both carpet and underlay. Stranger things have happened!

We did this years ago (well my husband did)! When the dog was a puppy, she had a few accidents. As soon as she grew out of that, we hired a rug doctor. My husband inadvertently soaked the  carpet and it took weeks to dry out. Absolutely stank. We had a dehumidifier in the room  and I couldn't bear to go in there for some time.