New Build Booklice, bulging plaster, HELP!

NameUnavailable

I saw a piece on the news the other night, it was about the EWS1 problem but they showed a new build flat which outer walls were a thin skim of render on top of polystyrene!! Yes, just that stuff you get in packaging or ceilings of 1960's/70's homes. So yes, it could well be something to do with the 'construction'.

annetheman

I feel itchy thanks to what I've just read  good luck!

Sistergold

Dear OP I am sorry to hear that you are going through this when you should really be enjoying your NEW home. It’s really unfair for the builder to ask you to go 50/50 as the whole point of a new build is that for years you will not spend money on the actual house.

“Your lifestyle causing problems?” This is really an unfair statements as you are not the first family to have dogs and dogs will cause moisture aswell as human beings and so if you had children will the builders be attributing building issues to the fact that you have children? Are they saying that the house is only to house to “living beings”? They are really making uneducated accusations and using whatever scapegoat they can find. 

Is there any chance of someone housing the dogs for a while until you sort this out? 

[Deleted User]

Jose1990 said:

This year in February we moved into a new build property which cost us everything we had, planning on keeping this house for a 'forever' home to start a family in a few years.

Around April we had some condensation come through the ceiling from the loft, we went to have a look and there was condensation on the insulation in the loft, the builders came in and fixed extra ventilation up in the loft, it's not leaked through again, we've never been all the way into the loft, but from sticking our heads up/feeling the insulation we now think everything is ok as it's all dry from what we can tell. We then had a bit of mold on the living room window sill and black beetles, which I found out were plaster beetles. I kept cleaning this myself and as the weather warmed up it disappeared in a couple months, they came in and repainted, did some other bits on the snagging list and left.

Around 6 weeks ago I was in the kitchen and noticed a bug on the wall, I squashed it and realised there was lots. They didn't look like the plaster beetles in size/colour but I thought they could be larvae. I told the builders and they arranged for a local Pest Controller to come out, who took them away to I.D. In the meantime they gave us an industrial dehumidifier for 2 weeks, at the end of the two weeks, I wasn't noticing any improvement, they were still there all the time. The builders agreed to 'spray' everywhere and leave the dehumidifier for 2 weeks out of 'good will' but said that our 'lifestyle' (we have two dogs) will have caused this and they've never heard of booklice in new builds... I was a bit upset by this as obviously it's all over the internet and we know someone who works in the building industry and says it can sometimes be a common problem. Within 4 hours of the pest controller leaving after spraying, we had booklice back on the kitchen wall & bedroom wall above the kitchen. After 4 weeks of the dehumidifier set on 20% (to draw out as much moisture as possible), we've still got booklice (only on this wall, not in the rest of the house currently). We've also noticed the plaster bulging, a more than normal amount of 'sweating' on this wall and asked our friend who works in the building industry what could be causing the problem with this wall, he said it could be a cold bridge?

I know the builders who built our house will not want to spend anymore money than they have too to resolve this problem (obviously) but they also like to cut corners, something we didn't realise until after we bought the house. We also weren't told when we buy the house that if we make any claims on the warranty we have to pay £1000, money we don't have at the minute... since we're also within a year of buying the house, we've been told the builders should be sorting this out.

Has anyone else got any other suggestions on what could be causing the bulging/booklice/extra sweating on this wall? Or could confirm if they think it might be a cold bridge?

If it is please can I have a rough idea of how to check? I've found that if I have some knowledge the builder realises he can't blag his way out of it!

Background on build:

Started August 2019, was stood for some time roof went on about October time (ish) and when I use to go look at it (only up the road) with my mum, we noticed there was never much ventilation. They gave it two weeks for the plaster to dry before painting, (though I know not many windows/ventilation/anything! was used to help dry it out at this time.

I'll try answer any other questions if I can!

Thank you

He might well have not been referring to the dogs but alluding to the other common cause of excess humidity and condensation issues.

If you leave damp or wet clothes on the radiators, or have any form of indoor airers/dryers, this creates very large condensation issues, using your humidifiers on the clothes drying feature would alleviate that but - it's definitely something to think about.

Jose1990

[Deleted User] said:

Jose1990 said:

This year in February we moved into a new build property which cost us everything we had, planning on keeping this house for a 'forever' home to start a family in a few years.

Around April we had some condensation come through the ceiling from the loft, we went to have a look and there was condensation on the insulation in the loft, the builders came in and fixed extra ventilation up in the loft, it's not leaked through again, we've never been all the way into the loft, but from sticking our heads up/feeling the insulation we now think everything is ok as it's all dry from what we can tell. We then had a bit of mold on the living room window sill and black beetles, which I found out were plaster beetles. I kept cleaning this myself and as the weather warmed up it disappeared in a couple months, they came in and repainted, did some other bits on the snagging list and left.

Around 6 weeks ago I was in the kitchen and noticed a bug on the wall, I squashed it and realised there was lots. They didn't look like the plaster beetles in size/colour but I thought they could be larvae. I told the builders and they arranged for a local Pest Controller to come out, who took them away to I.D. In the meantime they gave us an industrial dehumidifier for 2 weeks, at the end of the two weeks, I wasn't noticing any improvement, they were still there all the time. The builders agreed to 'spray' everywhere and leave the dehumidifier for 2 weeks out of 'good will' but said that our 'lifestyle' (we have two dogs) will have caused this and they've never heard of booklice in new builds... I was a bit upset by this as obviously it's all over the internet and we know someone who works in the building industry and says it can sometimes be a common problem. Within 4 hours of the pest controller leaving after spraying, we had booklice back on the kitchen wall & bedroom wall above the kitchen. After 4 weeks of the dehumidifier set on 20% (to draw out as much moisture as possible), we've still got booklice (only on this wall, not in the rest of the house currently). We've also noticed the plaster bulging, a more than normal amount of 'sweating' on this wall and asked our friend who works in the building industry what could be causing the problem with this wall, he said it could be a cold bridge?

I know the builders who built our house will not want to spend anymore money than they have too to resolve this problem (obviously) but they also like to cut corners, something we didn't realise until after we bought the house. We also weren't told when we buy the house that if we make any claims on the warranty we have to pay £1000, money we don't have at the minute... since we're also within a year of buying the house, we've been told the builders should be sorting this out.

Has anyone else got any other suggestions on what could be causing the bulging/booklice/extra sweating on this wall? Or could confirm if they think it might be a cold bridge?

If it is please can I have a rough idea of how to check? I've found that if I have some knowledge the builder realises he can't blag his way out of it!

Background on build:

Started August 2019, was stood for some time roof went on about October time (ish) and when I use to go look at it (only up the road) with my mum, we noticed there was never much ventilation. They gave it two weeks for the plaster to dry before painting, (though I know not many windows/ventilation/anything! was used to help dry it out at this time.

I'll try answer any other questions if I can!

Thank you

He might well have not been referring to the dogs but alluding to the other common cause of excess humidity and condensation issues.

If you leave damp or wet clothes on the radiators, or have any form of indoor airers/dryers, this creates very large condensation issues, using your humidifiers on the clothes drying feature would alleviate that but - it's definitely something to think about.

Hello.

They have said afterwards, specifically the dogs. They also told us that my tortoises must have brought them in from outside, however due to certain factors my tortoises does not go outside.
They are looking for excuses.
We have been having relatives do all our washing and drying for us, they know this

Jose1990

Sistergold said:

Dear OP I am sorry to hear that you are going through this when you should really be enjoying your NEW home. It’s really unfair for the builder to ask you to go 50/50 as the whole point of a new build is that for years you will not spend money on the actual house.

“Your lifestyle causing problems?” This is really an unfair statements as you are not the first family to have dogs and dogs will cause moisture aswell as human beings and so if you had children will the builders be attributing building issues to the fact that you have children? Are they saying that the house is only to house to “living beings”? They are really making uneducated accusations and using whatever scapegoat they can find. 

Is there any chance of someone housing the dogs for a while until you sort this out? 

Hello,
Thank you, I'm afraid I don't know anyone who can take the dogs and I'm not putting them back in kennels, they're rescue dogs and it'd go against their mental health and would cost a fortune. I know that we've got the least amount of people in our house on the whole street, there's only me and my partner, everyone else has 1/2 kids. I don't feel it's the moisture we produce causing an issue. We've lived in another new (ish) build before and never had this problem.
We've got advice from our warranty providers and have sent a strong email to the builder. Hope it works 🤞🏼 just want to be rid of these builders. They've been one mess up after another

MalMonroe

It appears that the biggest problem here is the builder. I thought that all new properties were supposed to have an NHBC 10 year guarantee?  That is - a two year builder warranty period backed by the NHBC resolution service and guarantee; and then an eight year insurance policy for physical damage to the home caused by a failure to build to the NHBC Technical Requirements.  Many mortage lenders won't lend to borrowers who don't have that.

Your builder has made a pig's ear of this and is trying to blame you and your poor dogs. And on top of that, wants to make you pay £1000 for his rubbish work!  He really is talking a load of nonsense. 

Please don't let him get away with it, no matter HOW much you want to be rid of the builder. He's done it wrong and now he has to put it right. 

You might be interested in this : https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/ombudsman-to-police-quality-of-building-work

And you can always contact Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick. https://robertjenrick.com/contact/  His email address and phone number details are on that webpage.  If he can't help you, nobody can!

Please don't give up. You and your partner and your poor little dogs really do deserve to have a lovely home.  

Neil49

You say that the warranty company say that the builders should cover the full cost of the survey (which I agree with). Given that the builders are resisting that request I would go back to the warranty company for further assistance as it's in their benefit that the builders pay for any rectification rather than them.

We are in a new build and have absolutely nothing like the condensation and mould issues you describe. To blame it on the dogs is rubbish.

I would also search the social media sites for other complaints about the builders and find out what action other homeowners took. 

Best of luck. 

Keep_pedalling

Jose1990 said:

[Deleted User] said:

Jose1990 said:

This year in February we moved into a new build property which cost us everything we had, planning on keeping this house for a 'forever' home to start a family in a few years.

Around April we had some condensation come through the ceiling from the loft, we went to have a look and there was condensation on the insulation in the loft, the builders came in and fixed extra ventilation up in the loft, it's not leaked through again, we've never been all the way into the loft, but from sticking our heads up/feeling the insulation we now think everything is ok as it's all dry from what we can tell. We then had a bit of mold on the living room window sill and black beetles, which I found out were plaster beetles. I kept cleaning this myself and as the weather warmed up it disappeared in a couple months, they came in and repainted, did some other bits on the snagging list and left.

Around 6 weeks ago I was in the kitchen and noticed a bug on the wall, I squashed it and realised there was lots. They didn't look like the plaster beetles in size/colour but I thought they could be larvae. I told the builders and they arranged for a local Pest Controller to come out, who took them away to I.D. In the meantime they gave us an industrial dehumidifier for 2 weeks, at the end of the two weeks, I wasn't noticing any improvement, they were still there all the time. The builders agreed to 'spray' everywhere and leave the dehumidifier for 2 weeks out of 'good will' but said that our 'lifestyle' (we have two dogs) will have caused this and they've never heard of booklice in new builds... I was a bit upset by this as obviously it's all over the internet and we know someone who works in the building industry and says it can sometimes be a common problem. Within 4 hours of the pest controller leaving after spraying, we had booklice back on the kitchen wall & bedroom wall above the kitchen. After 4 weeks of the dehumidifier set on 20% (to draw out as much moisture as possible), we've still got booklice (only on this wall, not in the rest of the house currently). We've also noticed the plaster bulging, a more than normal amount of 'sweating' on this wall and asked our friend who works in the building industry what could be causing the problem with this wall, he said it could be a cold bridge?

I know the builders who built our house will not want to spend anymore money than they have too to resolve this problem (obviously) but they also like to cut corners, something we didn't realise until after we bought the house. We also weren't told when we buy the house that if we make any claims on the warranty we have to pay £1000, money we don't have at the minute... since we're also within a year of buying the house, we've been told the builders should be sorting this out.

Has anyone else got any other suggestions on what could be causing the bulging/booklice/extra sweating on this wall? Or could confirm if they think it might be a cold bridge?

If it is please can I have a rough idea of how to check? I've found that if I have some knowledge the builder realises he can't blag his way out of it!

Background on build:

Started August 2019, was stood for some time roof went on about October time (ish) and when I use to go look at it (only up the road) with my mum, we noticed there was never much ventilation. They gave it two weeks for the plaster to dry before painting, (though I know not many windows/ventilation/anything! was used to help dry it out at this time.

I'll try answer any other questions if I can!

Thank you

He might well have not been referring to the dogs but alluding to the other common cause of excess humidity and condensation issues.

If you leave damp or wet clothes on the radiators, or have any form of indoor airers/dryers, this creates very large condensation issues, using your humidifiers on the clothes drying feature would alleviate that but - it's definitely something to think about.

Hello.

They have said afterwards, specifically the dogs. They also told us that my tortoises must have brought them in from outside, however due to certain factors my tortoises does not go outside.
They are looking for excuses.
We have been having relatives do all our washing and drying for us, they know this

What BS your builder is spouting, these insects are tiny (I have at least three species of their relatives living in my garden) they can easily make their own way in without hitching a ride on pets. They are not the problem it is the damp and associated mould that is providing them (but not you) with a perfect home with a non ending food supply. 

ComicGeek

Sounds to me that you're doing everything right in terms of dealing with residual moisture from the build, and day-to-day living. But despite this the humidity is still too high, so there's an underlying problem somewhere.

You said that it was a single wall that is the most problem. Can you post the floor plan showing where this is, and a photo of this wall from inside and outside. Is it an exposed location, by the coast?

Could be cold bridge, missing insulation, water leak, rainwater penetration, issues with damp proof, issues with guttering, etc. All depends on where the wall is - photos would help with this.