New Build Booklice, bulging plaster, HELP!

Jose1990

Hello

This was the proposed plot. The house is the same, as planned (though they shaved some off our bathroom and put it on the study which meant we couldn't have the bathroom we wanted, another thing!) However the pictures you see of the garden ^^ they are different, the garden is half the size on the side, to the left of the house and in stead they moved the garden to behind the house, it drop down and there's 3/4 steps to get to the bottom of the garden which means the back wall is longer than the others to reach the ground (I don't know if that makes sense). I've included a pic, showing with an arrow where the level of the ground is at the front of the house. The blue arrow shows a 5-6 ft difference (I know cause we have big dogs who jump up at the wall), so the back wall from ground level, also has 5-6 foot to get to the ground? I wasn't sure if this makes a difference.
We also had an outdoor tap put in (something I found out everyone else got for free, charged us £80), don't think they've sealed that properly. I know too that certain parts of the floor downstairs in kitchen and living room feel colder underfoot, a lot, I don't know if this is normal? By this point I'm just wanting some ideas. We're not with NHBC, we were originally told that we were by the builder, then last minute had to pay a 4500 redemption fee to switch mortgage lenders because the warranty company is actually Ark Warranty, despite telling us it was NHBC, another thing... In honesty they've been shady about everything. Throughout the house we've still got 'sweating' that appears to just been the walling bubbling in small places, I've attached a pic.  The bulging is not just in one place, there's places throughout the house. There's cracks in the ceilings, lines down the wall that look like the plaster board is poking through. I've attached a pic of booklice. I have been taking videos. They are now throughout the house again. The builders offered to buy the house back last time they came... which is not what we want, we want them to fix things, they've also threatened to get solicitors involved and previously I have been speaking to the 'director' of the company however they brought in a guy last time (just before Christmas) who offered to buy it back from us 'tomorrow' and when I looked him up he's not technically part of the company anymore, he's retired, however the 'director' never seems to know anything, that's why they sent him. I've contacted Ark, they've given us no advice, just said that since the builder is in touch, they can't help. Honestly don't know what to do, I look around there's pins popping out, walls look mucky from all the bubbly 'sweating', we've had condensation previously dripping down from the roof through the ceiling when we first moved in, however that was rectified and from sticking your head up into the loft, it seems dry. We also had mould and small beetles in the living room which they knew about and told us to keep cleaning it was natural. This was in March.
We have done everything right, as we should, as they've asked.

R00123

We have this exact same issue in our new build. Have you got anywhere with it? 

Raf_k

Did anyone manage to resolve the issue, we have the same problem?

koalakoala

I wish people would come back and update …….

Bendy_House

PM the OP, and they should get an email if they are still signed up to the forum.

TheJP

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? 

Would have been epic if you signed this off with; 

Just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan
This is Stan

Raf_k

I agree its a shame all I could find was people having same issue but nowhere has anyone mentioned any outcome,

I just thought I share our story,
We bought our new build and collected keys in Feb 21, due to having a baby late Feb we decide to wait a little and moved in Apr 21

after few months we started to notice this little buggers on walls, one at a time so thought nothing of it, but the as time went by they were everywhere walls, skirting boards, kitchen, WC, and all rooms, we then notice them in the kitchen cabinets and all dry food, sugar, rice and baby food, so we had to throw everything out, we quickly identified what are they (Booklice) and read they like paper based stuff eg books, started checking all storage boxes (cardboard) from new appliances and other things like laptops, microwave, toaster ect and we found them in everything even a manual which was in plastic foil in a  box within a box within another box, everything got thrown out 😞

My partner has had enough when after washing our baby girl she noticed them on her crib, mattress and bedding, we are aware they dont cause harm to humans but everything felt dirty and we packed our stuff and moved to her mother in Oct 21

since then we had 3 pest control visits and dehumidifiers for around 3 months costed £3 to run a day (lovely energy bill, egh 🙄)

We are now in a process of suing the developer for damages and doing work to our house to find the cause of them which we have paid for a specialist report under £2k which found some cold areas in our house via thermo cam and some things that needs to be corrected with the building work,

we still dont live there as of today but when we visit to check the house (clean up a little, mow the lawn, collect mail, open windows). 

we now see odd one and lots of dead ones but we are not sure if thats because the treatment has worked (casue previously it didnt do much) or maybe the weather got better so its not !!!!!! humid in teh house) but we are still scared that if we dont figure the cause there will be another infections in future and we now have little boy on the way so we dont want to risk, the same

Its basically a nightmare but we hope we will be able to enjoy our house eventually 🙃

(We also thrown out all out beds and mattresses, bought multiple dehumidifiers for all rooms from amazon, bought clothes dryer and we have to pay all the bills for the house and things like TV, broadband which we dont use but it was an 18 month contract so cant get out of it)

Bendy_House

Jose1990 said:

1) planning on keeping this house for a 'forever' home to start a family in a few years.

2) 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,

3) 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...

4) 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?

5) 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,

Background on build:

6) Started August 2019,

1) I'd be prepared to change these plans.

2) Lack of loft ventilation = such a BASIC, FUNDAMENTAL error, that I'd be concerned/wary/suspicious about everything else to do with that house's basic construction. That simply beggars belief.

3) Two dawgs? Me too. And I don't have the other 'pets' you do. Such a pernicious delegation of responsibility would ring giant warning bells for me - this is a builder not only lacking basic competence, but also integrity.

4) That is soooo not normal. I don't know what the specific cause is, but I think I'm safe in suggesting it's another basic error in the construction of the fabric of the building. A 'cold' or other form of bridge in the wall structure, a lack of ventilation gap in that wall, lack of breathable membrane, just some very basic FLAW in the construction. If they got the roof ventilation and that wall so very badly wrong, how many other bits are partly 'bad', compromised, on the 'edge', flawed, could cause longer term issues?

5) Cutting corners doesn't even begin to cover. It's either that, or just a BASIC lack of competence or oversight.

6) 2019? So built to the latest standards. Ma botty.

Did I read in a subsequent post that they offered to buy it back? I am not a drama queen - honestly - but that is what I'd do. And they should offer you the current market value, if it has gone up.

Obviously that is only my opinion, and I am only a DIYer. But I have a decent overall knowledge of what's involved in the construction of a building, and these two issues just SHOUT out warnings to me. If the lack of loft ventilation hadn't been so bad that you actually noticed the formed condensation, it would instead almost certainly have continued to rot and damage the fabric of your building unbeknown to you.

These builders are absolutely dreadful. The construction errors matched only by their lack of contrition and resolve. Hellish.

Bendy_House

Jose1990 said:

The builders offered to buy the house back last time they came... which is not what we want, we want them to fix things, they've also threatened to get solicitors involved and previously I have been speaking to the 'director' of the company however they brought in a guy last time (just before Christmas) who offered to buy it back from us 'tomorrow' and when I looked him up he's not technically part of the company anymore, he's retired, however the 'director' never seems to know anything, that's why they sent him.

Just how many 'things' will they need to fix before this house is ok? And, given the trouble you are currently having with them - after having only just bought the damned place - how much more difficult will it be in the future to have it sorted?

They added extra vents in the roof - wooobeedooo. Does that mean it's sorted? You think it is, but how sure are you? Have you been through a cold winter since?

How will they sort this wall? Are they really going to rip off the inside skin in order to discover what the issue is? And, if they do, what 'repair' will they put in place? And, what other issues and part-issues are there in the house, yet to be discovered?

These guys are cowboys. These two main 'known' issues are unforgivable - they should never, ever have happened in the first place.

A 'forever' home should be solid, cosseting, secure, confidence-inspiring. You should come in the front door and go, "aaaaaaahhh!"

Will this house do that for you, and your family?