Leaky shed under 12 months old!

Pennpoll

First time forumite here, so bear with me.....

I bought a garden shed in March 2021, currently on finance. The shed was delivered to us and we paid builders to put it up, as per the guidelines from the supplier, on a level concrete base, 1m away from trees, walls, fences and boundaries - to maintain the 15 year guarantee. The shed is T&G with a rubber roof and was pressure treated to prevent it from rotting. The supplier website mentions that the shed would save me money as I would never have to treat it again.

We recently noticed damp and mould inside the shed. We took photos and sent them to the supplier saying the shed is less than 1 year old and leaking. They have come back and said that we should have treated the shed within one month of having it erected to stop any leaking and that now our 15 year guarantee is void. There has been no offer of a replacement, or partial refund so that money can go towards repairing it.

Do I have any recourse? It's under 12 months since I purchased the shed and it's still on Finance. Many Thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

Pennpoll said:

First time forumite here, so bear with me.....

I bought a garden shed in March 2021, currently on finance. The shed was delivered to us and we paid builders to put it up, as per the guidelines from the supplier, on a level concrete base, 1m away from trees, walls, fences and boundaries - to maintain the 15 year guarantee. The shed is T&G with a rubber roof and was pressure treated to prevent it from rotting. The supplier website mentions that the shed would save me money as I would never have to treat it again.

We recently noticed damp and mould inside the shed. We took photos and sent them to the supplier saying the shed is less than 1 year old and leaking. They have come back and said that we should have treated the shed within one month of having it erected to stop any leaking and that now our 15 year guarantee is void. There has been no offer of a replacement, or partial refund so that money can go towards repairing it.

Do I have any recourse? It's under 12 months since I purchased the shed and it's still on Finance. Many Thanks

There are two things at play here, your consumer rights and the guarantee, and they are separate.

If the guarantee required you to treat the shed within a month of construction and you haven't done that, then the guarantee is void.  However, you have consumer rights.  If the shed is leaking, then you perhaps have a good case for exercising your consumer rights, but you'd need to prove a fault with the materials and then the supplier would have to choose whether to refund, replace or repair.  If the fault is with the construction itself, then your dispute is with the builders and not the retailer.

Your title says it's leaking, but your description says it's damp and mouldy.  Is it actually leaking?  It's possible for a shed to be damp and mouldy without leaking - it won't be airtight and I'm assuming it isn't heated, so it's susceptible to damp air from a warm, wet winter and without heating or ventilation, you'll get dampness.  Can you post photos of the problem?  It might need some reorganisation of the contents and some better ventilation, for example.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Where is the leaking coming in OP, the roof or somewhere else?

Can you attach some photos to a post for us to see the problem please (there's a photo attachment icon on desktop view, not sure about mobile), will probably help people give better advice  

peter_the_piper

We had the same type of problem and got the same recommendation to use waterproofing paint on the shed. It was also recommended that we repeat this yearly. So far it has worked and the mould has disappeared. Give it a try.

Alderbank

If you definitely have a leak I would be looking to the builder rather than the manufacturer at this stage.
A competent builder will check all the panels for poor joints, splitting, etc. before beginning construction.
During assembly he will make sure all panels line up correctly, are securely fixed and roof timbers etc. are fitted exactly to the manufacturer's instructions.
Finally he will check weatherproofing, probably with a hose or water bucket. That's what you pay for.
Any inherent faults such as badly fitting panels would be picked up during construction.
Get the builder back.

Pennpoll

This is the end panel, the leaky one in question. There are some small holes in the end panel (you can probably see one in the photo) We had a couple of damaged panels when the shed was delivered which we flagged, maybe we missed this one.

PS: The shed isn't attached to the fence (!) there aren't any panels behind it, for ventilation. panels behind it, for ventilation. Thanks everyone

Alderbank

They've built it far too close to the fence. There has to be enough room to get between shed and fence for maintenance.

Pennpoll

This is the back of the shed, which we can access from the rear of our property (once we've cut the brambles back)

TELLIT01

Alderbank said:

They've built it far too close to the fence. There has to be enough room to get between shed and fence for maintenance.

The information provided in the post with the photo's says there is no fence behind the shed.  If the website states this " The shed is T&G with a rubber roof and was pressure treated to prevent it from rotting. The supplier website mentions that the shed would save me money as I would never have to treat it again."  then the OP would have no reason to treat it.  The OP does need to read the info on the website fully to confirm whether or not there is anything in the T&C about treating within one month.

When we had our new shed the supplier/installer (same person) stated that the timber would never need to be treated but we could paint it if we wanted to change the colour.

Alderbank

Apologies, I shouldn't make assumptions!

Thrugelmir

Spray the outside with a hose and find out where the water is entering. Should be easy enough to rectify.