Help... My House is Cracking..!!!!1

K

kerrygirl

Guest
Hey, we bought a beautiful 4 bed bungalow 2 yrs ago it was 4yrs old then.. It was in immac condition not a flaw to be found.. we had an independant engineer carry out an inspection before we purchased the house, in his report he says the house was structurally sound and suitable for its purpose... Over the past 6 months or so we have noticed cracks appearing in the ceilings of 2 bedrooms and in the main bathroom, then the living room and hallway, they seemed to be getting worse, so we rang the engineer who carried out the inspection he came and measured the cracks and says he will monitor them, and if no joy will contact the builders.. we have since found out the builder went into liquidation shortly after the last house was built..(10 altogether) house next door experiecing similar problem...
Any advice would be much appreicated...
 
Usually the builder is registered with homebond, which gives a guarantee for major structural defects for up to 10 years. Do you know was this the case with your house?
 
Kerrygirl,

It sounds like dodgy foundations. The same problem was reported in a site near me a few years ago.

You need to allow the cracks to develop further to strengthen your case but once that is done those crack shold be strapped. Yes it's only a sticking plaster for an open wound but it may buy you some time.

I also heard of a case in Dublin, or surrrounds, where the builders had used some type of sand that wasn't up to the job. Houses with cracks all over. Never heard the outcome.

The fact that the company has been liquidated is probably the biggest worry as there may not be a possibility of compensation.

As for Homebond, don't hold your breath.
 
I think OP and previous posters are looking in the wrong place for any potential remedies :

1) Original builder (even if they were still in business) - not their problem they didn't build the house for the current owner / occupant

2) Homebond guarantee - was this in place originally and if so was it transferrable or transferred?

OP's only possible recourse or remedy is against the "... independant engineer ..." who certified the house for her prior to purchase as "... structurally sound and suitable for its purpose ...", but that depends on the nature of his examination, the report itself and the terms of engagement. The engineer's offer to contact the builder is ludicrous and sounds like a diversionary tactic.

By "... independant engineer ..." do you mean an engineer engaged by you and paid for by you and not by the mortgage company?

If there is an adjacent house experiencing similar difficulties, this may rule out a claim against the house insurance.

Sorry but without a lot more information, its impossible to try and identify the potential source of the problem or a means of remedying it.
 
From reading the OP post it appears that they discovered the builder had gone into liquidation after speaking to the engineer so its unfair to say it was ''ludicrous and sounds like a diversionary tactic''
Im not sure what recourse you would have going after the engineer, they can only report on what they can see, if there was no evidence cracks how would they have reported it? They are not going to start hacking off plaster or digging arounf founds to check work. The fact that the house was bought earlier would teel you that the house was signed off by an architect/engineer for the builder. Of course with the builder going into liduidation your options very limited.
 
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