my house is cursed! i need help

K

kada_fd

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hi, this may be a little long but..i bought the house 3 years ago and its just a nightmare! so far..installing the new kitchen we found the floor was NAILED into the GAS pipe..so we replaced it with the same fittings, made sure there was no leakage and put it under a concrete floor, then we found LIVE wires rolled up into the damp beams of the ceilings, all well good..fixed that

Then the water tank up in the attic burst and we had to go thru a whole process of claiming for water damage on the house...and we have been fixing it up since..but the last few months the heating hasn't been working properly and then not at all.

So we called bord gais and they just sent a guy out to check it..he has just had a look around our house and said..that the way the place is set up is a total mess...which we knew...the thermostat and emersion and heat sensors or something were all rolled up in a ball by the hot water tank, behind the gas fire the boiler wasnt closed off at all and switches were literaly hanging off live wires, god only knows what else its like where we can't see, so the gas has been shut off for now for safety reasons...which is totaly understandable..

My questions is..is there anything we can do? i had an engineer have a look at the house before we bought it (he was recommended by the estate agent)and the only thing he said was we need to replace the insulation in the attic and the owner of the house had told me the heating had been serviced the christmas before we bought the house..i really can't afford this right now..people have suggested sueing the engineer as this should have been picked up by him..i'm at a loss what to do..should i sue..is there anything else i could do? does anybody have any ideas..oh and sorry if i put this under the wrong thread list
 
Can you edit and put in a few paragraphs and maybe a few full stops also? I gave up at the end of the first line...
 
Low tolerance this morning Sherman!

Kada_fd, The engineer/surveyor should have had some inkling of the mess the place was in if he'd done his job, so you should go after him.

I'd suggest you re-read through the survey report you got from him first.

I'd also suggest you get a proper survey done and fix all the serious problems as they will cost you more not to fix
 
i just searched it out and he put absolutely nothing about the heating...i'll type out word for word the part about the heating...there isnt must written about it..but this is whats said:
"the house is heated by an gas fired boiler located in the fireplace of the lounge..
the house has been partially re-wired and the wiring is surface mounted.the intereior of the condition and no major defects were noted during this inspection, the house is structurally in good condition"

thats all thats in the report about the heating...
 
Details given to you by an Estate Agent !!! WOW. Will people ever learn that you don't ask an Estate agent for anything. Are you sure tis guy was an Engineer ?? Photocopy that report, hand a copy to your solicitor and ask them to oput the so called engineer on notice that you intend to issue proceedings against his Insurance.
 
Cables left in a ball....partial rewire on surface pipework ....live cables ....I'm no Columbo but it sounds to me that the previous owner was carrying a cheap upgrade on the house and got the job only 50% complete before you came along .

Any engineer worthy of the name would obviously identified the problems you've had to deal with .

At first glance , it's sounds like you'll need a sizeable rewire on the house if your going to enjoy any long term peace of mind with it . That partial rewire on the surface is probably just a connection onto the existing circuits which could have been there since the house was originally built . Add ons like this are a long term disaster for the functionality of a house . All cables should be on unjointed circuits flush into replastered walls . Get a certified & well recommended electrician & plumber to sign off on any reworks . This isn't as big a job as it sounds and , I guarantee you , you'll get a good job done for 30-40% cheaper than you would have done even 6 months ago . Get 2 or 3 quotes also . Get a proper job done if your budget allows , get the grief out of your head and move on ! ...and let your solicitor sort out that " engineer " if he can .

Best of luck ...your house isn't cursed - it just needs a small bit of time & effort by people who know what they're doing .
 
Cables left in a ball....partial rewire on surface pipework ....live cables ....I'm no Columbo but it sounds to me that the previous owner was carrying a cheap upgrade on the house and got the job only 50% complete before you came along .

Any engineer worthy of the name would obviously identified the problems you've had to deal with .

At first glance , it's sounds like you'll need a sizeable rewire on the house if your going to enjoy any long term peace of mind with it . That partial rewire on the surface is probably just a connection onto the existing circuits which could have been there since the house was originally built . Add ons like this are a long term disaster for the functionality of a house . All cables should be on unjointed circuits flush into replastered walls . Get a certified & well recommended electrician & plumber to sign off on any reworks . This isn't as big a job as it sounds and , I guarantee you , you'll get a good job done for 30-40% cheaper than you would have done even 6 months ago . Get 2 or 3 quotes also . Get a proper job done if your budget allows , get the grief out of your head and move on ! ...and let your solicitor sort out that " engineer " if he can .

Best of luck & keep the head up ....your house isn't cursed , it just needs a bit of time & effort by people who know what their doing .
 
But get a proper survy done first in order that you can sue the pants off the engineer who advised that all was OK.
 
thanks guys..i just hope the whole system doesnt need replaceing...the gas guy today said there may be a leak under a concrete tiled floor we put down...it just doesnt stop..thanks for the advice tho
 
Just to give the OP some hope ..... I know of an engineer who oversaw a new bungalow build on a former sand pit site. The house started to subside after a year. Engineer had certified it. He ended up having a judgement against him.

He had (his insurance) to pay for demolition, removal and reinstatement of the bungalow on another site.

The fact that the site was a sand pit (that had been filled in) was local/common knowledge, the engineer was local yet he followed and passed the build.

He learned an expensive lesson.

Get the advice of a solicitor .... you can't go through this on your own.

And to follow the above .... get a full INDEPENDENT structural survey done as a matter of urgency.
 
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