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Author Topic: Advice needed - poor quality blockwork  (Read 9923 times)

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meeko

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Advice needed - poor quality blockwork
« on: May 25, 2017, 03:03:05 pm »
Hi all,

I’m after some advice after an upsetting and stressful three years. I purchased a house off-plan back in April 2014 and was told it would be completed in November of the same year. I eventually completed in February 2016, some 16 months late, after incurring £15,000 in additional rental payments. It was sold as a "bespoke home" built by a company with an excellent track record and the brochure, virtual tour and high price lead you to believe it would be of very high standard.

There have been dozens of issues and the builders have (after 12 months of nagging and untold stress) resolved them, but the remaining problem is the quality of the blockwork. I’ve since learned that it was built by apprentices, largely unsupervised and the site manager let them get away with it. Due to the delays in construction the walls consist of different batches of blocks, varying in colour, and some blocks are damaged, stained by mortar, unevenly cut, and some repaired by smearing mortar over.

The actual mortar has been cut out and re-done once, and the house has been cleaned twice with muriatic acid and pressure washed. There is a structural issue which looks to be due to missing expansion joints and several blocks have recently been cut out and replaced since they’d cracked - again with different colour blocks and the white wool insulation behind them was not replaced. The builder has said they will be tinted to match, but I cannot see how this will give a satisfactory finish. The replaced blocks are made even more obvious due to the mortar stains and smears around them.

Even the window sills are wrong - they were ordered too narrow and are missing the stools. The development consists of 10 properties, and 8 of the others are of much higher standard since they were built by different contractors. Mine was the last to be built, but supposed to be the first. They simply rushed it and even missed a course of blocks out so the ground floor ceiling is too low!

I don't see that there is a realistic way the finish of the blockwork can be improved, especially given all of the attempts to-date and the stress and mess it’s caused. One of the builder’s staff even said: "you can't polish a turd". It would require so much of it to be cut out and replaced I don't see it's feasible. There's a block by the flue which has two cuts in it that have been filled and I was told it's too difficult to replace.

I’ve attached some pictures so you get an idea, and I’d be really grateful of any advice.
Am I entitled to any compensation?


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Re: Advice needed - poor quality blockwork
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2017, 06:33:27 am »
On this forum it is required that you name the housebuilder.
This is so it acts as a warning to others who may be considering buying a new home from them.
Hopefully by doing this, eventually housebuilders and the industry will realise that poor quality work will reduce profits.

In my opinion, this would look horrible even if the blockwork was perfect!
The only solution is to cover it with render or cladding.
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