New Home Owners And Snagging Forum
Advice on buying a brand new home => Snagging and defects => Topic started by: Larwood32 on February 18, 2019, 04:29:06 pm
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Thanks for looking at my post.
Buying a new home and got to have a quick look yesterday but to me it looks like different bricks have been used. If you look at the pictures 2 at the back and 1 at the side there seems to be a large dark area so my questions:
1 Is this normal
2 Would you accept this
3 If not what can i do
Thanks
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Totally unacceptable.
The bricks should have been mixed so no banding occurs.
Trouble is the housebuilder will offer to have the bricks tinted (painted) by a specialist (brick doctor) in an attempt to blend them in.
I would not legally complete until these areas are taken down and rebuilt.
Get your solicitor to act for you.
Who is the housebuilder?
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Hi Many Thanks for your reply
Its J S Bloors - I have exchanged contracts because I had to part exchange on my house with them. Completion date is 30 April 2019
We are having a walk around with the site foreman on 4 March. I will bring it up then.
Is it a big job to replace them?
What if they say we will tint them or nothing?
It looks terrible in real life we noticed, it straight away. We only went up on Sunday to have a look to see how it was going and the gate was not locked so we walked in, so we took the photos.
We did notice that a few houses were like this but not as bad as ours.
Thanks Again
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Do not wait until 4th March. Write to Bloor right now, today and tell them you are not accepting brickwork like this.
Reject tinting as in this case it won't work and will just delay the inevitable re build.
Yes it is not and easy job, would probably take about two weeks to do properly and scaffolding will be required. It will cost Bloor Homes a couple of thousand, but then they should have properly supervised this at the time.
It is NOT your fault and you should not allow them to force this below standard house on you.
Be very aware, that several Bloor buyers have indicted to me that they are not very proactive in sorting defects with homes after they have all your money!
My advice is to have the home professionally snagged and inspected (http://www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/new-home-snagging-inspectors.htm)BEFORE you legally complete.
If the outside is this bad, how bad is the inside?
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Many thanks for all your advice much appreciated.
I will contact the sales person at Bloors and i will keep you up to date on what happens
Thanks again
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Don't waste your time with site sales.
Write, or get your solicitor to write to the regional office.
until you legally complete (pay all the money) you are in control.
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Many thanks again just one thing how do you tell if the bricks have been changed and not tinted ? cheers
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If it looks that good what does it matter.
Believe me, tinting in this case wouldn't work.
Look for debris on the ground and new mortar being a different colour.
Dust on the brickwork from angle grinders etc.
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Yes will do cheers. I have emailed my solicitor but shes on holiday at the moment school holidays back on Monday - I will let you know how I get on thanks again
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Afternoon I received a call from the site foreman and he's told me that the bricks are very wet still as they were left out during December with lots of rain and will dry out over the next couple of months and be ok. Do you agree or is he fobbing me off?
My mate who does concrete flooring said I can take his damp tester up and check those bricks against the dry ones and there should be a big difference - if not he's bullshitting - do agree with that idea?
Thanks
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You are being fobbed off - big time. The bricks in the wall will be the same moisture content. Gravity over a short period would mean saturated bricks would dry out, plus the surface would dry the first time the sun was on it. Then the wall would be white with efflorescent as the salts in the clay were drawn to the surface.
If that is not sufficient, there isn't a bricklayer alive or dead that could lay saturated bricks, which is why on mist site they are covered to keep them dry.
In your next post, you should actually name the idiot that suggested this!
In addition, write again to their head office and tell them not to take you for a fool!
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Thanks for the reply and I agree with you - I am still waiting to hear from my solicitor and I have contacted NHBC to ask them for advice as well. The solicitor I am using , is one they recommend in exchange for £2,000 worth of extras.
I am also meeting the site foreman who rang me on Monday, and will print this advice off and show him. He told me he's been a bricklayer for over 25 years before he became site foreman. I won't complete until is right and if I had not of exchanged contracts I would pull out , I don't need all this hassle.
Thanks for all your advice and I will keep you up to date cheers
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Just a very quick update heard from my solicitor waste of time this is what she put:
"Please refer to my report letter dated 12 October and refer to Clauses 1 and 4 of the contract regarding the construction of the property and completion".
Read it made no sense to me so emailed her back to explain telling her I am a miner not a lawyer - see what she come back with.
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As soon as I read that you used the solicitor that Bloor Homes recommended/suggested in return for £2,000 in "extras" (these are always overpriced and poor value anyway) I could see you would have problems delaying legal completion.
You will need to be very firm with "your" solicitor. Tell her that if she does not follow your instructions or advises you to legally complete with your house as it is, you will report her to the Law Society for breaching SRA rules on conflicts of interest. That should get her to sit up.
I expect there is a clause in the sales contract (which you signed at exchange) saying that you must legally complete within two weeks fo the home being finished.
I would also tell your solicitor that you will be getting the local press to cover the story of your brickwork and the antics of your solicitor if you do not get the home you were sold.
It is probably worth getting the photo and story in the press right now!
I've made a start for you here (https://twitter.com/NewHomesExpert1/status/1100656117787643904)
I would also think you should consider getting an independent solicitor, unrelated and unconnected to Bloor Homes, to represent just your interests and support you.
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Wow many thanks again I don't know what I would have done without your advice.
Yep you are right house due to finish 16 April completion date 30 April 2019
She did say she would let Bloors solicitors know about my concerns and I have that meeting with the site foreman on Monday to discuss it and we see what they say. I did email her back saying I don't understand, please tell me where I stand I await her reply.
If no joy with either I will escalate like you say papers and reporting her to the law society.
I keep you updated when ever I hear anything
many thanks again
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NHBC Not interested see below - still waiting for my solicitor to get back to me, if I havent got an answer by tomorrow I will tell her about the law society and reporting her. Many thanks
"In line with your NHBC insurance policy, unfortunately we are unable to assist until the sale of your property has completed. At this stage we would then be able to raise the issue with Bloor Homes where tinting, or replacement bricks would be required. I appreciate your comments below regarding tinting however I feel it is necessary to manage your expectations now as you are within a crucial stage within the sales process. As a warranty and insurance provider the NHBC are unable to enforce that the bricks are replaced while the property is being constructed and our Building Inspections role at this stage would be to ensure the property is structurally sound. With that being said I have contacted our Building Inspection department to query if this has been noted on our records.
Unfortunately we are unable to assist any further at present, however rest assured, should you complete on the property and consistent finish would be required by Bloor Homes."
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Many comments about your wall on Twitter
https://twitter.com/NewHomesExpert1/status/1100656117787643904
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I am amazed by the NHBC's response.
Now is the perfect time to deal with this, not after you have moved in.
Why should you have to suffer noise and scaffold and mess?
The NHBC mission statement is "Raising Standards" and Protecting Homeowners" perhaps you should remind them of this.
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I can't thank you enough for all your help. I have replied to them with what you say and see what I get back. I have dealt with NHBC a few years ago and they were hopeless.
When I go to see the site foreman on Monday I am going to show him all those comments on twitter and on here if you don't mind and see what he says.
Still waiting for my solicitor to reply, if not by Friday I will email her about the law society.
Many Thanks again
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Busy day this is what NHBC said after replying:
The NHBC do not have the authority to tell the builder to make changes unless there is a structural issue with the brickwork. I have passed the information, and the photographs to our inspection team already and await their response.
As detailed in our previous email, as you have not completed the sale and you do not legally own the property your NHBC warranty is not yet active so we can only review this from a building control perspective.
I will advise accordingly once we receive a response from the relevant department."
Then I got a reply from my solicitor via a reply from them to her they also sent a pdf file which I have sent a link
https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TIS-B16-DISCOLOURATION-OF-MASONRY-DUE-TO-SATURATION-2.pdf
reply:
As discussed please find attached technical guidance which Richard has obtained from Martin Smith who works for Ibstock (brick manufacturer).
I’ve seen this on a number of plots on Gedling built in the Ibstock Arden Weather Red brick but it disappears when the brick has dried out. It’s just down to the porosity of the brick.
I’ve spoken to Richard and we should be brick cleaning the plot hopefully this week which will improve the overall appearance, but this will not alter the fact that the brickwork will still have to dry out!
If the customer is still not satisfied then I’m sure Martin will be more than happy to meet with him and Richard on site to provide him with some reassurance and if necessary take moisture readings to confirm.
and I can say I have requested to meet them on site date to be confirmed. See what comes of it still not convinced and will let you know how I got on Thanks again
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When I go to see the site foreman on Monday I am going to show him all those comments on twitter and on here if you don't mind and see what he says.
I wouldn't be pointing them to this thread at all. I am advising you, the last thing you need is them to know what your intentions are.
By all means let them see the Twitter thread as it is, quite rightly, a huge embarrassment for them.
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No worries I won't show them this, what do you think to that leaflet.
The thing is I don't get, why didn't they say this could happen with this brick at the start, but they say nothing.
I let you know how I get on thanks again