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Author Topic: Going Legal against Redrow  (Read 19242 times)

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pandamonia

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Going Legal against Redrow
« on: August 04, 2018, 12:06:05 pm »
Hi.

Im having a battle at the moment with Redrow Homes.
I have 2 major problems with my home.

Firstly the brickwork has not been done to a very good standard and a master bricklayer tells me the jointing is uneven and they have not buttered the back of the vertical joins and only the front to save time. It's also messy and not a consistent standard. They are coming to do some work on it next week.

The issue which is going legal is my back garden.
I paid for a house with a 1:40 garden slope which is measured at 4 points and then slopes towards the house. The furthest point is 350mm higher than the patio. I have a report which maps the garden which shows the furthest point is 150mm higher than the plan and the middle of the garden is 230mm higher than it should be.
This creates a 10 metre x 8 metre lump of soil in my garden which is not supposed to be there. The builder effectively dumped down the hill extra soil they didn't want to remove as it was easier to do this than barrow it out.  This is going to cause me issues with my patio and orangery extension that was in my plan. Namely I will have to either remove it or step my garden and up fill which I don't want.

To remove this lump and the soil and regrade the slope and turf the area is not a small job and will run in to the thousands of pounds. My view is that someone has to pay to remove this soil which I have calculated at 18.4 cubic metres of heavy clay soil and the turf on top too.

They know the job is not easy or cheap and their response is this:

Having reviewed  the survey undertaken by our contractor (see attached ).  I can see that the top left hand side corner is 150mm above the proposed level,  taking the line of the gradient  and its value of the slope of 1 in 40 we are actually 1.31.
 
Then looking at the remainder of the garden and the proposed level are either as the proposed level or lightly higher by between 30mm to 25 mm.  This survey does identify a small raised area around the middle of the garden.
 
So  taking everything in to account  the finish levels are predominantly in keeping with the External Works layout, with falls achieved in the directions intended.  The slope of surface also complies with Chapter 10.2.8 of NHBC Standards, namely unsupported cohesive soils not exceeding a 1:6 gradient so  I will not be instructing any works to be undertaken .


So they say 18 cubic metres of soil is small raised area. They also say in their advert that "the difference is in the details" Well in my case there is a pretty big difference in those details and those details are wrong.

So my next step is to get a quote to do the work and then file small claims against redrow for breach of contract.

My question here is does anyone see a problem with my claim or see why it wont succeed?
I've already sued Taylor Wimpey for a friend with wonkey spot lights and they settled right away.
But this one is a bit more complicated.


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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2018, 06:41:42 am »
As Redrow stated the NHBC standards state maximum gradient of 1:6. Your garden is less than this.

It will end up being a case of perception as to what is acceptable and what you were shown on the plans at the time you bough the home and whether what you now have materially differs.

Regarding the brickwork, a "master bricklayer" should know you don't just "butter" or 'top and tail' perp joints, these should be fully filled! I would be far more concerned about this as the consequences are serious and very costly to rectify.

Have you applied to Redrow for permission for your extension? Most builders require you to ask even for freehold new homes.
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pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2018, 12:03:16 pm »
As Redrow stated the NHBC standards state maximum gradient of 1:6. Your garden is less than this.

It will end up being a case of perception as to what is acceptable and what you were shown on the plans at the time you bough the home and whether what you now have materially differs.

Regarding the brickwork, a "master bricklayer" should know you don't just "butter" or 'top and tail' perp joints, these should be fully filled! I would be far more concerned about this as the consequences are serious and very costly to rectify.

Have you applied to Redrow for permission for your extension? Most builders require you to ask even for freehold new homes.

The NHBC standards have little to do with my issue on the garden. The issue I have is that the front garden has sunk 4 inches and the rear garden is not to the plan i have and was shown before I purchased.


pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2018, 12:27:44 pm »
gaps in brickwork AFTER the repair

pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2018, 12:28:52 pm »
Gradient 1:40 on plan with heights above sea level

pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2018, 12:31:22 pm »
As you can see the garden should be 1:40 and basically I average 1:31 but this is also BS because it's flat and all the slope is half way which means it's 1:20

Its 35cm higher in one corner than the plan and 15cm more in the other and in the middle 23cm higher. This creates an ugly bump in the garden and a slope I should not have. They have done this to make the show houses behind more flat and attractive at the expense of my garden.

pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2018, 11:32:11 am »
Can anyone tell me what the details are for the BS standards for brick laying and mortar are? Also Building regulations?


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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2018, 01:31:38 pm »
You have a weak mortar issue. Read this for more information:
http://www.new-home-blog.co.uk/weak-mortar-new-homes-scandal/
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pandamonia

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Re: Going Legal against Redrow
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2018, 05:48:33 pm »
You have a weak mortar issue. Read this for more information:
http://www.new-home-blog.co.uk/weak-mortar-new-homes-scandal/

I don't so much as have weak mortar I think that the mortar is just poorly laid and only faced up and not fully filled.

I also have pooly laid bricks which don't line up with the ones next to them and below etc.