Issues with cracks in floors of new homes-Drynam Hall (and others).

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60 houses will have to have there floors dug up .
Will they rehouse people while the work is going on .
Will this effect the value of properties in this development?
Beupark may also be effected same builder (mellony homes)
same rock used as foundation.
Test currently being carried out in beupark baldoyle.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

Does anybody know specifically which roads in the Drynam estate are affected by the problem with the cracked floors?

Are the problems confined to the estates down beside the Feltrim road / Kettles lane junction? Or is the Affordable Housing development (overlooking the m1 sliproad) affected as well?
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

So far 60 houses are affected however there are still over 100 yet to be tested. I've spoken to a neighbour who is affected and they have to move out for 10 weeks while their floors are pulled up and 10 feet is dug down into the ground. It seems up to 50% of the estate could be affected. Has anyone contacted a solicitor yet? I have and while I had no plans of moving, if I did want to and my house isn't selling because of bad publicity and bad workmanship, someone will be paying!!
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

MMACK said:
So far 60 houses are affected however there are still over 100 yet to be tested. I've spoken to a neighbour who is affected and they have to move out for 10 weeks while their floors are pulled up and 10 feet is dug down into the ground. It seems up to 50% of the estate could be affected. Has anyone contacted a solicitor yet? I have and while I had no plans of moving, if I did want to and my house isn't selling because of bad publicity and bad workmanship, someone will be paying!!
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I believe the Coast in Baldoyle is also effected, only come to light in last couple of weeks. Menolly homes are the builders out there too.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

Yes the Coast is affected too. The same quarry was used that supplied Menolly with the dodgy batch.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

Hi,
My brother has a house in this estate which he was in the process of selling. They where due to sign contracts and close last week but the purchaser heard the news about the foundations and backed out.
My brother is trying to organise for the foundations to be tested but if they are faulty this will mean months between waiting and getting them fixed and they were due to move into the new house shortly. Even if there are no problems found with his house he is really worried about how easily it will be to sell now and if he will still get the same price for the house. Does he have any comeback with the builder for compensation etc.. if he cannot sell his house for a similar price to another buyer?
Thanks,
Karen
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

kaza said:
Does he have any comeback with the builder for compensation etc.. if he cannot sell his house for a similar price to another buyer?
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I would be very interested to hear people's opinions on this also. I have no intention of moving from Drynam Hall at all in the foeseeable future, but am worried about the stigma that may be attached to the estate for years to come because of this problem and the widespread media attention it has recieved.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

hi bosshog I suppose the way to look at it if you were thinking of moving to a new house and then heard stories that are being told of the area you'd run a mile. Its an awful situation hopefully the residents have some come back regards value of properties etc. best of luck, shocking situation!
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

pc7 said:
hi bosshog I suppose the way to look at it if you were thinking of moving to a new house and then heard stories that are being told of the area you'd run a mile. Its an awful situation hopefully the residents have some come back regards value of properties etc. best of luck, shocking situation!
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absolutely, but..

The houses are not falling down.
The problem is not in all the houses, Im not even sure if my house is affected, there are no real signs that it is, however i am still having it tested, because i want some kind of certificate stating that it has been tested and is 100% sound (if that is the case).
but even with that i feel people would still be put off, and that is why i would be interested to hear opinions on what comeback there may if house sales / prices are affected by this.

pc7 said:
best of luck
Click to expand...

thank you!
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

kaza said:
Does he have any comeback with the builder for compensation etc.. if he cannot sell his house for a similar price to another buyer?
Thanks,
Karen
Click to expand...

I would have had thought this would have been very difficult, I would imagine that the builders would resist this at all costs. If house prices fell in the meantime how would you be able to prove that it was all due to the specific issue or how much it was due to the overall market.

Maybe some lawyers could get rich arguing it out in the four goldmines
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

Yes that is what my brother is afraid of is that it would just be a long drawn out expensive process!
Hopefully his house will be tested and come back fine but even at that it looks like he will loose his new house and have a difficult job trying to sell his current house with all the bad publicity at the moment. It is just so disappointing for them when they where hoping to be moving in about two weeks time.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

I'm of the same opinion - while I'm not planning on moving, it is worrying as the reputation of the estate will be affected for some time. This happened to an estate in Portmarnock (The Dunnes) about subsidance about 20 years ago and it took about 5 or so years for people to trust the estate was valuable again. To be honest, I'm getting my house tested too but I have been onto a solicitor and if there is major problems now or when/if I go to sell I think there has to be a case. I would advise getting an opinion from your solicitor. There could be a case for forcing the builders (granted through a long and lengthy process) to buy back your house at market value. Could be a long shot but this is their fault and they must be accountable. The more of us willing to take them on, the better.
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

this could be an urban legend but I remember hearing/reading some years back a story about an estate think it was lucan/clondakin area that was given a lucan postal address when being sold but that they had to change it to what it really was clondakin and that the builder compensated the purchaser's to make up as it did make a difference at the time to the value of their houses. This could be some sort of precendence?? I'll ask a pal who lives out that way to see if she knows
 
Re: Drynam Hall, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

asked the girl in work who is from lucan, she said it was an estate near wheatfield it was given the address as lucan but when everyone moved in they were told their parish was clondalkin the builder compensated all of them as it decreased the value of the property (lucan v clondalkin). Maybe someone out there knows the full details and you could show how negetive press etc has affected property price - might help #:)
 
Re: Subsidence issues in new homes-Dryman Hall etc.

Some of the houses in my estate have huge cracks that keep reappearing no matter how often they're filled and the houses were built around the same time as Drynam Hall but by a different builder. The estate was recently taken over by Fingal County Council. Would it still be the builders responsibility to test the houses or would that have passed to Fingal?
 
Re: Subsidence issues in new homes-Drynam Hall etc.

How long ago were the houses built?
 
Re: Subsidence issues in new homes-Drynam Hall etc.

You still have common law rights against your builder then. When a council takes over an otherwise private estate, generally it means that they are taking over maintenance of the roadways, footpaths, lighting etc. It doesnt mean that they have any particular responsibility towards the houses- unless they were built as an affordable housing scheme or similar council scheme farmed out to a builder. So you must address the builder. But really your first step would be to have an engineer inspect to see if there is a problem. Now when cracks continue to move after this lenght of time it does sound like there could be a problem but it is for an expert to check. If there is a problem confirmed then you should address the builder. And if the builder is gone, homebond. Or if no homebond, your insurance, assuming you are covered.
 
Re: Subsidence issues in new homes-Drynam Hall etc.

Even if your estate has been handed over from the builder to the council it should not matter. The warranty on your house is under the 10 year HomeBond - and it is this compnay that pays for any rework not the builder as far as i know.
With Drynam it was a problem with the level of pyrite in the stone used for the infill in the foundations supplied by a Quarry (not sure which). Maybe you could ring Menolly Homes who built Drynam and ask them for the name of the Quarry in question and cross reference that with your builder to see if they used them?
This is a quote from Eircom.net online news:
Homebond, the building industry warranty scheme, said last night it was aware of seven or eight other homes experiencing similar problems in the north Leinster area. Homebond is currently investigating these cases to see if they have the same cause.
In a statement issued last night Homebond said: "At this stage there is no indication that this issue is widespread and our experts are satisfied that there is no health or safety issue related to this. We are also satisfied that the foundations of the houses have not been affected."
It is understood that the same quarry has been supplying other building firms in the Dublin area.
 
Re: Subsidence issues in new homes-Drynam Hall etc.

Thanks for the info. Don't fancy forking out the money to an engineer so might try to contact the builder although they rarely respond to phone calls and emails. It's not an affordable house or council house but we do have homebond.

I'm not sure if I'd rather put up with the cracks instead of moving out for months and having the lovely floor ripped up.
 
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