U
udonrockz
Guest
My house was signed over a few months ago and for one reason or another, its been taking forever to get the last few items sorted before I can move in.
In that time, a leak became apparent - visible in the living room ceiling/wall - directly below the en-suite toilet. Furthermore, there was an odour from the bath/toilet in the main bathroom. I was in the middle of tiling upstairs when this arose. Stopped tiling and contacted builder - he sent in their plumber.
The plumber said it was condensation running down the toilet cistern (caused he reckoned by the cold weather at the time in combination with the fact that the house was not being lived in/unheated, etc.) onto the floor and downwards to the living room ceiling. He explained away the odour in the bathrooom being a result of the water in the bath 'trap' evaporating (with the house being unoccupied) and the odour rising from the waste piping as a result. I told him that it was his call - if he was wrong, the tiles would have to come up.
Got the tilers back in at the weekend and they got the floors tiled - went there today and the odour is as bad as ever - so his explaination doesnt hold. I've got a second opinion and that plumber reckons theres a leak - the ceiling must come down to fix it. I will approach the builder with a view to sorting this but I am still the one thats going to pay for this mess - given that its going to cost me time-wise. I badly need to get it finished - and I had hoped to get people in there renting ASAP as those mortgage repayments are pulling me down.
Q. Do I have any control over how long it takes them to get this sorted?
Q. If they drag their heels, do I have any legal claim to compensation?
BTW, the objective here is get my house sorted - im not interested in trying to extract cash from the builder - but i need some angle in order to motivate them to sort the problem ASAP
In that time, a leak became apparent - visible in the living room ceiling/wall - directly below the en-suite toilet. Furthermore, there was an odour from the bath/toilet in the main bathroom. I was in the middle of tiling upstairs when this arose. Stopped tiling and contacted builder - he sent in their plumber.
The plumber said it was condensation running down the toilet cistern (caused he reckoned by the cold weather at the time in combination with the fact that the house was not being lived in/unheated, etc.) onto the floor and downwards to the living room ceiling. He explained away the odour in the bathrooom being a result of the water in the bath 'trap' evaporating (with the house being unoccupied) and the odour rising from the waste piping as a result. I told him that it was his call - if he was wrong, the tiles would have to come up.
Got the tilers back in at the weekend and they got the floors tiled - went there today and the odour is as bad as ever - so his explaination doesnt hold. I've got a second opinion and that plumber reckons theres a leak - the ceiling must come down to fix it. I will approach the builder with a view to sorting this but I am still the one thats going to pay for this mess - given that its going to cost me time-wise. I badly need to get it finished - and I had hoped to get people in there renting ASAP as those mortgage repayments are pulling me down.
Q. Do I have any control over how long it takes them to get this sorted?
Q. If they drag their heels, do I have any legal claim to compensation?
BTW, the objective here is get my house sorted - im not interested in trying to extract cash from the builder - but i need some angle in order to motivate them to sort the problem ASAP