Snagging

[Stevep007]

Looking for advice. We’re in a new build and have had water ingress above the kitchen French doors whenever it rained. This has been ongoing for around two years. The source of the leak has now been identified and fixed, but the developer is proposing to allow the plasterboard to dry out and simply repaint the affected plasterboard. Given the duration of the leak, we believe the plasterboard should be replaced rather than patched. Thoughts?

[Mr Punter]

The corner beads look rusty.  The top plasterboard has a sag on the left.  Better strip it back, re-board, skim and paint.  Quite a fiddle but not your problem.

[Nickfromwales]

Is that tape and joint or proper wet plaster? Looks like tape joints and those crappy paper vs metal beads on the corners and edges. 

[ProDave]

That definitely won't just paint over.  As above the ceiling board in the alcove has sagged and all the joints are shot.  A lot more work than a bit of filler and paint.

[Redbeard]

There is no discussion to be had. Not least because of that 'droop' - never mind what's hidden behind the once-wet plasterboard - they seem to be proposing to hand it back to you looking worse than it did when you bought it. Say no and stand your ground.

[Spinny]

I am no expert, just a punter like you, and do agree it needs to be re boarded/plastered. 

It may indeed be revealing to see what lies behind the plasterboard - do take photographs when it is removed.

 

You could consider speaking to your insurers - perhaps you already have. Clearly an insurer will not cover new build building defects. However you would expect them to insist any rectification/repair work is carried out fully and properly including replacing damaged plasterboard etc and replastering/painting. So you could then approach the builder firmly yourself and in addition point out your insurer will also not accept anything else. You should also be asking for the rectification/repair work to be guaranteed by the builder. I would be looking to make sure you have written/email communications between yourself and the builder documenting the problem, the cause, the necessary rectifications and repairs, and the further period for which these are covered by the builder.

 

It may be helpful to have a friend or relative around with more building experience. I have found some builders try to ignore what owners say - I sometimes had to pay our structural engineer to basically say exactly the same thing I had already said to the builder, before the builder would act.

 

(PS If you were selling you might possibly be asked about build defects in a buyers questionnaire or survey, and should be able to give them the guarantee for the rectification work etc.)

Edited 2 hours ago by Spinny

[-rick-]

26 minutes ago, Spinny said:

You could consider speaking to your insurers

 

Many insurance policies include legal cover. Asking them for the legal help might be more valuble than talking about whether they care about the specific repairs. Would only go this far if normal push back on builders doesn't work.

 

Mortgage company would be very interested in things that could affect long term value of the property but as a new build you should in theory already be covered and as long as the leak is fixed then the rest is cosmetic and I doubt they care about that. Not sure I would want to contact mortgage company for something minor like this (so long as the leak is fixed).

 

All in, redoing this bit of plasterboard is not a huge or expensive job so as long as you are persistent with them consuming their time it will be cheaper for them to do the work rather than argue.

[Ferdinand]

I'm not sure what records you have - thermal photos etc - but I'd be wanting to make sure that the cavity is sound if such exists.

That depends on construction method, but that means that it is properly sealed to the window.

Key indicator - cold bridges and detectible drafts around the edges. A smoke pencil may help detect drafts. 

At this time of year a thermal camera from outside may be helpful.

if it were me, I would be thinking about plasterboard backed with PIR, even 10 mm, but I think your window openings make that impossible.

F