Persimmon - Damp, condensation and mould; 3 years in!

[leahcar87]

Hi all,

Myself and my boyfriend bought a ground floor apartment from Persimmon back in May 2008. Within a week of moving in our walls and skirting boards were suffering from mould. Around the windows it was particularly bad. We contacted the builders and received a reply that it was just "drying out" and not to worry it will rectify itself .

We refused to believe the builders and the problem seemed more severe during winter months. June of 2010 we had finally had enough, we were out of warranty and contacted the NHBC.

They gave Persimmon a deadline to look at the problem, which was ignored and then a few weeks later set up a meeting with Persimmon. They turned up but didn't bother to bring any files showing what they had done to look into the problem. Following the bad weather the inspection was put on hold and the NHBC and Persimmon finally came out yesterday to view the flat.

I don't know if it's good news or not but they have found a problem with the cavity tray above the dpc. It looks like the builders had used the cavity wall as a dumping ground for debris and mortar during the build and the condensation between the walls had no where to go! I don't know how much of an impact this has had on the flat and whether it is the sole cause of the damp in the apartment but it sure explains a lot.

They have until 7th Feb to start work and it must be completed by 11 March. My only concern is if they couldn't get it right the first time, will they do much better job this time round ????

I was also wondering if we would be entitled to any kind of compensation, Persimmon have been fobbing us off now for the best part if 3 years. Our flat stinks of damp and a lot of our furniture despite numerous cleans still has evidence of mould growth. If I am entitled I'm not sure how to go about asking for it, or what would be a reasonable sum. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Rachael

[SteveF]

Hi Rachael

Have you reached a satisfactory resolution to your problems?

SteveF