THE dream house purchase for a Falklands veteran and his wife, after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, has turned into an “endless stress-filled nightmare” at the hands of the developers.
Julien and Marissa Best bought their £230,000 three-bedroom home on Fuller Way, The Romans, at the end of August last year.Since then the couple have suffered a plethora of problems with the property, including an ongoing issue with patio sinkage that has led to months of investigations by the National House Building Council after developers Taylor Wimpey denied responsibility.
Despite the developers rectifying the sinkage, they say unsatisfactory grouting of the patio is still causing water to pool and Taylor Wimpey have told them to take the matter up with the NHBC – for the second time in a year.
When they moved in they noted six pages of snagging including a bowing bedroom wall, scratches on their upgraded kitchen units and bubbling on the kitchen floor.
They also had a leak caused by shoddily welded shower pipes which caused wall damage over the three storeys. Due to this and the poor quality of the original work, the walls were re-plastered and repainted and the carpets replaced throughout.
They also had a leak caused by shoddily welded shower pipes which caused wall damage over the three storeys. Due to this and the poor quality of the original work, the walls were re-plastered and repainted and the carpets replaced throughout.
Taylor Wimpey have rectified the majority of the problems but there are still ongoing issues with the patio which sank shortly after paying £2,500 to have it landscaped with Indian sandstone.
Following months of deliberations with the developers the matter had to be referred to the NHBC who then instructed bore hole testing to be carried out revealing that Taylor Wimpey’s contractors had not compacted the garden properly during development.
Contractors finally re-laid the patio in July this year but the couple say that poor grouting is still causing water to pool as it cannot drain properly.
Purchasing the new build property was a dream come true for the couple after years of living in military quarters across the south of England and Germany when Mr Best, 46, was in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, completing 23 years of service and doing tours of Ireland and the Falklands.
