On 7 Aug 2003 03:50:20 -0700, (N. Thornton) wrote:

Obviously you shouldnt get this on new builds, but I think sometimes
people can over-react a bit. It does depend how much daylight: a lot
of old slate roofs have lots of see-through gaps in them, and work
well enough. What did it cost to fix?

"Old" slate rooves, sure! This was a new build, though. We didn't get
to find out how much it cost to fix the problems, as the builder would
not be interviewed, then later the programme presenters said that the
owners had negotiated a confidential agreement with the builder.
However, the estate agent who also appeared on the programme said at
one point that the house was unsaleable in its present condition and
the owners might be forced to put it up for auction, thus losing
roughly half the value.

In any case, this is not the ONLY new property that has "featured" on
programmes like that one. I believe it was the BBC which reviewed new
builds last year, where there were major cracks in walls in one
property, weak crumbly mortar in another, and problems which I cannot
recall now in a third.

MM