Damp again

[jamestaylor18]

Hi all, after some advice!

I had a damp repair done last August. Both rear corners of my bathroom where sodden and rotten. The wardrobe side wasn’t as bad as the toilet side. Toilet side needed the frame to be rebuilt and floor rebuilt, the wardrobe side just needed a patch of wall board. The awning rail was refitted and resealed.

Anyway, this weekend I have noticed the floor in the wardrobe is now soggy and rotten. This repair was completed about 9 months ago, and I had it checked in Feb and apparently all was fine, but I don’t know if they checked the floor or not, as I didn’t see them check it.

I have emailed them today to ask what their warranty is on repairs, which I would guess is more than 6 months, otherwise their workmanship must be pretty poor!

If they don’t offer to sort it, where do I stand legally? What’s the next step? Hopefully they will play ball and sort it, but if not I’m not going away without a fight!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Sorry to read of your continuing problems.

I presume the original repair was paid for by yourself.

Whether you have any claim against the repairer will depend on what the contract you agreed with the repairer.

If you asked them to eradicate damp problems in the entire caravan and gave them unfettered access to the caravan, then you may have a claim against them. But I suspect you are more likely to have agreed a limited schedule and extent of repairs.

If the new problem of damp is caused by a fault in their workmanship in the areas they worked in, then you would have a claim. But if the cause lies outside of the work they carried out, then sadly it falls under your responsibility.

There would be a cost to establish the cause and its location, which might be refundable if the fault is found in their workmanship.

 

[jamestaylor18]

Hi prof

Yep I paid for the repair myself. I took my van to them highlighting what was highlighted at my service (damp to both rear corners of the bathroom). They stripped the van down and rang me with a revised quote due to the spread of damp being more significant that it first looked. I agreed to the revised price, and the work was carried out.

To the best of my knowledge, the floor in the wardrobe was ok before, and water ingress in the wardrobe side was minimal. No flooring replacement was required on that side of the van. I certainly have not noticed anything anyway. They have removed and refitted a locker door on that side, and that’s right where the floor is now soft.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Based on what you have told the forum, It seems that your contract with the repairer only covered the items listed in your service report. As such no other work was specified in addition to that problem. They were not contracted to look for damp issues elsewhere in the caravan, so they cannot be held responsible for any other issues in parts of the caravan not pertaining to the contracted work.

The fact they removed and refitted the locker door, does mean they MAY have a responsibility in that area, But it will fall to you to prove the problem is a result of their work, and not just down to wear and tear.

It does occur to me that the extent of the problem you report suggests there might have been an issue there when you had the van originally serviced and the damp report produced. It raises the possibility the damp survey missed the problem. But as above it would be up to you to prove the problem was there but incorrectly reported.

Trying to obtain effective evidence to support your claim, will be expensive and carry no guarantee of it corroborating your contention.

On balance I believe you are unlikely to have a claim against the repairer or the original surveyor carried in your favour.

Sorry

 

[Dustydog]

James,
When the first repairs were done did they tell you the source of the water ingress?
What make model year do you have?

 

[Raywood]

I tend to agree with the Prof, but it might be worthwhile getting an independent report to see if this is connected with the original repair.
If the original repair was faulty there is a breach of contract which would be actionable but you need to establish if this was the case.
Have you contacted the repairer and if so what have they said. At best it sounds as though there was more damp in the caravan and they missed it. Did they check the rest of the caravan for damp and if so what did the report say?

 

[jamestaylor18]

So I have taken my van back today for an appraisal to where I had the original rear end damp repair done. They have had a look, and confirmed the floor is sodden in the corner. Its looking like water has been getting under a previous floor repair, and that's what is causing the problem. Given that there is active water ingress since the repair, in an area that has been repaired, they couldn't really say its nothing to do with their work.

They have offered to complete the work free of charge, and its booked in for July to replace the rotten floor

 

[jamestaylor18]

Hi

The damp was picked up on my service, and this company was recommended to me from the service guy. They carried out their own checks to give me the quote for the repair work. I am not sure if they had checked the floor in the first place or not, but they did on the other side and replaced a section of rotten flooring. Either way, by the looks of it, a significant amount of water has been getting in, and has rotted the floor.

Either way, the book fall to the repairer, if they missed the damp floor or if the damp has been caused by their original repair. They had completed work in that area, so should of noticed it.

Thankfully they seem to have good customer service and have agreed to do the repair free of charge.

 

[otherclive]

That’s a good outcome for you, at least you are dealing with a company who considers its customers. Have an independent damp check about 5 months afterwards to just assure yourself everything in the repaired areas is still okay.

 

[jamestaylor18]

I have bought a damp meter now so I can check myself. Checked the rest of the van and its bone dry

They seem a really good company to be fair, I can't fault their customer service.

 

[Dustydog]

James,
Always good to hear a dealer who is prepared to stand up and be counted.
Hope all the repairs are a final solution B)