'Dream Home Condemned'
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‘Dream Home’ condemned as unfit for human habitation -- we are at our wit's end.
We are Michael and Teresa Kelly, we live in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
In 1998, we started building our "dream" home and moved in with our son and daughter in April of 2000. For a few years, we were very happy with the house, but in 2007, started noticing mould growth creeping up the walls. The house was also extremely cold. We sought the advice of a structural engineer.
After investigation, a major building defect was discovered -- non-standard construction methods and poor detailing (incorrectly installed damp coursing and inadequate ventilation of the suspended ground floor) had resulted in an environment for wet rot to develop to the structural sub floor joists and wall plate. Essentially, our house was rotting away from beneath us.
Initially, we followed up with our insurance company, as we did have home insurance. The policy covered us for everything except bad workmanship on the part of the builder or architect, which was ultimately determined as the root cause of our issues. In 2008, we went to a local solicitor, who told us we had an "open and shut" case against the builder and architect. We proceeded with a business and personal case against each. At that point, the solicitor advised that the statute of limitations for us to challenge shoddy workmanship on the part of the builder and architect would be determined from the day we had brought the case to him.
We were hopeful initially, but the legal battle dragged on -- the solicitor insisted we were simply waiting for a trial date. However, in April 2013, at a meeting with our barrister about a potential trial date, we were told that the statute of limitations for us to bring a case against the builder and architect for bad workmanship was up and that we had no further legal recourse.
To this day, we don't know how or why our solicitor didn't provide us with this information at the outset, as we've since learned that we would have had to challenge the workmanship within six years of moving into the house, if we were to have any legal success in the case. We wasted five years of our lives on legal action that was doomed to failure from the outset.
Neither the builder or architect have ever taken any responsibility for the structural defects. Both visited the house in 2009 -- the architect verbally confirmed at the time to both Michael and the structural engineer also present that it was the "worst case" of building negligence that he'd ever seen.
The builder, when he visited, agreed that it was a "desperate" case. Despite this, no solution was found; both continue to practice with no repercussion, not far from where we live.
In 2009, the house was condemned as unfit for human habitation and we have since been forced to convert a small shed on the property into living space.
In the interim, Teresa faced and beat breast cancer, living in the house while going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
We are also committed animal lovers and have seven dogs (six of them rescues), two rescue donkeys and a rescue pony.
We very much want to stay on the property, as it is our home and a home for our animals. At the moment, anything we make and all of our savings have gone into trying to "fix" the house or find a solution, but the reality is that what we're able to do is only a drop in the ocean. The estimated cost to return the house to habitable condition, as quoted by local builder (not the original), is 198,000 euro. As Michael is self-employed and in his fifties, we are not candidates for a mortgage or any kind of substantial loan. We would never look for handouts, but are truly desperate at this point.
We have taken this action because we have nothing to lose, we have already lost everything!
Any help would be eternally appreciated.
We are Michael and Teresa Kelly, we live in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
In 1998, we started building our "dream" home and moved in with our son and daughter in April of 2000. For a few years, we were very happy with the house, but in 2007, started noticing mould growth creeping up the walls. The house was also extremely cold. We sought the advice of a structural engineer.
After investigation, a major building defect was discovered -- non-standard construction methods and poor detailing (incorrectly installed damp coursing and inadequate ventilation of the suspended ground floor) had resulted in an environment for wet rot to develop to the structural sub floor joists and wall plate. Essentially, our house was rotting away from beneath us.
Initially, we followed up with our insurance company, as we did have home insurance. The policy covered us for everything except bad workmanship on the part of the builder or architect, which was ultimately determined as the root cause of our issues. In 2008, we went to a local solicitor, who told us we had an "open and shut" case against the builder and architect. We proceeded with a business and personal case against each. At that point, the solicitor advised that the statute of limitations for us to challenge shoddy workmanship on the part of the builder and architect would be determined from the day we had brought the case to him.
We were hopeful initially, but the legal battle dragged on -- the solicitor insisted we were simply waiting for a trial date. However, in April 2013, at a meeting with our barrister about a potential trial date, we were told that the statute of limitations for us to bring a case against the builder and architect for bad workmanship was up and that we had no further legal recourse.
To this day, we don't know how or why our solicitor didn't provide us with this information at the outset, as we've since learned that we would have had to challenge the workmanship within six years of moving into the house, if we were to have any legal success in the case. We wasted five years of our lives on legal action that was doomed to failure from the outset.
Neither the builder or architect have ever taken any responsibility for the structural defects. Both visited the house in 2009 -- the architect verbally confirmed at the time to both Michael and the structural engineer also present that it was the "worst case" of building negligence that he'd ever seen.
The builder, when he visited, agreed that it was a "desperate" case. Despite this, no solution was found; both continue to practice with no repercussion, not far from where we live.
In 2009, the house was condemned as unfit for human habitation and we have since been forced to convert a small shed on the property into living space.
In the interim, Teresa faced and beat breast cancer, living in the house while going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
We are also committed animal lovers and have seven dogs (six of them rescues), two rescue donkeys and a rescue pony.
We very much want to stay on the property, as it is our home and a home for our animals. At the moment, anything we make and all of our savings have gone into trying to "fix" the house or find a solution, but the reality is that what we're able to do is only a drop in the ocean. The estimated cost to return the house to habitable condition, as quoted by local builder (not the original), is 198,000 euro. As Michael is self-employed and in his fifties, we are not candidates for a mortgage or any kind of substantial loan. We would never look for handouts, but are truly desperate at this point.
We have taken this action because we have nothing to lose, we have already lost everything!
Any help would be eternally appreciated.
Organizer
Michael Kelly
Organizer
