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Restoration & Refurbishment

How to solve water ingress on external staircase

Anonymous user 01/03/2024 - 2.55 PM

I own an upstairs maisonette purchased 4 years ago. On moving in downstairs told me the lintel over his front door was rusty from water seeping through my external landing and took great delight telling me he was a surveyor?! He had taped the joints and no more was said. I moved out 2 years ago as I have had children and let my nephew stay there to cover the bills. Finally last week I received a long email asking me to get a chartered surveyor to tell me how to deal with the problem including replacing his lintel which apparently is dangerously rusty now and he feels the wall may collapse. Sadly I am not working and although will repair stairs if necessary I am not financially able to do much more. I need advice on how to proceed

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2 Answers

HandyMike

Rating: 5 out of 5
Chippenham
You will need legal advice to guide you on the point of liability for the damage caused by the water ingress, and depending on that advice it may be worth talking to your insurers; this is not a singular issue of stopping the leak that can be dealt with by a builder. You say you have moved out of the maisonnette but it's not clear whether you still own it - again, this will have legal implications for the lawyer to guide you on and whether you are actually able or obliged to carry out any repair work.
Answered16 March 2021
8

Anonymous user

1st thing to consider should be the brickwork to the building. Is it cavity build or an older build of 9" brickwork? If so the damp could be porous brickwork and lime mortar, drawing in moisture. You have to bear in mind we've had an unusual wet period since last summer. Who is responsible for the structure of the building and the roof. A lot of times damp can be sorted by these items
Answered16 March 2021
1