Seaterra Bay Damp & Ignorance

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 17:31

I and many other owners are being plagued by recurring damp problems aT Seaterra Bay.

I have held back from voicing these problems whilst attempting to get matters rectified but due to Seaterra's repetetive bodging and trying to whitewash over the problem and due to their lack of response to even a letter of pending action from my solicitor I feel it is time that others were made aware of the problem.

I am now faced with either a lengthy court action that could run into thousands or rectify the faults myself at my own expense.

This is not what we expected when we chose to buy on a development with supposedly one of the best developers in the north.

I have found Seaterra to be less than forthcoming in their communication and it seems that the site engineer and his staff are completely out of their depth.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 17:35

" Seaterra's repetetive bodging and trying to whitewash over the problem "



Was this an unintentional pun?

Are they literally just painting over the damp stains rather than treating the cause?

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 17:54

Yes, that is exactly what they have been doing.



I have had a survey carried out by Stuart Hillard (FRICS) of Compass Independent Chartered Surveyors with a list of recommendations including carrying out tanking and other measures.



Seaterra have failed to respond to this survey and just ploughed on regaf=dless with their own agenda.



You may guess from my screen name that I fry fish & chips for a living and I can honestly say that I give better service for a portion of Fish & Chips at £4.90 than I have had from Seaterra after spending some £80,000.

fatty123


Joined: 12/05/2009
Posts: 39

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 17:55

we had this problem on our apartment they do not let the buildings dry out before they decorate left ours to dry out for 12 months then repainted good as gold now

sienna


Joined: 09/01/2009
Posts: 1627

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 18:24

hindsite is a wonderful thing maybe you should have listened to your fellow owners a looooooooooooooong time ago that had properties on their to get together as a group !!!



Maybe the sea is wicking up into your apartment and causing the damp and will never be sorted !

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 20:47

Some of the problem is caused by ground that is higher outside than in, this causes penetrating and rising damp and needs to be addressed otherwise it will be a recurring problem.



Seaterra have been telling me that they have fixed a small leak under the floor from water pipes this is what they believe was the problem. The only problem is all the water pipes are at one end of the apartment and all the damp is at the other. There is no damp in the areas where the supposed leaking pipe was discovered.

As I said before Stuart Hillard carried out a survey of the property and made recommendations which to date Seaterra have failed to acknowledge.



I have to say that we are very disappointed with Seaterras attitude and lack of communication over this and will not be recommending them to others as a result.



They may as well say "We've had your money, now we're not bothered"

hammer


Joined: 09/12/2007
Posts: 115

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 21:06

Hi batterboy ive got the tee shirt as well. I have made my views quite clear in the past on the Sea terra Forum.

I am a builder myself and Know all about their answers to damp paint it.

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 01:40

Hi Hammer



I knew about your problems, I took some photos of your apartment for you once. Also many others apartments are affected by similar damp problems.

There are of course many who do not have issues also ,and for this reason it is very difficult to mobilise owners to create a united front. I think that come winter more of these damp problems will manifest themselves again causing more bad feeling. Unfortunately until that time too many heads are buried in the sand.

It is a fact that Seaterra have been aware of the sub standard build quality since their bust up with Santa Fe, unfortunately they show no commitment to honouring their contracts with the customers by making good and proper remedial work.



To add to this we still have a lack of a proper access to the site. This is ongoing since the site was completed.

It is all such a shame because we are so close to having a perfect paradise.



Seaterra motto = Dreams come true

Translation = Worst Nightmare Realised

negativenick


Joined: 10/11/2008
Posts: 6023

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 11:18

having seen the quality of the kitchens Sea Terra install, it comes as no surprise that you have damp problems....



Thought for today - what about the things you CAN'T see.........

elkiton



Joined: 15/03/2009
Posts: 514

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 11:49

Not at S-T but further down the coast..my place suffer(ed) from serious damp, so much so that the place could not be classed as fit for full time habitation. Three problems, the sand under the tiles is osmotic and any damp getting in anywhere just gets "pulled" all over the floor, there are no water barriers between the patios and the inside tiles so rain just siphons from the outside to the inside and then up the walls, and finally there was no waterproofing on the foundations which act like a sponge.

Ditto on the roof, water here was entering the concrete beams which eventually would have destroyed them

The fix (after having the Chamber of Architects in) was to excavate the foundations and waterproof them with epoxy, excavate the inside floors (up and down stairs) back to the oversite concrete, put in a waterbarrier, and then relay new concrete and tiles throughout. we have moved out for 4 months whilst this is done, costing several tens of thousands to put it right.

Tonye

millzer


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 978

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 11:55

Tony, message 10, I believe that one owner on STB managed to get ST to do this for him on his apts, ripping up flooring and installing DPM's and stuff, but as you say this would cost them tens (if not hundreds) of thousands to do this to all apts on the site, so, even though they 'should' do this to all, i can't see them dong it, hence keep painting over it and hope it goes away.

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 14:56

Tonye



Your post describes exactly the situation at Seaterra, also Millzer is correct that one owner did get extensive remedial work done but Seaterra will not do this to all, instead as you say they keep painting and hope it cures itself.

jodie


Joined: 21/11/2008
Posts: 15

Message Posted:
19/09/2009 20:32

Hi batterboy58,



I also have a property at sea terra marina with the same damp problem. I was recently asked to give the name of the agency looking after my property. This was so that work could now be carried out on the damp areas. After reading your decription of their work I am concerned to say the least. I think you are right to say we must stick together in this and get the work done to our satisfaction. They have a contract with us to do any so called 'snagging' but this could become a serious problem over time. What could we do collectively? and What action can we take other than those already described. how did one owner get the work done?

How can we find out how many apartments are affected. i does seem quite a nightmare. Any further information on this if you have any would be appreciated. Regards, Jodie

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
19/09/2009 21:00

Jodie .



E-MAIL ME ON ABKELLIS@HOTMAIL.COM have some important info for you

chezzi


Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 162

Message Posted:
19/09/2009 21:22

Tonye,

Can you please tell me who you had in to do this work for you, and who at the CHamber of Architects would you recommend. I have adimilar problem.

C

chezzi


Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 162

Message Posted:
19/09/2009 23:58

Sorry, should read similar problem!

batterboy58



Joined: 20/04/2008
Posts: 442

Message Posted:
20/09/2009 12:43

Hi Jodie



I have have been banging my head against a wall with this for so long now that we are taking steps to deal with our damp ourselves and at our own expense. It is very annoying but we have found that legal action would take years. I hope eventually to be able to negotiate with ST over the cost as I have held back an amount of money for snagging which they are demanding with threats to stop the parcelisation and transfer of title process if I don't pay. Quite frankly these threat will not wash with me however as I couldn't give a monkeys about the title deeds at the present time as I have no intention of selling and even if I did have I couldn't sell without rectifying the problems first. So its a case of priorities with a stand off. ST refuse to talk to me and I will now play them at their own game because sooner or later the transfer process will become urgent for them. I have no intention of paying any further monies to ST under threats or otherwise until I am satisfied.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
20/09/2009 12:53

batterboy , one of the sister sites bypassed SEA TERRA and went straight to the builder to get snaggings sorted , of course they had the help of there really good maintenance company which i imagine would have simplified matters , may be you could do this , hope this helps .

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
20/09/2009 13:01

Re msg 17, batterboy58: I happened to overhear a discussion between a nephew and a cousin of a Cypriot Turkish friend of a friend of mine. I understood that unusual circumstances may need unusual measures. They said something like ""ask some "heavies" to explain the problem in their office"". Not sure what they meant though...

elkiton



Joined: 15/03/2009
Posts: 514

Message Posted:
20/09/2009 21:22

Chezzi, rented for 4 months,the remedial work is finished,we move back saturday! Villa is dry, no damp, watched them remove the floors,wet sand underneath,expose the foundations to put in a barrier,pump 4 Readimix waggons of concrete in and strip / replace damaged rendering off the lower part of the walls.Currently they are "rebuilding" my pool to stop the 1 1/2 ton-a-day leaks.... We are talking several tens of thousands of pounds here.

The workers are a firm of "remedial" builders,a Kurdish family of brothers who came here 25 years ago,I have got to know them well.They have developed high quality expertise in this area and work tirelessly.

I never mention firm's names here, if you want more details pls contact, elkin_tony@yahoo.co.uk .

Also I have 1st hand experience re the "Chamber" you need to be aware of before engaging them.

Recently I saw a builder (unnamed) paint over rising damp for the 4th time.Only 1 year of the 5 year guarantee left and the owners love him for it!

Ton