Unresolved Leak - Noted before purchase

BBMcQ

What happens if you raise concerns over water damage before buying a house, the seller "remedies" the situation by replacing panels so there is no sign of leak, but now there is water marks surfacing on ceilings that were painted a few weeks ago. The seller in this situation is a huge developer who is building locally so has manpower to fix properly. The previous tenant (who was renting) has confirmed this was raised with the developer for 4 years but nothing was done. 

Tough luck? or should (would) the selling developer step in to remedy?

seamus

Water stains in plasterboard, ceilings especially, are very tough to "paint away", you have to seal and treat the area otherwise the stains tend to just reappear.

It's usually cheaper to pull the whole lot down and re-panel and repaint it.

My concern would be whether the leak has actually been fixed and whether timber frames or floors have been checked for rot after the leak.

In terms of whether the seller should remedy - yes. If the agreement was that they would, then they clearly haven't. But if you've already taken possession of the house, it's going to be much harder to force them to come in and do it. If you haven't closed yet, then I'd keep hounding the developer until they replace those ceiling panels.

Henry Ford III

I think it'd be unwise to buy in those circumstances. Hire a plumber to find the leak, point out the issue and ask for it to be fixed.

Michael D Not Higgins

If you haven't closed yet, you can certainly go back to them about it. What was agreed first time around? Just to fix the water damage or to investigate the leak, remedy any damage and fix the leak?

BBMcQ

Thanks all - developers are being very good about it (hopefully thanks to the fact it was something that was spotted before closing - and actually delayed closing). They had a man to the house within 60 mins and identified bad sealant around the most commonly used shower in the house. Now to just make sure nothing has been damaged permanently.  Hopefully its a happy resolution.

Sleepy

Bad sealant? As in a bad bead of silicone / Tec 7?

If that's the case, it'll go again in a few years. Best to sort it properly and get the bottom of the shower tanked or, at the very least install a ClassiSeal or similar...