The Curse of Defective Concrete (Mica, Pyrrhotite, etc.) in Donegal homes - Read Mod warning Post 1

Penfailed

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4018877211468993&id=100000402608118

malinheader

Hopefully everyone signs the online petition .
Time for the corruption to stop.

malinheader

Big protest outside of construction site in Carndonagh today, protesting about Donegal County council still using blocks from a company that has cost maybe billions of Damage to people's homes. Thought Highland might of had a slot about this today but they seem to be as quiet as the councillors from the inishowen area on this matter. Sooner or later the truth will come out why the council is still using this company.

NIMAN

Seen a few of the videos, fair play for everyone who came out.
This needs to be raised to a higher profile, eventually mainstream media will have to report it.

malinheader

NIMAN wrote: »

Seen a few of the videos, fair play for everyone who came out.
This needs to be raised to a higher profile, eventually mainstream media will have to report it.

The reason for the silence from media and councillors might be due to the point someone made to me about the council being as much to blame for this ad Cassidys were.
Hopefully this will be kept up now so the truth of this comes out.

muffler

Im open to correction here but I think I read somewhere that the houses in question are a "turnkey" project meaning that the contractor does everything from planning through to completion and then sells the houses to the Council at a price that would have been previously agreed on. If that were the case then the Council have no say on any aspect of the construction works including the sourcing of the blocks.

malinheader

muffler wrote: »

Im open to correction here but I think I read somewhere that the houses in question are a "turnkey" project meaning that the contractor does everything from planning through to completion and then sells the houses to the Council at a price that would have been previously agreed on. If that were the case then the Council have no say on any aspect of the construction works including the sourcing of the blocks.

I asked a member of the council this question, he said the blocks need to be certified and Cassidys blocks are and alot of the others aren't. Perhaps someone could verify this.
My reply to him was who certified the blocks 10 or 12 years ago.
Maybe this is why nothing was done.???

Penfailed

Great to see the numbers at the protest today. I hope it keeps going and more sites are targeted by protests. I won't like to see people lose their jobs...but I wouldn't shed any tears if the Cassidy business went down the pan.

malinheader

Even if it was the contractor purchasing the blocks. Should the council be happy letting the same company supply the blocks when at the same time they have council estates 5 minutes away with homes crumbling around them with blocks supplied by same company.

Am I missing something here.

NIMAN

malinheader wrote: »

Even if it was the contractor purchasing the blocks. Should the council be happy letting the same company supply the blocks when at the same time they have council estates 5 minutes away with homes crumbling around them with blocks supplied by same company.

Am I missing something here.

Exactly the point the Diver fella is making in his videos.

Surely the council should care about the quality of the houses they intend to buy with taxpayers money?

They'll hand over millions for that site when it's done, what comeback have they in say 20 yrs time if cracks start to appear again in these houses? Probably none.

So surely it's in their interest to scrutinize where the raw materials are coming up and if they are up to an acceptable standard.

I would have thought that Cassidys blocks would now be thoroughly tested and passed for use again? If they haven't been, then that would be a major failing on someone's part

malinheader

NIMAN wrote: »

Exactly the point the Diver fella is making in his videos.

Surely the council should care about the quality of the houses they intend to buy with taxpayers money?

They'll hand over millions for that site when it's done, what comeback have they in say 20 yrs time if cracks start to appear again in these houses? Probably none.

So surely it's in their interest to scrutinize where the raw materials are coming up and if they are up to an acceptable standard.

I would have thought that Cassidys blocks would now be thoroughly tested and passed for use again? If they haven't been, then that would be a major failing on someone's part

Who cares if they are tested or not. Worse still who says they are being tested now. Looking at what has happened here even if you don't test the blocks and houses crack and crumble in a few years who is penalized and held accountable for not doing it. Seemingly no one. Big problem here is there is no accountability for not doing a job properly and sadly it's always the home owners who pay the consequences.

NIMAN

malinheader wrote: »

Who cares if they are tested or not. Worse still who says they are being tested now. Looking at what has happened here even if you don't test the blocks and houses crack and crumble in a few years who is penalized and held accountable for not doing it. Seemingly no one. Big problem here is there is no accountability for not doing a job properly and sadly it's always the home owners who pay the consequences.

True, but the council owns this new estate if I understand, so surely they would have something in place to guarantee they aren't falling apart in a decades time?

And re: the testing of Cassidys blocks, surely after all that's happened they couldn't still be supplying faulty blocks? I wouldn't like to think so.

malinheader

NIMAN wrote: »

True, but the council owns this new estate if I understand, so surely they would have something in place to guarantee they aren't falling apart in a decades time?

And re: the testing of Cassidys blocks, surely after all that's happened they couldn't still be supplying faulty blocks? I wouldn't like to think so.

Who knows, perhaps highland might be able to track down one of our councillors to come on and shed some light on the whole thing.
There silence is deafening at the moment.

NIMAN

Must make a point of tuning into Highland in the morning to see if it's mentioned.

malinheader

malinheader wrote: »

Hopefully everyone signs the online petition .
Time for the corruption to stop.

I signed the petition a few days ago. The Clonmanny house was so bad that you’d take it for a special effects video and not someone’s home.

Feel so sorry for all the homeowners affected by this. Did any ever get compensation to rebuild?

NIMAN

I know some people who have had their houses tested, samples taken. These will be applying to the redress scheme for compensation.

However I know more who have simply tried to fix the issue themselves, by removing the outer leaf of their house and replacing it with new blocks. All at their own expense of course.

malinheader

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I signed the petition a few days ago. The Clonmanny house was so bad that you’d take it for a special effects video and not someone’s home.

Feel so sorry for all the homeowners affected by this. Did any ever get compensation to rebuild?

Seen that video at the weekend. You can see why there is so much anger. Not to sure how the redress scheme is going but heard Albert Doherty looking for a meeting with the housing minister to discuss a few issues. Still going to cost the home owners a whole lot of money and I can't even imagine the upheaval involved. It truly is a nightmare.

DrPhilG

The redress scheme isn't worth tuppence.

A friend of mine who is a victim of this thing said that the he's still going to be out tens of thousands after redress.

Penfailed

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Feel so sorry for all the homeowners affected by this. Did any ever get compensation to rebuild?

We haven't yet. Had the testing done and the mica content is high with the crushing strength of the blocks low. The form to apply for the grant is a complete ballache. You have to prove you own the house by providing the deeds, you have to prove that you've paid the property tax, etc., etc. We're waiting on the deeds as the final piece of the process. We've been told that the council are pretty much refusing to approve Option 1 (tumble the house and rebuild) unless there's absolutely no way that Option 2 (remove the inner and outer skins in stages with the roof and internal walls remaining) will work. It's a complete nightmare.

malinheader

DrPhilG wrote: »

The redress scheme isn't worth tuppence.

A friend of mine who is a victim of this thing said that the he's still going to be out tens of thousands after redress.

A big majority of ordinary people will not be able to avail of the redress. It will cost Home owners around 40% of total cost in some cases.

Penfailed

DrPhilG wrote: »

The redress scheme isn't worth tuppence.

A friend of mine who is a victim of this thing said that the he's still going to be out tens of thousands after redress.

It doesn't cover anywhere near as much as it should. They say the grant covers 90%. That's only 90% of the build. It doesn't include for reinstalling kitchens and bathrooms. It doesn't include for decorating. It doesn't include reflooring. It doesn't include the cost to stay somewhere else whilst the work is being done. It doesn't include for the storage costs for all the belongings in the house...

Technique

Penfailed wrote: »

We haven't yet. Had the testing done and the mica content is high with the crushing strength of the blocks low. The form to apply for the grant is a complete ballache. You have to prove you own the house by providing the deeds, you have to prove that you've paid the property tax, etc., etc. We're waiting on the deeds as the final piece of the process. We've been told that the council are pretty much refusing to approve Option 1 (tumble the house and rebuild) unless there's absolutely no way that Option 2 (remove the inner and outer skins in stages with the roof and internal walls remaining) will work. It's a complete nightmare.

There's also an upper limit of €270,000 that the government will pay. Anything above that will have to be paid by the homeowner. To rebuild a normal sized detached house with increased labour and material costs along with higher standards around insulation etc could cost well over €300k.

There is no allowancy for renting another property while this work is taking place. Kitchens, bathrooms etc are not included in the redress scheme. You are supposed to put them into storage while the work is being completed.

I have yet to get the test done, but I definitely have Mica in my blocks. Best case scenario it's in the outer leaf only and I may get away with 'only' €10 or €15k.

IP freely

I think people need to get over the faact that if Cassidy's blocks are now tested they should be fine, its the contractors v council debate.

This should about the absolute gall of an individual or individuals in charge of a company who have destoryed so many famalies homes, running into millions in damages due to their own costcutting and still think that its fine and dandy for them to carry on operating under a "different" name. Zero morales.

As soon as you mention the word mica to any builder or bricklayer ect the price doubles.

And yes i should know, this was mid last year.

CastorTroy

Considering the number of houses affected, even when they start to finally start the work, it could be years by the time they get to you.
You probably have to choose from select builders as well?
I'm only starting the process now of getting the engineer to look at my house. Thankfully it doesn't seem too bad from what I see myself, but I know I have it as other houses in the estate were tested and my semi detached neighbour already had the engineer out.

And while the walls don't look good due to cracks, patching and painting them seem a waste of money at this point, though like I said, who knows how long we'll be waiting.

Penfailed

Technique wrote: »

I have yet to get the test done, but I definitely have Mica in my blocks. Best case scenario it's in the outer leaf only and I may get away with 'only' €10 or €15k.

The inner and outer leaves are built at the same time so it's unlikely that it'll only be in the outer skin. If it's caught early enough, the inner skin may not have been exposed to the elements which should help.

DrPhilG

malinheader wrote: »

A big majority of ordinary people will not be able to avail of the redress. It will cost Home owners around 40% of total cost in some cases.

Yeah my friend reckoned the average cost per household would be around €100k.

malinheader

DrPhilG wrote: »

Yeah my friend reckoned the average cost per household would be around €100k.

So how is this redress scheme going to help normal hard working class people who have worked all hours to build themselves a home and now face having to remortgage if the bank agrees which is unlikely. Still paying for original mortgage a car and probably rearing a young family on same wages. Seems an impossible task to me.
Hopefully someone will put this question to the people who are talking of the redress scheme as some sort of a great deal for home owners.

malinheader

Hopefully some of our public representatives will go on highland today and back the people who were protesting yesterday. Its about time they shown who's side they are on.

Won't hold my breath though.

Penfailed

Greg Hughes had a post on Facebook last night with a statement from Cassidys. As of this morning, there were 212 comments. The post has now been deleted...

NIMAN

No harm to Albert, listening to him now on Highland, he doesn't fill me with confidence as a guy who would be able to argue any point with government officials.

Greg a bit scared that something might be said that could lead to legal issues.

But maybe Cassidys need to answer the question as to why a company that existed for 60 odd years decided to close down? And then the same family open another one based at same location with same staff, if they feel the original firm did nothing wrong or break any rules?