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

RandomViewer · 11-12-2021 12:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118288531#Comment_118288531

Thing with foundation is that people will notice if it takes 3 days to set, we've no idea how long the blocks took

dzer2 · 11-12-2021 1:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303826#Comment_118303826

Any engineer worth their salt would have got a cube test done on the foundation mix

Penfailed · 13-12-2021 12:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118304908#Comment_118304908

Which would've proved nothing. Cube tests give 7 day and 28 day strengths. Mica is a deleterious material. It wouldn't have affected the results of the cube tests for the founds.

Penfailed · 13-12-2021 12:32am

I've been accepted onto the multi-party legal case but I'm not one of the lead cases going forward.

dzer2 · 13-12-2021 9:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312693#Comment_118312693

Nearly sure it would show the foundations weren't right. As the concrete would have taken too long to dry with Mica in them. And not have reached the required strength. Have seen a case where excess water was added show up in the test.

Penfailed · 13-12-2021 11:11am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313183#Comment_118313183

Nearly sure you are wrong. The presence of mica in the aggregate would have no bearing on the curing time of the concrete.

Penfailed · 22-12-2021 11:21am

I received an email yesterday from DCC. Everything is now on hold. They won't accept my confirmation of eligibility onto the scheme whilst they are working through the detail with the department. This means that I'm not getting my 90% back on the spend to date for the foreseeable future. As far as I know, everyone that was pending a decision is in the same boat. I've been out that money for over a year now...

jj880 · 22-12-2021 11:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118360015#Comment_118360015

So DCC downing tools and handing everything off to the Housing Agency before the new scheme is even ready.

The least they could do is refund the 90% and roll any coring/engineer results from home owners into the Housing Agency's scheme.

You've been waiting a year and DCC choose to send an email like this to people 4 days before Christmas. What difference would another week or 2 make?

Disgraceful.

muffler · 22-12-2021 3:11pm

The council get the funding from central government so I'm guessing that has probably dried up.

DrPhilG · 22-12-2021 4:16pm

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2021/1221/1268071-mica-donegal/

DrPhilG · 14-01-2022 12:17pm

Any word on the council increasing the HAP allowance for renters?

Rental rates are sure to skyrocket in the county, for everyone rather than just Mica victims. Yet the HAP rates are still pretty low.

I know a family renting a 3 bedroom house in Manor, HAP only covers €470 of a €600 rent. If the landlord starts to jack up the rent over the next year or 2 in line with average rates they will take the hit and they'll struggle even though they're not Mica victims themselves.

RandomViewer · 14-01-2022 2:38pm

Watched an episode on modular housing on Grand Designs last week, might not be for everyone but it would get people housed a lot quicker

hangbag · 22-01-2022 11:19pm

Hello.

just had a MICA test done. 7% Mica blocks are sound, no water ingress. House built 2000 blocks from the North. Buyers want to knock 20% of price. Any thoughts?

NIMAN · 23-01-2022 12:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519184#Comment_118519184

So you have Northern blocks from 2000, and they have Mica too? Perhaps they have a higher cement content than Cassidys, which negates the Mica?

hangbag · 23-01-2022 12:38am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519389#Comment_118519389

Low cement but coarse aggregate which I believe helps. Free mica between 5&9%. All confusing to be honest but not sure whether to take lower price for house.

NIMAN · 23-01-2022 12:58am

Your house is 21/22 years old, is it showing any signs of damage or cracking?

Wondering why you even got a Mica test done if its built with Northern blocks?

hangbag · 23-01-2022 1:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519604#Comment_118519604

Buyers solicitor requested. Does not matter if you prove where blocks are from. House is in Donegal so requires test. No signs apart from rear wall. Very minor har line cracks. I never even noticed. Nothing on gables etc. paint ok. Only one core taken from where hair line crack is. I just feel uncomfortable about it all.

NIMAN · 23-01-2022 1:22am

Ah of course, if you're Donegal based it was probably a given for a potential to want a test.

20% is a big hit, and if your house does develop major issues in the future, the buyer won't be able to access the redress scheme under the current criteria (not open to purchases after 2020 iirc), so a big risk for them to take.

Penfailed · 23-01-2022 1:36am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519672#Comment_118519672

Is the rear of the house that gets 'the weather', if you know what I mean? Does the wind and rain mostly hit the rear of the house?

hangbag · 23-01-2022 1:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519725#Comment_118519725

No that’s the strange thing. Back is very sheltered. Is front and both gables get the brunt of it.

NIMAN · 28-01-2022 12:37pm

Seems to have gone very quiet on the Mica front these days (admittedly I dont do Facebook, Inst or Twitter so perhaps its still topical there).

Are many families out there actually getting their homes sorted by the scheme over recent months?

jj880 · 28-01-2022 1:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118544766#Comment_118544766

Council stalled anyone being accepted onto the scheme in December pending details of the "enhanced" scheme with the Housing Agency.

I see a few houses that are moving on but they were already being reduilt before the announcment of the Housing Agency scheme.

The current debate is about the sliding scale rate per square foot. A few politicians (McConalogue, Cllr Martin McDermott) and the PRO of MAG (Michael Doherty) have been flat out paying lip service to it in the media saying they expect it to be done away with soon. However many issues remain that cant be nailed down and are being ignored by these individuals. McConalogue has went as far as saying "dont worry about any issues - we are aware of them they will be handled later". Obviously you could not believe a word from him. A born bullsh!tter that has been caught out countless times so far but it just shows he's still at it.

These issues include:

what will the rate per square foot for rebuild be?
costs for demolition
costs for disposal
testing poured foundations
costs for removal and repouring foundations
Suite C testing for additional deleterious materials not just mica (pyrrotite, sulphates etc.)
the Housing Agency's "damage threshold" for entry to the scheme and approval for demolition. No-one seems to know anything but judging by details coming from home-owners on the pyrite scheme it's very high to get accepted.

An official update announcment is expected in February. As far as I can make out this announcment will only include removal of the sliding scale. I hope there will be more issues resolved.

muffler · 28-01-2022 1:37pm

Wasn't there talk about the scheme being stalled again until the summer? I'm fairly sure I heard that clown Hughes say that on Highland.

jj880 · 28-01-2022 1:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545141#Comment_118545141

Yes home owners were advised the housing agency scheme will not be operational until at least the Summer. I think its a safe bet that wont be until after the Summer recess.

It was recently announced that people who paid their test fees for the old scheme were due to be re-imbursed before the end of this month. I dont know if that has happened yet.

Penfailed · 28-01-2022 8:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545189#Comment_118545189

It hasn't.

firemansam4 · 29-01-2022 2:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545018#Comment_118545018

The last point you make on the list about the damage threshold is going to be a bit of a worry.

Their are many houses where mica may be present but are only just starting to show signs of it, and it may take several more years for any severe damage to show up.

So I wonder what happens to these houses? if they cant get on the scheme now, will they be allowed to enter the scheme in years to come when these houses start to deteriorate further? I wonder will their be a time limit on the scheme when they stop accepting applications?

jj880 · 29-01-2022 3:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118549973#Comment_118549973

I honestly think whatever scheme they come up with will need to be open for decades to come. In the County Clare pyrite facebook group people are posting photos and coring test results from houses built in the 1980s. This is going to go on for a long time. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that this is actually happening.

Clarity is needed on all issues before this goes near legislation. The Clare group are already going legal. They have looked at the carry on in Donegal and have decided they arent even going to entertain having to beg for a scheme for years. Also quite unbelievably the Clare County Council has told them "we dont have this problem in County Clare". Difference is home owners there have more time than a lot of Donegal home owners. There are houses here that need sorted soon or a lot of people are going to be homeless.

pa1177 · 04-02-2022 8:07pm

Can anyone recommend somewhere to get a reasonable price for a Mica test on a house built in the 90s in Donegal? All places I've asked don't go below 1500eur.

Thanks in advance?

NIMAN · 04-02-2022 9:25pm

I have only seen one van on the roads around here, and it's micatest.ie, but no idea what they charge.

I thought too that you were meant to be able to reclaim the cost of the test?

jj880 · 04-02-2022 9:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118582887#Comment_118582887

Yeah thats the cheapest. It will only tell you if you have it. If you want an exact percentage you will have to pay for further testing.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118583209#Comment_118583209

For the redress scheme you can. If the test is for a private sale then you have to pay the full costs.

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

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