This is the copy of a letter from a Linden Homes customer. You can see the original posting on Snagging.org... Linden Homes North. I bought this 4 bed detached home called a Linton from Linden Homes North in North Yorkshire in April 2013. IMHO this company does not warrant a 4 star rating. If it does, then some of the more well known new house builds must be really dire. The last time I bought a new build house was 35 years ago from George Wimpey and I said then, never again would I buy a new house. However, my daughter bought a new Persimmon house in North Yorkshire and I was impressed with the sound insulation coupled with today’s thermal insulation (my now being retired) I was concerned about utility costs and thought, well they appear to have improved standards. Ill go for this detached new build from Linden Homes North. The sales agent proudly promoted their 4 start rating saying, that Linden were trying to be a 5 star builder, how stupid was I to believe a sales person. We bought off plan, to cut a long story short, never again. Although the house was called a Linton, the nearest Linton show house was on another development which we viewed and thought, it would be OK for us. Well this Linton is 30sqft smaller in area than the show house was. It doesnt sound much, but when we saw our completed new house for the first time, we were immediately struck by how significantly closer the landing wall was to the top stair, totally losing the spacious appearance we experienced at the show house. The reason was, the location of the airing cupboard which had increased equipment inside to take the thermal solar panel equipment had been moved and was an alteration to the specification. Naturally, as one expects, there were numerous snagging issues when a large builder utilises numerous couldnt care less trades, brought in at the cheapest cost. Cutting corners to build only to the MINIMUM British standard as Lindens priority is, to maximise profits, bolster share value and pay big director bonuses and with this sort of company, one is going to expect corners being cut and it looks like they have with my house. I didnt expect a new build house to be so bad in 2013. We noticed straight away, when using the downstairs cloakroom toilet for the first time, you could hear EVERYTHING LOUD AND CLEAR, both in the dining area and the lounge which are on the opposite walls to the toilet. We registered our complaint with Lindens we thought surely theyve not used any sound insulation in the walls. They came and cut a hole in the plaster board, took a photograph of the block work used, referred to their drawings and concluded it was to specification. I remained dissatisfied, I demonstrated to them how clearly you could hear what was being done in the toilet, to which they agreed, it did sound somewhat louder than expected. Even so, they were not prepared to do anything as it met their specification. I contacted the NHBC to call upon their Resolution service. A surveyor was sent, a larger hole cut in the plaster board wall, photographs taken, and deemed to comply with the MINIMUM British Building standards in their use of Hanson Thermalite Block 100mm thickness rated at 42db, the minimum being 40db. They took no account that the toilet sits on a block and beam floor and the sounds of using the toilet are being transmitted, (in fact I would say amplified) into the floor making it clearly audible to others in the house (the term I believe is called flanking). The situation we are left with makes the toilet unusable if there is any one else in the house, I dont want to be crude about it, but no one wants to hear, plops and a full flow peeing whilst entertaining guests to dinner. NHBC are still totally useless for house buyers, they have clearly been of little use to us. Its a marketing tool for the benefit of the builder, like so many warranties, barely worth the paper they are printed on. So one has to say, why is the sound insulation so poor in a 4 bed detached house, when my daughters mid terraced two bed house had such good sound insulation. It appears Part E of the building regulations for sound insulation are more for adjoining properties such as flats. An expensive 4 bed detached employs theoretical construction techniques and are not tested. Be warned Linden Homes look good, appear well finished but its only on the skin, all style and no substance. There is little difference from any other mass builder, just 100mm block and dry lined plaster board with absolutely NO sound insulation what so ever. I had a relative over from Germany who is an architect and she was shocked at the appalling building standards in England. So Im back to where I was 35 years ago, Id never buy a new build home, specifically a Linden Home ever again.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 20:09:44 +0000
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