Novice house renovators - advice 2 years on

[parisdisneyfan]

Not really about the house we are renovating but the house we sold 2 years ago!

As some of you know we sold our house to some real PIA. DH tried to be generous as they were first time buyers and gave them his email address. Well that kindness didn't pay forward and actually has bitten us in the behind! The buyer contacting us several times in the first year regarding various things, most of which we managed to either ignore til he got bored or answered if we felt nice.

Yesterday we heard from him asking for the name of the "cowboy" plumbers we used during our kitchen refits as Southern Water have told him there is lead in his water. DH won't give me any more info than that. I looked up the plumber but it seems that he may have retired, bear in mind that the first refit was July 2009 and the new sink and worktops in Feb 2016.

Now I don't know why he had Southern water out, or whether it was just a letter to the whole street. We used the same plumber both times and he was a very reputable one. The house was built in 1999 long after any form of lead pipe was banned and also a good few years after lead solder for plumbing was banned (according to internet searches) So no idea what he is squawking about. Also if it was the plumbing then we had been exposed for 3-10 years with no symptoms. Finally, I'm pretty sure there can be a minute amount of lead in water which isn't considered a problem and is it this he has picked up on

Dh is refusing to talk about it but I can see that it is causing him stress. I wish he would just block him or tell him to get lost and threaten harrassment. Surely 2 years on (and we don't know what he has done to the house) it is now his problems. We sold the house honestly. The number of things we could have blamed the sellers of our house for but just accepted are legion.

Any advice re lead in water or what I might suggest to dh, thanks.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I would be short and sharp and say

''The Plumber was a time served City & Guilds qualified Tradesman who has since retired. Also I find your use of the term Cowboy not only offensive but verging on being slanderous. To that end I have forwarded your comments to the individual concerned in case he wishes to take legal action against you.

As you seem intent on being supported regarding issues years after purchasing our old house I am now blocking you as a contact as I have far better things to do than pander to your incessant needs, moans and downright rude comments about people who you have no personal knowledge of''

'Have a nice day'.

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

I would be short and sharp and say

''The Plumber was a time served City & Guilds qualified Tradesman who has since retired. Also I find your use of the term Cowboy not only offensive but verging on being slanderous. To that end I have forwarded your comments to the individual concerned in case he wishes to take legal action against you.

As you seem intent on being supported regarding issues years after purchasing our old house I am now blocking you as a contact as I have far better things to do than pander to your incessant needs, moans and downright rude comments about people who you have no personal knowledge of''

'Have a nice day'.

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Thank you, exactly the type of thing I was telling Dh he should be writing but he won't. For some reason this guy is putting the fear of god into him. We know that he took the surveyor to court because we were asked to support the surveyor by our estate agent. We declined btw and don't know what happened. However I do know that he is a total pain at the school I used to work where his son is a pupil. Just don't know why my dh is so concerned about him and trying to be reasonable, some people you just can't reason wit him!

[cornishfrogboy]

I would pay a few quid and have a Solicitors letter sent to them, outlining the time lapse since purchase and the disproportionate ‘harassment’ that has followed.

That should put an end to things.

[Mpet]

If your DH doesn’t want to reply, I would just block sender so any emails go straight to junk.

It would be very satisfying to tell this person where to go, but sometimes it just isn’t worth the agro.

[BevS97]

Houses are bought as seen. They don’t come with any warranty (unless new. Hug that’s not your responsibility).

I’d be sending a short email saying the house was sold as seen and is no longer your responsibility.

[catherinesian]

To be honest, IMO this should have been nipped in the bud right at the start. We also had PIA buyers who actually did sue us and lost miserably as they had no case, and had to pay all the court fees. Your DH needs to cut all contact and block the emails. If they continue to harass (do they know where you live?) then get a solicitors letter written to them.

I will never understand why buyers buy a secondhand house and expect everything to have a guarantee/warranty. One of the things our buyer wanted money for was apparently the (8 year old... ) boiler broke down a couple of months after he moved in.

Did he have a boiler service before he exchanged? No
Did he even bother to have a house survey? No
Did we ever have problems with the boiler in the 7 years we lived there? No
Did he have evidence that the boiler broke? No

I think in his case, he was upset we refused some of his lower offers and was trying to recoup some of his outlay.

We knew he was a pain and nearly gave up on the sale to a couple waiting in the wings but proceeded. On the day of completion he was being a total to the estate agents and made one of them cry, so we set the velux windows in the bedroom to open at 3am every morning, and cut off all the labels for the huge tupperware of assorted keys. Petty but made us feel better

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by catherinesian

To be honest, IMO this should have been nipped in the bud right at the start. We also had PIA buyers who actually did sue us and lost miserably as they had no case, and had to pay all the court fees. Your DH needs to cut all contact and block the emails. If they continue to harass (do they know where you live?) then get a solicitors letter written to them.

I will never understand why buyers buy a secondhand house and expect everything to have a guarantee/warranty. One of the things our buyer wanted money for was apparently the (8 year old... ) boiler broke down a couple of months after he moved in.

Did he have a boiler service before he exchanged? No
Did he even bother to have a house survey? No
Did we ever have problems with the boiler in the 7 years we lived there? No
Did he have evidence that the boiler broke? No

I think in his case, he was upset we refused some of his lower offers and was trying to recoup some of his outlay.

We knew he was a pain and nearly gave up on the sale to a couple waiting in the wings but proceeded. On the day of completion he was being a total to the estate agents and made one of them cry, so we set the velux windows in the bedroom to open at 3am every morning, and cut off all the labels for the huge tupperware of assorted keys. Petty but made us feel better

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I remember we joked that our buyers were related

DH hasn't let me see the emails, so to be honest I don't know what this chap has said. Although I know his english isn't the best, I think he is Russian! Our estate agent was off with stress at one point because of him! Luckily he doesn't know our new address. I felt guilty about not telling our old neighbour but already felt guilty about leaving her with him! I love the velux and key story, brill. and re your boiler - ours wanted an indemnity policy because we didn't have the building regs for it. We did it but didn't enlighten him that it wouldn't pay for a new boiler.

Anyway I'm just staying out of dh way with it, if he wants to get stressed about it then it is uup to him, he is an adult - unlike our buyer!

I was more interested if anyone had any info/advice/stories re lead in water and why water board might have contacted them?

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

I would pay a few quid and have a Solicitors letter sent to them, outlining the time lapse since purchase and the disproportionate ‘harassment’ that has followed.

That should put an end to things.

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This is my thinking especially as the solicitor we would use will probably remember him!

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I very much doubt your Plumber used lead solder when he did work on your kitchen. Plus I lay money that on a 1990's build house the mains water pipe from the street to the domestic supply is actually alkathene (now called MDPE) which was used from the late 60's up until recently. Hence not even any metal particles coming through.

Now if it was still your house you can use a DIY swab on soldered joints to see what they are comprised of. However I wouldn't tell your PITA buyer that!