I moved in to my brand new Peveril Homes house on 9 June 2023. I was so excited to be buying my first home and was absolutely elated on the day. I was expecting a few minor hiccups and snags, nothing major, but the problems that followed quickly turned my excitement into a bit of a nightmare!
In short summary:
- Multiple leaks within the first week that leaked through to the ceiling
- Poor workmanship and quality issues all around the home
- Communication issues from the outset
Move day!
After using the shower after the first day, I noticed a pool of water on the floor as I stepped out. It turned out there was no sealant around the shower base! While cleaning it up, my next thought was to check the main bathroom shower too. To my surprise, this was also dripping small amounts of water from the shower seal. Not great on my first day. I used the main bathroom shower from then on, mopping up the drips down the side of the bath after each shower. I walked to the sales office the next day to tell them about these small leaks. I was told to get in touch with Customer Service and was given an email address. I decided to write a snag list, building it up over the week to send all in one email. I sent to customer.service@peverilhomes.co.uk on the Thursday.
First leak – 7 days in to my Peveril Home
I had no reply on the Friday which I thought was odd. I was off work that day and had friends around on the afternoon. As I was showing them around, they pointed up to the kitchen ceiling. To my horror there was a large wet patch right in the middle of the pristine white ceiling.
I ran over to the sales office again to tell them. I confirmed the email address with them, as I hadn’t heard back from my email sent the day before and wanted to be sure I had written it right. I had.
I again sent the full snag list email to them, this time with an update about the further leaks marking them high priority. The wet patch looked to be from the main bathroom. So at this point I was unable to use either of the showers and I stopped using the main bathroom sink in case the leak was from there.
The day after, I was washing up in the kitchen, looked up and noticed yet another wet patch! Gutted. I didn’t know where this could have been coming from.
I called Customer Service first thing Monday. They said they hadn’t received either of my emails (yet later replied to one, so I assume they actually received both?!). They also confirmed the site manager would attend.
I was unavailable Tuesday, but had no contact or visit Wednesday. I called again Thursday and thankfully, the site manager was able to attend that day with a plumber.
The plumber tested the shower in the bath and discovered the water was leaking from gaps under the chrome bath taps and sealed it up. After he left, I checked the bathroom. No care had been taken with the panel, it had been ripped off then glued back on pretty poorly, which I reported to Customer Service.
As for the the other wet patch, it was above the main bathroom toilet/sink, so I was advised not to use either of them for now and investigation work will need to be done.
Second leak source
I was away that weekend and got home on the Sunday. It seemed like the ceiling patches were drying out, until later that evening I looked up to find the patch over the kitchen sink had expanded quite a bit. I didn’t know where this was coming from. I hadn’t used either the toilet or sink above it.
Later that evening I was brushing my teeth in the en-suite. That’s when I noticed a puddle of water, this time, from behind the toilet. I bent down to clean it up and there was a steady drip of water leaking from the toilet hose that connects to the water inlet.
Fortunately my Dad was on hand to stop the leak. Although we tried to tighten the fitting, it didn’t help so we had to disconnect the hose and put a stopper on the main water pipe. (Thanks Dad!) We finished about 00:30. I emailed Customer Service to let them know.
To their credit, they did have a plumber visit the next day to replace the hose. There was a hairline crack in the fitting, which is why the water was dripping. Sadly, a hole had to be made in the kitchen ceiling to make sure there were no further leaks.
Two weeks later, the hole is thankfully being repaired after two separate visits and a third one tomorrow to finish the job.
More woes
Friday just gone, (it’s been about a month after I moved in) I noticed the houses opposite being sprayed with chemicals via a jet wash to clean the walls. Away for the weekend again, I returned home today to find the chrome on the front door handles and letterbox tarnished, and a yellowing of the slabs outside the front door. Stepping inside, water had seeped in, puddled and dried.
My house must have had the same treatment over the weekend as the houses opposite while I was away. Here’s how it looked 🙁
The damage to the chrome fittings is consistent with damage to the door handle on the carport I previously reported. I was told by the previous site manager that was due to brick acid, so I can only assume brick acid was sprayed over the front door. Yet more problems I didn’t need to deal with. I have contacted Peveril to send a site manager and will report the outcome.
Sloppy workmanship
On my initial snag list, there were about 5 bullets all relating to the carport. I was really surprised at how sloppy the work had been carried out here. There were glue marks dripping all down the walls. Blobs of cement splashed all over the floor which had set. A poor job all round, testament to the quality of contractors used by the housing company. Here’s how that looked.
This is on the list for the site manager to look at, too, so I’ll keep you posted on this.
In conclusion, it was a real dream to be moving here and I had never expected to be moving into a fresh new home. The excitement quickly turned into a lot of headaches, worry and despair. It has definitely tainted my Peveril Homes experience.