Do builders routinely dry out new houses by running CH at full blast?

[MM]

What I was told by my next-door neighbour is that the reason why I had almost no oil left in the tank on moving in was that the builder had been running the heating continuously to dry the place out. As such I believe my plaster shrinkage cracks are more numerous than necessary.

Do builders do this? Isn't it better to let the house dry out naturally? In this case the builder wanted to hand over to the council (in terms of roads maintenance) and could not do so while one house remained unsold.

MM

[Dave Liquorice]

Natural is better IMHO but the real question is what does the sale contract say about the amount of oil in the tank on completeion?

If it says full tank or x thousand litres the that is what you should have had on completion, not matter what the builder had been doing befor= e hand. With the price of oil these days you are looking at 300 to =A3600+= to fill that tank up (1,000 to 2,000l of oil). Not an insubstantial sum of =

money.

If it's not mentioned bollock your solicitor for not clarifying the situation. You can try and argue for a tank full of oil or the monetray =

equivalent but I wouldn't rate your chances that high.

[The Natural Philosopher]

If I had come across that situation I would have assumed that the oil was actually in one of the builders cars/trucks/vans..Or the neighbour's oil tank.

I have never known tradesmen be particular about drying out houses, but I sure as hell have seen them nick anything that wasn't nailed down, that would fit in their vehicles, and with oil the price it is, getting a 1000 liters from 'next door' is a very attractive prospect.

[meow2222]

Buying and running a dehumidifier would have cost them less than that, plus theyd be left with it for future jobs, so it does leave a question markt. Maybe you've not got the best builder, or maybe things arent quite as they're presented. Ignorance accounts for far more in the world than malice.

NT

[MM]

It's not really the use of "my" heating oil that I cavil about now, since it's been almost two years since I moved in. I should have made a fuss at the time, I suppose, but with the hassle of first selling my old house, then moving 150 miles, then settling in and doing the 101 things needed, I never got around to it.

No, what bugs me more, as I repair the shrinkage cracks in the plaster, is that they maybe would not have arisen if the house had been left to dry out naturally over several months. But maybe the builder would then not have found a buyer for several weeks and not been able to wrap up the estate.

My question was really just a general enquiry in case I happen to buy another new house.

Thanks all for the feedback!

MM

[Andrew Gabriel]

What form do the cracks take? What is the construction of the walls they are on? I have my doubts they are anything to do with speed of drying out.

[MM]

Hairline cracks.

Standard (traditional) construction. Internal block, external brick. Solid walls downstairs. Partition walls upstairs (between rooms). Builder has a good reputation for producing quality buildings. But several neighbours have also mentioned "their" hairline cracks. One bungalow had to have one wall replastered. Maybe the company employed crap plasterers!

[meow2222]

sounds normal.

NT

[Andrew Gabriel]

Not enough detail. What direction are the cracks? Any regular pattern, or random? What frequency (typically how far apart)? Has the plaster lost key with the blocks (sound hollow when tapped)? Are they on all the walls, only some walls, only block walls, etc?

Another question -- where you can still see thermal blocks (loft gable-end, garage maybe), do a significant number of them have a crack down the middle?

However, like I said,

Cracks (bigger than hairline) are normal in new buildings still settling.