to ask what you'd do? condensation or damp, no one seems to know, no savings left and insurance won't help! really really depressed and need help!

[Fairylea]

We have lived in our house 3 years now. Homebuyer survey was fine. All good.

We have 2 dc.

As winter set in we noticed our bedroom light was fuzzing and going on and off even when switched off. On close inspection there was water slowly dripping from the rose.

We turned the trip switch off and duly called out several roofers and a loft insulation and damp specialist.

Everyone has told us different things. One roofer said roof needed repointing (£1200). One told us birds had got in and made holes. One said we have a metal bar running along inside the roof above our bedroom and the coldness of this was causing condensation in the light.

The loft specialist spent ages checking everything and said it was just condensation and our roof wasn't ventilated at all. He recommended vents at £240 which we did as this was also recommended on our survey so we thought it would be worth a try.

We asked for more roofers to quote but none came back to us (we are in south Norfolk.. rural).
We left it a few weeks for things to dry out incase that was it and got an electrician to replace our light fitting and check the others. He said all the others were fine.

Ours has been fine for a couple of weeks now and today we noticed its leaking again!

We now have no upstairs lights again. We don't know what to do. We don't feel we have anyone we can trust to tell us what's wrong and all the roofers keep saying different things. All were recommended and have trade qualifications.

We have no savings left due to a difficult time with other things going wrong (washing machine and oven broke all in one week and mum was poorly and spent a lot on hospital trips and visiting etc).... it would need a remortgage or loan or cc to fix anything.

What do we do ? I'm actually quite scared we have a massive massive problem somewhere and no one is picking up on it.

We do have condensation around the windows but we wipe this and use a tumble drier and ventilate by opening windows everyday.

My dds room had terrible black mould so we got rid of this and bleached everything.

But it's only our room with the water in light problem.

We can't get in the roof ourselves as the access is over high stairs and even if we could we wouldn't know what to look for.

Do we try and sell ... if we even could ? We would need to fix morally anyway.

I'm so so stressed.

What do we do ? Get more quotes obviously..... IF anyone will come out to us ????!!

[Overberries]

Oh god, what a nightmare. I'm not in the least bit qualified but recently had a similar situation with our boiler - no heating a numerous different opinions or people not getting back to us - so feel your pain.

I would definitely recommend trying to get in the loft yourselves. You can order bug ladders reasonably on amazon and they deliver to you (obviously!). I really think it would help you to feel more in control of what you are being told. If the roof is leaking go up when it's raining and get a feel for where the water is coming from.

That said, it does sound like your house is prone to condensation so it may be there is no leak at all. My parents recently had a similar problem with condensation forming on the ceiling and it was caused by the loo cistern 'running' (so there was a constant trickle down the loo and into the cistern, which in its self wasn't causing problems) and the constant flow of cold water through the pipe meant condensation formed on the ceiling below. Do you have a loo or cold water tank trickling?

Good luck OP, please don't sell your home as that would cost £££ and much stress when I bet this can be solved

[Overberries]

big although a bug ladder sounds interesting!

[Fairylea]

Thanks .. I will look on amazon for ladders. Part of the problem though is I am worried that as we don't know what we're doing that dh might end up going through the ceiling and being out of work and then financially we would be totally and utterly finished ..... !

I'm not sure how rotten or saturated it is up there.

Thanks for the info about the other bits and bobs.. definitely worth considering.

I actually don't feel safe in the house now.. worried about electrical fire or ceilings collapsing :( its a horrible feeling :(

[RedHelenB]

I have had fascias put on cos my neighbours noticed the wodden fascias had a hole & birds were going under the eaves. Can you look at the side of your house to see if you notice any gaps?

[Fairylea]

We had a look and can possibly see holes but then we had the whole thing with the fact they are swallows or swifts and believe it or not they are protected birds and if they choose to nest in your home there is nothing you can do about it as legally they are protected! ... I love birds but I don't want my house ruined either! :(... no one will remove them if it birds, not even the council (rung and asked).

[dexter73]

Your insurance company need to send someone out to have a look. What reason are they giving for not helping?

[dexter73]

Also you don't want birds nesting in your roof as you could get infested by bird mites. My friend had this happen to her this year and it has almost ruined her life. She has had to move house (rented) and bin nearly all their furniture and clothes. She is now on anti-depressants due to all the stress. Google it and you will see how horrible it is.

[Fairylea]

They are saying that as it isn't an emergency as in the roof hasn't collapsed due to a massive storm or whatever that it is down to wear and tear and that is our fault apparently... anybody know any way around this please help ! Its M and S home insurance... we have unlimited cover but they just won't help. :(

[dexter73]

You need to check your cover and see what they are liable to pay out for.

[DiscoTent]

Have you got a hot water tank in the roof? My parents had a similar problem and it turned out the ball thingy [technical] in the hot water tank wasn't working properly so it had a slight, constant overflow.

[Fairylea]

Thanks and dexter I will check tomorrow and ring them again and see if I can get someone sent out. I just want someone knowledgeable and independent to come and tell us what they think really.

I have no idea if we have a water tank there... when we moved in we replaced the boiler with a brand new combination boiler so I dont think we do have a tank??? .. gosh I'm useless at this.

[mercibucket]

You need to get up in the attic and have a look. Totally not handy myself but put a bowl over the light fitting in the attic and see if it fills up!

[mercibucket]

You need to get up in the attic and have a look. Totally not handy myself but put a bowl over the light fitting in the attic and see if it fills up!

[dayshiftdoris]

If the birds are not there (because its winter and they migrate) then I would get your fascia boards on before spring...
That way you are not disturbing nesting birds

[50shadesofmeh]

We have a similar problem upstairs not as bad bit keep getting black mould everywhere and it's because windows are old and condensation builds up , open them every day and blast heating when you can , go into loft when it's raining and have a scout around , it should be easy to see if water is coming in.

[Overberries]

OP please don't panic. If your joists were completely rotten or anything saturated then the guys you've had up there would have told you in a flash (and no doubt been keen to fix it for a fee!). I'm not trying to advise you to do anything you're not comfortable with, but if there was masses of water your whole plaster ceiling would have come down long ago.

[Fairylea]

Ok definitely going to get a ladder and have a look. Still nervous incase dh or I fall through the ceiling.... !

Good idea about the birds and the fascias.

I think I'm so nervous of spending money doing everything and still not fixing it as there appears to be no definite answer.

I even wondered about asking building regs to come out for a fee and make an inspection of the roof and loft and tell us what they think but maybe that's a crazy idea?

This house has been nothing but trouble. We extended the kitchen by removing the outbuildings and extending out into the garden (all building regs approved and done by qualified builder etc) and even that has been a never ending saga.

I think a tent in the garden is looking attractive.....

[Loislane78]

Agree you need to get up and have a good look yourself. You can buy rolls of loft insulation at home base or similar and its fairly inexpensive/something you could do yourself.

I don't know but maybe you could get a grant or something for loft insulation as well.

GL :)

[MooncupGoddess]

When you put your new combi boiler in, did you remove the old water tank? I once had a leak from the unused water tank in the loft... turned out it hadn't been properly disconnected.

Or, is there a link between rainy weather and the leak? Try to start narrowing it down.

[maddening]

Lag the pipe - that would be cheap and you could eliminate the condensation suggestion if it doesn't work.

[HappyTurquoise]

When going up to have a look, only tread on the wooden joists, not the flat bits in between (which will not support your weight). Go up in daylight, so you can see where the light is getting in through holes (but take torches so you can have a closer look at things like water tank, etc.

[ivykaty44]

you need pigletJohn to come over and help - they are good with things like this on mn

[Fairylea]

Thanks for all the posts.

It is leaking today and it hasn't been raining but it has been raining on and off during the week and it's generally damp weather so it's really hard to know really.

I will ask pigletjohn (?) .. I wanted to take advantage of aibu traffic as I know it's a boring topic but feeling really desperate.

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm so scared the roof will collapse on my dc while they are asleep but I (hope!) Know that's irrational.

[thefirstmrsrochester]

Nightmare for you op.
Insurance won't help unless damage is due to storm. Birds nesting, rot, wear & tear, defective workmanship - all excluded I'm afraid.
Problem is, in a recession, there are some less than scrupulous builders about who will give you and expensive yet ultimately incorrect solution to the problem.
If birds have got in them winter is absolutely the right time to be patching up and repairing whilst the birds are sunning it elsewhere.
Ask around for local recommendations when seeking out a builder.
Water like that ie. affecting the electrics - it's roof or plumbing. Can you get the folk who replaced the boiler back to check for leaks? I think sometimes with a new boiler, the water pressure is greater and joints in the existing plumbing can't cope and spring leaks.
Best of luck to you.

[missrlr]

You could contact local trading standards for names of approved builders in area then get one or more of them to come out.