Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

Hi, may I introduce myself as a relatively new property owner in Anafotia.

Firstly, what a great forum to air your views and I have read some interesting posts, many of which have similar issues to ours.

We have seriously bad blistering of the render to the ground floor outer walls of an apartment block. The apartment block was built into a hillside so the groundfloor is partially below its natural ground level. As I understand it they do not build in any damp course in Cyprus, which is similar in Spain. The developer has agreed to repair the blistering this month but warned us that this is likely to be an annual repair job!!

Firstly, this seems to be a nice money making exercise by Cypriot Developers or am I being too cynical?! Secondly, what the hell are they using for render? I have just spent 2 weeks in Cyprus driving around several parts of the south east and while there is similar evidence on other new/ish builds there is no evidence of blistering on older property.......what are they doing differently now?!

Any advice or comments are welcome.

Mark1

Hi Mark1 and welcome to the forum.

Your damp problem is most probably due to shoddy construction work. Concrete acts like a wick - if it comes into contact with the ground it sucks out the moisture which results in the problems you are having.

To prevent this problem, concrete is given a damp-proofing coating during construction - see http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/p ... oofing.jpg (It's the black stuff).

And, contrary to what you may have heard, damp courses are used - see http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/p ... course.jpg

The only permanent solution to the problem is to prevent moisture entering the concrete. In your case, this may involve digging trenches to expose the concrete and then sealing it.

Alternatively, the walls will need regular maintenance.

Regards,

Thanks Nigel,

Is this "black stuff" a bitumen type of product?

Isnt there any building inspectors in Cyprus or building standards that they should be meeting to avoid such issues? So Damp Course is used but not a part of building standards in Cyprus??

It sounds like legally we cannot do anything other than ask them to apply this product when they do their repair work.

Regards, Mark

Mark1 wrote:Is this "black stuff" a bitumen type of product?

Yes - the stuff they used on my place was made by 'Icobit' and I have also seen a bitumen material in sheets that is applied with a blowtorch.

There is no 'local authority' inspection of properties as they are being built in Cyprus. An inspection is carried out by the planning authority once a property/development has been built - to confirm that it complies with the permits issued for its construction.

Day-to-day supervision is done by the managing architect/civil engineer.

As far as I am aware, there are no building regs covering damp-proofing.

Your contract should allow for a one-year guarantee covering routine defects. However, if damp has caused a structural defect the you may have some comeback against the developer.

There are a couple of articles in my mag that may help at http://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers. ... s/id=00101 and http://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers. ... s/id=00683

Regards,