There are various estimates between 20,000 to 60,000 homes built in Ireland which have pyrite under their floor slabs. There is also suspicion that at least as many new extensions built onto existing older houses may also have pyrite under the floors.

The information in our website will help you find answers to some of the structural and defective building problems you are going to come up against if there is pyrite under your floors or perhaps under the floors of the house you maybe thinking of buying. The website will also provide information on what temporary repairs or other works that a home owner can carry out to slow down the effects of more serious structural damage from pyrite expansion that will occur in the fullness of time. This is important as the vast majority of home owners who have contaminated backfill under their floors are not likely to be covered by a structural insurance bond. It is important that home owners take whatever simple measures that may be available to them to slow down the damaging expansion of pyrite backfill, while they are waiting for the government to devise a solution that may assist or subsidise house owners in repairing their properties.

If and when damage occurs as a result of pyrite under the floors of your house or if pyrite backfill is suspected in your development, it is merely the beginning of an expensive and stressful journey. Most home owners who are currently dealing with or have already dealt with a pyrite issue are fully aware that communicating with the builder and the insurance company to repair the damage caused is akin to a war of attrition. Unfortunately you will find that some insurance companies and builders will attempt to put you in a position where you will have to spend a considerable amount of your own money so that you can present your case to what is an incredibly high standard, an unreasonable and expensive standard that the insurance company themselves have set down.  The cost of complying with these unnecessarily high standards is preventing thousands of home owners from getting a simply diagnosis carried out on their property and in some cases by delaying these repairs will lead to greater damage to the property structures resulting in far higher repair costs.

When home owners do finally go to the expense of supplying the relevant reports, laboratory test results and solicitors letters a significant percentage of home owners are likely to find that their insurance company or building company have to all intents and purpose gone out of business or at best can only contribute a small amount of money to put against the cost of works that is now needed. In a recent Irish court case the amount of compensation offered by an insurance company and subsequently withdrawn was no better then the cost of making the submission in the first place.

Even if you don’t have a pyrite issue under your floors, it is very common for cracks to be visible in walls and floors in your house. This in itself may prevent you from selling your house as potential buyers will not take a chance in buying houses which may have an outside chance of having pyrite under their floors.  By taking your time in reading through this website it should give you a good idea whether the cracks in your walls and floors are the result of pyrite, normal drying and shrinkage to the structure or to some type of settlement or movement to the foundations, floors or walls.

Lifting floor results in cracks in walls.

Knowledge is Power:

To even suspect that your home may have a pyrite problem is stressful and overwhelming for most home owners, especially if you are in negative equity. Unfortunately some Insurance Companies and Builders take advantage of homeowners who are unfamiliar with what they need to do if they suspect that pyrite may have been used in the construction of their home.  At Property Health Check we have been dealing with pyrite problems since they first surfaced in Ireland and are well aware of the tactics employed by some builders and insurance companies in making it both difficult and expensive for home owners to prepare and submit a claim for pyrite damage in the first place.

One of the biggest myths circulating is that if contaminated pyrite backfill was inadvertently laid under your concrete floors then the evidence would become very obvious within a couple of years, therefore if no sign or visible evidence is present after a few years you should be fine. This is certainly not the case and research from Canada clearly shows that depending on the percentage content of pyrite in the back fill and moisture content of the soil under the property that expansion from pyrite can continue on a gradual basis for forty years and more.  In effect if there are high concentrations of pyrite in the back fill under your property expansion, cracks can normally be seen within one to three years and these pyrite issues are normally straightforward to determine. However if there are lower levels of pyrite in the backfill on well drained and relatively dry sites then cracking and the expansion caused from pyrite will be slow. The Canadian research shows that this expansion can continue for forty years creating similar amount’s of damage but spread over a far greater time period. By home owners not being aware of this they are not likely to claim against their insurance company and then end up finding out that they do have a pyrite issue some time after their ten year insurance policy has come to an end.

Most professionals who are somewhat familiar with pyrite problems know that most builders and if media reports are correct that Homebond are likely to claim that they are not in a financial position to pay for repairing the pyrite damaged houses. The Government have also indicated that they are not in a position to step in and subsidise the cost of repairs to houses as what is currently the case in parts of Canada where a similar pyrite problem exists. There are numerous local county councilors and TD’s in Ireland who are attempting to place pressure on the government to find a solution for home owners who find themselves not covered by insurance or builders warranties.

This website aims to provide the homeowner with all the building knowledge that is currently available so that they can best deal with their builders, insurances companies and professional advisers so that they can repair their property to building regulation standards at the lowest price possible. Currently only a some percentage of home owners find themselves in a position where the cost of repairs will be carried out for them by the insurance company or builder and their house will be repaired.  Unfortunately as things stand at present the majority of home owners who have pyrite problems will be left high and dry with no insurance or little come back against the house builder.

Through this website we hope to provide all relevant building information so that home owners can undertake,

* early repairs to walls and floors to prevent far greater damage.

* suggested repairs to prevent gas and water leaks.

* information on how to carry out a “self-build”  in repairing the pyrite damage, (assuming that the insurance company will not be in a position to repair your property). This can reduce the repair cost by 30% – 60%.

* Removing the hidden costs from building.

* Contract samples when taking on sub-contractors.

* Costings on removing the contaminated pyrite backfill and rebuilding costs

Our main building survey website also has information pertaining to pyrite damage in houses, however we have found that our clients have so many issues and concerns over this issue that we have decided to set up a stand alone website that primarily deals with these issues.

We hope to further develop this website over time so if you have any suggestions on how we can improve or add to this site please contact us or send us an email.

Regards

Peter Sweeney