I am i the process of buying an early Victorian sandstone villa in Berwickshire, Scotland and my first task will be a large renovation project. Broadly, it will include additional en-suite bathrooms, renewable heat sources, underfloor heating, fully insulating the walls and treating the damp in reverse order. Having been supplied by the vendor with two reports from specialist companies I have started the process of deciding which part of the truth each is telling me in order to design a successful system which will keep the house dry while keeping the use of modern plastic membranes and chemically injected DPC to the minimum.
My first problem is to decide what to do about raised ground levels which involves three elements:
1. On one face of the building we own the land so I propose lowering the ground level below the level of the solid floor.
2. On the opposite gable a neighbour had built a raised flowerbed using my gable as the back of the bed which is clearly causing penetrating damp. Does Scots law allow me to (a) require the neighbour to remove the nuisance (b) ask the neighbour to contribute to repairing the damage his property has caused to my property?
3. The council owned footpath runs in front of the building and it is not raised above the roadway. Water can, therefore run down the footpath and against my building. Since this is a conservation area the council has an interest in preserving the built environment but is in this case contributing to its destruction. Do I have (a) any right to require them to redesign the footpath to remove the nuisance (b) ask them to contribute to the repair of the damage their design has caused?
To avoid confusion I'll leave it at that and raise a seperate topic about the other issues.
My first problem is to decide what to do about raised ground levels which involves three elements:
1. On one face of the building we own the land so I propose lowering the ground level below the level of the solid floor.
2. On the opposite gable a neighbour had built a raised flowerbed using my gable as the back of the bed which is clearly causing penetrating damp. Does Scots law allow me to (a) require the neighbour to remove the nuisance (b) ask the neighbour to contribute to repairing the damage his property has caused to my property?
3. The council owned footpath runs in front of the building and it is not raised above the roadway. Water can, therefore run down the footpath and against my building. Since this is a conservation area the council has an interest in preserving the built environment but is in this case contributing to its destruction. Do I have (a) any right to require them to redesign the footpath to remove the nuisance (b) ask them to contribute to the repair of the damage their design has caused?
To avoid confusion I'll leave it at that and raise a seperate topic about the other issues.