Damp issues caused by CATV box

[Evielou25]

I am not a Virgin Media customer. So I do not have an account. I do however have a large CATV cabinet 5 inches away from our house wall. It is causing severe damp issues and despite a Virgin Media person visiting they have told me that it is not something they can help with! The damp has damaged furniture and we cannot even begin to try and repair it because the rain continually runs onto a wall that we cannot access to repair! 

Apparently the complaint has been passed on but I cannot be copied into an email because of Virgin Media rules! 

Someone must be able to do something.

[goslow]

If you have already had someone from VM to look at it, you might not make too much further progress on here.

VM's usual pattern of behaviour is to keep the complainant engaged in back and forward communication but without any progress/effort being made on resolving the issue.

You could post some images of the issue on here (both inside and out) showing the damage, and explain what you want doing about it, which may help the VM forum team when they get here.

What advice have you received on what needs to be done to repair the wall/damp? Do you have a quote for the work describing what needs to be done with associated costs?

Have you identified it is an issue above ground causing the problem (e.g. water penetrating damaged render) or an issue below ground (e.g drainage sort of issue etc.)

You are likely to have to demonstrate a clear link that the cabinet is causing the damp issue to try and involve VM or take it further via something like a small claims court process.

[Evielou25]

The Virgin Media employee who came out admitted that the box was causing the problem. He was going to take it further. He now says he cannot help

 

 

[Evielou25]

There is no other damp in the house only on the wall by the box!

[goslow]

That's certainly a lot of damp but you haven't explained how/why the VM box is causing this.

What is the construction of the wall outside? Some photos from outside might help.

At first appearance those pic's look like water is possibly penetrating through the wall at a lower level (such as passing through a solid wall or single skin of brick or passing through damaged render) where the staining is more concentrated.

The fact that the VM person has now cut off contact suggests that VM is digging in to avoid getting involved.

[unisoft]

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@Evielou25 wrote:

I am not a Virgin Media customer. So I do not have an account. I do however have a large CATV cabinet 5 inches away from our house wall. It is causing severe damp issues and despite a Virgin Media person visiting they have told me that it is not something they can help with! The damp has damaged furniture and we cannot even begin to try and repair it because the rain continually runs onto a wall that we cannot access to repair! 

Apparently the complaint has been passed on but I cannot be copied into an email because of Virgin Media rules! 

Someone must be able to do something.

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If you take out legal protection as part of your house insurance, speak to that team. You are likely going to need a solicitor to write to VM's legal team. Before you do this, ensure that independent damp specialist says the cabinet is to blame, or that to fix the issue, access is required where the cabinet is that is blocking access. You have penetrating damp, and could be mortar that is weak and letting water in, but as you say, if you can't get access to the mortar to do remediation work then it's an issue, especially in terms of personal health with mould.

I doubt the forum staff will be able to do much seeing as you have already had the VM team out.

[Evielou25]

 

[Evielou25]

The wall behind is not reachable and the rain runs off the box onto the wall. We have had builders look at the job but they all say the same thing..... they will not attempt to repair the wall because off the box!

[goslow]

The description of the issue is easier to understand now with the outside photo. Presumably the angled top of the box is directing rain water backwards towards the base of the wall and onto the wall. Shading from the box will probably also hinder the sun from ever drying out the wall.

Advice from @unisoft seems to be the best fit for the situation unless you get some help from the VM forum team when they eventually get here.

I would say you have two problems to deal with. One is to get your damaged wall repaired. The other is to get the VM box changed or modified so the problem does not reoccur once you have the wall fixed.

Be aware though, in most of the property damage topics which crop up on here, VM's aim (and method) is to keep the complainant engaged back and forward in communication (which is low/no cost to VM) for as long as possible without actually doing anything to fix the problem (which would come with a cost to VM). VM's long term aim is the complainant eventually gives up and goes away.

[Jonny-M]

Slightly confused by the photos because they're a bit too much of a tight crop to get any idea of the context. In your first photo it looks like there's a doorway immediately to the right of the damp patch, which can't be possible based on the photo of the box.