Family's dream Welsh home turns sour after awful discovery

A family who thought they had bought their dream home soon made an awful discovery. Just two weeks after Henrik and Tamsin Smith-Thaudal and their three sons moved into a three-bedroom terraced house in Ebbw Vale, the couple noticed some dry rot under their dining room table.

Builders started stripping away plasterboard just under a fortnight ago to map the wood-rotting fungus — and the family have learned they are facing a "potentially full house infestation". Dry rot has already been discovered in two bedrooms, the kitchen, bathroom, study and dining area.

Some walls and ceilings are being removed, part of the roof will have to go, and the family are having to rely on a camping shower and portable toilet as builders continue to work almost around the clock. Mr and Mrs Smith-Thaudal — who live with sons aged three, 10 and 14 — told WalesOnline the cost of repairs is estimated at £30,000 but could be higher.

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Mrs Smith-Thaudal, a 41-year-old commissioning manager for the NHS, said: "We've been crying quite a lot. The kids are suffering more. They've finally come to a house where they have more space than the flat we were renting, but they can't use it.

"My husband has been signed off work due to stress and is really struggling. It's been an utter nightmare." The couple, whose home insurers do not cover dry rot, have started a Gofundme page in the hope of covering some of the costs, which will be beyond their savings.

As first-time buyers, they thought they had done everything right before spending £203,000 on the home.

"We had a survey, we discussed any issues with the house with the sellers," said Mr Smith-Thaudal, a 43-year-old NHS digital developer who has developed a hacking cough since the builders' work filled the home with dust.

The property had seemed to be a "dream house", with "nice-looking finishing", he said, and it was in the catchment area of their sons' secondary school. The only issues raised by the surveyor were that two windows needed to be replaced and a floor strengthened.

"We paid just under £2,000 for the survey and we didn't pay the extra £1,000 for an intrusive survey because we couldn't afford it," said Mrs Smith-Thaudal. "Now we have learned the hard way."

The couple said the house, which dates back to around 1900, has a lot of rotting wood behind the surfaces. They do not know how long the infestation has been spreading but they say the builders have told them "it would take a long time to grow this much".

It is not clear how long the builders' work will need to continue. The family may have to stay elsewhere for a period if more dry rot is discovered.

It has been distressing to watch their house "getting smaller by the hour", they said. "We are doing this Gofundme as we do not know what else to do. We have set a limit of £30,000, but as the survey work is still ongoing, we do not know if that would be enough, dependent on how much more is uncovered." They hope that sharing their experience will "help other first-time buyers avoid purchases that can be life-changing, in the wrong way".