Defective infill material caused floors to crack

Construction: Dublin's largest house builder has promised to replace cracked floors at a north Dublin housing estate following…

Construction:Dublin's largest house builder has promised to replace cracked floors at a north Dublin housing estate following the discovery that defective material was used in the construction.

Laboratory tests have shown that a defective infill stone material used in building homes in Drynam Hall in Kinsealy has expanded. This has caused the ground floor to rise by a number of centimetres in some homes, causing floors and walls to crack.

The Drynam Hall estate developed by Menolly Homes and Hansfield Developments (a subsidiary of Menolly) comprises 300 homes, most of which are occupied.

It is believed that Menolly is carrying out tests on 60 homes in the estate that have experienced cracked floors and walls.

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The stone infill material was from a quarry, one of a number of stone suppliers to the Drynam development. Menolly is no longer taking infill from this quarry.

While the same material was used in the construction of portions of two other Menolly developments - Beaupark near Portmarnock and the Myrtle development in Baldoyle - the developer says there are no indications that the same problem has emerged.

Menolly has, however, initiated precautionary testing at these two developments.

The problem, according to the developer, is caused by the excessive presence of a mineral called pyrite in the stone infill used beneath the ground floor, causing the ground floor infill to expand.

"The foundations and structural integrity of these homes is not in any way affected and there are no health and safety issues associated with the presence of pyrite," according to the developer.

Séamus Ross jnr from Menolly Homes told The Irish Timesthat the company was "committed to rectifying the situation".

It is understood that Menolly has employed the services of international experts who have dealt with similar pyrite oxidation problems in Canada, where thousands of homes were affected.

Homebond, the building industry warranty scheme, said last night it was aware of seven or eight other homes experiencing similar problems in the north Leinster area. Homebond is currently investigating these cases to see if they have the same cause.

In a statement issued last night Homebond said: "At this stage there is no indication that this issue is widespread and our experts are satisfied that there is no health or safety issue related to this. We are also satisfied that the foundations of the houses have not been affected."

It is understood that the same quarry has been supplying other building firms in the Dublin area.