After the move
Looking after you looking after your home
Having now received the keys to your new home, another chapter
of customer care begins. Your Sales Advisor will contact you within
14 days, and a further call from our Customer Care Department* will
follow a month later.
*Definitions can be found in the glossary.
Settling in...
Within fourteen days your Sales Adviser will call you. We want
to make sure that you are happy with your home and to answer any
further queries you may have.
Anything that is less than perfect can be raised with us at this
point. We will bring it to the attention of the Customer Care
Department who will aim to have any teething troubles remedied by
the end of your first month.
Around this time, you will also be invited to answer a few
questions about your new home and the quality of service you have
received to date. We value your Feedback!
After a month...
At this point, our Customer Care Manager will be in touch with
you and make arrangements to visit you in your new home.
It would be our intention to have remedied any snagging* matters
prior to this visit taking place.
This is an opportunity for our Customer Care Manager to assess
at first hand whether any remedial work has been carried out to
your satisfaction and ensure that it meets with our own high
standards of workmanship.
If any outstanding work remains, our Customer Care Manager will
liaise directly with the relevant contractors and ensure that it
becomes a priority matter, and will keep you routinely updated.
In order to allow us to carry out this work, we will require
access to your home. As far as possible, every effort will be made
to avoid unnecessary disruption.
*Definitions can be found in the glossary.
Running in your new home
Rather like a new car needs to be "run-in" your new home also
needs a little tender loving care during the first few months.
The NHBC Guide to Your New Home booklet (contained in Your
Essential New Home Pack) offers lots of relevant advice and
information about how to successfully settle into your new
home.
Drying out & condensation
When we were building your home, it would have absorbed a lot of
moisture. This is due to both the weather and the fact that some
building materials, such as plaster and mortar, contain water. This
is perfectly normal and totally unavoidable.
During the first few months of living in your new home, it will
still be drying out. Normal household chores such as cooking and
washing may create moisture, which can cause condensation. So it is
important to consider the following useful tips:
- Keep your home well ventilated and keep windows open as much as
possible.
- If you have to close windows at any time make sure that the
trickle vents (slotted vents on the window frames) are open
instead.
- In the first year, it is a good idea to try and keep your home
properly heated. Rooms that are not in constant use should still be
heated, although at a lower temperature than rooms you use all the
time. Remember that heating can be set a few degrees lower and
turned up when you return home.
- Try to avoid overfilling wardrobes and cupboards and leave as
much space as possible for air to circulate.
- When cooking, remember to make use of the cooker hood's
extractor fan to avoid too much steam building up.
- The NHBC also advise that it may not be wise to carry out any
redecorating (especially wall papering) within the first 9 - 12
months, as this may delay the drying out process.
By following these simple tips, you can expect to enjoy maximum
levels of comfort in your new home.