T and L’s Home Repair Fundraiser

Our good friends T and L are expecting a baby within the month. They decided to repaint their flat to get ready for the baby, but little did they know that the mid-range Valspar paint B&Q Newcraighall mixed for them had a crucial ingredient in removed. Once they thought they were done with their DIY, the paint started producing horrendous fumes, giving them both headaches, burning/watering eyes, congested sinuses, and sore throats. Not livable, and not safe for a pregnant woman or a new baby.

The couple asked for the problem to be fixed and accommodation while that occurred. However, B&Q and Valspar offered only "goodwill payments" that would barely cover a couple of nights accommodation. These offers also came with the requirement sign a waiver stating that they wouldn't seek to recover any further costs. Valspar won't even confirm what is producing the problem or how to remedy the situation.

T and L followed Valspar's instructions to cover the paint with two layers of a BIN sealant, but that didn't stop the fumes from returning, and T had to heat-strip paint off of all the walls and ceilings that they had just sealed.

This was hours upon hours of back-and-arm-breaking work, even with help from 25 friends. T and L had to pay from their own pockets for decorators to replaster the walls and repaper the walls/ceiling. They thought that this would be the end of the saga, and that they could get back to preparing for their new child.

Then, a day ago, the stench was back and so are all the symptoms it is causing. They're trying to figure out where it is coming from now and how it has spread - maybe the ceiling that was papered over, possibly even the replastered walls. They may have to pay to replace the plasterboard in the ceiling, but they aren't sure this can even be achieved before the baby comes. Neither B&Q nor Valspar have provided any concrete information to base future action upon.

T and L are currently seeking alternative accommodation for the next three months, and will be seeking to take legal action against Valspar for the extraordinary ordeal they have had to go through when they should have been nesting for a lovely new baby.

Please join us in helping L and T to rebuild their lives and flat after this horrendous experience. They are on a very low income and can ill afford the expenses they have already had. They will need several hundred pounds to replace the ceiling, and a lot more to rent a safe place to have a baby and live for the baby's first two months of life. They will also need money to engage a solicitor who can help them recover costs from Valspar.