New houses take up to 12 months to ‘dry out’ properly. Moisture within the structure of the building slowly evaporates away so there should not be any obvious damp patches.
Hanging wallpaper prolongs the drying out process because the moisture cannot escape through the plaster. For this reason we recommend that wall surfaces be painted with emulsion in the first instance.
The drying out process also causes small cracks to appear in plaster, particularly at the junctions of walls and ceilings and around door frames. These cracks are not structural and can be filled and decorated over.
Concrete flooring may not be completely dried out. For this reason we would recommend that a moisture level reading is obtained by the tiling or wooden floor supplier prior to the laying of any floor covering to ensure the concrete floor has dried sufficiently.
Apex shall provide information on the heating controls for your home, please read it and familiarise yourself with the location of your boiler, time switch, etc. Also, find out where the water mains stopcock and the electrical meter and fuses are. The responsibility for repairing your house generally remains with the builder for at least the first 6 – 12 months.