Remedial work on houses affected by pyrite in Kentstown

A construction problem involving the presence of pyrite, or 'fool's gold', in two Kentstown houses which forced families to evacuate into rented accommodation and led to almost two years of heartache has been resolved after the owners came to an agreement with Homebond. Homebond has now moved a contractor in to carry out major remedial work. The presence of pyrite in some homes throughout the State has caused major problems for homeowners and damage to houses caused by undermining of foundations and is the subject of court proceedings. Resolution of the serious problems in the Kentstown houses came about following the intervention of Meath East Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee who became involved in mediation talks between Homebond and the two families involved, the Farrells and the Rintouls and their advisers. As contractors started reconstruction and repair work this week, Shane Farrell said that he and his family were "absolutely delighted" that a settlement had been reached and that they were at last going to be able to get on with their lives after more than 18 months of "torture". Mr McEntee said he was glad the problem had been sorted out because of the terrible hardship and worry the affair had caused the two families. He said he had attended a number of meetings between Homebond, the families and their advisers. The result had been an agreement by Homebond to assess the situation, come to a conclusion and then appoint a contractor to carry out the remedial work. When Shane Farrell and his wife, Emer, and son, Daniel, moved into their new €458,000 house at Veldon Place, Kentstown, early in 2008, they felt they had their dream home at last. A year later, their house stood empty. They had to move out as the home they had always wished for gave every appearance of falling apart. There were deep cracks in the facade of the new house and the interior resembled something of a war zone with floors rising up, doors jamming, and splits appearing in the plasterwork and blockwork of the house. It appeared that an excess of pyrite had been used in the infill material under the concrete floors of the house. The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide. The mineral's metallic lustre and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue has earned it the name 'fool's gold', due to its resemblance to gold. The Farrell family, who now have a second child, Charlotte, had formerly lived in Kells and decided to move to Kentstown when they saw a house for sale at Veldon Place, just off the Laganara Road. It is one of four houses built on a small site by Prolan Ltd, a building company whose directors are John Finnegan and Michael Dardis. Shortly after moving in, the Farrells noticed a series of cracks. The problem was monitored for a period and suggestions were made that the cracks might be due to settlement. However, the problem persisted and checks were carried out by Homebond, which resulted in confirmation that pyrite was present in the sub-floor. The Farrells had to vacate the five-bedroom house and move into rented accommodation at a cost of €1,200-€1,300 a month. Their next-door neighbours, Alison and Stuart Rintoul, also bought a house from the Prolan company and it, too, exhibited the same symptoms as the Farrell home, with cracks in the interior walls and severe warping of the floors which led to doors jamming. Some rooms were unusable because of the problems. Mr Farrell said this week that the matter had been resolved through "a little bit of goodwill" on both sides. He and his wife hoped that the work would be completed by March and were happy that a guarantee was being attached by Homebond to the remedial work. Although the affair had caused them €30,000, and "an awful lot of worry and heartache", they said they were now glad to be able to put the episode behind them.