Ebbw Vale family's dream home turned into nightmare

Henrik and Tamsin Smith-Thaudal purchased the property in Ebbw Vale with three bedrooms for each of their sons in February, and quickly found dry rot in the dining area. 

Builders have already begun the process of mapping the fungus by stripping out much of the house, with infestations already uncovered in two bedrooms, the kitchen, bathroom and study areas. 

The rot has spread to the bathroom (Image: Supplied)The family of five are now reduced to living in three rooms in the "polished turd" as Mr Smith-Thaudal has described it. 

"We paid slightly more than market value for a house we thought was the perfect base for our family.

"It was important to us that we were finally able to give the boys a room each, and getting the youngest out of our bedroom.

"Coming from a rental that the past year had been infested with rats...this was meant to be creating our slice of heaven."

The work is currently ongoing, and may well cost more than the £30,000 the couple have budgeted for, so as their insurers do not cover dry rot, they have turned to GoFundMe for help. 

The rot has potentially become a full house infestation (Image: Supplied)Mr Smith-Thaudal added: "We don't even know if we are going to able to afford this ongoing work or how long it will last for. 

"We certainly can't afford to rebuild the house from scratch. We have no kitchen, no heating and no proper bathroom."

They have been told that a "full house infestation" is a distinct possibility, with the family potentially having to move out while work is completed. 

Already, walls, ceilings and "more roof than expected" have been removed, with more house "disappearing every day". 

The family are now living in just three rooms (Image: Supplied)Mr Smith-Thaudal says the ordeal has been very distressing for the whole family who had been looking forward to getting more room than they had been used to in their previous flat. 

He said: "We did have a survey carried out and thought we did everything right as first-time buyers to avoid a situation like this, but we've learned the hard way. 

"We still don't know the full extent as new horrors are unfolding every day."

The couple are also looking at having a full excavation done to enable a full damp repair, but need the support of their next door neighbour to do so, which they are working on. 

Mr and Mrs Smith-Thaudal wanted to share their experience to "warn other first time buyers of these potential dangers" that could cause a nightmare like their reality.