Should I worry about Mundic?

Mundic is a Cornish word used to describe a mineral of iron containing sulphur, known as pyrite (frequently known as fools gold) or iron pyrites.

The mineral was in mining waste from the Cornish tin industry and was seen as a cheap and easily available material for mixing into concrete blocks when
building houses. These mining waste tips were widespread throughout the south west, wherever mining activity had taken place. During the early part of the 20th century builders, until the 1950's, used this cheap and readily available source of mixed aggregate for the production of concrete blocks and concrete for construction. The mine waste rock was of a coarse aggregate with fine mix aggregates produced from beach sand, china clay waste or mineprocessing residue and seemed perfect for the task back then.

Unfortunately, this Mundic aggregate deterioates with age, becoming weaker and unstable and in extreme cases simply crumbles away. The deposits in mundic concrete cause blocks to break apart after years of exposure to moisture. In an advanced state of deterioration Mundic concrete becomes
unsound and in many severe cases has lead to affected buildings being demolished. In most instances the presence of Mundic materials cannot be
identified visually and the building may show no obvious signs of distress. For this reason a mundic test or full concrete screening test by an experienced specialist is the only way of identifying that a property is unaffected. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) issues the current guidelines for dealing with mundic properties, and it is these guidelines that property professionals use when assessing properties and making recommendations.

Approximately five per cent of the houses built in Cornwall and to some degree Devon in the first half of the 20th century are thought to have concrete
contaminated with mundic in large enough quantities to create major problems. Fortunately, these minerals are no longer acceptable in the manufacture of blocks and concrete today so the problem of mundic is limited to before the 1950's.

Due to the number of properties potentially containing mundic, it is vital to ask some questions when researching holiday let properties to buy in Devon and Cornwall. It is important to clarify exactly when the property was built. If it was built before the 1950's then question the agent about previous Mundic tests and the results. Beware of agents who evade this question, they should have good local knowledge and mundic will certainly have cropped up before with other properties. Also remember that an older property may have been extended and added to over the years with Mundic possibly used at some point. There may be no obvious signs of Mundic deterioration or decay, so do not simply take an outside view.

If the property is still desirable to you then consult an expert in the field of Mundic and instruct a full concrete screening test. If the property will be
financed, by way of a holiday let mortgage or loan (or any type of mortgage), then the lender will almost certainly insist on a Mundic test anyway. Cash buyers will not receive this additional prompt so need to carefully query the agent or vendor before exchanging contracts.
 

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