My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

The builders have used orange bricks for the new porch when our house bricks are beige/greyish

69 replies

Igiveupn0w · 12/12/2015 15:28

DH says he doesn't mind but I think it looks odd.
AIBU to have an expectation that they would match the bricks or should we have asked especially?Xmas Hmm

OP posts:
Report
ExasperatedAlmostAlways · 12/12/2015 15:30

No

Report
ExasperatedAlmostAlways · 12/12/2015 15:31

Oops meant to say, no, they should defo of matched the brick colour.

Report
MrsTerryPratchett · 12/12/2015 15:32

Urgh. That sounds awful. YANBU.

Report
Lomaamina · 12/12/2015 15:32

YANBU! Even if you don't mind it'll make the house difficult to sell.

Report
Bragadocia · 12/12/2015 15:33

I would expect the builders to have asked you before getting on with it. They are the people who do this week in, week out - homeowners don't exactly have porches built very often. They should know the questions to ask. This would really annoy me. Do you think maybe DH just wants to avoid a confrontation? How could it not bother him; it must.

Report
Jibberjabberjooo · 12/12/2015 15:34

Of course they should match the bricks. We had an extension built and they matched as much as they could.

Report
Sparkletastic · 12/12/2015 15:35

Of course they must match as closely as possible. Were you away whilst the work was being done?

Report
RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 12/12/2015 15:38

Of course they should match. Have you brought it up with the builder?

Report
Kaytee1987 · 12/12/2015 15:41

They should match! Surely they should have asked and even drawn up a colour design before starting work?

Report
fieldfare · 12/12/2015 15:43

Of course they should match! Did you not discuss it?!
If it's too much hassle to take down ugly, or they are really difficult about it you could always render and then paint it so it looks like you planned it that way to begin with?

Report
Igiveupn0w · 12/12/2015 15:45

I left in the dark and came back in the dark yesterday when they added this layer.Have only just spotted it!
Dh seems to think it might be a bit of a feature Grin but yes- I expect he would rather avoid the problem.

OP posts:
Report
KathyCantDoInteriors · 12/12/2015 15:46

How far up are they? Could they just be the foundation bricks?

Report
Baaaaaaaaaaaa · 12/12/2015 15:46

If the worst cones to the worst you can always colour match your porch using exterior paint. A bit of a pain, but not the end of the world considering!

Report
Igiveupn0w · 12/12/2015 15:47

No we didn't discuss it. I just expected it to match. That's why I posted in case it's not a given.

OP posts:
Report
Igiveupn0w · 12/12/2015 15:53

It's only going to be a dwarf wall - the rest is upvc so I can see why Dh is tempted to say it doesn't matter but if you are paying quite a lot for something it should be right! So making sure it is definitely not right before I talk to them about it on Monday.

OP posts:
Report
Goingtobeawesome · 12/12/2015 15:57

I couldn't get matching paint for the front wall and garage doors. We got the nearest match. It annoys me every fucking time.

Change them!!

Report
ThumbWitchesAbroad · 12/12/2015 16:01

YANBU - basic expectation is that it should look as similar as possible UNLESS you deliberately asked for a contrast, which you didn't.

Report
Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 12/12/2015 16:04

You can get brick stain which changes the cour of your bricks. Otherwise tell the builders you're not happy, and give them a chance to rectify the situation.

It must really odd.

Did they tie the bricks in?

Report
Garlick · 12/12/2015 16:07

It should be a given, but it isn't. Builders build. Designers design. An experienced professional would think to ask about which bricks - but did you choose it from a brochure? Were the bricks orange in the picture?

I fear you may be the 'experience' for this particular builder. You do need to raise it with them; you might feel it's worth an additional cost to have it re-done, or they may have some stopgap solution like a matching render already in stock.

Good luck!

Report
PurpleGreenAvocado · 12/12/2015 16:09

It's usually a condition of planning permission so no builder should be surprised to be expected to match the bricks. Obviously you don't need planning permission so the builder probably had some orange bricks left over from a different job and decided to cut his costs by using those. Where did he leave his horse while he was doing the porch?

Report
Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 12/12/2015 16:15

this might be the answer

Report
Titsywoo · 12/12/2015 16:26

Would it look better if you just render and paint it? Sometimes houses with some brick and some rendered sections looks better than all brick.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Ridingthegravytrain · 12/12/2015 16:26

I reckon it's a cost
Thing too. But you should have been given the choice. We had a wall built recently and the block orange (engineering or something I think they were called) were the cheapest but looked naff. But we were given a choice and priced accordingly by our builder

Definitely change it. I suspect you will need to pay more but it will irritate you as pp said

Report
earsarehurting · 12/12/2015 16:28

I work in the trade and they should definitively have discussed it with you if they were not going to match the bricks, and you should have been able to see a sample.
I would look at the quote they have given, just to make sure it does not specify a particular brick (bricks can vary hugely in cost believe it or not), before you complain. THis ways you know where you stand.

Report
Igiveupn0w · 12/12/2015 16:29

Thanks everyone.
I don't know what tying in means - sorry.
Would changes be at my cost? It's costing a lot already! We didn't choose anything except the glass design (which they have wrong but we don't mind)
Dh has texted them. I've had a crap, falling down rotting porch for 13 years now. I was really happy to finally be having something nice which I need no longer feel embarrassed about.Sad
Thanks for the advice regarding rendering and dye. We rarely pay for work to be done. I just feel it should be right!

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.