Are the builders CF??

[BeeBoBoop]

We are just coming to the end of a new kitchen project. Was meant to be 3-6 weeks, was 10, all sorts of shenanigans along the way. Whole project has cost 25k. We have 20% left to pay to the main contractor, when we sign of. At the snagging stage. Earlier today I knocked one of the plinths and it came away, so not fixed properly- and I looked underneath the cabinet. It's Fucking filthy under there. The whole project involved removing a wall, replastering the lot and a new floor, so in theory the kitchen fit should have been into a 'clean' room. The builders made a ton of dust and debris, and then just put the cabinets and appliances on top of it. I'm horrified. It would have taken 10 mins to sweep and sponge, but no! They didn't even pick up random shit they dropped. Now to clean underneath... I don't know how you'd even get proper access, and although the rest of the kitchen is clean I know there's just grub waiting to creep out. Am I being precious?? What on earth can we do about it- I can't imagine removing the whole lot to clean it out? Is this normal or is the builder an absolute cheeky fucker?? Here are some photos of the grub...

We live in a new build.... very reputable company and ours was the same! Bloody awful.... luckily the builders were still on site when I noticed so they were sent back in to clean up what they could!

Many moons ago I did temping, customer service at Bovis Homes - the shit the builders left was unreal - even so far as the remnants of their lunches under cabinets and behind bath panels. Grim.

Well, some little twat is going to have to get on his hands and knees with a dustpan and brush isn't he! It's absolutely ridiculous and you are right to be fuming, I know I would be.

In exes newbuild we found chip papers behind the bath panel

Yanbu

Urgh. So basically, it's fucking gross but they all do it.

Project manager has sent a 65 year old decorator over today to get on his hands and knees and try and muck out as much as he can...

Last week we were having a robust debate about whether it was acceptable to tell me the kitchen was finished when ALL the cupboards and drawers, doors plinths and appliances were covered in grime and building dust. Apparently the huge amount of money we were paying did not cover cleaning up after themselves.

After I contact the kitchen supplier who had brokered the fit out to check, and they confirmed that the place should be spotless on handover the builder BROUGHT HIS WIFE (a schoolteacher) AND MADE HER CLEAN THE CUPBOARDS. Gave me the rage so badly.

We had a new bathroom put in a couple of years ago.
The project manager was a massive twat (and I made sure she knew it) BUT the room was spotless when they'd finished.

It's not unreasonable to expect them to clean up after themselves.

WOW! 🙄 big company? Feel free to name and shame!

I'm glad you have someone coming to sort it.

Our builders frequently leave empty plastic bottles lying around and I make a big show of picking them up and putting them in a skip. But Why?? At some point I will snap and kill them and put them in the bloody skip.

@newmomof1 things is... that's a female project manager right?? So that's why it was clean.

I don't care if they are twats any more, I just want them to show the slightest bit of love and care for what they are doing in someone's house. The man who's currently trying to make good also smells terrible. So now the whole house reeks of old cigarette smoke and personal odour.

This is a subcontractor of Ikeas subcontractor. Which is a whole other shit show in itself...

@NotMaryWhitehouse definitely put them in the skip!!

While the kitchen was in the thick
of it, every night we would be kept awake by a huge number of foxes going nuts outside our window. We chalked it up to that time of year and bad luck until we realised the builders were putting lunch remnants in the rubble sacks in our front garden. My husband had to spend three hours going through every bag to sort it out.

Had stern words. Told it won't ever happen again. Last week, front garden becomes a fox party again... pot noodles in builders waste. Fox piss everywhere.

We have wheelie bins RIGHT THERE!!

Ohh my parents had some awful trouble with the contractors etc from Ikea for their kitchen. I do think in the end they complained to Ikea and were satisfied with the outcome.
I have been in tears this morning over similar situation. Having front room and stairs remastered and painted and it's been month and still not done. I'm heavily pregnant and me and toddler have been stuck in kitchen with all our furniture and I've had enough. The guy is massively mugging us off and I just feel like I can't do anything about it. Why are work men so awful!? They treat it like they're doing us a favour when they turn up!

Not quite as bad as the 2L bottle of piss I found in my loft conversion. Gross.

You'd have thought they'd take a bit of pride in their work wouldn't you? I had my house re-painted over a year ago now and they got sealant over every window and paint on my windowsills and front door which I still haven't managed to totally clean off. Before this I wondered if I was being a cheapskate by painting the interior of my house myself, but it actually looks better than the so called 'professional's' work on the outside.

In a new build we had before we moved in the patio doors got smashed, instead of cleaning it up they just dumbed soil on it then turfed over it.
Then 6 months later the glass came through the lawn (we then discovered what they did).
They had to come out and do the whole garden over again.

Oh I’m so sorry you’re having this trouble! It’s honestly the reason I do everything myself. Even building works- electrical- plumbing- everything. And I’m only one little weak woman. I’m not saying this to boast at all in any way- purely that I totally get your upset and I’ve had so many similar experiences. I now worry because I’m wondering how many years I’ll be able to push my body like a machine doing work that’s too big and heavy for me. My work is bloody perfect though. Takes ages but I am without the anxiety.
Sorry that’s no help whatsoever to you but I totally understand how you feel and you should expect them to clear up properly.

@sand 😲 WTF???

@Candymay don't suppose you'd come round my house would you?? I'm definitely going To be going around with a wee paintbrush next week

I've only ever known one builder really care about this stuff, he's wonderful, but he's essentially a decorator so not right for a structural kitchen job. I miss him. He's fucking expensive but he's blood sweat and tears of every detail. And he smells nice! Foolishly I've come to expect that from other people.

I'm going to talk to Ikea about it all yeah, and throughout I've found Ikea to be pretty good. Mistakes made but always super apologetic and quick to rectify them. I don't know what they can do about all this though really because technically it's additional works and not fit out...

My husband works in property on the legal side, he says any builder worth real money gets into big construction, offices, hospitals etc and wouldn't touch a residential job, so basically the only people on the market for us common folks are the guys who can't get a proper contract.

Even then on commercial sites it's basically a guy with a clipboard screaming at guys in hard hats about why the hell they've done something that way.

Thank you all for your stories, the glass in the lawn is horrific!!

Bottle of piss I got off lightly. They did knock the foul waste outflow and we had a leak from the loo into our garden shed that they've kept VERY quiet about, only found out after they'd fixed it and they haven't cleaned the shed out...

Job for me next week I think. I'm 4 months pregnant by the way with a toddler!!!

Glad you've brought this sort of thing up OP, this has happened to me so many times - people have done shoddy work or done such stupid unnecessary things and then when you challenge them they are outraged. My H says its a sense of entitlement - trades like this genuinely believe they are entitled to money for whatever they do, and woe betide anyone who complains.

I had a very clean and tidy builder, his subcontractors were all tidy people too. In fact if I hadn't have chatted to the plasterer when he was plastering the walls I would never have believed he did them. He was pristine clothing wise, no drips on the floor, nothing.

The builder also got into the skip to rearrange stuff so that they could fit more in, it was like real life tetris. Tidy and organised.

The electrician had a pouch thing attached to his utility belt that was a mini bin for the outer sheathing of the wiring that they strip off to expose the wires inside.

And no, my kitchen did not look like that underneath, they took great delight in hoovering it all out, including dusting down the cabinet doors from where all the sawdust clung before they stripped of the protective blue sheets.

So yes, they do exist.

This is why I NEVER leave tradespersons alone in the house. I keep my eye on them and they wouldn't get away with leaving rubbish hidden behind new fittings etc.

I'm like a Hyancith Bucket - I just appear at random. If I see they've left some bottle/wrappers outside after their lunch, I'll open a window and give them a shout to pick it up and put it in the bin. One guy was a smoker and left his butts on our patio - I gave him a little plastic bag and asked him to pick them up and put them in the bin on the last day!

They get away with it because people don't challenge them.

They really don’t care. Our builders screwed our dishwasher into the back of the kitchen island and then built everything around it: drawers, shelves etc. It was only when it broke and we needed it replaced that we realised.

Luckily we had a removable panel behind it but it was a real faff as it had electrical sockets in it that needed to be unwired and rewired.

But you’re not going to get your builder round to sort it seven years later are you?

We also had the wrong kind of grouting put in a bathroom so the floor tiles cracked. And the bathroom wasn’t tanked. The combination of the two things resulted in a leak through to our kitchen ceiling.

Some builders are just rip off merchants. The trouble is, you don’t know which ones until possibly years down the line, even if they have been recommended, as things don’t show up for years.

Had to take the plinths off to repair the cooker a couple of years ago and found lots of builders filth (lumps of plaster, chunks of block) and a paper from 1998

@Kazzyhoward I took 6 weeks off work (self employed) to babysit. Since the project overran by 4 weeks I couldn't watch them for the whole thing. I'm completely broke as a result of the time off.

I don't know if it's fair to blame the homeowner. I think they do it because they are dirty rotten CF with no standards!

Sorry but I think you're being ott. That's just saw dust from cutting the kitchen parts and a lump of plastic from fitting under the sink. Just stick a hoover attachment under there if you're that bothered. It's very normal to have dust left under a plinth and I'm not sure how you think the dirt is going to creep out. Fair enough to complain about the fact that it's overran but this is a non issue.

My husband is a builder. He is one of the most tidiest people I know. There is no way a site would be left messy. He even has a particular way to fill the skip and an industrial hoover. He is a main contractor and his contractors know how to leave things for the next contractor or stage when they are finished. he is renowed for his finish and perfectionism. However he finds when he prices things he is told he is too expensive and they go with someone cheaper or they go direct labour and project manage themselves(Even though they have no experience what so ever doing this) he then gets a call after to go back and help fix things. Cost them more in the long run. Best to do you research, its pays to go with a proper team, they have years experience and know what needs to. Get three quotes and also go and see their work and talk to people who have used them. You sign a contract then and have 6 months retention built in to your contract