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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My builder just took my fireplace

342 replies

Designjunkie · 27/02/2021 09:09

I am currently having some building work done and a fireplace in the bedroom had to be removed. It is a very pretty tiled Victorian one. I had intended to sell it but with lockdown and not having any place to store it I told my builder to get rid of it. At 07:30 this Saturday morning my husband answers the door to one of the builders saying he needs to take some stuff from our site. He doesn’t say what he is taking. We weren’t expecting them today although they usually work on most Saturdays so we weren’t surprised to see one of them. It’s only when my husband sees a van from a fireplace specialist outside that he clicks that the builders have sold our fireplace. By then it is too late to go and stop them as they leave before my husband can go talk to them. AIBU to be annoyed my builder didn’t tell me what he was up to or am I being ungrateful as I told him to get rid of it ? I feel it was a bit underhand as it just happened without my knowledge. Should I say anything to my builder or let it go ?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/02/2021 19:47

This can’t be real?

🎤🎶🎶🎶
Is this a real theread?
Is it just a fantasy?
Caught in a building site
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up the users and seeeeeeeeeeeeee
It's just some OP
Doesn't need no sympathy
Because she agreed, she is BU
Yesterday, so y'all YABU
Anyway your posts blow doesn't matter anymore to her, to heeeeeeer

DianaT1969 · 28/02/2021 19:49

Actually I think he did it very smoothly to be there the same time as the Fireplace Company. In and out. No messing a piece of history gets off to its new owner intact.

AmberItsACertainty · 28/02/2021 19:54

ShrodingersInmmigrant 🤣🤣🤣

jules19702 · 28/02/2021 19:58

You told him to get rid of it though!

SoupDragon · 28/02/2021 20:00

[quote JesusInTheCabbageVan]@SoupDragon stop being silly. You've let me down; you've let MN down; but most importantly, you've let yourself down. [/quote]
Do I look bovvered?

JammyDozen · 28/02/2021 20:13

Sad this has been reduced to money. I'd rather give something like this away for free if I thought there was some chance it would go to someone who who appreciated it. I don’t think you’d get much for an average Victorian fireplace as an individual seller, but the businesses who just do them up and sell them on offer a full service which is appealing to buyers so if you give/sell to them for a low price it will find its way to the right person ultimately.

Better not to remove in the first place though - although I like mine, I think it is too small for the room, something I only saw when it was in situ.

DenisetheMenace · 28/02/2021 20:15

You told him to get rid of it. What did you expect?

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 28/02/2021 20:15

GIRLS.

I have never seen such brazen disrespect, and the language. 'Blow', @SchrodingersImmigrant? Blow? The young ladies in this academy do not 'blow' anything except their soup, at table.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/02/2021 20:24

Apologies for my simply unacceptable language there. I did not mean to offend anyone. I just took it too far, I guess. I am a simple folk. I just enjoy when I manage to get song stuck in someone's heeead, someone's heeeead, someone's head, someone's head, someone's hea hea hea hea hea ea ea ea ea ead

Usernamerequired · 28/02/2021 20:36

@SchrodingersImmigrant your cunning plan worked, totally stuck in my head. Great song though 👌🏻

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/02/2021 20:37

Oh ffs! That backfired here!😳

Muahahahahaha though. I am not the only one😂

Beaumont1967 · 28/02/2021 20:55

miss comunication im sure if the job thhe builders are doing is ok the odd bit of money they make if you didnt need it they probley did you a favour shame you could not have asked if he could have given you help getting a new home for it with a bit of money shared between you but no storage no cost to you best next time to comunicate hope your builder does a good job xx

llizzie · 01/03/2021 00:33

Well now we all know that there is money in old fireplaces.

Mamanyt · 01/03/2021 01:18

He did precisely as you instructed him to do. Had you thought this through, you could have done the same thing. Lesson learned, and quit your griping.

Prinzy · 01/03/2021 02:12

you absolutely are being unreasonable, you could have sold it yourself, covid or not somebody would have paid to collect.

you choose not to and decided to let somebody else deal with removing this huge item from your property, which the council probably would have charged you £20 to take to the skip btw.

you wilk be 'miffed' knowing you could have got decent money for it, but the unfortunate point is you couldn't be bothered.

don't be mad at the builders, be mad at yourself for not using your own initave and selling it/storing it for yourself.

stay safe and move on, forget it. we al make these annoying mistakes

cerealgamechanger · 01/03/2021 03:51

Those of us who've lost interest in the OP and are only reading because of

@SchrodingersImmigrant, @JesusAteMyHamster and @JesusInTheCabbageVan's comments 🙋🏻‍♀️

Wandavision · 01/03/2021 04:06

Ooh, I can recall my friend 18yrs ago putting her 'ye olde bathroom suite' in her garden and someone swiping it in under 2hrs 😂 one person's trash is another person's treasure. She wasn't bothered as she'd have been paying for collection regardless, and clearly if it made someone a few quid in the process of her spending none? Then no harm done.

BerylCook · 01/03/2021 04:57

@cerealgamechanger

Those of us who've lost interest in the OP and are only reading because of

@SchrodingersImmigrant, @JesusAteMyHamster and @JesusInTheCabbageVan's comments 🙋🏻‍♀️

No
SchrodingersImmigrant · 01/03/2021 07:20

Thank you kindly @cerealgamechanger 😂

Am I the only one fascinated by the fact that people can see there are hundreds of posts on a thread, but still think their YABU and "move on" etc was like... not said before? If you see 300+ posts why the hell wouldn't you at least quickly scroll through to see OP's answers or click on that see all button🤷🏻

EmmaGrundyForPM · 01/03/2021 09:27

@Mamanyt

He did precisely as you instructed him to do. Had you thought this through, you could have done the same thing. Lesson learned, and quit your griping.
If you'd rtft you'd know the OP has stopped her griping.

She's also cancelled the cheque

DuchessHastings · 01/03/2021 10:33

@JohnLapsleyParlabane

Yes you call your builder and tell him he owes you the price received as it wasn't his to sell
She told him to get rid of it she didn't specify how
Arnold106 · 01/03/2021 10:44

He was told to get rid he did it’s his business how he does it !
If she organized a company to remove it she would need to pay a fee

Tiredwiththeshits · 01/03/2021 13:16

Fair play to him! If you had any intention of selling it you shouldn’t have given him instructions to get rid of it. Nice it’s gone on to be used by someone else.
Yabu

Kateguide · 01/03/2021 13:36

Well done OP for having the emotional intelligence to recognise that you had a moment of madness. You've acknowledged it. You now have a larger, more useful room.

I sold my fireplace over lockdown, solid marble - nice, but just not to our taste. Over £2500 new, we sold it for £220. Was a bit of a faff to organise and had to house it for a couple of weeks until collection so I don't think you've really lost anything.

The 7:30 wake up call without notice would've annoyed me most

silverbubbles · 01/03/2021 13:51

You are not making any sense!
If you go moaning at your builder for him doing exactly as you asked then you are likely to jeopardise your relationship with him which might then lead to other things.

Put this one down to experience and in future get off your arse and sell things yourself if you care about the money......