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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:
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6
CuriousaboutSamphire · 27/02/2021 09:25

Sneaky? He was just getting it sorted before he, and the fireplace man, started their day's work!

TheMatryoshka · 27/02/2021 09:25

What did you think they would do with it? Would you have been happier if it was thrown on a skip?

I'm glad it will get a new home although I can't see why anyone would want to rip out a beautiful original Victorian fireplace in a Victorian house in the first place

ScoobyBlues · 27/02/2021 09:25

I'm renovating a Victorian house, I won't tell you how much I just paid for a fireplace.
Ahhhh, go on!

SmidgenofaPigeon · 27/02/2021 09:26

Anyone care to hazard a guess on how much it might have sold for? I’m curious.

MissMarpleTheMurderer · 27/02/2021 09:26

@Designjunkie

Fair enough. I think I am more annoyed with myself. It was more the way it was done. A knock on the door at 7:30 and not telling us what was happening. I think if he had taken it away himself it wouldn’t have appeared slightly off. Made it seem he knew it was a bit sneaky. Anyway, you’re all right. Just needed to hear it from someone else.
OK I backtrack a bit. Yes his actions show he knows it was sneaky. He knows its value and as someone you have employed in your home you want to trust him. I guess a decent person would have certainly have split the cost.
harknesswitch · 27/02/2021 09:27

How is it a bit sneaky? You asked him to remove it, so he did

luxxlisbon · 27/02/2021 09:27

@Designjunkie There was nothing sneaky about it OP. Stop trying to make yourself feel better about being annoyed.
The builders are there most Saturdays, they knew you were in the house, how is it sneaky to arrange a collection for a time when you are home and will be fully aware of what is happening?

Cocomarine · 27/02/2021 09:27

So what if he did say, “Joe, get in there ASAP and don’t mention what you’re collecting, in case the lazy daft more money than sense bat realises how much she’s giving away”?

Still doesn’t make what they did wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sneaky is projecting because you know you made a mistake. Sneaky when the fireplace van was parked outside?!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 27/02/2021 09:28

I know how much they cost... depending on how much cast iron, tiles etc. Scary how much money just walked out of the door!

SquirtleSquad · 27/02/2021 09:28

@Designjunkie

Fair enough. I think I am more annoyed with myself. It was more the way it was done. A knock on the door at 7:30 and not telling us what was happening. I think if he had taken it away himself it wouldn’t have appeared slightly off. Made it seem he knew it was a bit sneaky. Anyway, you’re all right. Just needed to hear it from someone else.
It's not sneaky in the slightest.
ScoobyBlues · 27/02/2021 09:28

Yes his actions show he knows it was sneaky
What!
I can't see this at all! What part of his actions?

KihoBebiluPute · 27/02/2021 09:29

It's totally reasonable for you to decide you can't be arsed with the faff of finding a buyer, and just wanting it gone, because the prospect of extra cash isn't worth it to you compared with the effort required.

It's totally reasonable for the builder to decide that it's worth his while to put in the effort to find a buyer and organise the logistics of collection in order to make a bit of extra cash.

It's totally unreasonable for you to be annoyed with the builder or to expect a cut of the proceeds.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 27/02/2021 09:29

I guess a decent person would have certainly have split the cost.
Why? Ope said get rid. Simple as that. If she said, can you sell it, you have contacts and we can share, now that would be a different matter

StCharlotte · 27/02/2021 09:29

YABU for taking out a Victorian fireplace for starters.

Original poster
Designjunkie · 27/02/2021 09:30

We have fireplaces in all of the rooms. To be honest I was having second thoughts but didn’t have the space to store it while looking for a buyer. Also a friend had done similar when renovating and told me they didn’t sell for much, although they are resold for much more.

I knew he would sell it himself. It just felt weird how it was done. But i get it IABUBlush

OP posts:
MrsWhites · 27/02/2021 09:30

How is it sneaky if he had a van outside your house with fireplace restoration written on it!

Sorry OP but it comes across as if you couldn’t be bothered with any of the leg work but now you’ve got a sniff of some cash exchanging hands you want in!

WildfirePonie · 27/02/2021 09:32

Eh? You told him to get rid and he did!

minipie · 27/02/2021 09:32

To make you feel better OP I tried selling two period fireplaces (one Victorian cast iron and one Art Deco I think) and struggled to find a buyer.
Eventually “sold” them to the company installing our new fireplace in part exchange but other fireplace companies I tried didn’t want the bother (they weren’t especially pretty ones)

Jackie2022 · 27/02/2021 09:33

Why does a knock on the door at 7:30 even matter? You keep repeating that. It’s not “sneaky”, it’s a completely normal time for you to be awake. Presumably the fireplace company are on the road all day travelling a large area and your home was one of the first of the day.

insancerre · 27/02/2021 09:33

Sneaky?
How?
Nothing about this is sneaky in the least

AndOffFlewMyLastFuck · 27/02/2021 09:35

@Bluntness100

I'd report him too, I'm not sure who to, but it appears to be the standard advice on here Literally every response is not that..,so hardly standard. 😂
Shut yer face @Bluntness100 , if I say it's standard it is,so there! 😂😂😂😂
Original poster
Designjunkie · 27/02/2021 09:36

Yes, my friend told me a similar story, they can be difficult to sell. I think she got £150 for a tiled Victorian one. I know they resell for around £1500.

OP posts:
WithMyOldCockLinnet · 27/02/2021 09:36

You could easily have called the fireplace place yourself Confused

What did you envisage when you told him to get rid of it?

Ah well, live and learn. And in the bigger scheme of things sometimes you just have to let stuff go.

I have loads of really good stuff I could e bay but I don’t have the time. So... shrug.

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 27/02/2021 09:37

Isn't the bit you are missing just practicality. It's a fireplace. It's big and heavy and liable to get damaged. He's not going to want to take it to his own place and then to the fireplace specialist just to save your blushes when he could just do one journey
You are overthinking this.

judgingcat · 27/02/2021 09:38

YABU, he's doing exactly what you asked.