Garden landscape. Not happy. What do you think?

[Livinginchaos]

I had my garden landscaped recently. This is the first time I have ever had a big job done in my house. Something I have saved up for a long time for.

The tradesman is in tomorrow and I am not sure if aibu re some of the issues I want to bring up. Can anyone help me please?

The edge of the patio isn't straight. See picture 3 as an example but this is all around the edge of it.

The step doesn't seem finished and looks ugly. We agreed to a wooden edging but you can see the concrete layer above it. See picture 2

He has put wood alongside the edges of the patio but it looks rubbish. See the gap between the wood and the paving slabs, and between the two adjoining sections of wood. He also has put little wooden struts alongside it which looks awful and doesn't seem necessary. See picture 1

He also said he would take out a tree but now says its too difficult and I need to pay a tree surgeon to do it. He has left me with a stump.

Patio is not evenly placed: some gaps where pointing is are extremely thin and some much wider. Mumsnet won't let me upload another picture but you can probably see from the ones here. I know he will say that the nature of the slabs is that they are uneven, but this seems like an excuse for the level of differences between the slabs.

Am I being unreasonable? Would you be happy with this?

He comes over tomorrow to finish off so I need to be prepared with what I want to say.

@PeanuttyButter

That doesn't look great at all. How he has arranged the flags too are completely wrong and spoils the asthetics. Gaps are uneven.

Yeah the pattern is all wrong - it should look like Etymology's picture.

You’re not stupid.

I’ve had no end of trouble with tradesmen as a single parent- I think they often try and take the piss.

Had you paid upfront?

YANBU - looks more like a keen DIY job, and passable as such with no labour costs. When I bought my house I had my quite large garden done - went for the cheapest quote. Looked fab - but years down the line realised the choice of plants was very inappropriate, with no vision for the future in terms of how much space things need and how enormous some things would grow. I would always try to go on recommendations in future. I hope he is reasonable when you challenge him OP.

I would be very disappointed with the standard of work if that's the finished job. It looks like somebody with barely any skills or knowledge did it, really rough around the edges

I'd expect the wood to rot at some point in the future too. The elements always seem to destroy wood eventually

DP is in the process of taking apart a raised flowerbed that was already here when we bought the house ten years ago. Back then it looked great but now the wood has began to rot and the soil is coming through

@Livinginchaos has the builder put it right?

@QueenStromba no. Its beyond repair. They turned nasty and were swearing etc. I was glad to see them leave as I felt vulnerable.

I have had an expert in to look at the work and it's not only cosmetic unfortunately. The patio runs water towards the house and is at the same levels and the damp proof course. That is one big issue of many.

The whole garden needs taking up and redoing.

I was an idiot a had already paid them. No idea why I have been such a walkover. Next stop: small claims court.

[quote Livinginchaos]@QueenStromba no. Its beyond repair. They turned nasty and were swearing etc. I was glad to see them leave as I felt vulnerable.

I have had an expert in to look at the work and it's not only cosmetic unfortunately. The patio runs water towards the house and is at the same levels and the damp proof course. That is one big issue of many.

The whole garden needs taking up and redoing.

I was an idiot a had already paid them. No idea why I have been such a walkover. Next stop: small claims court.[/quote]
Oh, i’m so sorry

Oh no! What a nightmare. I hope you get it all sorted soon.

Looks like DIY.

Where did you find the person who did this? I think in this past year or so a lot of people have turned to alternative work they’re not qualified to do, wondering if this may be such a case?

So sorry, you must be so disappointed.

I was almost wondering about DIY…

B&Q, Wickes, Homebase all have videos on how to lay a patio yourself. It’s as if he watched one of those and just thought he’d do it.

OP, I’m sorry! Quite a few people have had this kind of issue with a tradesman once (when dealing with plasters, plumbers, electricians, all at the same time, it’s understandable that one of them might be less than stellar). It’s just unfortunate because you’re only having one job done on your house, so that’s that. I think small claims court should easily be in your favor with photographs, the expert opinion, and I’m sure some MN users can come with you “I couldn’t believe how terrible her thread was! Those bastards should pay up!” Definitely swing the decision in your favor.

Did you pay them because you felt threatened?

If so, go to the police.

A woman on her own?

Feeling coerced to pay for awful work when she complained because she felt threatby their anger? Police matter.

Awful job. You poor woman.

Don’t feel like a mug OP. It’s so hard to know with tradespeople. We had 3 quotes for our garden. I was dreading the last one as I really liked him and he definitely came across as the most knowledgeable so thought he’d be ridiculously expensive. He actually quoted half the price of the other two and did a fantastic job.
One thing I would recommend is asking for recommendations on a site like NextDoor. That’s where we found ours and it was so reassuring to speak to someone who’d previously had their garden done by them and see their photos.

Also, I don’t know what you paid, OP, but here’s a guideline to determine if the quote was “fair” to begin with (if your patio is 40m2, it should have been between roughly £2,200 and £6.000 - and the £6K is only assuming you had very expensive pavers selected.

www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/patio-laying-cost/

We have a lovely WhatsApp group in my very urban setting.

Many of the neighbours I don't know, despite living here for 25 years.

However, their are constant requests for a recommendation for different trades etc., and invariably they will come back and confirm the recommendation.
The amount of work these guys get from it is phenomenal.

Absolutely no one comes on my property to do anything without being highly recommended.

It saves so much heartache.

I feel for you OP, paying for cowboy work is terribly upsetting.