To feel so foolish for underestimating house renovation timescale

[Eastie77Returns]

Apologies this is long:((

We bought our house in March. I had a number of ongoing threads for months as there were so many ups and downs so felt incredibly relieved when we finally Completed.

It is a 3/4 bed semi and I knew it needed work when I first viewed back in September but only had a vague understanding of the level required. The survey/report didn’t flag any major issues so I told DP that we should move in upon completion and just renovate as and when.

When we went for the pre-exchange viewing in Feb (the first time I had seen it since September) it became apparent the kitchen and bathroom would have to be ripped out as they were in an awful state. The vendor was an older woman with significant mental health issues and the place had been left to wrack and ruin. Despite this I was misguided enough to give our landlady 2 months notice as I thought the house would be liveable in that time. DP, who has actually renovated houses before said nothing to dissuade me.

So we move out next week and the situation is this: bathroom is done but we are looking at least another 3 months for the rest. The rest of the house needs to be plastered, ceilings still to be taken down, complete rewiring, new flooring has been ordered and has a 4 week lead time and can’t be laid until plastering etc is done. I agreed to DP’s suggestions without understanding the timeframes such as moving the boiler into an exterior utility room which will take a several weeks as we wait for the engineer to remove and install the new one.

We will now have to stay with my parents which I am absolutely dreading (that’s a whole other thread). Kids schooling is up in the air as their new school is several miles from parents so would be easier to keep them at current school around the corner but think I have to move them now or loose the places.

I frequently feel like crying and wake up each day feeling anxious and stressed. I also completely understand this is a first world problem and there are millions of people with real and bigger problems than me.

Thank you if you’ve got this far. I’m just venting at my foolish naivety really and also hoping for some success stories from anyone whose renovations actually happened a lot quicker than they thought?

@Eastie77Returns what a nightmare! When you send the electric certificates in, the BC department would presumably clarify if anything else is required to sign off the developments...

Yes I meant it was weird that AO sent someone who was physically unable to do they job! Glad it’s getting sorted though

Oh god OP this brought back horrendous memories of our nightmare builder!

A 12 week build that took 8 months! We were living in the house at the time, it was awful! No boiler for months, the new kitchen arrived & was packed into the old kitchen - we could hardly move - came in & did the knock through without any warning or putting up a dust screen & the whole house was covered in dust! All sorts of crap - like yours he had taken on too much work & had an army of very unhappy customers!

We sacked him in the end, we had lots of threatening phone calls which we just ignored!
We contacted a plastering company & he flooded the place with workers - did all the plastering finished off the boxing in & actually saved us!
He restored my faith in human nature!

@Janesdufflecoat 8 months, I just can’t imagine how awful that was. We are 3 months in and I’m losing my mind.

I am not religious but there is a lovely old church behind our house and I went to inside today and just sat in silent contemplation. I actually started crying at as I felt so stressed.
On one hand we’ve made progress, especially since getting rid of the horrible builder, but on the other it still feels as if there is a never ending list of things to do.

I need to choose colours as the new builders will be decorating whilst we are away on holiday in a couple of weeks but I can’t muster the energy or enthusiasm. Also need to choose a sofa and a kitchen table - spotted a lovely farmhouse style one on Etsy - but again feel so drained by all the choices I have to make. Ideally I want to visit the workshop where the table is made but it’s a 3.5 hour drive from here. I suppose I could take the DC and make a weekend of it as it’s close to a nice city. At least it would mean escaping the dusty house.

We have renovated 4 hours we before living in them (pre children!). Husband is a landlord and often renovates. Much easier when you're not living in it. We have an extension in our current home. 8 week timescale. We are now on week 19 and it's bloody depressing.

Things can take an age but it's worth it in the end. Shit having to do it, though.

@asdfff week 19, ouch. Can I ask what has caused the delay? We were considering an extension (absolutely no way at this point) and loft conversion. I keep reading about these kinds of projects that are scoped to take x weeks and end up over-running by months. I assume it’s due to unforeseen issues being uncovered once work begins. And incompetent trades😂

I now have huge admiration for people who renovate themselves. I wish with all my heart I was handy and had the wherewithal to do a lot of this work myself. I’d love to enrol on a basic carpentry course but I’d never find the time to attend.

I'm so sorry to hear of the further hassle you've encountered today OP, what a bloody nightmare your job is turning out to be, I really feel for you. As far as A.O goes, even though they've done well by you previously, there is no way this guy should be working if he's unable to lift heavy items, so please put in a complaint, as these companies really do need to know when this sort of thing crops up. We currently have our home on the market, and over the last week or so have been lead to expect a second viewing which has never materialised, even though it was more or less promised. It's a bit of a convoluted tale, but I was getting pretty pissed off about it, so emailed the manager, and within an hour, I had an email apologising profusely, and saying how pleased she was that I'd let her know what had happened, as she planned to treat it as a training opportunity with her staff, so that it wouldn't happen again. So, like I said, they really do need to know, if we all want better service.

If Grand Designs has taught me anything it's that almost every house built/renovation runs over time and over budget. You are not alone and not foolish in the slightest!

Of course. We found a building firm who looked fairly reliable but in truth it was borderline impossible to get any tradesmen following covid. Be it a boom in home renovations with saved money or a backlog of work, I'm not sure. So we were ultimately left with very little choice. We drew up a contract with a financial penalty of £500 per week as they ran over. They agreed and signed the dotted line and the work commenced. We spent 4 weeks abroad in order to escape the dust and relentless noise. We came back to not much progress at all.

They used a joiner to fit the roof. My toddler could have done a better job - the material is lifting already which is worrying given the weather in Scotland. The internal walls have holes in them, the floor (real wood flooring that we had fitted 9 months prior) for the extended floor space has snapped due to being fitted on an uneven surface, plaster is flaking from the walls, sockets are wonky, external render not completed, our garden is ruined. Honestly, I could go on.

The 'boss man' came with 6 other men when my husband requested a meeting for remedial work - presumably to intimidate - and was truly revolting. My husband said he wouldn't have a choice but to take them to court and he welcomed it and went no contact. Since we paid through Mastercard, we can realistically claim a large proportion of the money back and have the remedial work done ourselves but we have to hold fire for now until our solicitor has everything tied up.

With a baby and a toddler and a borderline building site in the back of our house, it's an absolute nightmare. I categorically wouldn't ever do an extension again.

My husband largely used Polish tradesmen for work in his rentals. A truly lovely lot - super talented and hard working. Lots moved back to Poland during covid and some have moved on to bigger things. They put Scottish tradesmen to shame!

asdfff I’m so sorry, that is horrendous and with two young DC in the mix it must be stressful. The revolting boss man sounds horribly familiar. I hope your solicitor manages to get everything tied up soon.

Agree re. Polish tradesmen. Have found Eastern Europeans trades in general are great. We had two fantastic Romanian guys replace our bathroom, an Albanian who did a brilliant job with the kitchen worktops and currently have a Lithuanian and Romanian installing the flooring. The work ethic is second to none. I wonder if learning a trade is held in greater esteem in E Europe than in the U.K. , ie seen as on a par with professional jobs and not something you fall into if you’re not academic, and therefore attracts a higher calibre of motivated people.

So we’ve had a fully working Rangemaster for over a week now. Yay. After 3 abortive attempts we cancelled the installation option with AO.com and decided to find someone ourselves. Then DP realised that the British Gas boiler installation he paid for also included appliances so called to BG. Unfortunately they sent the same surly, sexist contractor who came previously to fix the pipework. I noticed he was polite and deferential to DP which annoyed me even more.

New builders have been patiently waiting for me to choose the colour scheme for the house. They start next week whilst we are on holiday. I’ve just hit analysis paralysis after looking through so many Insta and Pintrest accounts. If in doubt I’ll just go for some version of white as right now I can’t really make a choice. I actually ended up doing this in the bathroom (we have mixed colour floor tiles and grey tiles on the bottom half of the wall and I couldn’t decide on a colour for the top half so just chose white as an interim but actually it looks great and I’m sticking with it).

So much low level admin to deal with that is increasing my stress levels. Dowling and Reynolds sent all the door knobs and handles without screws so have been waiting for that to turn up so DP can sort out that job. I’m actually nervous about letting him loose on the new kitchen cabinets and wondering if I should just ask the handyman to do it..

Our boiler pressure constantly falls so there is def still a leak somewhere and everyone is in agreement that it is under the ground floor. We had several leaks fixed upstairs due to the botched pipework Awful Builder carried out. New builders have also suggested we replace the lead pipes we have which might help with the low pressure we are experiencing in the bathroom. Water basically trickles out of the shower. Thames Water came out today to investigate and also said that might help. It's definitely an internal issue as the pressure downstairs on the cold water tap is absolutely fine. It’s about £1k to replace and we are already running low on funds.

On that note, I sent a letter to Awful Builder requesting a refund for the work he did not start (but I stupidly paid for up front). I also sent pictures illustrating the damage his botched pipework and electrics caused together with a demand for the money back I had to spend remedying it. No response yet and DP wants to go down the small claims route. Not sure there is any point. According to online records his company is due to be struck off Companies House any day now. Builder no.1, who is a friend of Awful Builder, has said he will ensure he gives us the money back. He keeps assuring us that he is a ‘good man’ underneath it all and things just went awry as he is stressed out due to other customers threatening him with legal action and financial issues. Shambles.

Awful builder did once tell me he has tools in his workshop to the value of £300k(!) and a collection of classic cars so if he is declared bankrupt presumably he’d have to sell them?!

A builder once told us that whatever you're told a renovation will take add 50% to both time and money!

At the moment it's very hard to get trademen in to do jobs, everyone seems to be having a post Covid building frenzy. I have a few small jobs that need doing, my go-to place to find someone is the local pub, it always seems that some knows someone there!

Firstly, Congratulations. I think you should be really proud of yourself for taking on such a mammoth task!! Not everyone has the courage (and it does take courage) to do a large renovation project.
Try and focus on how this project is likely to benefit you and your family in the long run.
My DH and I are currently on our second renovation. Both times we will be living with my parents (I admit this would be harder to do if living with PILs).
The valuation of our first house went up by 100K as soon as Reno was finished.
It adds massively to your assets, and is likely to benefit you family (children) in the long run. Focus on this.

Wow, you’ve really been through the mill. This all sounds terrible. You’ve made me realise what an absolute gem our plumber is, he relocated and fitted our new boiler, replaced all the radiators and removed the hot and cold water tanks in six days. He’ll replace the fittings in the cloakroom in a day.

Some advice:

Ask the handyman to fit the knobs
Paint everywhere white and get creative with colour when you have the mental space to enjoy it
Get it over the line as quickly as possible and have some breathing space

It’ll be worth it in the end.

Victorian I know this will benefit us all in the long run and that this too will pass etc and that is what has kept me going. We were in a tiny flat before and now the DC have room to move about and we are in a lovely area with a school 5 mins walk away so a lot to be grateful for. It's just been such a frigging slog!

Handyman now booked in to sort out the handles! DP is huffing and puffing about wasting money but I can't risk letting him loose on the cabinets, he is a one man disaster show when he has a drill and the way he was frowning and looking puzzled at the instructions made me very nervous.

New builder came with a book with all the colours and I made my decision, mainly whites, green and grey. DD (9) tried to dominate proceedings and threw a tantrum as she wants to paint her room purple and black🙄.

I wish I could stay on holiday forever. We are almost 2 weeks into our break, staying in a remote part of the the U.K. in a cottage with no internet connection and it is has been absolute bliss. Disconnecting and giving myself a break from all of the house renovation drama has been a godsend. I didn’t realise how much it had drained me until I slowed down and stopped. I spent most of the first day in bed, unable to move whilst DP took the DC swimming and to some activities in the forest.

Then we drove to the nearest town where we are now, visiting an old Uni friend who is from this area and lives in the town. My phone started buzzing with messages as we arrived and it picked up a signal. Firstly the floor fitters letting me know that they ran out of flooring so had to order some more. There have been delays so not sure when it will be done. Then they sent me pictures showing the flooring they have installed on the ground floor is badly scratched. It looks as if new builders caused the damage as they moved furniture around to do the painting despite assuring me they would cover the floors. The fitters will replace the damage but this will cost.

New builders then messaged to say they cannot find the bits of kitchen ceiling plasterboard they took out a few weeks ago when they put the lights in. I have no idea when they could be, the house is in chaos. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do from here. The builders said they put the boards in a specific place and they are no longer there?

I saw Awful Builder’s name pop up in my inbox, seems he has replied to my email requesting the money back he took for work he didn’t do. I’m sure it will be laced with expletives and general unpleasantness so I’ll delay reading that little gem for now so as not to spoil my holiday.

To be honest I’m just done now. This reno has left me completely mentally and physically drained, jaw constantly clenched.

I’m over living out of suitcases and dealing with one thing after another. Every call
and text seems to being more bad news and cost. I’ve used up almost all my savings.

I’m dreading going back home and getting back on the hamster wheel of renovations, work and managing the DC. I no longer feel inspired and excited about it all. I have a horrible feeling I will walk through the front door and the painting will either be half finished or it will be done and I’ll hate it the colours I hastily chose.

One bright spot is I finally found a farmhouse style kitchen table and bench I like and it was considerably cheaper than my planned budget. I came across the supplier via Etsy. It’s a family run business and their workshop is hundreds of miles away so I took a leap of faith and ordered without seeing it in person. It won’t be ready until the beginning of October. They’ve been really responsive/helpful over email and I’ve made an appointment to go and visit them in a few weeks so I can also look at some chairs I might order from them.

Tomorrow I’m going out with my friend, she has booked me in for some kind of seaweed bath/wrap followed by ‘sound bath’ in the forest. Not usually my kind of thing but she has promised it will help de-stress me!

Oh gosh - your story could be my story. Our nightmare builder who seemed so lovely and competent in the beginning has turned into a horrible, petty man who has stopped communicating and fails to turn up.

DH is having to fit radiators and finish one of the bathrooms so we can move back in. Have been living with mum and two SEN children in her one bedroom retirement flat. We are building a bungalow in the back garden for her after dad died this time last year and I have the added stress of feeling like I have let her down. DH also fell out with builder and I had to communicate alone.

how are things going now? I hope everything has finally worked itself out.

@thegreenlight sorry, I only just saw your message on this thread.

I’m really sorry to hear you are going through this. I completely understand the stress and strain it causes. How are things going now?
Our Awful Builder also seemed so reasonable to begin with and then turned into a horrible nightmare.

So in the year(!) and a bit since I last wrote an update, things are much better. The Awful Builder actually agreed to pay me back every penny I requested. I was shocked he was so compliant but I sent documented evidence of all his mistakes with pictures of the chaos he caused and threatened legal action. We had a paper trail of everything because I refused to communicate with him via phone after he physically threatened my family.

He paid me back in instalments due to his ongoing cash flow issues but at least I got the money back. Whilst looking him up online I found out there is a FB survivors group of former customers who are all trying to take legal action against him😱 Some of the stories I’ve read are horrendous. I have been in direct contact with the group founder who lives close to me. He actually came to blows with the Awful Builder in the street. I am so grateful I got off considerably lightly.

The house is still not fully ‘done’ but I’ve accepted renovations basically never end when you buy a project. The new builders who came in were good but as mentioned in my last update they damaged our new flooring with scratches and also paint:( I’ve put in a rug to cover the worst of it.

Our kitchen looks fab, I sourced a farmhouse style table from the family run workshop I found online. I had to drive 200+ miles to see it but totally worth it. We went with DIY Kitchens for the units and very happy with our choice.

We really need to convert the loft and put in another bathroom as our current bathroom is lovely but tiny.

At the moment there is no money whatsoever to finance that though and I’m still paying off debt from the work we’ve had done. Realistically it will be another few years before we can do that. We’ve received quotes of up to £55k…

I really hope your situation has improved, please hang on in there as it will get better.