We are in the middle (well actually are meant to be near the end of) a big house renovation - old kitchen ripped out and moved, wall knocked out and bi fold doors put in, old utility knocked down, new utility built in what was the dining room, built in wardrobes in a few bedrooms removed, the whole house redecorated, all down stairs rooms re floored. Plus a few other smaller things. Our builders originally quoted 6 weeks for completion of the job - which was about what I had thought was reasonable. We then added on a few more jobs (making good the decking outside / making some changes to the family bathroom etc) and they increased the time scale (and obviously the cost to 8 weeks. I felt this was a bit on the excessive side, but accepted and we agreed the cost and they started the job.
Every time I spoke to the builders to ask whether they were on track with the time line I was told everything was fine and they would finish within the agreed 8 weeks, yet in my eyes things were not progressing as quickly as I had expected. We are now at the end of week 7 and therefore they only have 1 week left and am still at a point where not one thing out of the list of jobs we wanted doing has been complete. The flooring in the kitchen is still only 75% laid, the kitchen has been first fitted (I think that's what its called.. plumbing pipes and electric wires in place but not hooked up) but the walls and ceilings have only just been plastered, the coving hasn't been put back and the kitchen is sitting in boxes in my lounge (which has no flooring yet!). The kitchen is not small I think there are about 17 base units a few wall units and a sizeable island with prep sink to install. The utility room was fitted a couple of weeks back but not finished the sink hasn't been sealed in yet, our new fridge that arrived 2 weeks ago hasn't been plumbed in (we are having one fridge in the utility and one in the main kitchen).
I came home from work late on Friday to find that we had no hot water - they had disconnected the boiler but didn't bother to tell me. I understand sometimes these things need doing but I was fuming that they didn't let me know! Anyway I spoke to the builder yesterday to let him know my frustration - and to his credit he came out and reinstated the hot water - it took less than 10 minutes to do this so why not do that on Friday before leaving! When he came round I asked him again (probably the 10th time in the last 2 weeks) whether or not they would be completing on Friday. To my complete amazement he said he couldn't see why not... we were stood in a shell of a room that is meant to be my kitchen and all I could think was - you have taken 7 weeks to get to this point and still not actually finished anything yet you are saying you can finish everything that needs doing in 5 days?
Really interested to know from those that have been there before how long do you think it would take to completely fit a kitchen including installing sinks/boiling water taps/saniflow for the island sink/ decorating etc etc. Am I totally wrong in thinking there is no way on this planet it will ever happen by Friday? For clarity the things that have still not been done are:
Flooring in Lounge re laid
Fridge plumbed into utility room
Nest thermostats installed
extractor fans replaced in 2 bathrooms
final snagging on a cupboard they built that will act as an airing cupboard in the main bathroom (really hard to describe but essentially a cupboard with a radiator in it!)
Bi fold doors still not in place yet but this is being done with the company that are supplying the door and they are scheduled in for Tuesday
flooring in kitchen finished
entire kitchen fitted including island
decorating in kitchen and lounge
My builder said that there will be 6 guys on site every day working to get it finished by Friday. The last 7 weeks they have worked at a snails pace and it seems to me that suddenly they have woken up and realised they have left everything to the last minute! I actually don't have a problem with how long they take completing - we have a fixed fee and they are not getting more money if it takes longer... I just don't understand why they continually tell me that they are on schedule! I booked the week after the work was due to finish off work after they reassured me 3 weeks ago that they were on schedule I am now thinking I need to shift that week which will cause me an issue! I have spent 7 weeks with no living room or functioning kitchen and I am frankly just fed up of it.
Am I panicking for nothing??