Just a rant really- I want them done and OUT (and maybe reassurance we have done the right thing). Am 36 weeks pregnant with a toddler and some sort of flu virus and they have overrun by a month already.
We are having kitchen works doing. Involves knocking out an arch (this bit went fine, beam ok etc) and installation of roof light. Kitchen is in a sort of single story extension at the back of the house which is ancient- maybe victorian as well- it had a bathroom in it at one point and a shallow pitched roof. It runs into a 'breakfast room' ie the orginal kitchen, with suspended wood floor etc.
When we went to retile the floor it turned out that this was the source of damp in the kitchen- a wet concrete slab all cracked, with remains of an old wall in it. There wasn't much that could be done with it- advice was to dig it all out, install suspended wood floor and ply etc. Cue 2 week delay and the addition of about 40% to the proposed cost along with re-rendering the walls. But fine- it wasn't visible at the outset and was a big messy job and actually explained a lot about the weird smell from the low cupboards.
When the builder quoted for the rooflight fitting there was a long conversation about the pitch of the roof and tiles which are all non-standard but we were told they had spoken to the roofer and they could make it fit ok. The SE also did the building regs drawings that specifed pitch. Roofers come round on Saturday, suck their teeth and say, oh- you actually need a whole new roof there or we can't make it watertight- that will be £3k- and we are, surprise surprise, free next week. We don't have another £3k- our more than ample contingency has been used up on the floor. They are claiming the roof is wet. We have never had a roof leak there, it doesn't feel wet, the brickwork is dry- one of the joists had some dry rot and woodworm but it is at least 70 years old so we weren't surprised. The flashing is in a bit of a state but that was also pointed out at the time.
Anyway, I have handed over builder negotiations to DH as although I am apparently a demon negotiator at work (I negotiate contracts!) I seem unable to do this with builders and we wondered if a gender switch would make a difference. This morning there was a terse discussion where the builder said- ok we can put the rooflight in for the original quote but I can't guarantee the work. DH asked if we could just put the roof back (it has a bloody great hole in it, waiting for the install) and forget the rooflight and was told they would still charge us for labour (!). So he said fine- put it in, don't touch anything else (we actually have a roofer who has done other work for us who is cheap and good who we will get round to fix the flashing and gutters etc after they clear off).
'If you can find the money' was repeated a lot. DH repeated we couldn't. Endlessly. At some point you have to say 'nope', right? We weren't unrealistic in terms of budget and contingency.
AIBU to think 3k is ridiculous for a 2.5x2.5 m roof and they are probably on the make? And that even if we had it put back the builder should have absorbed some of the fault for not knowing enough to quote properly? If I did that professionally we would have to absorb the cost.
Our builder was recommended and we got references etc but turns out not a great project manager if things don't go to plan and a bit of a catastrophiser (he sends these great long texts predicting disaster- like saying he thought we needed woodworm treatment everywhere and the rest of our floor would need ripping up because it was 'probably all rotten'- neither of these things were true).
I start mat leave today and just want them GONE and want to cook and get rid of the dust so I can at least think about my homebirth. And now have 2 sulky roofers downstairs who are pissed off they're not getting 3k. And they left their ladders up against an unsecured roof while we were away. Our feeling was we would probably never get them back if the damn thing leaked anyway, and a leetle bit of me also thinks they're thinking they can exploit pregnancy urgency.
Gah. Tell me it will end? I am immaturely hiding in bed rather than offering tea.