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Original poster

Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?

64 replies

Squidgems · 06/12/2016 00:23

Gap behind kitchen wall tiles large enough to put tip of finger in.

Grouting floor tiles after putting plinth heater in.

Cutting shorter plinths lengths first then having to put a join in longest plinth length.

Knowing that laminate flooring to be laid in lounge and hallway but doing them separately so now need a threshold strip. Also angling flooring to go next to the architrave instead of under it.

Why oh why did they do these things? And then worst of all make you feel that you are being petty for noticing these things and bringing it to their attention.

What things have workmen done in your house that they thought was acceptable but clearly wasn't?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
downwardfacingdog · 08/12/2016 21:27

I couldn't live with either of those. That''s awful. Currently living in a house of bodges. Working my way round redoing everything. Its annoyong because the previous owners bought it unmodernised and 'renovated' but most of the work needs redoing.

Original poster
Squidgems · 09/12/2016 01:06

I want to focus on the bigger picture but my eyes keep being drawn to those bodges. All it needed was for them to ask me what I wanted to do instead of them doing what was the quickest for them. I could have got shorter skirting boards or could have paid extra for moving the sockets higher. We could have discussed the flooring as well.

Now I'm wondering what bodges there are that I can't see. In one of the kitchen drawers I've found about 12 short screws. I'm wondering where they should have gone. There's a metal plate with lots of holes with only one screw used which holds the drawer runner. Maybe a few more screws were needed there?

Zombiesarecoming you are so right to make sure that your girls will be capable enough not to rely so much on others when it comes to doing work on their future homes.

I should be rushing to put everything back in the kitchen and lounge and start using them but I can't at the moment because I'm so disillusioned especially after paying in full for all the work.

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hollinhurst84 · 09/12/2016 01:10

New build. Skirting board fan in the kitchen wasn't working so my helpful dad dismantled it. To find they had used a CEILING ROSE as a junction box
We had no words

ISaySteadyOn · 09/12/2016 06:41

It's the discoveries that are the worst, aren't they?

YelloDraw · 09/12/2016 11:14

All it needed was for them to ask me what I wanted to do instead of them doing what was the quickest for them.

Exactly.

Did you speak to them and get a resolution?

That is so bad hollinhurst84! Makes you wonder what other issues with the eclectics there are!

Original poster
Squidgems · 09/12/2016 23:41

There is not a lot that can be done about the skirting board now YelloDraw. As for the laminate edging the chap later added silicone in the gaps! They are coming back in a couple days to put laminate in another room. I'm going to insist that before they start on the other room that they fix the edging and do the other fixes that they promised to do.

I need to stop moping

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Original poster
Squidgems · 09/12/2016 23:45

Posted too soon. Meant to add that I need to stop moping and be assertive to get closer to the finish that I thought I was paying good money for.

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Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 00:28

You know when you think something isn't quite right but you can't put your finger on it? Just realised that the kitchen fitters have messed up a corner base unit by using what should be part of the door as a support post. I don't know how I missed that before. This has made access to the back of the unit nearly impossible for me and for the gas man who needs to check a Magna filter at the annual service. They've also botched a cross bar in the same unit which is split in the middle and sagging. See pictures. Can things get any worse!!

Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
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shovetheholly · 12/12/2016 08:17

I've had so many of these bad experiences. When someone comes to my house now to quote for a job, I tell them with a grin that I'm not looking for the cheapest quote but the best work people, and that I'm basically a stickler for detail - that I'll never be rude or standoffish, but I will insist things are done right. If they don't want to work with someone like that, I give them every opportunity to walk away. It means that when I do need to have that conversation of "Why are you doing it this way?" everyone knows where they are.

Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 10:27

That is definitely a good stance to take shovetheholly and I will adopt it in future. That is, if I get over the trauma of these last few weeks and can bear to let anyone do more work on the house!

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shovetheholly · 12/12/2016 10:31

I think of it as paving the way to have difficult conversations, if necessary, at a later point. My expectations are clear in advance and communication channels are then easy to open if something goes wrong!

Don't be scared to get them back to do things properly. You are the one paying here. You can do it assertively without being the Angry Client!

c3pu · 12/12/2016 10:50

Who the hell is doing this "work"? LOL

I've fitted my own kitchen and bathroom, with 0 prior skills, and I've not made half as many bodges as that.

user1471549018 · 12/12/2016 13:38

I would actually say they are cowboy builders and you have been conned. Have you googled them? Are they members of any professional bodies you can complain to if work not rectified? I'd be considering trading standards if they don't make good. Alarm bells should always ring if they ask for full payment in advance imo

Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 17:04

Hi user147....... They had good reviews on MyBuilder and went with them after waiting for someone that was recommended who then let me down by taking on a contract job.

The fitters didn't ask for any money up front even when they had to wait a month to continue after a huge crack was found after gutting the bathroom.

They have sorted out the corner base unit in the kitchen and replaced the cross bars (with ones double the width) which they have screwed up into the worktop.

I would have been happier except that I have been so so stupid and let them carry on and fit laminate in the front lounge. They have just left and the floor needs cleaning but this is the look that has been achieved. I said to them beforehand to ensure that planks with the same pattern are not laid together. In the second lounge although there was more wastage (which they moaned about) it looks better than what they did today

I am so very mad with what they have done today I feel like ripping it up no matter how much it has cost me! What do other people think? Is everything getting to me so much that I am seeing bodges everywhere when actually it is okay/acceptable?

If you think it doesnt look right, what else can I do except for getting a huge room size rug to cover it up. By the way I have three packs of laminate left.

Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
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Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 17:19

This is a beter picture of how it has been laid.

Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
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user1471549018 · 12/12/2016 19:09

I can see what you mean but it wouldn't bother me- it looks great, maybe have a Wine and look again in the morning

Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 19:53

Thanks for the opinion user147...... I think that's where I'm going wrong as I don't drink. I'm not laid back enough to stop things bothering me. Maybe some meditation might help instead 😏 No I think what will help will be chocolate and lots of it!

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c3pu · 12/12/2016 20:27

I think yabu on the last bit of flooring, but all the bits prior to that were perfectly justified.

Original poster
Squidgems · 12/12/2016 20:46

Ha ha I'm such an old fogey that I had to look up what yabu meant! Yes maybe I am being super picky now after everything else that has gone on.

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YelloDraw · 12/12/2016 23:37

I don't think the flooring patterns looks bad - took me ages to work out what you didn't like about it TBH! The way the light is etc no one will see that there are the same patterns next to each other in some places

Original poster
Squidgems · 13/12/2016 12:46

I've slept on it and gone and had another look at the floor and I still hate it. Maybe even more so today. What's wrong with it is that it has been laid in a H pattern, like brickwork. It has not been laid like that in the other room which is even more galling. I've added another picture.

Can Wickes 12mm laminate flooring be taken up and relaid and how much can I expect to have to pay to have it done?

Bodge,bodge, bodge!! Why do they do it?
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shovetheholly · 13/12/2016 14:09

I would get your furniture in there before you tear it up. If parts of the floor are covered, it may be a lot less noticeable. The H-pattern might grow on you too.

I have real (engineered) wood flooring, and there are panels that look very similar - I guess they came from the same area of trunk.

The cost of redoing it is likely to be the same amount again - the labour is quite a lot of the price in many cases.

IronMaggie · 14/12/2016 04:51

Sorry Squid, I've tried a few times and I still can't really see what's wrong with it. I know that's no comfort when you've already got it in your head and can't un-see it Sad Perhaps spend the money on some soft furnishings instead!?

Ahousemadeofcheese · 15/12/2016 12:32

omg I could write an essay on this!

When I bought my house it all "looked" absolutely fine until we started delving into things....

They had the bodgiest plumber going and when they had the new bathroom suite installed the bath was very deep and there wasn't much room underneath the bath to allow for the plumbing - so they removed a couple of floorboards at the front of the bath to allow for the waste trap to sit there and then the rest of the pipe went out of the bathroom UPWARDS and into the kitchen attic.
The water couldn't flow out properly and the pipe was all clogged up with gunk which I had the pleasure of removing - yuck.
We then had to fit a new shallower bath to accommodate the plumbing and get the flow correct.

The toilet pipe was boxed in behind a shelf and wall and was a concertina type flexible pipe that also went upwards.. then left, then right then down, then back up again and finally out into the kitchen attic.
This was also getting blocked up due to not being able to flow out properly and I had the pleasure of removing it and getting covered in someone elses waste.. lovely!

They also couldn't be bothered to move the toilet soil pipe when they had the extension built so that just got boxed in the kitchen and a rod point added onto the kitchen floor. They also broke the drain pipe that goes underground into the manhole so everything was blocking up and when it got really blocked it all overflowed into the kitchen via the rodding point.

They also couldn't be bothered to remove the patio doors when they built the kitchen extension so simply just built around it so I had a patio door from the dining room going into the kitchen - that didn't look odd at all.....

They left a gap between the kitchen extension and the boundary wall - but the gap isn't big enough to even fit a small child down there so at the moment I have a collection of leaves, rubbish and childs toys from next door sat down in the gap...

I then decided to remove this patio door and subsequently needed that wall plastered. I employed a recommended plasterer, he came in and did the job, all looked good.
Then it cracked massively and fell off the wall three days later... he came back, said it must have been something I did (!!), redid it and then it fell off the wall again.
He came back, looked at it and said it definitely must be something im doing, perhaps whatever im cooking is reacting with it.. erm. toast? eggs maybe?
so he redid it and guess what?? Fell off the wall again!!
I ended up watching a youtube video and doing it myself.. result was very smooth plaster (even if I do say so myself!) and the plaster is still on the wall a year later!

YelloDraw · 15/12/2016 14:12

Ahousemadeofcheese I have many of the same issues!!!

I have patio doors from dining room to extension. Looks shit.

I have a boxed in soil pipe AND boxed in gutter piping that runs all the way diagonal through the extension into the drain which is by the kitchen. At least they have left access doors to get at these drains.

I have a long term pipe dream to sort it out.