Getting builder back to do significant snags, 18 months after completion

[TyneFilth]

I had a big extension done in the lockdown winter of 20/21, which went remarkably smoothly overall. There was an expected snag which appeared fairly soon after completion, with some of the ceiling timbers having been quite significantly damp during the winter build, and shrinking while drying out. Builder sent plasterers to re skim them after a full year of drying out and no further change expected. But with materials and labour costs having risen in the meantime I think he wasn't all that happy. We had a standard JCT Homeowner contract but to be really honest I am not sure where exactly it is right now. I hope it's filed safely.

Two further problems have just emerged. One is that a roof tile has completely slipped out of place and needs to be fixed back on. The more complicated one is that the thermostatic control for one of the two zones of underfloor heating doesn't seem to talk to the main unit. When we have the UFH main manifold unit up to temperature (we were told to set it to 40-45° to achieve a room temp of 20-25 max), this zone is constantly pumping the hot water through, even when the floor-embedded thermostat says it's gone above the demanded temperature. (Btw this is the diagnosis of the plumber who installed the wet side of it, and came back for an annual boiler service - paid for of course! - last month). So what happens is that when it's a sunny day and there is warmth from solar gain or from running the oven (it's an open plan kitchen-dining-living space) the room gets uncomfortably hot in the winter, although it is still really cost effective heating. Christmas Day last year we actually had to throw the patios doors wide open which felt ridiculously wasteful. It is an Omnie system if that helps.

I have done the bulk of the project managing, with DH as more of my client because I was the one who really wanted to do this house. There is loads of interior stuff still left, which we generally do as a team, but we both have FT jobs and it's gone slowly. But I have also recently been signed off work with stress and it has emerged that I have underlying anxiety/depression and one of the features of it is that interactions where I am having to be demanding or stand up for something are cripplingly terrifying. I can do it but it exhausts me and sends me into negative spirals of really brutal self criticism. DH is at a bit of a loss when this happens. So far I have emailed, WhatsApped and left voicemail for the lead builder (main contractor). Two weeks between each of those. I also sent a message to the electrical subcontractor which has been read but ignored.

If you've got to the end of this essay, I think what I'm asking is for help phrasing my next demand of the builder, and secondly any bright ideas what the issue with the UFH thermostat might be. Is this the point where I quote the contract at him, or get someone else to quote and offer him that to just pay us off? Or do I mention small claims court? Each of these things is raising my heart rate and making me feel pathetic. Please go easy on me as I already feel like an idiot.

Hi. I don’t have advice on phrases but wanted to bump your post up. I have similar issues with anxiety, assertiveness and self doubt so you have my sympathies. It’s not easy and doing up a home is so stressful. We’ve just had workman let us know they can’t do the job on the date they agreed which means we have to postpone our decorators to god knows when. I want to be angry but it’s not in me. Hope you get some good suggestions soon 😊

TBH 18 months later I think you are taking the piss. The roof tile is something that happens, get a roofer to come and fix it. WRT to UFH, it sounds like something has gone wrong since installation and now needs to be fixed. That isn’t a snag it is a problem that you need to get a plumber/electrician out to look at and then pay them to fix it. If they identify that there was a problem with the original installation you may then have some recourse to the original builder but if not, things go wrong and need to be fixed so you just get on with it.

A roof tile coming off is not a snag. I'd just pay someone to fix it. It is not a big job.

After 18 months they are not going to come back. I think it is a case of getting the jobs sorted as repairs, and not beating yourself up for somehow failing to find builders who would maintain your extension indefinitely. Buildings need constant tweaking, and that is normal.

Has the heating always done this since installation? Or is it a new problem that’s developed? The answer to this would depend on how hard I’d push. If the former, by all means liaise with the builders. Has it not been raised with them before? The fact that you mention Christmas suggests it’s been ongoing since installation. If the latter, I think it’s on you to source/pay for a plumber.

As someone who is coming to the end of an extension, I think in 18 months’ time I’d hope I’d only be getting the builders back for anything structural which was manifesting itself. Stuff does happen. It’s just part of owning a property.

But you have my total sympathy in terms of both dealing with confrontation and also attempting to get answers out of professionals who are ghosting you. The latter gives me the rage like nothing else.

We had an architectural technician who did this to us after mismanaging our planning application. In our case we were completely in the right (he hadn’t done what he was contracted to do), and a Notice Before Action letter (sent by registered delivery) with the threat of small claims court jolted him into responding. I don’t know why these people don’t just pick up the phone or reply to an email and sort things out, even if in your case it’s just to tell you you need to get it sorted yourself.

As for confrontation scenarios, you also have my sympathy as my DH is not a clear communicator and doesn’t get his point across effectively and his purpose. So I tend to take it on and then get stressed. Can your DH pick up the baton here at all?

The UFH has definitely never been right since it was installed. I had asked the main contractor to come and have a look at the controls while we were still in the initial snagging period, which was spring 21, and we didn't have the heating on full while the screed was slowly drying out. I don't know why I didn't mention the Christmas symptom when he was here with the plasterers in the spring - I was deeply stressed at work through the winter last year though and was struggling to keep all the balls in the air.

I'm shocked at the phrase "taking the piss" though. The contract says they need to fix faults up to six years from completion - a roof tile falling off in under two years is not reasonable surely? I've owned a top floor flat and a house over the past 20 years and never needed to deal with a slate/tile, was I incredibly lucky or should I expect that it's standard to need to fix something on the roof every couple of years?

A single roof tile falling off is no big drama and certainly doesn’t indicate there must have been a fault. Yes you are lucky if you have never had a single problem with a single tile over a 20 year period.

The thermostat is buried under the screed? Not under a service hatch?

The sensor is embedded in the screed @C4tastrophe, the thermostat is on the wall. The manifold is near the boiler/megaflo/tank and shows that zone 1 is permanently on, regardless of the thermostat programmed schedule or the actual temp reached. The other zone works as it should (although they're not zones as such, the working zone crosses between two rooms and a hall, which doesn't seem quite right but clearly can't be changed now).