The house improvements rant thread

[Fatlegs46]

I’m so over managing the work men that have been working on my house!
Yes, I do want the wall at 90 degrees, no that broken tile will not be ‘alright’, no I’m not happy to have the handle on crooked.

Meant to be finished tomorrow but my snagging list grows each day. They are good, I’ve used them before but currently they seem a bit lax on the detail. Tomorrow will see me micro managing them I think, in between work calls 😡

Feel free to rant here if you a in a similar situation!

Ah, so it’s always been a minefield then @terrichild?

I’m about to fire my plumber. He and his drainage ‘expert’ friend charged a large amount to repair a collapsed corner of the drains a few months ago but I‘be been complaining that there were still issues which he dismissed. He finally came back out with the friend again after sewerage started coming into the house and said there’s two further collapses. Insurance came out and it turns out they left a drainage rod and plunger in the pipe - my builder is adamant that he must have known it was still down there and thinks he was trying to get more money out of me.

Coupled with decision fatigue, I’m not feeling great about it all at the moment!

Trouble is your are not working with the cream of the crop
Kids have been encouraged to go to uni since the 90s resulting in a vacuum of time served tradesmen that were valued
I have young kids start with me that can’t even pack a lunch everyday let alone anything more complex
so much training is needed as not every school leaver is destined for a 1.1 and a masters but may be very talented given a chance in a practical line of work

We've been renovating for 2yrs, a property that was derelict for 10. We've had everything- new roof, bathrooms, kitchen, windows, doors, flooring, wiring, grounds work the lot! My bug bears have been:

• ADULT tradesmen seem incapable of using the various bins I dotted inside and outside the house, along with the massive skip at the front. I'd find chip packets, cans and wrappers stuffed inside the ends of the scaffold poles, in my plant pots, stuffed in holes in the brickwork etc!
• Each trade brought their own makita radio which they'd turn on extremely loud, to hear over drills/saws etc! 1 day, we had 5 different radios blaring from all over the house- till I said NO MORE!
• If you are telling us how much sand and concrete to buy, brush up your maths skills to get the estimate at least within a tonne. We were left with 7 tonnes of sand and a pallet of concrete bags which couldn't be sent back! All at our expensive of course. This wasn't for the main build either, but a patio!
• Most were helpful, but I was sick of the problems. Come to me with a solution on how we CAN install that/make it work.
• Don't use jargon that is only used in your trade, by tradesmen. DH and myself did a massive amount of research, but I'm not an electrician or plumber etc, so don't know what each and every term means.
• If you have a giant, explosive poonami in my new toilet. So much so that you shat upwards, covering the underneath of the seat and around the bowl- at least have the decency to use the toilet brush and attempt to clean it!
• If the guttering and ALL over external pipework in black, why did you buy a white soil pipe?
• We planned the entire downstairs to be 1 level so 'NO- we don't want a step added there because you can't be bothered to fix your error!'

I could go on and on. 😡

My rant is not being able to get trades people at all. Sometimes they come and give a quote, then we never hear from them again. Latest is the roof, we need a repair, one roofer said he'd come to quote and didn't, then we have had two come around to look, say they'll quote and then we've never heard from them again.

I wouldn't mind managing them, just want someone to actually do something.

My builder has just presented me with a bill for twice as much as the estimate was and apparently hasn't got time to break down the costs but just expects us to pay up! We've used him for 15 years do I'm pretty disappointed to put it mildly. My husband works in law and you literally have to account for every 15 minute block of work you do. The whole building world is a complete free for all unfortunately.

Ahh yes, I’ve found my people 😁
I had a brand new front door fitted to my newly purchased house 3 months ago - it now won’t open or close properly and is damaged all along the bottom where it was fitted incorrectly. The “tradesman” also fitted the locking mechanism so shoddily I had to get the chisel out and refit the damn thing myself.

We’ve also ended up with a massive hole in the wall where some clumsy idiot damaged it fitting the new stairs and then had the cheek to say “if you wait til winter I’ll do you a cheaper price on fixing up that wall”. No pal… just no…

We’ve now given up on paid help, if we can’t do it ourselves it isn’t being done. We are handy but somewhat time poor and had hoped getting people in for a few jobs would reduce stress and speed up the timeline but I just can’t keep paying for poorer workmanship than I could produce myself.

I so need this thread!!! We're doing most of the work ourselves so I don't have any complaints about the quality of the work! In fairness the trades we've had in (plasterer and a builder for one small job) have been excellent.

However, I'm fed up of:

Not having a kitchen (unless you count the trestle table I've had for 6 weeks with an air fryer and washing up bowl)

The mess and dust

Coming home from work and then starting a job on the house

The cold (we've no radiators installed yet)

Stuff everywhere (the new fridge is currently in the hall blocking my front door as we need to remove the doors on it to get it through the house)

The problems - sooooo many problems along the way - X doesn't fit properly, there's an issue with X, X hasn't arrived, X has been delivered but they've ignored the "leave in front garden" instructions and taken the item back to the depot, X has the wrong screws, the plasterer just rang to say the ceiling is peeling off etc etc.

I'm fed up. I'm also fed up of people saying "it'll be worth it in the end"

Ok. Rant over. Fine now. Off to get ready for work.

Two steps forward, one step back. It took a week (around work) to mist and fill all the kitchen walls. I’ve also painted the ceiling but need to do some more sanding and caulking first.

But the floor the builder laid doesn’t go far enough back under the plinth - he said as he left “oh it’ll be dead easy to adjust”…except it’s glued and my bf says it can’t be adjusted. And someone (god knows who) has cut into an end panel at some point so it now has its untreated wood middle exposed and it’s by the sink 🥲

What really rankles is when they bodge a job. If I had really wanted it bodged, I could have done that myself for free, instead of paying your inflated prices. You are supposed to be the sodding professional, so do a professional job for chrissakes.

A new year and another rant from me! Plumber has fit new vertical radiators but they’re far too high. I’m planning on putting in a dado rail and specifically bought radiators that would sit below them but he’s installed them high off the floor. Had to cause quite a bit of damage to the wall to get them in so don’t think he’ll be willing to move them. So many things I’ve just had to accept won’t be how I planned or wanted them and can’t be bothered with the fight or extra expense.

I am so feeling the pain of this @HappiestSleeping. In fact I was ranting to DH about it only today. We’re trying to renovate a place while living a considerable distance away and it’s been torture. Time after time we’ve contacted tradesmen who either don’t reply, or do, then never turn up (having agreed an actual time/day to visit, after we’ve travelled literally hundreds of miles to be there to meet them). Often they’re full of enthusiasm and then….nothing. Zilch, as you say.

We finally found a couple of decent all-round blokes who can tackle most stuff. We're perfectly happy to be there whenever needed, work round them, etc. and they were good about all this too, very adaptable. Thought we'd struck lucky at last but they’ve suddenly gone quiet on us, and I’m nervous that this bodes badly for the jobs they need to come back and finish.

There are times, reading threads about people’s amazing renovation projects, and especially seeing some of the photos, when I honestly feel that there’s some sort of magic secret code with builders/tradesmen that other people have and we don’t. How DO you get them to even consider doing ANY work for you? 😭

Hi All, feel the need to vent a bit, feeling let down by builders as more delays to the project seem unavoidable and I really want to move back home and everything is costing a fortune :(

They started decorating with the actual wall paint which is very expensive, although there are still chips in the wall and wiring still to be finished and especially before the site is dust free (still cutting wood for built in storage and they're yet to fit skirting).... is that normal? Feels like a waste of good paint I think they're busy with another project again now... rushing to get things done but decorating before the site is ready really doesn't make sense...does it? I want to ask them to wait with decorating until site is dust free .. otherwise it's not going to be a good and longlasting finish ...

Aargh Won't be doing any building works ever again...!

It's got to be one of the most stressful things you can do. I feel so battered by it, ours have turned really nasty over a dispute about payment (for work not finished) now throwing all sorts of insults about, it's just so horrible, never ever again but how can you know? Stuff will always need doing like leaking roof etc. solidarity from me to you all

Workmen can have their own problems too- conservatory delivered from manufacturer with no roof spikes, then the ones sent were not long enough. Bricks delivered for conservatory wall -wrong size. Delay lost us a dry day, then it lashed it down for a week. On one occasion I checked a delivery for the bricklayer before it was unloaded- lucky I did, and that I know about bricks, the builder's merchant had sent the wrong bricks, and the bricklayer had been very specific about what he'd wanted, so I noticed. Plasterer opened bag of cement one afternoon for dot-and-dab, stated to mix it, it was going hard in minutes, so clearly 'off' and not usable. It was well within date, and he'd collected it from his merchant ( on his way here, and a fair way away) only that very morning. So job abandoned for the day, as he'd not be able to get there and back in time, meaning he had to come back again the next day (he did not charge us any more for that, but you can see things can be a pain in the neck for them too).
Conservatory still leaking a tiny bit when wind in right (or is it wrong?) direction, after four visits over as many months for them to try to stop it, doing all sorts, but a few weeks since their last visit, we think DH has now identified the cause, after spending hours and hours pouring water down the wall and chiselling things out. I don't blame the builders, it's an odd thing that's happened if DH is right, and the builders have never complained about coming back, and have been going hairless trying to work out what's wrong. We had our roofer look, he was baffled, and our renderer, and so was he.
Sometimes shit happens.

I’m starting to think that it’s impossible to get exactly what you want. Had a joiner come to do a few jobs, pretty happy with most of them. One job was to build something with certain measurements. Quite a fiddly and awkward job so I was thrilled when I first saw it as he’d done a really good job. He also noticed and asked me about certain design elements which impressed me as I’ve found most tradespeople don’t consider these things or just guess.

Then I noticed after he left that one part is out significantly. I spent ages drawing several diagrams with all the measurements as well. It was important as it affects the measurements on other things which he was aware of. I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and ask him to rectify it. I hate having to do that though.

Any advice on handling things when you’re not happy with the work?

Why does it have to be so awful I really can't wait until completion .... good luck to everyone who is on the Reno - boat just now! Sorry no useful advice....

@renoparty we decorate ourselves which is a massive pain and people think we are being cheap or live renovating and it’s not that it’s because of the issues you raise. Easier to do it yourself than to get someone at the right time who will check everything is ok before starting

I’m not going through this right this minute but over the last few years we’ve had a fair bit of work done in our house and one guy (a joiner) we used was good but everyone else was just shite. How can these men leave a job knowing it looks horrendous?

We’re not in any way handy but we will be moving this year to a house that will need new bathrooms, doors etc - just a facelift really and jr does make me wonder if we should just slowly but surely tackle some of it ourselves? At least we will take the time to get it right. 99% of tradesmen just do not care! And they rely on so many of us feeling too awkward to push for something to be sorted (yes I know some people manage this but not all).

I’ve just had a new kitchen and was really pleased with the workmen on site and their attention to detail. I chose the company based on a friend’s new kitchen, I went round to look at it and asked her lots of questions about the work. I had no complaints and no issues so am pleased with my choice.

I try not to use workmen who are not personally recommended.

@Ihateslugs yes probably a good idea to only use personal recommendations .. Only caveat I would want to be sure the person making the recommendation has the similar expectations like I would have of a tradesperson .. So far personal recommendations always have been the best

Sorry for bad grammar

Of course it is wise to use a recommended tradesperson, but sadly in our case, we didn't know anyone who had recently had work done. I did check our bathroom fitter on checkatrade and trustatrader etc, and foolishly believed the glowing references.
The good bit that's come out of it is that the lackadaisical bathroom fitter recommended his plumbing supplier. Who have been excellent; their prices were very competitive and they even replaced some stuff that the idiot fitter damaged free of charge. And when it went so pear shaped that we wouldn't have that company back on site for all the tea in China, they were able to recommend someone else. Who has fixed the problems and restored my faith in tradespeople somewhat.

After a long wait due to him cancelling, the plumber finally came back to finish the jobs he quoted for and that I’d already mostly paid. He tried to overcharge me then asked me for more money despite the quote being all inclusive. I’ve paid him because I can’t be bothered with the argument but I’m really aggrieved plus not happy at all with the finish he’s left - really thick silicone and he’s left silicone residue all over the shower screen and controls. I have been disappointed in every single trades person I’ve used so far and I’ve paid a small fortune for the privilege 😠

I’ve just noticed he’s hung the radiators too low as well so I won’t be able to get skirting behind despite him saying he hung it so I could. I’ve messaged him and he’s saying they couldn’t go any higher as you wouldn’t be able to see the dado rail but it’s quite a bit below the dado. I’m not sure how to proceed if anyone can advise please? He already hung them too high once and took them down. If he’d just asked me, this could have been avoided 🙄 The pic is without the flooring as well!