The builders are in.....share the ups and downs here.....

[nappyzonecantrunfortoffee]

Been as though a few of us have the builders in i thought we could share our fun and try and get through the mire together (even though pavlos stories scared me half to shit).

SO were getting an extension built and they started Wednesday - they seem canny and we have a digger in our garden, guinea pigs at the back of the garedn i have to risk life and limb for to get too to feed and mud - loads of mud - my wellies are caked in the stuff from my guinea pig feeding missions!

Our foundations are all dug out now and most excitingly a mixy truck load of cement was barrowed round the back in to them. Wheres everyone else at?

ok these are in order, of sorts, but you will get the idea...

oldest first, get yourself a cuppa and some cake, and prepare for a LONG read.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/804300-About-to-remove-a-wall-which-will-affect-buildi ng-regs?reverse=1 We firstly blamed the architect WRONG!]]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/805675-Legalities-when-builders-architects-mess-up- where-do-I-stand when the floor was found out to be too high due to builder error]]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/817595-My-F-king-Builder?reverse=1 continued]]

finally

ok these are in order, of sorts, but you will get the idea...

oldest first, get yourself a cuppa and some cake, and prepare for a LONG read.

We firstly blamed the architect WRONG!

when the floor was found out to be too high due to builder error

continued

finally

pavlov.... on my second cup of tea now!!

Dear Lord, Pavlov, that is horrendous.I hope he gets his comeuppance! so good that you have it all documented on Mn!!
it's scary how much is similar to my builders!!! But at least mine is a company rather than one guy, and they do seem to be committed to finishing the job.

reading your story has opened my eyes to more things that they have done wrong. Well not wrong, but just not sensible.
They have finished moving the beam, fair play it did just ake them a day, and they have actually now boarded the eaves storage which is what i wanted. It has made a huge difference with the height, so hopefully building inspector wont have a problem with it.
After speaking to the building inspector yesterday, there have been other complaints, and the foreman has slipped up a bit and told me of other people who have not paid their last payment. So I have completed my complaint form to the fmb and have a call out to the other master builders, who i have spoken to at length, and is very interested but suggested we try to sort it out amicably before any formal complaint.

The final payment is £3k, but I have at least 1k to claim back off them for ruined carpets, cleaning etc. And I am waiting until I am happy with everything before they get the last payment, if at all.

skinsl how many cuppas in the end?! I read back through it myself and was so absolutely disgusted it got me all fired up again! Problem with it being documented on MN is that Iit is difficult to use it as evidence without identifying myself on MN, in case he ever wants to check up on me, and also confidentiality of other MN members. I had considered blanking out names, but felt on reflection he could still find information on MN should he really want to and I don't want to delete the threads as firstly they are useful to others who might experience similar bad experiences, i don't want to have to change my own MN name, or have him even know i use MN. Although I am probably giving him much more credit than he deserves.

I have just spoken to a surveyor, the first one who will do it (many don't do expert reports) and we have been given an estimated price of £800 but we will likely have to pay £500 up front, which means between us, so £250, which I have aside for it. Will have to potentially come up with another £150 but ho hum. I am now going to write to the builder to get a response from him about whether to proceed. I expect he will say no, and I am awaiting responses from other surveyors. This surveyor said he needs no direction from us, is happy to look at photos we provided to the court, with dates they were taken, and that with this and his own eye he will be able to figure it all out. He said the facts normally speak for themselves clearly in this type of situation!

Builder does not yet know that I am aware of his request to dissolve his business so he is likely going to request the case is thrown out and thus he won't have to pay this money. He will soon enough. When the court refuses to throw it out.

If you have a retainer and you are not happy, do not pay him a penny of the retainer, until the work has been finished and completed and all the repairs done, whether by him or someone else. Then, whatever you are out of pocket for can be properly calculated. I think that if you are not happy with the final result, depending on your contract, you would be within your rights to keep all of the withheld payment, not just the cost of the repairs/damage.

it took me all morning!! with DS running around with no nappy on!! we are potty training!
but it's good that you have it all written down, just to remind of everything that went wrong, and in what order etc. When I was filling in my complaint form, I completely forgot about the leak!!

Did the nice builder finish it all for you. And are you all finished, did your DD move into the room? It was like a novel, was waiting with baited breath for your birth announcement!!
plasterer finished fixing what they had to take apart for the beam. So need them to refix the skirting and the cupboards, finish the woodwork, door frames etc, and my lovely doors are coming tomorrow. not the £10 crappy plywood ones that they offered us!!
then its the bathroom!! haven't even ordered it yet!!

Looked at the contract today and have actually already paid them more or less the total, given that we had to pay extra for a window and the chimney breast to come down.
So I reckon they owe us!!!

skinsl yes, the nice builder did a grand job, he could not chang everything, but he fixed the horrendously hanging beam, he designed something off his own back and ran it past building control and they were happy with it, he did not charge it, he just charged for material (£50). He was also pleasant, and lovely to have in the house actually, he and DH got on famously and swapped music cds and he is coming back to finish some other things when we can afford it. Major things are wrong, stairs in the wrong place, lobby in the wrong place, small room still too small and we are not happy with the loft but not the fault of our new builder. The timing was fine in the end because DS was 10 days late but there was a lot of friends helping to get the decorating done in time and so we could get our carpets laid and DD up there before baby arrived. But it was close!

DD is up there now and she absolutely loves it, and we are slowly accepting the wrongs that happened, learnt from it and trying to move on. Once we have finished this court case however it pans out we can move on. We now have a decorated home, looks for the most part lovely, and we will have to find ways to deal with the crocked walls, adds character!

You are right about the timeline, I can be certain about dates and times of things, and luckily we took photos of the damage before we got it repaired which the surveyor will look at too.

I am glad things are getting better for you, and really hope you do not have to go to court for any money owed, but if you need to, do it as it is not good for their reputation to go to court, as you said, that is an advantage to using an independent cowboy builder. Good luck with the bathroom!

I shall now stop hijacking!

not hijacking, very helpful, thank you!!!
good luck with your court case. x

I am thinking of hiring Handy Manny.. he seems very pleasant! and DS quite likes him too.

What's the latest? Any new pics Nappy? Skinsl? Wouuld love to see pics of yoru loft. Everyone, come and tell us what's what.

you know what, I think it might be finished!!
not decorated, or carpeted or bathroom done, but I think the actual basic loft is done.
they just finished all the doors and woodwork today, and that was all that was left.
Will have to inspect when DS has gone to bed, DH is away, coming back tonight.

now just need to sort carpets, decorating and shower room.
We got a good quote for painting, but I think I might do the actual loft myself. Leave the hall, stairs and landing to the professionals.
I am quietly excited
The fact we have no money left for carpets or bathroom, never mind!!!

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

So, to finish and to get us in the loft bedroom we need £2500 for decorating. £750 for the tiler, £400 for extra ready boards for the shower, £70 for a piece of plywood?On top of that the bathroom suite about £1500,and then the carpet, which John Lewis has quoted the best part of £2k.

Any ideas on how to do it cheaper, think I will be up there myself with my painting gear on!!!
£750 seems an awful lot to tile a small shower room?

bloody hell, the decorator just called and said he will wait for the payment!!!!! up to six months!!!
he has done work for us before so I do trust him, is there a down side to this?!!!

Tiling is expensive, isn't it. £25 a metre and up in London (I know you are south L!).

Have you tried small local carpet places? I'm gettting quotes of around £26/metre for carpet and underlay.

Also you could google the JL carpet and buy that and underlay direct from supplier then get local carpet fitter. Deffo save a few hundred that way, I bet.

hi toots
tiling is only 16 sq metres, so that works out really expensive!

yeah JL quoted us 2k, carpet shop at the end of our road just quoted us £1200 or £1400 depending on underlay, so its getting cheaper!
I have one more option, friend of a friend.

when are you due to start?

sknisl - rather than getting a specialist tiler could you try a Jack of all trades type person? when we had our refurb done, the same bloke did the tiling, the plumbing and some of the floor laying....he was an older guy...don't know if this makes a difference.

skinsl..............also looking at saving a few pennies, where are you sourcing your sanitaryware from?

We picked out what we wanted and then bought from a mainly trade place at a 30% discount.

Late Mayish. I did loads of research on all the bits and bobs months ago as wasn't busy. Now have lots of work on and no decisions made but lots of resources to draw on, as it were.

Taffetacat's idea good.

thing is the plumbing work is part of the package, so already paid for and this is the tiler he works with. i don't have to have him, i will get another quote, it;s just a bit easier as they work together. but i think that might be part of the con! we have a lovely builder who tiled our bathroom,he does everything but he is really busy.
and the bathroom, it has taken us ages and a whole stack of brochures to find what we want. Its just a shower frame, regular toilet and a sink unit. what's the trade place you used taffetacat?

skinsl - yes understand about the package business. Of course they need to make money, and we found that some things seemed expensive and some very cheap, it seemed to even itself out in the end.

I spent months poring over bathroom stuff. Once we'd decided, we went to a local bathroom shop that worked out exactly what we needed ( all the valves and stuff I wouldn't think of ), got them to do a price, snorted at it ( in private of course ), and then took it here.

They ( and lots of large mainly trade places ) stock all the main brands .

Thought id pop back .... dilemma loving your curvy stair rail!!

We are in diy hell lol. DH currently on with flooring - done new room and moving same flooring now through to old dining room and kitchen and utility then he can finishe the kitchen. All upstairs done and downstairs getting there. I have added some pics to my profile for a few days and hopefully will one day adda finished kitchen to it!....

Hows everyone else doing? Cake did you get finished?

Can you start puttign soem pics up now for me to nosey at anyone ?

ANy regrets? I think we should have got al onger bath - carried away with being double ended but you dont realise you lose some length and two laying in ti doesnt really happen that said i love my shower more.