Reply to: Building works, Nothing ever goes smoothly

[Scrag Meister]

Quick update.

1. Wrong bricks delivered to site.
2. Before I got home on the delivery day, they had laid approx 4 lanes using the wrong bond, I asked for Flemish, they use Stretcher, look it up.
3. Wireless access gone down in the front room, and also for the PS3. Investigated and external Ethernet cable is sliced three quarters through.

Give me strength!!!!!

[MarillionFan]

^^^^^ This.

Don't take tulip from idiot builders.

It does sound like you're going to have to go legal. Alternately 'phone Dom'.

[Zippy]

Scraggy needs to obtain a large garden gnome and pay a visit to the proprietor.

[Wanderer]

Tell them to clear their tools and leave site. Then instruct a solicitor to sue them for failing to make proper and reasonable endeavours to scope the work correctly. Taking a trowel to dig a few foot down into the flower bed to inspect the state of the foundations should have been the first thing they did. If they come with the bolocks that they didn't quote for foundations ask them what they thought that they were going to put the Fecking wall on top of and further more why the **** did they think that they could build a wall on top of the foundations for a wall that was already leaning...

Then ensure that putting the work right is payed for by that company.

******* idiots...

^^^^^ This.

Don't take tulip from idiot builders.

[Wanderer]

You wanna borrow some lube?

I think you will find that is an (expensive) extra).

[bobspud]

Tell them to clear their tools and leave site. Then instruct a solicitor to sue them for failing to make proper and reasonable endeavours to scope the work correctly. Taking a trowel to dig a few foot down into the flower bed to inspect the state of the foundations should have been the first thing they did. If they come with the bolocks that they didn't quote for foundations ask them what they thought that they were going to put the Fecking wall on top of and further more why the **** did they think that they could build a wall on top of the foundations for a wall that was already leaning...

Then ensure that putting the work right is payed for by that company.

******* idiots...

[BoredBloke]

Who are your builders....so everybody can avoid them!

[MarillionFan]

So here we are, over the barrel, trousers way down around my ankles and broom firmly rammed up my ar5e, no boundary wall around the rear garden, and they have the "pleasure" in providing us with an additional quote for preparation of the foundations for the main 30m wall of nearly £5300.

HIGHVIEW BUILDING & MAINTENANCE LTD, NORTH LONDON

BTW. You also owe me £1500 for having to read this thread.

[Old Hack]

So here we are, over the barrel, trousers way down around my ankles and broom firmly rammed up my ar5e, no boundary wall around the rear garden, and they have the "pleasure" in providing us with an additional quote for preparation of the foundations for the main 30m wall of nearly £5300.

HIGHVIEW BUILDERS, NORTH LONDON

That's a lot. I am having a 12m wall built and it's costing £1400, including digging foundations.

A quick dig:

Excavation should cost around £15m3 and that's down to a metre. Concrete is about £60m3, then there's labour on top, which I'd think was about £150-175 a day.

[original PM]

You wanna borrow some lube?

[Scrag Meister]

So here we are, over the barrel, trousers way down around my ankles and broom firmly rammed up my ar5e, no boundary wall around the rear garden, and they have the "pleasure" in providing us with an additional quote for preparation of the foundations for the main 30m wall of nearly £5300.

HIGHVIEW BUILDING & MAINTENANCE LTD, NORTH LONDON

[SueEllen]

I still say that you should lob them the bill from the council and tell them it was their cockup so sort it out and you are withholding that money from their invoice.

They will just come back when you are out and destroy your wall.

[MarillionFan]

Beginning to think we have chosen the wrong builder!!

Just had a call from them saying that the foundations on the existing wall aren't good enough and needs to be dug out and proper foundations laid, and that's not in the estimate.

They are taking down a 110 year old wall, WTF did they expect to find?

We are now stuck between a rock and a hard place, in that the existing wall has been demolished and its going to cost a load more to complete.

I think I will have to bite the bullet, once I get the figures.

Does your 'builder' keep saying 'To be sure, to be sure' in a funny accent & does his daughter look like she should be a hooker on a street corner in Manchester? Just asking like.

[Wanderer]

Beginning to think we have chosen the wrong builder!!

Just had a call from them saying that the foundations on the existing wall aren't good enough and needs to be dug out and proper foundations laid, and that's not in the estimate.

They are taking down a 110 year old wall, WTF did they expect to find?

We are now stuck between a rock and a hard place, in that the existing wall has been demolished and its going to cost a load more to complete.

I think I will have to bite the bullet, once I get the figures.

Been there done that. You are dealing with REAL business men now. Nothing that goes wrong is ever their fault or their problem, everything you ask for costs extra, they always come in with a cheap quote and it ends up costing a lot more. They are professionals at this game, they do it day in day out. Watch and learn, young padawan.

Dealing with builders on a major project taught me a whole lot about the hard realities of doing business as opposed to this namby pamby bed wetting IT contractor stuff we think passes as being "in business".

I still say that you should lob them the bill from the council and tell them it was their cockup so sort it out and you are withholding that money from their invoice.

[KentPhilip]

Make an offer to pay it, in £5/week installments. Pay the first month's payments, then stop. Hopefully by then the inspector will have discarded the paperwork and they would be unable to sue you for the rest.