Project: Two storey/part single storey side and rear extensions

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What could you have done?

Refused to show them around your house.

Explicitly told them to stay well clear of the builder and outlined his behaviour and the shoddy work...

That's what.

:eek:
IIRC there's legal stuff going on in the background in which case Kai was completely correct just to stick with facts and let the prospective clients read between the lines.
 
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IIRC there's legal stuff going on in the background in which case Kai was completely correct just to stick with facts and let the prospective clients read between the lines.
exactly if he kicks up a fuss the builder finds out and even more problems, whilst still payed more than recieved. played it the best way in my opinion, give them the facts and let them decide.
 
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Soldato
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What could you have done?

Refused to show them around your house.

Explicitly told them to stay well clear of the builder and outlined his behaviour and the shoddy work...

That's what.

:eek:
Why have you joined this forum just to have a pop at someone that makes actual good contribution?

Can't stand someone posting interesting content receiving negativity from a newbie who contributes nothing.

No wonder you get plenty folks that lurk and post nothing with this ****.
 
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kai

kai

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Update: Toilet has been fixed (it also goes back to the tiles) however instead of replacing with the toilet we picked (and paid for) it's been replaced with a WC2GO ScrewFix budget! toilet. A £60 all on one package deal, cistern and toilet seat; it look's ok in the photo but its very cheap and plasticky! - we had this done yesterday when both I and the wife was not present.

Also little things; its something i can replace no problem but i now have to go buy/fit a push fit in matt black to match as we had already paid for it on the previous toilet.

A6U7YLT.png

I am not happy with the pipe work either; so i am going need to box this in or something :confused:
 
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Soldato
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What on earth is with this guy?! That pipework is simply horrendous.

Looks like the sink waste runs into the toilet waste - that’s a recipe for disaster, and likely another shortcut taken
 
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kai

kai

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What on earth is with this guy?! That pipework is simply horrendous.

Looks like the sink waste runs into the toilet waste - that’s a recipe for disaster, and likely another shortcut taken
This is exactly what is happening. The sink waste water is going into the toilet pipe and into the main soil pipe. I believe something like this was used.

 

FNG

FNG

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The sink waste running into a boss on the soil pipe is not really an issue (other than cosmetic) as long as the flush does not suction all the water out of the sink trap. If it does there are traps with valves that will solve the issue.
 
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Update: Toilet has been fixed (it also goes back to the tiles) however instead of replacing with the toilet we picked (and paid for) it's been replaced with a WC2GO ScrewFix budget! toilet. A £60 all on one package deal, cistern and toilet seat; it look's ok in the photo but its very cheap and plasticky!

Hope you've pushed back on this, what a nightmare this guy sounds like.
 
Soldato
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Update: Toilet has been fixed (it also goes back to the tiles) however instead of replacing with the toilet we picked (and paid for) it's been replaced with a WC2GO ScrewFix budget! toilet. A £60 all on one package deal, cistern and toilet seat; it look's ok in the photo but its very cheap and plasticky! - we had this done yesterday when both I and the wife was not present.

Also little things; its something i can replace no problem but i now have to go buy/fit a push fit in matt black to match as we had already paid for it on the previous toilet.

A6U7YLT.png

I am not happy with the pipe work either; so i am going need to box this in or something :confused:
The tiling looks sub par also.

The finish really makes all the difference, it's a shame they've done this :(
 
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Hadn’t even noticed the tiling at first, but on closer inspection of the photo, the wall tiling really isn’t great.

I’m no tiler, but I’ve fitted tiles a lot better than that…looks like someone doesn’t take enough pride in their work.
 

kai

kai

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The sink waste running into a boss on the soil pipe is not really an issue (other than cosmetic) as long as the flush does not suction all the water out of the sink trap. If it does there are traps with valves that will solve the issue.

Yes, its not really aesthetically pleasing or is the direct pipe feeding into it. My wife has covered it up with a small laundry basket for now. No issue with sink trap (right now) But eventually we are going have it covered and new toilet or vanity toilet put in.
How far are you from this being over? I've not used the word finished for a reason.
Not long , we sourced our doors last week without informing the developer, resulting in nearly £4K off the bill (he knows as we told him, just no the cost or we have placed an order). If the Juliet glass doesn't arrive by Friday, we'll also source that ourselves. The only remaining issue is the extensive pointing needed outside, and we're in the dark about the color he picked for the lamitex. We're pushing him to finish that this week, but he's citing bad weather.


Hope you've pushed back on this, what a nightmare this guy sounds like.
It's coming off the bill. I am taking £300 off for a new toilet and £150-200 for fitting. That again will be shown will the rest of receipts. We have spent so much on materials here and there for the guys ; like even really basic stuff like builders caulk, mastic etc as he will not let trades pick stuff up without him sourcing and simply delays things further - we just want them gone and finished.
The tiling looks sub par also.

The finish really makes all the difference, it's a shame they've done this :(
Hadn’t even noticed the tiling at first, but on closer inspection of the photo, the wall tiling really isn’t great.

I’m no tiler, but I’ve fitted tiles a lot better than that…looks like someone doesn’t take enough pride in their work.

It's not amazing; the tiles do however need to be cleaned and buffed. its a very poor job on the mastic etc which i need to sort.

Here is a higher resolution.

YDR7NnP.png
yzcMCvu.png
 

kai

kai

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I'd change the toilet unit to something like this from my house. Will hide all the plumbing.

I'm doing the same for my downstairs bathroom.

This is exactly what we did downstairs and in the ensuites.

That looks really nice @Buffman , love the wall tiles.
 
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kai

kai

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Does anyone have any suggestions here?

They finally cleared the rubbish today, and the new brickwork on the garage is now visible. To me, this looks of a pretty poor standard. A local firm did 95% of the work to a good standard. However, this section was done at a later date by a 17/18-year-old hired for a few days. It looks pretty rough.

Apart from re-pointing (being done next week), is there anything that can be done under the door/aco drain to remove the large smudges of cement?

The drive is also pretty much ruined; it has large gouges and cement stains like the one in the picture all over it. I assume acid will shift the cement.

SzIEDFq.png
 
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Soldato
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I had a toilet suite that was hidden inside the wall.

Then it developed an issue and had to be replaced, and i had to smash all the tiles off the wall to access it, and replace the entire "box" in which it was hidden. I'll never do that again. It's a toilet, i dont care if you can see the cistern. I guess those all in one units arent so bad, that said.

Those tiles with the green look nice.
 
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I agree (to a certain extent; in my defense, I'm not in the trade, and it's not like I'm involved in this type of process frequently. About 95% of the processes we've been through was entirely new to us.

Furthermore, regarding items being poorly specified, I'm not sure how much more specific we could have been. Our architect, who is an award winner, provided extensive specifications and made efforts to communicate with the developer throughout the process. When the developer refused to work with our architect, we tried bringing in a (QS), but unfortunately, that route also failed. Yes, the quote being more clear is 100% on me; but when i put forward a QS breakdown; at quote level he refused to review and wanted to go off his working knowledge and 30+ years in the trade.

We should have been wiser and had dates and works scheudle/time-frames built into the contract - that is on me! (we was promised a works scheudle verbally but that never materialized)
My post was a bit blunt but tbh I'm a bit flabbergasted at the goings on. Tbh he was probably ****** off at the start re the "QS breakdown" and I'm not surprised he wanted to go off his 30+ years experience. Imagine some guy coming up to you dismissing all of your experience and presenting an alternative path.

Its obvious from the posts that there has been some tension but I'm not sure that is all on the builder.

You are probably both stubborn and have got into some kind of standoff, tbh I would have called it a day regarding the doors and got a window & door company in to do it and then worried about the money side of it after.
 
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My post was a bit blunt but tbh I'm a bit flabbergasted at the goings on. Tbh he was probably ****** off at the start re the "QS breakdown" and I'm not surprised he wanted to go off his 30+ years experience. Imagine some guy coming up to you dismissing all of your experience and presenting an alternative path.

Its obvious from the posts that there has been some tension but I'm not sure that is all on the builder.

You are probably both stubborn and have got into some kind of standoff, tbh I would have called it a day regarding the doors and got a window & door company in to do it and then worried about the money side of it after.

His 30 years experience doesn't look like it's amounted to much. When someone is spending the best part of £200k I think it's fair game to seek alternatives when the builder refuses to work with an architect.
 
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