I would have thought theyd of dug those pipes a bit further down to be honest, as it looks by the time theyve put some shingle over the top and then soil + grass its going to raise the whole level up quite a chunk?
Poor landscaping work - garden resembles a swamp
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Soldato
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There probably would have been a case for artificial turf here, as it would allowed for the ground not being raised as high.
There's got to be at least another 4 inches of soil/turf to go on top yet?
Can you imagine the next owner of the house trying to dig a flowerbed or something and meeting all this plastic piping.
There's got to be at least another 4 inches of soil/turf to go on top yet?
Can you imagine the next owner of the house trying to dig a flowerbed or something and meeting all this plastic piping.
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We ruled out artificial grass early on as we have a dog and apparently it smells bad when they do a wee. I also don't like the idea of articifial grass and quite enjoy cutting the lawn. My aim was always to have a nice flat grass area which I now have.
We are going to use the soil between the wall and the fences for a flower bed, I think it will look quite nice.
There are also LED lights under the plinths and on the back fences. I'm not a big fan of the LED lights (builder's idea) but the kids like them as they change colour and have effects etc.
It's definitely heading in a better direction, but he's absolutely gone OTT with that piping.
Are they back to accepting cups of tea/coffee?
I'm glad someone asked this. The relationship has improved and they now accept our offer of drinks
They are also more courteous and friendly.I think 2 things have changed 1) it can't have been much fun working in those conditions at the start of the week. It was cold and a complete bog out there. I saw how hard they had to work digging out the clay as they couldn't use the digger 2) my wife thinks that having the backup of the other contractor shows them that we are serious, not just making it up as we go along and are trying to be helpful. I think being able to connect in to the drain has saved them a lot of work and solved a headache of the drainage. I'm still not sure why he didn't investigate that further at the start
It's definitely made things a lot more bearable, getting the contractor in when we did has been a godsend.
Soldato
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I'm really pleased to see and read the last two more positive posts.
Today's update:
They took part of the wall away so the downpipe could drain in to the aco.
The level of the patio has been raised by 10mm max so it's now up to the bottom of the airbrick so the aco sits right at the bottom of it. They have told me it's been sealed and won't cause any issues. We'll see.
Interesting way of doing it. I think it could have been done a lot better by making sure it runs the same way. I'll let it go, choosing to pick my battles etc but it doesn't look great.
They took part of the wall away so the downpipe could drain in to the aco.
The level of the patio has been raised by 10mm max so it's now up to the bottom of the airbrick so the aco sits right at the bottom of it. They have told me it's been sealed and won't cause any issues. We'll see.
Interesting way of doing it. I think it could have been done a lot better by making sure it runs the same way. I'll let it go, choosing to pick my battles etc but it doesn't look great.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
I really feel for you man. I had a roofer do a decent job but a guttering issue destroyed the flashings; he charged £700 for the lot. I had a different roofer fix the flashings at a cost of £700 (!). He bodged the pointing and only did half the lead - he came back, and did new lead and pointing. About 6 months later the flashings failed again and the lad came and said it hadn't been sunk into the wall properly. He then came back and replaced the entire roof... and left a bloody great big hole. Which he came back and bodged again.
You feel sick to your stomach but like you said... whatever is their best is their best. If it causes any serious problems go legal.
You feel sick to your stomach but like you said... whatever is their best is their best. If it causes any serious problems go legal.
Today's update:
Interesting way of doing it. I think it could have been done a lot better by making sure it runs the same way. I'll let it go, choosing to pick my battles etc but it doesn't look great.
Are there drainage points at two ends of the ACO? As they could have ended the ACO either side of the downpipe and just notched the paver slightly to allow for the downpipe, that would be my preferred option.
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Stick a plant pot on it, will look nice them.
Interesting way of doing it. I think it could have been done a lot better by making sure it runs the same way. I'll let it go, choosing to pick my battles etc but it doesn't look great.
Actually looking at it would probably look better if they had cut the long aco on the right, cut would be under pipe and put a longer bit going down. The left side doesn't look that bad, its the short bit on the right that sticks out.
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75mm should be fine with the aco drain there
There is a article on pavingexpert showing 75mm is fine with a aco drain alongside house, as long as its 150mm wide
Same if you had gravel along house, 75mm is fine but gravel bed needs to be 200m wide to patio
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Man of Honour
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Whe he tells you he has sealed the airbricks that doesn't mean that he has sealed them up does it? They are there for a reason.
No only on one side so in fairness to him it was never going to be easy to get a nice finish.
He has sealed the bottom of the airbrick between the aco and airbrick, not the entire air brick itself. Air can still enter it.
Soldato
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Not sure why everyone's saying he's paid too much. £15k is pretty cheap for a job like that (if done right of course). This is 2023 not 2015.
I really feel for you though mate. Had a nightmare myself about a year ago. Things are still in motion so unable to make a post about it yet, but when I do....what a post it will be!
Have to say though, there is some terrible advice in the first few pages. If you ever decided to get the courts/solicitors/police involved, well....good luck is all I'll say! Think someone did actually say it takes years to get things like this sorted (if ever), they are right!
anyway, we had a much smaller job done recently and that was £10k so don't think you got ripped off price wise.
I really feel for you though mate. Had a nightmare myself about a year ago. Things are still in motion so unable to make a post about it yet, but when I do....what a post it will be!
Have to say though, there is some terrible advice in the first few pages. If you ever decided to get the courts/solicitors/police involved, well....good luck is all I'll say! Think someone did actually say it takes years to get things like this sorted (if ever), they are right!
anyway, we had a much smaller job done recently and that was £10k so don't think you got ripped off price wise.
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Soldato
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Isn't it going to be a pain to cut the grass where the edge gets right to the wall?
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
I would love to see the cost breakdown and understand their margin. I'd say it is far from cheap.
I would just use a strimmer on a lawn that size.
Costs I’d expect to pay.
£200-250 per person per day.
£200-250 per skip.
Mini diggers and small plant are surprisingly very cheap to hire in especially on a week hire rate. A powered wheelbarrow for muck shifting maybe £125 a week.
Plus materials ofc.
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Soldato
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Materials have increased massively, but the biggest factor is labour. Builders don't get out of bed for nothing these days.
We had lots of quotes for a small patio last year and that was £11k. The builders who did our driveway years ago (reliable and decent) had some Jan/Feb offers on at 20% discount labour, so managed to get a new fence thrown in for £10k.
Question I have for the OP. Why is your plot so low down compared to your neighbours.