Needed to vent somewhat...

[Tute]

Hey GD, hope you don't mind me posting this but it's been eating me up all evening.

Basically my Mum paid to have a new Bathroom fitted. Now it all went smooth-ish, a self-employed fitter took the job on and came around and over the course of 10-14 days did the work.

My Mum paid up, and everything was fine.

Now, going around there tonight, she's complaining that there's holes in the wall behind the sink and toilet. I've had a look, and she does have a point - the pipework going into the wall is a bit of a bodge job.

Now Mum's gone totally off the handle and cancelled the cheque she wrote to the builder! Cue one angry phone call where they're threatening each other with court etc. - Mum wants him to come back and put it right but he won't come for a fortnight and she's worried that the cheque will clear in the meantime and he won't come around and correct it once he has the money.

The whole situation is threatening to get out of control - whilst I love my Mum to bits she's not blessed well in the discretion stakes and she certainly isn't good at diffusing a situation.

Anyhow, i'm worried that the builder is going to end up around there shouting the odds etc. and it's going to get out of hand.

Dunno what I expect people to say really. I want to just stay clear and let them sort it out but after all, your Mum is your Mum.

 

[Tute]

At the end of the day, I wouldn't be able to get involved even if I wanted to. My Mum's like that - she does what she thinks is right and generally doesn't listen to advice - as I said above, no discretion!

She has to sort this out herself but I hate having to stand aside and let it happen.

 

[Tute]

That's the thing - I can't keep her out of it. It's her house - her bathroom, she had the job done. I don't live there anymore, I found all this out today when I went round there.

 

[Tute]

Your ma is alright per the implied terms contained within the SGA and SGSA.
Basically the work isn't up to reasonable standards and isn't fit for purpose.
Should it come to court she'll win, although I'm not sure if that's any comfort...
Sorry for your troubles

Well i'm 99.9% sure it won't get that far, it's just that situations like this leave me literally /facepalming at my Mum's distinct lack of being able to prevent a situation from getting out of control.

Surely this?

Yep, exactly what i'd have done - or at the very most i'd have withheld half until the job has finished.

That's a big assumption from very little information.

did the fitter even make the holes in the wall? Unless they have re-arranged the bathroom or put it in another room the pipes have probably not been touched, maybe the new suite just makes it easier to see.

Well the quote was for the whole bathroom to be done from top to bottom, so he literally gutted the room. The bath was the only thing to remain, although the sink was the same one as before it was removed for most of the job so the tiling could be done.

I've got a couple of pictures as best I can - it's not easy to get down behind and take the best pictures.

This is behind the sink:

And this is behind the toilet:

I have to admit, the bit behind the sink just looks plain untidy, but the toilet bit left me - it's just a bloody hole in the wall!

 

[Tute]

The fitter selected the toilet.

I believe Mum wanted it set quite far back, but my problem with it is that surely he could have left it looking a bit less unsightly? I mean none of the edges are straight!

 

[Tute]

Without stoking the fires too much more as I really don't want to get stuck in the middle, the room was done to a strict "budget". When he came to price it up, Mum said she had £1500 to play with and that was that. As a result, she had to lose certain things off the quote like window blinds, a cabinet, larger shower screen etc.

Even then the guy got it up to £1700 for the work, but then at the end of it all he asked for even more!

Now I appreciate that 99% of the room has been done to an amazing standard, but given the original budget was £1500 and Mum has a quote in writing for £1700 at the absolute most, this has put her in a bad mood over it straight away.

 

[Tute]

Just to let you know, the builder phoned back today, apologised for what happened on the phone and said he'd be around next Thursday to have a go at tidying it up.

So er... there you go.