Poor landscaping work - garden resembles a swamp

aVdub said:
Quite ironic that this thread is about incorrectly laid tiles.
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Lol true, but my point i was trying to make, even if there are humps or dips in the levels, if the tiles were 'laid' properly, they are not coming back up easily.
The levels on a job could be perfect but if the tiles were laid incorrectly ie. no slurry applied, then its a bad job and vice versa
 
Adam said:
Great advice thanks so much. How important do you think it is to allow him the opportunity to come back and put it right (again)? I can’t see him being willing to dig everything up to start again whereas that would be my expectation if someone else was to take on the remedial work.
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I think its very important to be fair.
If it goes to court he will try and say that you never gave him a chance to fix it.
Make sure any further correspondence is by letter or email, so you have a paper trail to prove you have given him every chance to fix the problems before taking him to court.
Write every letter with the thought that a judge may one day be reading it.

If you end up having to rip everything up and start again, then he could be liable to cover your expenses from employing a different contractor to do the job the way it should have been done.

Also it may be worth doing some research on him, is he a sole trader, ltd company etc... is he registered at companies house?
Try and find out as much info as you can about him, as if it goes to court and you win he may just try and fold the business and start up again in a different name.

edit, have a read of this thread https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/tell-me-about-new-driveways.18922323/page-2
 
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j.col said:
I think its very important to be fair.
If it goes to court he will try and say that you never gave him a chance to fix it.
Make sure any further correspondence is by letter or email, so you have a paper trail to prove you have given him every chance to fix the problems before taking him to court.
Write every letter with the thought that a judge may one day be reading it.

If you end up having to rip everything up and start again, then he could be liable to cover your expenses from employing a different contractor to do the job the way it should have been done.

Also it may be worth doing some research on him, is he a sole trader, ltd company etc... is he registered at companies house?
Try and find out as much info as you can about him, as if it goes to court and you win he may just try and fold the business and start up again in a different name.

edit, have a read of this thread https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/tell-me-about-new-driveways.18922323/page-2
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Ok thank you, perhaps I’ll reassess this then based on your advice as I want to do everything by the book. It will end in confrontation but I’m ready for that.
 
First thing is to stop the water drainage from the grass, start by digging a small channel around the edge of the patio see how it goes.
I'm not sure about the patio drainage, that looks like a lot of water, does the patio have a dip in it or something or is most coming from the grass. I don't think you'll have any problems with the damp proof course.
I would try and find the lowest point on the patio and see how to get the water away from there. Lifting any slabs will reck the patio.
 
Confrontation is just a waste of energy with a one man band talk of court is also a waste of time, it will take months maybe years to get anything.
Unfortunately you may already have burned your bridges with him though.
Out of interest, how much did you pay?
 
Slam62 said:
Confrontation is just a waste of energy with a one man band talk of court is also a waste of time, it will take months maybe years to get anything.
Unfortunately you may already have burned your bridges with him though.
Out of interest, how much did you pay?
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Ignore this advice it’s never a waste of time.
 
I would guess that the lowest point of the patio is along the border with the grass?
And the grass is falling towards the patio, and as the patio has next to no fall, the water is pooling on the patio?

One way to fix the job, is to dig a soakaway under the garden, then dig a trench along the border of the grass and patio about 200mm deep, lay about 25mm of shingle along the trench and then lay the Perforated land drainage pipe and connect it to the soakaway.
Backfill the trench with some shingle upto level with the top soil. Place some weed membrane over the shingle and lay some turf over this or some decorative stones, this way you have a French drain but is also connected to a soakaway.
 
Yup time for a final letter before action.

Be exact, and be thorough and be firm. I find many pre-action letters are ok that you can find, but one that goes into detail helps to chronicle everything while its fresh in your mind, and you can refer to it later on if it ever goes to court.


I would include the following:

The date the work they were contracted to do started.
The work that was to be carried out and by when.
The payment terms, and when it was paid and how.
When you first noticed the issue.
When you contacted them.
Additional information on contact made, and anything agreed by said contractor.
The current date, and that the issue still persists.
A reasonable time frame (2 weeks is the usual) for them to get in touch to arrange a solution or remediation (eg, to come fix it, or provide a refund of XYZ amount for a new contractor to come fix it).
The consequences if they dont meet this timeframe.

I would also add some pleasantries in, such as you were initially delighted of the quality of the work, however you are now massively disappointed at their lack of resolution to quite an urgent issue (damp proof course isnt lake-proof, potential safety issue also if it freezes?).
 
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They have basically dug you a pond. The surounding gardens, your new paving and possibly the conservatory roof are all draining onto the turf.
It looks like you will be taking it all up and starting again. If you are putting the same slab down you could try to take them up (hard without breakages) but then you'll have to clean the backs (nightmare). Hopefully they have taken another short cut and not painted the backs. The new contractor wont fancy putting them back down anyway.
The channel drain at the side of the house doesn't look to be doing a great deal. There is no fall into it from the path and it seems to be sitting flush with the blocks. Also there is a gap between the blocks and the drain.

You might want to get the new contrator to check those retaining walls as well.

Its going to be painful for a while but it will get there eventually.
 
Just to play devils advocate a bit here. The op asked for his garden to be dug out, a retaining wall built and a new lawn and patio laid. That's what's been done.

Perhaps neither party foresaw the drainage issue on the small area there. Where does the responsibility lie here, the contractor has done what was asked?

I would imagine the water is bubbling up from below when it rains, as his lawn will now be the lowest point in the surrounding gardens.

Have drain holes been left at the base of the retaining walls?
 
What was on the original quote/agreement??- that's the important starting point. Was there any agreement for drainage - if so - what was the drainage/specification?

Start at the beginning - work from there.

As @danlightbulb says - If there was no solid agreement for drainage in the quote - you might struggle to get anywhere. What was written down at the start and agreed upon??

I know it's a mute point now - but why make payment/final payment when your still not happy with the final job? I never understand people that pay up the full balance but are not happy with the job. No matter how much "hassle" the trades person gives you, don't pay until your completely happy with the job.
 
Here's the original quote:

uTMoE9X.png

Note that the scope of the work changed once the digger came in and some of the earth had been excavated. The original plan was to have a wall across the garden separating the garden on 2 levels but it became clear this would be about 3ft high due to the slope. I was given the option to have the garden flattened for an extra £4k which we agreed upon £3500 (£14,750 total). So rather than a wall running across the garden we paid the extra for the earth to be removed (3-4 more grab lorries, an extra couple of days hire for the digger, more materials for the wall etc).

Nonetheless, you can see "new drainage around the property" wasn't fulfilled nor was any thought given to the drainage.
 
booyaka said:
What was on the original quote/agreement??- that's the important starting point. Was there any agreement for drainage - if so - what was the drainage/specification?

Start at the beginning - work from there.

As @danlightbulb says - If there was no solid agreement for drainage in the quote - you might struggle to get anywhere. What was written down at the start and agreed upon??

I know it's a mute point now - but why make payment/final payment when your still not happy with the final job? I never understand people that pay up the full balance but are not happy with the job. No matter how much "hassle" the trades person gives you, don't pay until your completely happy with the job.
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Fair point about the payment and I was naive. I was constantly being harrassed for money every other day. We had a good relationship and I could see the work was progressing so thought it was only fair I paid him, however I paid him too much and didn't have a significant balance outstanding.

I'm annoyed at myself but equally annoyed at him considering we gave him money frequently when he asked for it, I went out of my way numerous times to help him but now we need him I feel like we are on our own.
 
Adam said:
Fair point about the payment and I was naive. I was constantly being harrassed for money every other day. We had a good relationship and I could see the work was progressing so thought it was only fair I paid him, however I paid him too much and didn't have a significant balance outstanding.

I'm annoyed at myself but equally annoyed at him considering we gave him money frequently when he asked for it, I went out of my way numerous times to help him but now we need him I feel like we are on our own.
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Again - it's all well and good looking at it now, and I'm trying not to sound condescending -

But if that is all that was provided in terms of a plan of work/details/contract of work for £15k - I would have run a mile.

"New drainage around the property" - that could be two small drains put in, it could anything.

Ultimately - you need to approach him in writing stating what you are expecting to be done to rectify the situation - everything needs to be documented. You need to be specific about it - However, it's going to be hard to prove/evidence what you want done, is what he quoted for as the "contract" is very very wooly/non specific.

Yes it looks like a very poor situation that you've got - but with such a basic agreement/non specific contract of works - your going to have a fight on your hands to get anywhere with it. He could easily claim that the aco drains he installed fulfills his obligations under the "contract" agreed.

A very difficult situation
 
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