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

New front door fitted yesterday; It's always refreshing to work with a company that takes pride in their work, does a professional job, and cleans up after themselves.

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We've completed the utility room, including the flooring and plaster reveals (except for painting). I've contacted the building inspector, and they're scheduled to visit next week for final approval (not sure if he will pull on the entrance step to the rear as its 3 1/2 courses high.

The developer still needs to do some re-pointing, which we require for completion since we're uncertain about the render color. Once that's done, we can tell him to jog on!


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BUILDING INSPECTION: [PASSED]

So relieved' there are a few minor things he picked up on (pending work outside, particularly regarding the pointing, which is essential for preventing wildlife intrusion and rain ingress). But he knows the trouble we have been through and wanted it signed off for us.

The inspector mentioned something off the record that I shocked me. He shared he has currently 20+ clients with the developer in the last 3 years, this project will only be the second one to be signed off in in that time.


Question: Do i get the developer to finish the pointing' or tell him jog on now (either way, he is not getting the last payment) ?
 
tom_e said:
Do it off the massive back step he left, should cause him some damage :D
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Litterally burst out laughing; reading this.

Just come home and someone is doing the pointing :o he has had someone turn up today, we didnt get around to sending a formal email yesterday as we want something in writing to tell him to stop work and no further payment will be recieved etc. We have a huge list we are going to include; but one of the top items will be.

The quote states: "Site welfare will be provided throughout the work".

ZERO site welfare was provided throughout the project, resulting in cleaning up waste and workmen urinating in the garden ( i caught them and confronted them and they was like we have no where to go) and using the downstairs toilet when there was no running water (for number 2's) and the fact that WE had to clean up due to no running water. Failure to provide suitable welfare I believe is also a health and safety violation under the HSE and I’m pretty sure the Council’s environmental health would also not approve.
 
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Syla5 said:
Hows the refusal to pay the final payment gone down with the developer? I guess that's the final chapter to this story, I hope that he's agreed to not expect it and all is done and dusted.
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I will let you know tomorrow morning as we have been waiting for our building completion certificate. That arrived today :). We held concern about him doing something to skupper sign off. Now we have the paperwork and legally, we are complete we are sending.

Regarding the final instalment payment of £6,500 - the total expense for the doors, fittings, etc amounted to £4,300, leaving an outstanding balance of £2,200.

Then we list; endless items we have need to purchase including inconveniences etc.

It is a very formal, legal sounding email (our QS lent a hand) explicity requesting that he refrain from discussing these matters via phone or face-to-face, any additional communication this project should be done via email.

I can guarantee within the first 2 minutes of sending the email, we get a phone call and will threats etc.
 
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dlockers said:
Tbh I'd just pay the £2.2k. Not worth the headache/hassle/retribution. Agreed on discounting by the amount of the doors tho. Kiss any warranty good bye.
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I really do not want to give the satisfaction, even if it was £50.00, The numerous issues encountered during the build despite our efforts to address them have been distressing and the constant missed deadlines. We are in a few day's approaching 1 year and technically we are still not finished.
 
Syla5 said:
Hows the refusal to pay the final payment gone down with the developer? I guess that's the final chapter to this story, I hope that he's agreed to not expect it and all is done and dusted.
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{SAS}TB said:
Good luck :)
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Throrik said:
Just put the phone down, all you need to say is please reach out via email.
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So things did not go well. Before we sent the email, my wife had like 4 missed calls and voicemails. So, I decided to call him as he is chasing the building regulation certificate for his records to sign off his insurance. Fair enough!

He wanted to discuss money on the phone, so I said I need to send an email, but off the top of my head, the doors come to around 4K something; I've not checked. This is where the conversation went downhill rapidly. He could not provide the doors, so we sourced them ourselves after waiting months for him to deliver. He is saying he could have got the doors for £800 - £1000 so is expecting a minimum of £4,000 plus all extras that have randomly come out of thin air like bathroom tiles (LOL, they are listed on the quote - he provided). Long story short, he threatened me and said he is sending his debt collectors up. I just laughed and said, 'How can you do that when you have not even invoiced me?' and that he would see me in court. He got heated and then put the phone down after hurling insults.

10 minutes later, he called like 4 times before I decided to answer. Now he wants a copy of the invoice for the doors and wants to finish the work :x

*We actually did not pay £4,300 in the end as I negotiated a good discount and the company could see we were in dire need of something urgent as we had a bit of PVC with no security. Not sure if I need to send him anything? It's not like he has sent me invoices for his PC sum amounts for things like bathrooms? If I send; surely I can redact the company's name etc.?"
 
Syla5 said:
Not wanting to pay him the final balance £6.5k or whatever is understandable when you factor in that final balance was supposed to include the supply and fitment of the door that you guys ended up doing yourselves. I didnt imagine it would go smoothly, especially as he thinks he should be netting at least £5k out of that (based on what he said he could have gotten the doors for himself!) and 5k isnt a small sum to just not fight over.

I dont blame him wanting to see the invoice though, £4.3k is a lot of money for 2 doors tbh and didnt you end up with upvc anyway(even for composite £4.3k is a lot!)? This is the only thing i disagree with what you have done here, giving him the wrong price you paid, somewhat shot yourself in the foot on that one, as it will undermine the validity of what other points you have to put across.
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No, totally makes sense and this is kind of silly of me. However, i would in my defense - was looking at the "quote" price and not the invoice when speaking this morning [thats on me]; PLUS

we were compelled to take matters into our own hands by sourcing and paying installation of both front and back doors, thus reducing his net amount (regardless of door's final price). This undertaking not only incurred additional expenses but also consumed significant time and effort on our part as we had to source something really quick following constant delays and excuses by the developer [we are talking 3 months+]. That further exacerbated our rental accommodation stay and additional fees and expenses we had to pay, this coupled with the doors/fitting, well exceeded that amount.
 
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I haven't sent the email yet, as the situation may be getting more complicated. I'm not sure if anyone here has any insights or can provide assistance. My wife manages our monthly direct debits for our energy supplies. However, the gas meter reading hasn't changed for several months; it's been stuck on the same numbers since September. We haven't been living at the house much, but even so, the energy supplier agreed to send an engineer to replace the gas meter.

He asked questions like who capped the gas, etc. It's all been done and tested fine now. However, looking at the dates, it seems the meter stopped functioning when the "developer" capped off the old gas stove supply for the cooker (coincidence maybe), as everything is now electric in the kitchen. We don't have any certificates for the work (I'm not sure if they are needed), but we are almost certain that the plumber, whom the developer insists didn't "touch our boiler" so it's fine, is not actually Corgi registered.

My question is: "Do you need to be gas registered to cap off any gas pipe?" Additionally, this plumber had drained the system multiple times, causing many leaks, and ultimately it resulted in us needing a new boiler.
 
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dlockers said:
Kai has asked for more than what he paid :cry:
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I did; but i was also reading off the quote, not the invoice when i provided the figures Friday. But' why can't i factor in it incurred additional expenses (we had to travel and shop around) but also consumed significant time and effort on our part, plus addtional rent, bills etc while we was messed around for months with promise of the doors.
 
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Peerzy said:
Any update on how this has gone @kai?
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All Quiet on the Western Front. :cry:

Not heard a thing; so no news is good news. However, if i do get a phone-call ( i suspect i will get one, when he is hard up for money and chancing) i am going to ask why he has broken the law and had gas work completed without a gas safe engineer. My old gas supply into the kitchen has been capped and was done by the carpenter.

Work is starting on the garden next month (reputable company) i have used in the past to have composite decking put down level with inside. The outdoor kitchen and a new seating area will likely follow later in the year.
 
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Peerzy said:
Glad to hear it's been a peaceful few weeks and hopefully I haven't jinxed anything!

Are you finished inside the house now?

We've had our watertight shell built and are waiting for my son's treatment to finish before we knock through in about a month. We've used the time to do the garden though.
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Over the last two weeks, I've been busy with some finishing touches around the house. While nothing major, tasks like applying silicone sealer and caulking have proven to be quite the skill. What might have taken someone five minutes has taken me half a day, as I wanted to ensure everything looked just right. I even invested in a smoothing tool to help with the process.

There are also some finishing tasks outside, like sealing under the eaves on the roof. Being next to the woodland, it's crucial to ensure there are no gaps. However, I'm considering getting this done as it's going require something like a roof bridge ladder.

In addition, I've completed all the paintwork and glossing. Although there are some areas of shoddy brickwork finish in the corner of the house, they can wait as they're not urgent. We are basically in a 99% finished product


Do you have a thread going; sorry if i have missed this but i would like to follow :)
 
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May update: I haven't spoken to the builder in over a month. I gave him the ultimatum of finishing what is left (and we will pay the remaining balance). When I broke down the costs and provided receipts, it turned out to be much less than he expected. We agreed to have the work professionally inspected, and only after everyone signs off will he receive the final payment or walk away. I haven't heard from him since.

Last week, our ensuite bathroom tap stopped working. The diverter from the shower head to the main spout refused to switch between the two nozzle features. This resulted in another leak into the kitchen, requiring me to fix and paint a large patch of the ceiling with Zinsser. I contacted the supplier directly, but they wanted to deal with the developer since he placed the order and paid. However, after explaining my situation, they fairly sent out a new section of the tap. I tried to install it myself but kept encountering issues. We had to call a plumber at £75 per hour. It was a fairly simple job, but the previous plumber had connected the flexible pipes using inadequate fittings, and the hot and cold were reversed, causing the cable to twist each time. It was slowly working its way loose from the presure and could have been an open source of water under the floorboards.

Everything is sorted now. We paid extra for a competent plumber to check things, and we know it’s been fitted correctly, but we’ve faced additional issues again.


Further update: On Friday, I received a call from Howdens' store manager asking if I had paid the developer. We had the delivery back in November 2023 for our kitchen. I confirmed I had paid and could provide receipts and invoices. Apparently, the developer told Howdens I am withholding payment, preventing him from paying over £14,000 and this has been going on for months. (our kitchen was only £11,700, so he is trying to add other items from other customers on). The store manager did not doubt me but felt the need to check. I very politely asked them to work through the developer or contact my solicitor, as we do not want to speak to this man directly again.
 
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We are now moving onto the garden. It's going to be a fairly big project, so are going to do it in sections over time. The intial focus this week was to clear out the rubbish left by the waste of space developer and get some decking down as the eyeline across the entire kitchen was just spoilt.

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It's a fairly big deck just over 40 SQM.

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Plus the composite decking we selected is a really good quality. I also liked it offered a reversible two-colour option, so can swap to a slate colour on the reverse in a few years if the oak does not hold up the amount of leafs etc. It;s meant for boarders etc but we just liked Oak, edged with a black edge to finish.

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{SAS}TB said:
The pics about look like most of the gaps between the joists are pretty much filled with debris?
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Yep that is how it was done. The middle was filled with the backfill of rubbish but around the edges there was a small gap and the wood left off the ground. Again not an ideal picture but the joists none of them are sitting on the soil. We are talking a few mm (at best) but around the edges it was kept off the floor and clear. Not sure if it helps but it's all 30 year pressure treated wood :confused:

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If it's wrong i am not overly concerned or goes wrong in the next few years there will be no drama and he will need to rectify as we know him as a family freind who completed the work.
 
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