I am not sure hope springs eternal anymore. After advising a Director of our building company of a long list of issues and several major items essentially not started, we got some action yesterday, only to have an Edwardian lead glass window pane or three broken ... and just left. Didn't even tell us (but I heard it break), didn't clean up the glass, and have not offered to get it fixed! An apology - ha ha! Instead complained it was our tree's fault and ladder didn't get on with said tree!
Only action on one item and no further communication from builder/director ... so unclear how they now intend to proceed after missing several builder-set 'finish' dates they promised. Still no useable shower in the main bathroom. Also found found more ceiling damage from an earlier water leak.
Builders have used and left in the rain some of Philip's tools, asked our decorators (independent company) to do the builder's work -- behind our back -- leaving us feeling confused, disrespected and out of control. Why are the separate decorators here at the same time as the builder's men you ask? Well read above - builder way behind revised schedule and eaten a generous time contingency.
Yesterday found plumbing in loft bathroom not properly installed resulting in a slow leak which made a visible appearance after a week. Easily rectified once someone came round, and no major damage, but some wood will never be quite the same. And at the moment I feel neither will I.
Frankly the plumbing is a mess - many things need/needed to be rectified, the external back of house has higgledy-piggledy pipework all over in different colours and the plumber tried to sell us a new boiler blaming everything on our 'old boiler over 10 years old' - not true. Plumbing did not meet the specification we asked for and given to builder as condition of employing him.
Decorators seem to be in every room of the house with no concept of personal space. Part of job was to install a new skirting board damaged by water - so they did this OVER TOP of mould!! They seemed to think that isn't a problem - 'it will go away.' Hummm They insisted on decorating the hall first which is the only access into the rest of the house which is now being decorated. Back and forth throught the hallway about 50 times a day. Wallpaper under threat and already dirty in spots.
There is no logic with the builders or decorators - I have never seen so much rework due to their own carelessness. Decorators also running over time and now think it is OK to work on the lounge whilst the carpet installers are here. They just forgot that the space they want to work in will be full of furniture as other rooms need to be empty for the new carpets/flooring to go down! Everytime someone comes to fix one thing they damage another two!
I no longer have any words (swearing or otherwise) nor even anger. Despair doesn't quite cover it. I am not sleeping and not feeling well or thinking straight. I do not know the state of my seaside flat as it is also overdo on finishing and I cannot leave this home to check as I never know who is showing up here when to do what. Giving builders or decorators free reign of my home is out of the question. Why you ask do both at the same time? Well that wasn't the plan either ...
Blind doesn't fit and has to be remade, stool arrives and doesn't go together, anti-vibration washing machine mat insisted by builder makes things worse not better and has to be removed, man comes to door asking for train fare with sob story and threatens to break our windows when we try to offer help via a charity ... need plumber for days of work to fix what isn't right ... and so it goes.
And then there is the clean-up after the workers - we are talking weeks of work.
Not one or even 10 of these things is such a big deal. It is the constant drip, drip of issues, broken promises, delayed work, wrong installation, breakage/water damage, small fixes promised and then denied and not done, total loss of control of my home/space and my time -- it is grinding and wearing 😩😱
