canalsiderenovation

That's really good to know thanks.

Well I'll tell the other half its one or the other. Magnetic latches or concealed hinges. Come to think of it - there you go if that was a choice which would win?

Oh crikey, budget doesn't stretch to these.....

I've been overruled on the door knobs in favour of handles because we can't have magnetic latches with knobs. This is the handle we like https://www.carlislebrass.com/mono-lever-on-square-rose With a door a similar style to this https://www.carlislebrass.com/mono-lever-on-square-rose (I'm not a huge fan of the door but finding one that does a full and part glazed option in the range or similar is difficult and the other half is against with anything with horizontal lines or panels because of dust!) Is there a particular type of magnetic latch I should be looking for and if doors need to be a certain thickness?

Even before we had our build and lots of glass added we had this issue, but we do have a lot of birds. Most of the time they just stun themselves but we did have a wood pigeon who never recovered, that made a large bang. Although the windows are now fitted we don't have a front or back door. This happened a few days ago ? I was doing my Dr Dolittle thing being very calm and not freaking out. VID-20201024-WA0011.mp4

I guess it could be na option to sell it if we didn't want the carbonated water option. I always wanted some form of hot water tap so we will keep this.

I did this first thing Saturday and followed up Sunday with a polite but firm email. No contact Monday at all from him and he must be telling staff to avoid my calls. I've got another Mereway agent pricing up replacement items so I know the cost of buying them. The kitchen was in great condition when we viewed, it's been soley damaged from removal. We did a thorough inspection prior to removal. I'm not sure what's reasonable cost but it seemed reasonable to us. We know a similar kitchen (even without appliances) would have cost a lot more. We actually got another Mereway agent to design us a kitchen almost identical so we knew how much it would have been to purchase and we had compared against some of the ex display kitchen sites (newandused, kitchen exchange etc) too. We also had priced a DIY kitchen so had a rough idea of unit cost (albeit we didn't like any of the DIY kitchen ones) so we did our homework on unit cost. The appliances, sink, pop up plug socket, led lighting etc were all included so I guess this is where the real value is. We have Quooker tap & cube, and all Siemens top of the range appliances. Hob, fridge, dishwasher, a single oven, steam oven and coffee machine.

I don't even like fizzy water anymore, I think I over did it with the soda stream as a teenager.

Aside from the fridge unit (the last two pics) the main other issues are doors which to me really need replacing. I've no idea how much a door replacement is but it won't be cheap with Mereway as we have to go through a distributor which is why we are pushing for them to be replaced. Once I get a price from a local distributor for all the items damaged I'll at least have a better idea. I specifically asked if there was any damage on Friday and was told no. I wanted to hold back 20% and they refused to delivery unless paid in full (probably a little different than their normal practice as it was ex display). Not signed anything. The kitchen was from a showroom who have a number of branches but it was on eBay but not the company. We viewed it and he offered a discount if we paid directly (all monies paid directly to the Company Directors bank account). We know he is the company director and owner of a number of the kitchen branches as we have viewed information on Companies House. I know stupid we should have just sorted it through eBay..... Can still issue a Small Claims as have all of his details.

Well pleasant combined with an unpleasant damaged kitchen (see other thread). No idea if it works though as the kitchen was ex display but it was functional when we went as I had a cup of tea out of tap so there may be some minimal use.

Our ex display kitchen arrived on Saturday. We viewed it twice, the final time only recently and everything was perfect which we can back up with probably around 100 photos. We were reassured it would be taken out carefully from the showroom. Guess what, it arrived damaged despite them taking it out Friday and delivering it to is Saturday morning. They had cling wrapped things but damage is visible from inside the cling film when the cling film isn't damaged so the damage was definitely done by them and before it was packaged up. I was emailing and sending pictures to the manager as it was being unloaded despite the driver from the company saying 'I haven't got time for you to check everything'. We followed this up with additional photos and detail. Despite saying 'we will sort it' he's not answering the phone or staff are giving me the runaround or replying to emails. As a minimum I've asked for replacement to the damaged doors, worktop, plinth and shelf (this is what my other half wants but I'm half tempted to tell him to come and collect all of it and take it back (wife is freaking out currently)! I've asked for a resolution close on Wednesday, at which point I'll open a small claim online (which is normally quite quick to do - I am familiar with the process and have done this before). What I want to know is exactly how much damage should we expect? I mean I was expecting some minor damage that would be disguised by fitting but this is just a selection of things that would be very much visible that I've raised with him (there was more but this is a selection of the worst). I know it's not cheap to replace and I have asked another local supplier to price up everything we have damaged so we know what we need to replace.... This is a floating shelf which is completely scratched. This is on the front of a door - we have at least 3 doors like this with damage either chips or scuffs. This is worktop. There is a scratch underneath which isn't too much of a problem but the scratch goes up onto the edge and it is literally the end of the hob so is an end you would see. It's very sharp. This is a fridge unit housing on the van. Because it was against a wall in the showroom they have literally hacked off the actual paint. Whilst this may not be visible I'm concerned about it being sturdy enough to be attached to another unit (which it will be) and the wood should be 20mm and it is less than 5mm in places due to them taking away half of it.

We have had delivery of our ex display kitchen, earlier than planned but they couldn't keep it any longer. I was surprised to see that the Quooker tap has a kind of soda stream thingy. A quick google and it is apparently a 'Cube' add on. That was an unpleasant surprise, never noticed it initially. Has anyone had one of these gadgets?

Thanks never heard of these and have sent off for some samples. I've already got my HG quote down to around £1400 by shopping around.

Ah Multipanel is a different range than Showerwall. It may be that Multipanel is a bit cheaper but we weren't fussed on any particular designs. May have to rethink that.

Shower wall panelling with builders discount from Huws Gray: Shower details indicated by an X are what we need. Crikey, tell me shower panels aren't worth it and we should just tile the lot....

That's lost on me ?

At the time they were trying to get the trailer over the bridge spider hadn't arrived (came later on) but they could have easy got that over the bridge.

It was like a big spider! They have left it on site overnight and I was admiring it. Very nifty piece of kit.

Overall it went swimmingly well, couple of minor issues but soon resolved and need to return to sort out a handle issue but John Knight Glass were, IMO really great and for final sign off we wait for contact over next couple weeks when someone else comes to site to check everything with us so enough time to raise any snagging issues hopefully. Despite some panic on the canal bridge when the trailer was about 8 inches off the floor, everyone held their breath when the glass got over successfully. The other option being discussed was asking CRT who were dredging at the time to transport them to us. Although that didn't happen, I'd of been quite pleased to see that ? The windows we picked were the aluclad UPVV studio KF320 windows and KS430 sliding door and we are more than happy with them. A couple from work in progress. It was nice as the sun was setting getting some pictures of the house today, finally with the windows.

Can I ask what was suggested, do you have a link? Are you using these inside too?

Yep, everyone we have spoken to raves about them and we have a Clearview shop a couple of miles away and they are so helpful. Our floor will be LVT gluedown tiles. Yep, builder sorted this and checked. This is what we are struggling to decide what to put inside and also on the hearth too. Is there a particular tile we should be looking at for inside? Do you have to have a particular kind of tile to meet building regs? I'll check them out so probably look at two pieces then? Still think granite will be way out of our budget.

We are reusing the perfectly fine stove that came with the house, although the canopy makes it quite old fashioned our budget didn't stretch to a new stove. It's this Clearviee one (we are replacing the brass fittings with chrome ones): We have been quoted around £550 for a T shaped piece of granite so that's pretty much out. We do need to come up with a budget friendly solution of what to put on the hearth and around the walls inside. Any suggestions please? I haven't yet located building regs so should we be looking at a particular material to use and what is allowed/not allowed.

That would be helpful to see thanks @vfrdave

It's been stressful, probably because I'm a worrier and just wanted everything right. Despite the builder saying he was sorting it and getting a professional, until we saw the van this morning and saw how meticulous they worked, it was only then I felt a massive relief. What I can't get my head around is why the builder didn't get the professionals to start with. The professionals today got here very early on and were gone by 3pm. The initial bodged job must have take well over a week because the builders lads took ages and then the umpteen coats they kept putting on to try and rectify it. Our builder must have paid out a fair bit in wages alone. I'm sure he has learned a valuable lesson!

Here's a couple of better pictures before we leave the site for the day. It's touch dry too (with some flies stuck on it) and thank god it hasn't rained.