Jothetaxi

You are right about that. I think we’ve hit a wall and are totally fed up with all the problems and decisions. Just as we thought we were on the home run, this came up.

Thanks very much for the replies. The house has been refurbished and this is where the garage was, so imagine the ceiling is following some of the original joists when boarding. We're on a very tight timeline now so could have done without this. Wardrobes are dead level. Thanks for the detail on the return for the coving - that is what we plan to do; It is working out who can actually cut the coving away, as we are on a very tight timeline. The coving guy says he can finish the end with the return detail and that will look more intentional. Agree with Mr Punter about the infill to the ceiling. I think that is what they will do. Frustrating with all planning involved.

Thanks for the reply. This is the only room where the coving fitter has taken the coving past the joinery line. In other rooms he stopped it short so it can be finished before it hits the wardrobes/joinery. I have no idea why he did this here and it has made it more complicated. Just wondering if he can cut the coving away vertically. You can see the line where the coving would not sit straight on the joinery. What a headache.

we've spent so long planning the joinery in our home. In two of the rooms the plaster coving was going to run across the top of wardrobes. The wardrobes were designed with this in mind. Plaster coving guy has come to fit the coving above the wardrobes and has discovered the ceiling is out, meaning there will be a large variation and the coving won't be straight. I would appreciate any thoughts on how to finish this. We could add a timber cornice to the top but that would mean cutting back the coving. Absolutely gutted that years of planning have come to this on the day of fitting. Any help appreciated.

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. We are considering adding holes in more symmetrical positions, then closing up the old ones, if someone like a magicman can make it look ok. Would the tray run along the top of the door opening?

I’ve put this post in this area, as I was unsure where else to put it. Builders installed weep holes above our doors in random positions and they look a right mess. We know they are required but it’s the random positioning that bothers us and it draws your eye. I’ve attached photos but they don’t really show the extent of it. is there a way of obscuring these? We know they can’t be sealed up.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I think we will seal the windows. The window company are sending a mastic guy - thank goodness. mastic guy has suggested white to match the windows. One angry builder already came back and sealed an expansion joint in the brickwork and it looks awful. Mastic guy said he would take it out and redo it for us. I take it angry builders coming back to do snagging items is a recognised thing then? Thought it was just us!

We had a surveyor undertake a building snag survey post build. One of the (many!) things he picked up was the windows were not sealed externally. The house has silicone render applied to thermal insulation boards. We believe SPS Envirowall was the brand used (but to be honest who knows with our builders!). Windows are Residence 9 UPVC windows. The window installer/supplier is saying that customers do not generally have their windows silicone sealed around the external edges, as they already have silicone render applied to the edge of the window frame. What are your thoughts on this? we thought that if a chartered surveyor picks this up then it must be important. To be fair the window company is via the contractor (but at our request). Any thoughts gratefully received.

Here are some photos taken during construction.

Thank you - I shall take some more photos and look to see if I have any during the construction phase.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. As the home owners we don't have the technical expertise to fully comprehend the technicalities of what is going on in the drawings, but it seems like the architect also has some questions to answer here? Having had rendering undertaken on our previous properties, as well as seeing local properties in our area with similar canopy finishes, we noted the use of a bell cast bead over the flashing and then noted it wasn't used on our canopy. We noted the addition of a bell cast bead, at the end of a render finish, creates a clean and even finish when it meets flashing and a tiled roof line. To be honest, the initial impression was about the aesthetics of the roof finish and render (plus chipped tiles). In simple terms, we think it looks a mess. Thanks for your reply but we are not happy with it - we will always look at it thinking we are not happy with it. We are detail people who spent a lot of time, money and energy working with the architect on the plans so we expected them to be followed.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. As the home owners we don't have the technical expertise to fully comprehend the technicalities of what is going on in the drawings, but it seems like the architect also has some questions to answer here? Having had rendering undertaken on our previous properties, as well as seeing local properties in our area with similar canopy finishes, we noted the use of a bell cast bead over the flashing and then noted it wasn't used on our canopy. We noted the addition of a bell cast bead, at the end of a render finish, creates a clean and even finish when it meets flashing and a tiled roof line. To be honest, the initial impression was about the aesthetics of the roof finish and render (plus chipped tiles). In simple terms, we think it looks a mess.

Thanks for reply. This is probably why the architect is saying the finish is to a satisfactory standard. Any ideas on how it can be rectified to look reasonable? or are we talking a full re-design of this area? To us it just looks a mess.

Thank you for the reply and thank you for the observation - we hadn't noted there is no flashing on the side wall. The contractor's excuse was ' he did it in the more traditional way'. Obviously this is an unacceptable response. We are following up with the contractor as we know it is a deviation. We know they rushed to complete the job; the canopy was the last area to be completed. Nobody oversaw the sequence of work, meaning this area was left as an afterthought.

We are unhappy with the finish to our roof canopy. The building contractor added the flashing after rendering, then sliced and sealed the flashing into the render as a finish. Our understanding from our drawings was that a bellcast bead would be used at the bottom of the render, overlapping the flashing (as shown in the canopy profile drawing). The render is silicone render. The left wall of the canopy is also insulated. We believe the contractor used SPS Envirowall. We are looking for options tidy this up, as it the main focus point to the entrance of the house. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Detail 6 - Front Porch Canopy.pdf

Is there a guide or formula for working out the shaker frame width on a wardobe door? Don’t want it looking too thin or too heavy. I read it’s about 1/6 of the door - does that sound about right?

Thanks for the replies. It isn't about not paying, it is about paying what it is worth, which is what we fully intend to do. The builder clearly had a strategy for holding back on pricing, then undertaking the work without questioning whether we wanted to go ahead. In one instance, after 5 months of waiting for a price or their intention to do the work, we informed them we were getting our own contractor in to undertake the work. They then just did the work and want to overcharge us retrospectively.

Yes, we have retention held back and have submitted a costing for liquidated damages, where they ran over the contract deadline without a request for extension. They were granted an extension from the original timeline with the architect blaming us for the delays, which is almost laughable to be honest - especially as they had disappeared from the site for 4 months. They didn't meet the second deadline either, because as we predicted, they disappeared from site again and reappeared in the week the contract was due to expire, running around like headless chickens trying to get things completed. The retention amount will not cover rectifying some of the work if they do not come back, so the liquidated amount is to cover ourselves. We are in the East of England.

Thanks for the replies. The contract is a residential RIBA contract and the completion certificate has been issued. The builder ran behind and probably out of money so sought to cut corners wherever he could. There are some technical defects that need to be rectified as well, where things have not been constructed to the drawings. The builders have tried their luck wherever they can and while we did not expect them to be angels, we are shocked at the dishonesty. Throughout the build we had regular valuation meetings and paid variations that were agreed, however, as the work came to an end they held back being forthcoming on prices and we have seen them throwing out obscene amounts as we come to the end of the build without any proof. In one instance a variation for a ridiculous amount for bodging the hanging of our internal doors (also confirmed by an RICS surveyor who undertook a snagging survey). The Administrator has not questioned any of this and seems to think these are reasonable costs, which we dispute. It is not that we don't want to pay, it is that we don't want to be ripped off. Is there an external way of getting an independent price for these? certainly presenting costs after undertaking the work is not lawful anyway.

We have concerns that our contract administrator (The Architect) has been certifying payments that are not reasonable. The builder held back giving prices for variations and is now seeking to charge a disproportionate amount retrospectively. While the builder pulled off our project for several months, we discovered the builder and the architect had been working together on another project. This was not declared to us until several months later. During this time our own project fell behind. We've now had some unreasonable amounts requested for work that was undertaken and the administrator feels the payments are warranted. In both instances, the architect/ administrator was not there to witness the work, nor did they receive any prompt costing at the time. These relate to work that was undertaken and charged retrospectively. We don't feel the contract administrator is acting in our best interest and siding with the builder. We also feel there is a conflict of interest here. Is there a process whereby we can have work valued? would this be the work of a quantity surveyor? Thank you.

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the replies. We’ve had no end of issues with the electricians so thought it wise to just check.

Electricians had used these thick cables for all our wall lights, with double cables in parts too. We have concerns about whether these will be ok to fit into the back plates of wall lights. Do you think these will be ok? Can the cable be stripped back making it easier to connect? Electricians have temporarily attached pendant fittings hanging off the walls. Thanks

Thanks for all the replies. The letter from UKPN asks for details of those responsible for causing the damage to UKPN's property. As the contractor was responsible for the damage,we feel it right to refer it over to them. The work the contractor carried out was for a major renovation and extension to our home (we are not living in it). They had responsibility for the site under the contract. When it happened, we were away on holiday and were told the cable was close to the surface. We suggested they take lots of photos to prove this and they confirmed they already had. Fast forward 5 months and the many photos they allegedly took still have not materialised, which leads us now to believe they were careless when carrying out the excavation work. Surely the natural thing to do would be to take lots of photos to cover yourself, use as evidence to present to an insurer, UKPN or whoever.

Thank you for the replies. This incident happened last summer - around August time. UKPN have only just written to the contractor. . The contractor hasn’t supplied anything so far to show they didn’t act out of negligence. We are at the end of the building work now, with snagging to deal with. Working with the contractor has not been great… The Architect is also telling us that UKPN holds the homeowner responsible. Looks like they are both trying to shunt responsibility onto us but we will stand our ground.

Last summer (on the first day of our holiday) we received a call from our building contractor saying they had drilled through the main electrical cable. UKPN were called out. UKPN said they would lay the cable but would not dig a trench, as it was too close to a tree. The contractor dug the trench and UKPN laid the cable. The contractor claims that the cable was too close the surface, which is why they drilled through it and this was cause to dispute any charges that might be made by UKPN. They said on the phone they had lots of photos. They have since supplied only one photo. The contractor has presented us with a bill for the digger and for labour. They have also passed our details on to UKPN, who will now pursue us for payment for laying the cable. We have been told that because the cable was close to the surface, we should dispute this with UKPN, however, without more than one photo of the alleged badly positioned cable, we are not sure we have much of a case. We also face a bill from the contractor for equipment and labour. We are questioning whether the contractor dug the cable by accident or through carelessness. Without proof of more photos etc, we are unsure how we can prove the cable was too close to the surface. Would UKPN keep notes on the position of the cable? would they have notes regarding the issue? should we push the matter back to the contractor,as we were not present at the time? Any thoughts on how we should approach this would be appreciated.