2 storey extension - is this brickwork ok?

[Worcesterman]

Brick tinting is an idea but in my opinion won’t work on a multi or wire cut brick. But who knows. Maybe.
I was going to say that Mrs S might have noticed the two different colours of bricks before or as they were being layed and advised her builder accordingly. If she was told that they would weather in then I feel she was not told the truth. One might argue that not disputing that at the time was a mistake. But why would she be told that in the first place… was there a brick shortage at the time perhaps and no other bricks available in a pandemic. Maybe there were other reasons. I think it would be more settling if the home owner could know a reason at least. Just dismissing the mismatch is strange. Thats why if it was myself then I’d use a solicitor with experience in that field to help clarify whats fair for you and your builder.

 

[mrrusty]

the 64000 dollar question is how much have you still got to pay if anything. Hopefully enough to give you leverage.

 

[Mrs S]

Well, that is the big question, not a lot left to pay, trading standards involved because there are a lot of other issues, they say we have to show willing and pay monies owed otherwise we are in breach of contract, and that it will be a legal claw back. Seems as the consumer we aren’t really protected at all..

 

[Worcesterman]

I agree there is really no protection for the home owner. I wouldn’t say its quite the same as being a consumer in other circumstances. As you can see building work always involves things that go wrong in one way or another. No large project like that would not have any mistakes at all. Its just a matter of how serious. In a sense if you are employing somebody to build for you some of the responsibility lies with yourself as well to make sure that they know what they are doing, have completed other successful projects. Its also in my opinion useful to know as much as you can yourself so you can flag up things early on which don’t seem right. Thats just life.

 

[Mrs S]

Yep. We did our homework. We thought. Member of the FMB, trading standards approved scheme member, recommended by a neighbour etc etc etc we’ve raised issues all the way through, we have building control involved as things have not met standards and remedial work required.. on it goes.. meanwhile sat in a freezing cold house and wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Thanks for all your input.

 

[johnny2007]

Don't believe trading standards about the payment.
You can withhold payment if they've messed up.
Once you've paid is nearly impossible to get the money back.

 

[Worcesterman]

That sounds awful.
Not helpful now obviously but none of the ways that you assessed your builder would have reassured me. For a project like that I would have wanted to see a large number of reviews and taken a look at as many of their previous projects and tried to speak to as many of their previous customers. I’d be one hundred percent certain that they had a great track record. That way if things went wrong when I was using them atleast I’d know that there were other issues at play.
Personally I wouldn’t withold payments. Its not really addressing the problem. I think a broader legal approach is best. But thats just my opinion.
I once lived in a house where an extension took two winters to complete and there was ice on the insides of the windows at one point.

 

[Mrs S]

I guess we learn by experience.. agree ref legal stuff, we’ve offered to pay for work they’ve completed. Being cold is the worse.. especially when you have medical issues and children, just being warm makes all the difference