Hi all
I have had a nightmare of a time with a new drive. First of all there was the decision of what drive to go for and after looking at neighbours issues with paviours etc we decided to go for imprinted concrete - I know some people dont like IC and we understand the pros and cons too.
Anyway due to various non responses from people in my local area I embarked on looking further afield for people to do the work and the guy I found was about 45mins away. All facebook research was really good - for example people were saying he solved other cowboy builder problems and people seemed to recommend a lot.
So we went for him and he came and laid the back and part side of the house section of the drive - the big issue straight away when he was laying was that the concrete mix went off really quick as he didnt know that the local company Breedons was merged with another company and he said hes had issues before with their concrete - essentially they really had to work at it to get the imprint in the cobncrete on that day
But it was all OK and it looked OK (back and part side of the house all good)
However as he had issues with this mix what he did then for the rest of the drive was to get another concrete companys mix.
He laid the rest of the side and the front of the house in one day.
I knew straight away something didnt look right with the drive when he finished but his terms were I had to pay him the full amount on that day (the day the 2nd load of concrete came)
I couldnt go out an look and inspect the drive as it was all still setting - so anyway in total he was paid close to 7K in two installments the latter being when he finished above)
This was the state of the drive in the photos - it was really bad with trowel marks all over it, in places where there was no imprint etc we also had a horrible crack where he poured two different concrete lorrys mix too. Thats the really rough one going accross the drive (its unsealed here btw as you can see he tried a few test patches to see if the sealer would help things). I told him not to bother sealing as it was a mess and needed to be re-done.
Anyway my missus was really upset with the drive pretty much instantly - I was fuming with myself for paying him to his terms but anyway its been back and forth for ages and now essentally he admitted that the concrete company added a Water Reduction Agent (WRA) to the mix - which he didnt want added and that apprently ruined the concrete.......so whats been going on in the mean time is that he has taken on the concrete company legally with his solictor and when he came back (after a hard slog getting him back here) he said he had to prove to the concrete company that he was doing the work to get his payout.....when he said that I had suspicions he was just going to take the drive up and take the compenstation money and do a runner.
He even addmitted he was going after them for more than the original sum of the concrete due to the extra skips, travel time etc so my feeling was he was getting PAID.
So thats where we have been for a few months now - the drive is now up and the outside of the house is complete mess
Now a complicating factor was that when he took the drive up I took the oppurtunity to open the opening in the wall as my missus found it too tight getting two cars on the drive and I admit it was very tight....and its true I didnt discuss with him as it was litterally about 75cm extra opening in the wall
I even dug a french drain for the water from that section of aco to drain away into too
As we are on a slight slope (I think the aco drain near the red brick wall has been extended and another aco put in and as a result the level has gone down about an inch from the end of the original aco in these pics). Now he has immediately got hold of the fact that I have now changed the job and a shed load of groundworks now need to be done to his satisfaction before he will come back in October (he original laid the Concrete in May last year) - he said in his last text to me he will then come and inspect the additional ground works which would be additional charges for his time and travel.
My response to this was that I can put the wall back up in no time (this weekend) at all and so there is no change whatsoever then from the original job........unsurprisingly he hasnt answered that message which is telling for me.
I wouldnt be surprised if he turns up on Monday and says I havent rebuilt the wall - But I haved covered that in my text to him as I know he wont turn up anyway
Anyway Im having a complete mare and have had lots of sleepless nights over this. Im of the mind to take to him to court - hopefully through my home insurance.
The facts are we paid for a drive and we havnt got one - hes been paid twice and he hasnt even mentioned any refunds
I dont know what to do with the drive now though - I want to get someone in and just tarmac everything but im afraid to touch it now as he hasnt said hes not going to do the work hes now waiting on me to complete the groundworks to his satisfaction and as I said he know he cant answer to rebuilding the wall too. So hes left me hanging really and then if he is satsified I would at least have to wait until October.. we started discussions when I was essentially on Mud (I took the drive we had up myself) and those started in Septemer 2021!!! So we are at the end of our tether now - that would be over two years to get a drive laid!
....he is probably right though that Ive changed the job but as Ive said I could have put that small wall back up in no time......he also hasnt said OK youve messed the front up Ill come and finish the side first - no solutions at all
Essentally hes been paid by me and the concrete company - Im now chasing the concrete company to see if I can find out from them how much he was compensated
The facts are though if he hadnt accpeted the concrete in the first place we would not be in this position at all. He should have checked the delivery order!
Any advise anyone - feel like a fool for taking down a bit of my own wall atm
I have had a nightmare of a time with a new drive. First of all there was the decision of what drive to go for and after looking at neighbours issues with paviours etc we decided to go for imprinted concrete - I know some people dont like IC and we understand the pros and cons too.
Anyway due to various non responses from people in my local area I embarked on looking further afield for people to do the work and the guy I found was about 45mins away. All facebook research was really good - for example people were saying he solved other cowboy builder problems and people seemed to recommend a lot.
So we went for him and he came and laid the back and part side of the house section of the drive - the big issue straight away when he was laying was that the concrete mix went off really quick as he didnt know that the local company Breedons was merged with another company and he said hes had issues before with their concrete - essentially they really had to work at it to get the imprint in the cobncrete on that day
But it was all OK and it looked OK (back and part side of the house all good)
However as he had issues with this mix what he did then for the rest of the drive was to get another concrete companys mix.
He laid the rest of the side and the front of the house in one day.
I knew straight away something didnt look right with the drive when he finished but his terms were I had to pay him the full amount on that day (the day the 2nd load of concrete came)
I couldnt go out an look and inspect the drive as it was all still setting - so anyway in total he was paid close to 7K in two installments the latter being when he finished above)
This was the state of the drive in the photos - it was really bad with trowel marks all over it, in places where there was no imprint etc we also had a horrible crack where he poured two different concrete lorrys mix too. Thats the really rough one going accross the drive (its unsealed here btw as you can see he tried a few test patches to see if the sealer would help things). I told him not to bother sealing as it was a mess and needed to be re-done.
Anyway my missus was really upset with the drive pretty much instantly - I was fuming with myself for paying him to his terms but anyway its been back and forth for ages and now essentally he admitted that the concrete company added a Water Reduction Agent (WRA) to the mix - which he didnt want added and that apprently ruined the concrete.......so whats been going on in the mean time is that he has taken on the concrete company legally with his solictor and when he came back (after a hard slog getting him back here) he said he had to prove to the concrete company that he was doing the work to get his payout.....when he said that I had suspicions he was just going to take the drive up and take the compenstation money and do a runner.
He even addmitted he was going after them for more than the original sum of the concrete due to the extra skips, travel time etc so my feeling was he was getting PAID.
So thats where we have been for a few months now - the drive is now up and the outside of the house is complete mess
Now a complicating factor was that when he took the drive up I took the oppurtunity to open the opening in the wall as my missus found it too tight getting two cars on the drive and I admit it was very tight....and its true I didnt discuss with him as it was litterally about 75cm extra opening in the wall
I even dug a french drain for the water from that section of aco to drain away into too
As we are on a slight slope (I think the aco drain near the red brick wall has been extended and another aco put in and as a result the level has gone down about an inch from the end of the original aco in these pics). Now he has immediately got hold of the fact that I have now changed the job and a shed load of groundworks now need to be done to his satisfaction before he will come back in October (he original laid the Concrete in May last year) - he said in his last text to me he will then come and inspect the additional ground works which would be additional charges for his time and travel.
My response to this was that I can put the wall back up in no time (this weekend) at all and so there is no change whatsoever then from the original job........unsurprisingly he hasnt answered that message which is telling for me.
I wouldnt be surprised if he turns up on Monday and says I havent rebuilt the wall - But I haved covered that in my text to him as I know he wont turn up anyway
Anyway Im having a complete mare and have had lots of sleepless nights over this. Im of the mind to take to him to court - hopefully through my home insurance.
The facts are we paid for a drive and we havnt got one - hes been paid twice and he hasnt even mentioned any refunds
I dont know what to do with the drive now though - I want to get someone in and just tarmac everything but im afraid to touch it now as he hasnt said hes not going to do the work hes now waiting on me to complete the groundworks to his satisfaction and as I said he know he cant answer to rebuilding the wall too. So hes left me hanging really and then if he is satsified I would at least have to wait until October.. we started discussions when I was essentially on Mud (I took the drive we had up myself) and those started in Septemer 2021!!! So we are at the end of our tether now - that would be over two years to get a drive laid!
....he is probably right though that Ive changed the job but as Ive said I could have put that small wall back up in no time......he also hasnt said OK youve messed the front up Ill come and finish the side first - no solutions at all
Essentally hes been paid by me and the concrete company - Im now chasing the concrete company to see if I can find out from them how much he was compensated
The facts are though if he hadnt accpeted the concrete in the first place we would not be in this position at all. He should have checked the delivery order!
Any advise anyone - feel like a fool for taking down a bit of my own wall atm
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