Not paying full amount for bad work.

[fangio]

Hello all,

I have had a extension built. Basically several things have gone wrong, such as a cracks in external wall, badly blown render, crack in internal wall.
The cracks are straight through the breeze block they are not plaster cracks, these cracks have been caused by not fitting a wooden worktop with enough of an expansion gap (the worktop is wall to wall).

Also, the same builder built a garage and there are cracks straight thruoght the breeze block on three of four walls.
A structural engineer has critiscised the depth of the foundations, lack of expansion gaps and has said that althought underpinning is not required at the moment, if it does get worse I'll have to rebuild as the cost of underpinning will be 10K.

The builder has paid no VAT (will this come out in court?)....he insisted on just receiving cash and to be honest I was pretty naive and caved in...because they seemed to be doing a good job and I did not want to annoy them. I have handed him letters but he just ignores them.

I have held back £3500 and paid £35000 in cash to him. He is threatening to take me to court now. But I do not trust him to rectify the mistakes as I have given him the opportunity for the cracks (they have just got worse) and the garage and the things he has done have not worked.

What can I do? Do I have to pay him? Do I have to allow him to attempt, for the third time in some cases, rectify the issues?

Please help!

many thanks,
Fangio.

 

[Bahco]

A structural engineer has critiscised the depth of the foundations

Has this been built without BCO involvement?

 

[fangio]

No. Building control have passed the build. The cracks appeared afterwards in the extension. because the garage is less than 30m2 and at the bottom of our garden, I believe it does not require building regs.

I'll post some photos.

 

[Robert too]

Be interested to know what blocks were used , assume they were rendered .

 

[fangio]

Breeze blocks on the garage and the extension. But to be honest, if the builder had left expansion gaps on the kitchen worktop, I do not think any of this would have happened. The structural engineer also thought in both cases the blocks should have been concrete. But as the footings for my extension are almost two meters he did not think it was as much of an issue as the garage on 0.5m footings.

Given that I believe he has not built the garage properly (according to structural engineer) and there are problems with the extension...if he takes me to court what is the best way to defend myself?

Should i obtain quotes for the work and then show that the amount I have kept back, because of the issues, is reasonable?

 

[Robert too]

Personally , whenever i spec a block to be rendered , it is always concrete . check the block manufactureres recomendations


I think that blaming it on expansion gaps for the kitchen worktop is a bit tough , why doesnt the gap on a fitted U worktop break out if thats the case .

Who provided the builder with the spec for the founds and the block , its not always the builders fault , although thats where everybody first starts shooting .

As for the vat , I cant believe you didnt enjoy paying cash and having 17.5 discount . It seems the builder is getting hung from all directions here .

I would try to sit down with the builder , the problems are there for both to see ,you need to preferably find an amicable solution to this for both of you .

Involve the person that specced the blocks and gave the ok for 500mm on the garage founds

 

[DIYBaz]

You need to write to the builder if you have not done so already. Even though he is aware of why you are unhappy it needs to be formalised. Look at the 'Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982' and use this as the basis for your letter. You need to formally give him the chance to put right, but if he doesn't then your plans to get quotes to justify what you are holding back make sense. As for the cash payment, you paid him via the method he requested in good faith. If he has avoided tax that's down to him!

 

[fangio]

I asked the builder if he needed drawings for the construction of the garage and he said "I have done this hundreds of times, you don't need drawings". He, himself, specified the 500mm foundations and the blocks for the garage. Does this mean that the builder is responsible?

As for the extension, I agree with the hindsight picked up on this forum, that it was not a good idea for the architect to specify breeze blocks for the exterior skin. But the crack, inspite of the builder putting right angle strips of metal to hold the the corner together, has got worse. I asked him to remove the worktop and cut it shorter, but he said the angle joins were enough. They have now started to come proud of the plaster. There are no other cracks in the breeze blocks apart from where the wooden worktop (about 5 meters in total are pushing against the wall.
can this be defined as giving him the opportunity to rectify the issue?
I don't want to hold back money, the grief, and anxheity of having to deal with an irrate builder making veiled threats is not worth 3.5K. However, I am also worried about the garage he has built, and whether the darn thing will now fall down.

F.

 

[Robert too]

I asked the builder if he needed drawings for the construction of the garage and he said "I have done this hundreds of times, you don't need drawings". He, himself, specified the 500mm foundations and the blocks for the garage. Does this mean that the builder is responsible?

In that case i cant see that it is the fault of anybody else concerning the garage.

So that you are properly informed, I would speak with the block manufacturer for a categoric yes or no as to being suitable for receiving render.

It still miffs me when i see people speccing anything other than concrete blocks to be rendered , its widely known that cracking can be a big problem

 

[memor maplin]

What size blocks did your builder use ?

Blocks less than 75mm thick are classed as non load bearing blocks.

Movement joint for concrete blockwork is 10mm width every 6M.

 

[IJWS15]

I presume the grain on the worktop runs lengthways, timber does not normally expand much in this direction, it expands across the grain and not along it.

Also I would expect the worktop to be sealed to minimise moisture penetration, if it has really expanded this much then it has absorbed a lot of water and you may have a damp problem.

Suggest you look further. There will be people on the woodwork forum who will know more than I about this.