Good news. You handled it very well it seems. Not an easy thing to approach/do.
Hopefully you can find someone to finish off your kitchen properly.
Removal of disused gas pipe from kitchen + gap in floorboard
- Thread starter Fishwalker
- Start date
Good news. You handled it very well it seems. Not an easy thing to approach/do.
Hopefully you can find someone to finish off your kitchen properly.
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Thanks Dan for advice on first baby, which yes, it is! You are right of course and at least we redecorated the master bedroom a bit the week before the kitchen arrived, so it's nicer to be in. 
UPDATE Re Kitchen:
It's been a few days since the ex fitter left the job. At first I felt good at my negotician but we've had a couple of joiners out to quote and the good plumber's thoughts on the plumbing aspect and the more I've looked at things, the more I've found I'm not happy about, in addition to my list higher up.
My OH doesn't want to pay the guy at all, and it's been causing arguments. We just keep finding more shoddyness and realise how little he's actually done, though he appeared to graft like crazy, which is why I offered £275. I see why he left the sink in place and worktop and dishwasher... to give the appearance of more having been done! I'm not sure what to do as haven't heard back from him yet and he's left his workbench in our garden! Thinking of waiting for kitchen to be finished so can really use full hindsight. My problem is I'm too nice and not good at telling people off!
A thing that really bugs me too is why he opened all my appliances without my permission and moved them around by himself, risking damage and that I couldn't pre-inspect them for damage, so it's his word against mine now if I do find damage once installed. Also I'm out of the 7 days distance selling now, due to the job not being finished for return of them if I do find something wrong re: delivery damage.
Coming back up to date, on Friday meanwhile, I got to preparing for the plasterer coming the next day and decided to strip all the lining paper off the window side wall above splashback, which I'd spent ages putting on in December and onto which, we'd also top coated in Dulux Trade Matt Diamond White, so wasted a bit of that expensive paint (£48 per 5 li). Found that despite my sizing of the wall first, the paper was the biggest b**ger to get off with our wallpaper steamer! There is no moisture getting behind that paint! Good for kitchen's, bad for removing paper! Lol But the thing is, I could see the water pipe outlines through the paper above the hob area and little bumps and I was at the stage of being sick of bodging, much to my OH's protest and as a result V day was not great but we're talking now again.
Anyway, to get at the walls I made my OH pull the window base units out and remove the rail off the wall, which we found was not hard and I saw that our ex fitter had not shimmed out the un-level end unit next the fridge as I'd asked, but had simply mangled a metal bracket to force it out, meaning the unit was rickety and not properly fastened!
Oh and removing the Fridge freezer, which again he'd moved by himself into the tightest of gaps that I now have to remove the invisible plastic protection from, due to all the scratches, was a nightmare, not to mention the fact that it was touching in places, the roughly cut worktop end.
Anyway my OH couldn't get the FF out and we were arguing as he wouldn't get someone to help him and I was worried about his back. He made me leave and when I returned he said the reason why the FF wouldn't come out was because the ex fitter's over zealous spraying of expanding foam under the plinths, to seal the wall/floor gap, that I'd asked him to do BEFORE unit installation but after sorting pipes, had glued the FF in place!!! We now have foam all along the FF lead and stuck to the side of the FF about 5cm up from the bottom, on a side with no plastic protection to remove, (luckily it won't be seen, but the FF is only 1yr old.)
Once the units were pulled away, we saw the gap sealing was truely rubbish! Roughly sprayed clear mastic and foam all along the wall with gaps and then the best bit... he'd chopped a hole in my OH's hardboard covered floorboards to put on a push fit elbow going to the washing machine pipe that runs under the floor to the other side of the room! Not sure why, as wasn't leaking.
The hole was about 3cm around the pipe and as we've had problems with slugs getting into the kitchen for years, it was the perfect gap for these to have come back up through! Though we haven't seen any since my OH put mesh over the air-bricks to block them but still allow airflow, but still, doesn't stop the wind and subfloor damp air or spiders getting up! This hole was under the oven unit and had we not removed it, we'd have never known it wasn't sealed or that the new push fit elbow was there, should there have been a leak! Our plumber said push fit are generally used where water leaks can flow away easily without damage, e.g. under subfloors, as they haven't been around long enough to know how they'll last long term vs soldering copper.
So we're waiting for our plumber to come back Monday now to solder that connection, so we can fill the hole and sort out the washer and outdoor tap valves that the ex-fitter admitted he'd knocked, pushing the dishwasher into place that didn't need to be opened even, before we can put the units back. Also waiting for skimmed walls to fully dry.
Just waiting for the new joiner to turn up now to collect/mark up our worktops and take to his workshop to cut and profile edge but he's a bit late, though is a Sunday. He seems really knowledgeable though with proper business and time served. He's quoted us £220 to finish the job of worktops and unit fit on window side + alignment of doors. Also can re-service/double glaze sash windows, which we have and need doing in the future, so seems good to know.
Anyway so I'll add pic's of where I am now. This has become my sort of diary of events, so sorry for essay length posts to peeps who don't much like reading!
UPDATE Re Kitchen:
It's been a few days since the ex fitter left the job. At first I felt good at my negotician but we've had a couple of joiners out to quote and the good plumber's thoughts on the plumbing aspect and the more I've looked at things, the more I've found I'm not happy about, in addition to my list higher up.
My OH doesn't want to pay the guy at all, and it's been causing arguments. We just keep finding more shoddyness and realise how little he's actually done, though he appeared to graft like crazy, which is why I offered £275. I see why he left the sink in place and worktop and dishwasher... to give the appearance of more having been done! I'm not sure what to do as haven't heard back from him yet and he's left his workbench in our garden! Thinking of waiting for kitchen to be finished so can really use full hindsight. My problem is I'm too nice and not good at telling people off!
A thing that really bugs me too is why he opened all my appliances without my permission and moved them around by himself, risking damage and that I couldn't pre-inspect them for damage, so it's his word against mine now if I do find damage once installed. Also I'm out of the 7 days distance selling now, due to the job not being finished for return of them if I do find something wrong re: delivery damage.
Coming back up to date, on Friday meanwhile, I got to preparing for the plasterer coming the next day and decided to strip all the lining paper off the window side wall above splashback, which I'd spent ages putting on in December and onto which, we'd also top coated in Dulux Trade Matt Diamond White, so wasted a bit of that expensive paint (£48 per 5 li). Found that despite my sizing of the wall first, the paper was the biggest b**ger to get off with our wallpaper steamer! There is no moisture getting behind that paint! Good for kitchen's, bad for removing paper! Lol But the thing is, I could see the water pipe outlines through the paper above the hob area and little bumps and I was at the stage of being sick of bodging, much to my OH's protest and as a result V day was not great but we're talking now again.
Anyway, to get at the walls I made my OH pull the window base units out and remove the rail off the wall, which we found was not hard and I saw that our ex fitter had not shimmed out the un-level end unit next the fridge as I'd asked, but had simply mangled a metal bracket to force it out, meaning the unit was rickety and not properly fastened!
Oh and removing the Fridge freezer, which again he'd moved by himself into the tightest of gaps that I now have to remove the invisible plastic protection from, due to all the scratches, was a nightmare, not to mention the fact that it was touching in places, the roughly cut worktop end.
Anyway my OH couldn't get the FF out and we were arguing as he wouldn't get someone to help him and I was worried about his back. He made me leave and when I returned he said the reason why the FF wouldn't come out was because the ex fitter's over zealous spraying of expanding foam under the plinths, to seal the wall/floor gap, that I'd asked him to do BEFORE unit installation but after sorting pipes, had glued the FF in place!!! We now have foam all along the FF lead and stuck to the side of the FF about 5cm up from the bottom, on a side with no plastic protection to remove, (luckily it won't be seen, but the FF is only 1yr old.)
Once the units were pulled away, we saw the gap sealing was truely rubbish! Roughly sprayed clear mastic and foam all along the wall with gaps and then the best bit... he'd chopped a hole in my OH's hardboard covered floorboards to put on a push fit elbow going to the washing machine pipe that runs under the floor to the other side of the room! Not sure why, as wasn't leaking.
The hole was about 3cm around the pipe and as we've had problems with slugs getting into the kitchen for years, it was the perfect gap for these to have come back up through! Though we haven't seen any since my OH put mesh over the air-bricks to block them but still allow airflow, but still, doesn't stop the wind and subfloor damp air or spiders getting up! This hole was under the oven unit and had we not removed it, we'd have never known it wasn't sealed or that the new push fit elbow was there, should there have been a leak! Our plumber said push fit are generally used where water leaks can flow away easily without damage, e.g. under subfloors, as they haven't been around long enough to know how they'll last long term vs soldering copper.
So we're waiting for our plumber to come back Monday now to solder that connection, so we can fill the hole and sort out the washer and outdoor tap valves that the ex-fitter admitted he'd knocked, pushing the dishwasher into place that didn't need to be opened even, before we can put the units back. Also waiting for skimmed walls to fully dry.
Just waiting for the new joiner to turn up now to collect/mark up our worktops and take to his workshop to cut and profile edge but he's a bit late, though is a Sunday. He seems really knowledgeable though with proper business and time served. He's quoted us £220 to finish the job of worktops and unit fit on window side + alignment of doors. Also can re-service/double glaze sash windows, which we have and need doing in the future, so seems good to know.
Anyway so I'll add pic's of where I am now. This has become my sort of diary of events, so sorry for essay length posts to peeps who don't much like reading!
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