Having a lot of building work done at the moment. When they turned up, main builder, two apprentices and some doddering old bloke.
I thought he would be doing the cement mixing, sweeping up and odd jobs. How wrong was I. He was the carpenter and he is an absolute legend. 73 years old and a true old school tradesman. His skills are second to non and as well as the woodwork he does all the marking out for roofing, steps etc etc. The builder dreads when he finally retires as he has got used to him doing all the difficult marking out.
He measures everything correctly, always thinking forward to make the most use of the materials so there isn't huge piles of off cuts. What there is 90% of it we can burn on the fire without cutting. He also spent 25 years fitting kitchens at one stage to get off the building sites but eventually returned. As he says - carpenters can fit kitchens but not all kitchen fitters can do carpentry. Also trained in leadwork as the old carpenters were.
I took a while to work out the Velux windows in your pic, until it dawned on me the direction of the pitch
Jeez...for real!
I thought he would be doing the cement mixing, sweeping up and odd jobs. How wrong was I. He was the carpenter and he is an absolute legend. 73 years old and a true old school tradesman. His skills are second to non and as well as the woodwork he does all the marking out for roofing, steps etc etc. The builder dreads when he finally retires as he has got used to him doing all the difficult marking out.
He measures everything correctly, always thinking forward to make the most use of the materials so there isn't huge piles of off cuts. What there is 90% of it we can burn on the fire without cutting. He also spent 25 years fitting kitchens at one stage to get off the building sites but eventually returned. As he says - carpenters can fit kitchens but not all kitchen fitters can do carpentry. Also trained in leadwork as the old carpenters were.
I took a while to work out the Velux windows in your pic, until it dawned on me the direction of the pitch
Jeez...for real!
In reply to Post #16
I can't agree on the carpenter vs kitchen fitter bit, any pleb can do do most aspects of both.
Plus most kitchen fitters i know start as carpenters, then gradually specialise in the one area.
Plenty of firms i work with have 1st fix and 2nd fix chippies, and you notice the difference when they do the other job
I can't agree on the carpenter vs kitchen fitter bit, any pleb can do do most aspects of both.
Plus most kitchen fitters i know start as carpenters, then gradually specialise in the one area.
Plenty of firms i work with have 1st fix and 2nd fix chippies, and you notice the difference when they do the other job
No offence meant. His words I was quoting 👍
I'm not in the trades, just a customer, but otherwise no skin in the game.
I'm not in the trades, just a customer, but otherwise no skin in the game.
In reply to Post #18
No offence taken
Plenty of chippies will have the skills and knowledge for all areas, but to have the right tools for all areas will run to many thousands and take up an awful lot of space when you don't need them
No offence taken
Plenty of chippies will have the skills and knowledge for all areas, but to have the right tools for all areas will run to many thousands and take up an awful lot of space when you don't need them
We were also very lucky with our inadvertent choice of the guy who did our slate walling. We have steps running up the side of our extension ( back door is 15' higher than the ground level) and wanted a slate face on the step wall to break up the outline of the building. We went to see someone who did this, saw his work and it was quite OK. Unfortunately he pulled out at the last minute but put us in contact with another bloke. He turned out to be a stone mason who works on historic buildings ( churches, cathedrals chapels and the like). He does smaller jobs between his main work. 3 courses up and I knew he was producing something quite special. Pure luck, but so far as said we have been really lucky with the skills of the people doing our work, especially as we are in a rural community at the arse end of the world.
There are some very skilled people out there for sure 👍
There are some very skilled people out there for sure 👍
In reply to Post #20
Its great when things work out like that
When I was an apprentice I'd go in to work the next day and tell the boss what I'd been doing at college (leaving out the extended lunch in the dirt cheap bar and strippers in the classroom)
And get a bo11ocking about wasting time doing mortice joints in studwork and tusk tenons in joist work , hours in a classroom having to learn the life cycle of a house longhorn beetle (i agreed with him there hence the extended lunchbreak)
"What use is any of that crap these days"
Fast forwards a couple of years after I got fed up with the small firm, one week doing a massive hipped roof with big cat slide apex sections dorma windows, all sorts, working out the angles and lengths via pythagoras (the memory of "why am I paying for you to learn that nonsense" bringing a smile to my face), the next week maybe knocking up plaster ("i can't pay carpenters wages when your labouring") so when I get offered some work on a restoration firm I was gone.
That work is a different ballgame.I loved that, the skills you need are a different level, my first job was on a roof, yeah im good at that i thought, until they gave me quartered oak for rafters and wanted jointed purlings
I'd imagine it's easier to find good tradesman, or perhaps easier to avoid wronguns in rural places as everyone seems to know each other and word gets about. For a lot of people in cities they just want to see a professional looking website and a snazzy Instagram page.
The mob who performed this abortion are a (very) limited company with both
Its great when things work out like that
When I was an apprentice I'd go in to work the next day and tell the boss what I'd been doing at college (leaving out the extended lunch in the dirt cheap bar and strippers in the classroom)
And get a bo11ocking about wasting time doing mortice joints in studwork and tusk tenons in joist work , hours in a classroom having to learn the life cycle of a house longhorn beetle (i agreed with him there hence the extended lunchbreak)
"What use is any of that crap these days"
Fast forwards a couple of years after I got fed up with the small firm, one week doing a massive hipped roof with big cat slide apex sections dorma windows, all sorts, working out the angles and lengths via pythagoras (the memory of "why am I paying for you to learn that nonsense" bringing a smile to my face), the next week maybe knocking up plaster ("i can't pay carpenters wages when your labouring") so when I get offered some work on a restoration firm I was gone.
That work is a different ballgame.I loved that, the skills you need are a different level, my first job was on a roof, yeah im good at that i thought, until they gave me quartered oak for rafters and wanted jointed purlings
I'd imagine it's easier to find good tradesman, or perhaps easier to avoid wronguns in rural places as everyone seems to know each other and word gets about. For a lot of people in cities they just want to see a professional looking website and a snazzy Instagram page.
The mob who performed this abortion are a (very) limited company with both
Continuing the carnival of the grotesque...
I don't think he knew what these circles were for
So he drilled the tap hole in the quartz worktop, the supliers of which are also on the sh1tlist for being quite happy to fit worktops when they had to use 12mm of packers to level it. Of course they very generously offered to remove the island slab and replace the sink run for the token sum of £2600
Duck off mate
Another 10 mins with resin and you'll have to search for the repair
He tried to do this right bless him
But since 14ft sheets of 25mm ply aren't easy to come by he got the 8 inch screws out again
Perhaps he left this for ventilation?
....
I don't think he knew what these circles were for
So he drilled the tap hole in the quartz worktop, the supliers of which are also on the sh1tlist for being quite happy to fit worktops when they had to use 12mm of packers to level it. Of course they very generously offered to remove the island slab and replace the sink run for the token sum of £2600
Duck off mate
Another 10 mins with resin and you'll have to search for the repair
He tried to do this right bless him
But since 14ft sheets of 25mm ply aren't easy to come by he got the 8 inch screws out again
Perhaps he left this for ventilation?
....
Only just noticed this thread.
The gap at the top of the door breaks regulations as the gap should be no more than 4mm. The gap is a fire hazard.
The gap at the top of the door breaks regulations as the gap should be no more than 4mm. The gap is a fire hazard.
In reply to Post #4
I'll raise you a further £300K.
I'll raise you a further £300K.
In reply to Post #24
By the time it's done I expect she'll have you beat unfortunately.
60k ish just to sort the roof
Is your saga over yet? Not been on here in ages but thought of your issues when I started this job
By the time it's done I expect she'll have you beat unfortunately.
60k ish just to sort the roof
Is your saga over yet? Not been on here in ages but thought of your issues when I started this job
In reply to Post #25
No mate it's such a mess and there's loads to sort out as at the moment it resembles a great big bowl of spaghetti as got to find out who should have done what. Just had to have an expert in to look at the mess and that alone cost £6,500 plus his expenses should it go to court.
Edit - I feel her pain and I hope it gets sorted out to her satisfaction but I suppose she may not be in a position to fight it whereas fortunately we are but in the sense that all this work was undertaken where my daughter had a solicitor to prevent this kind of thing happening as our daughter has court of protection. Either way someone will be deemed accountable.
No mate it's such a mess and there's loads to sort out as at the moment it resembles a great big bowl of spaghetti as got to find out who should have done what. Just had to have an expert in to look at the mess and that alone cost £6,500 plus his expenses should it go to court.
Edit - I feel her pain and I hope it gets sorted out to her satisfaction but I suppose she may not be in a position to fight it whereas fortunately we are but in the sense that all this work was undertaken where my daughter had a solicitor to prevent this kind of thing happening as our daughter has court of protection. Either way someone will be deemed accountable.
In reply to Post #26
Having pretty much always worked at the other end of the spectrum I found it hard to fathom what was happening at yours, seeing this sh1t and how hard it is to actually get a photo to show most of it gives a new perspective.
One thing I can't show on photo for instance, this house a pretty typical victorian london semi, built with yellow stock bricks. These bricks are very sought after and therefore expensive on the used/reclaim market as there really isn't a suitable new replacement. The demolition is easy as its lime mortar so 90% + would have been re usable, and would have pretty much covered the extensions, but they've used a cheap modern red brick. Since there's a variation in size between the old imperial bricks and new metric ones these plicks have done all sorts to match up the courses, just shocking to look at but would look fine in a picture
Legals will be an expensive dead end for her I think, the bloke will just fold the company and start a new one the next day and that's the end of it. The building control company will probably be her best bet to go after, they're private company's now rather than council so there's a massive conflict of interest
Having pretty much always worked at the other end of the spectrum I found it hard to fathom what was happening at yours, seeing this sh1t and how hard it is to actually get a photo to show most of it gives a new perspective.
One thing I can't show on photo for instance, this house a pretty typical victorian london semi, built with yellow stock bricks. These bricks are very sought after and therefore expensive on the used/reclaim market as there really isn't a suitable new replacement. The demolition is easy as its lime mortar so 90% + would have been re usable, and would have pretty much covered the extensions, but they've used a cheap modern red brick. Since there's a variation in size between the old imperial bricks and new metric ones these plicks have done all sorts to match up the courses, just shocking to look at but would look fine in a picture
Legals will be an expensive dead end for her I think, the bloke will just fold the company and start a new one the next day and that's the end of it. The building control company will probably be her best bet to go after, they're private company's now rather than council so there's a massive conflict of interest
In reply to Post #27
It's terrible mate and I feel her heartache. They'll use anything mate as long as there's more profit in it for them. It's sickening mate.
The first builder of my daughters declared himself bankrupt but we have other options who to go after.
I doubt you're ever in the stoke on Trent area but if you are then you're welcome to pop in and see the mess for yourself.
£650K at least spent on a house with a tops value of £100K and it isn't even safe to live in and appears that the floors have got to come up because they've not done the supports correctly to where the specialist bed is going and the floor under the bath concerns have being raised.
Total nightmare.
It's terrible mate and I feel her heartache. They'll use anything mate as long as there's more profit in it for them. It's sickening mate.
The first builder of my daughters declared himself bankrupt but we have other options who to go after.
I doubt you're ever in the stoke on Trent area but if you are then you're welcome to pop in and see the mess for yourself.
£650K at least spent on a house with a tops value of £100K and it isn't even safe to live in and appears that the floors have got to come up because they've not done the supports correctly to where the specialist bed is going and the floor under the bath concerns have being raised.
Total nightmare.
In reply to Post #28
Its so hard to try and put things right, it's just a horrible environment to work in. When the client get shafted they automatically compensate by watching the next lot like a hawk, questioning everything done and every penny spent.its an environment that breeds more mistakes. The woman was checking the island worktop i refitted with a crappy level the bodger had left behind and asked if I was going to level it
Its hard not to take it personally but I gave her a not so quick lesson on how to check a levels accuracy, this one being 4mm out over 1m , then showed the same procedure with my laser level showing that is out by about 1.5mm....
....over 8m
But still she has to wander off into another room, probably watch a YouTube video or two to check I'm telling the truth before wandering back and questioning something else.
Yet talking to the other guys they say she thinks the sun shines out of my arse
Its so hard to try and put things right, it's just a horrible environment to work in. When the client get shafted they automatically compensate by watching the next lot like a hawk, questioning everything done and every penny spent.its an environment that breeds more mistakes. The woman was checking the island worktop i refitted with a crappy level the bodger had left behind and asked if I was going to level it
Its hard not to take it personally but I gave her a not so quick lesson on how to check a levels accuracy, this one being 4mm out over 1m , then showed the same procedure with my laser level showing that is out by about 1.5mm....
....over 8m
But still she has to wander off into another room, probably watch a YouTube video or two to check I'm telling the truth before wandering back and questioning something else.
Yet talking to the other guys they say she thinks the sun shines out of my arse
In reply to Post #29
I bought a laser level recently, I bought a cheap Magnusson one from Screwfix thinking it would be ok for what I need but the beam was disappointing.
Took it back and bought a Dewalt which is so much better. I wish I had bought one years ago.
I bought a laser level recently, I bought a cheap Magnusson one from Screwfix thinking it would be ok for what I need but the beam was disappointing.
Took it back and bought a Dewalt which is so much better. I wish I had bought one years ago.