Council has sent men in who have damaged my home

wicklowtown

They have also put 6 roof vents in my roof which i can see out through up in the attic on top of being able to see out underneath the rafters and when i asked why they put roof vents in instead of the fascia vents that they put on all the other houses on our road the man said it was because they couldnt use a ladder in my front garden because of a tree, I said to him that the man who put the roof vents on used a ladder to get up onto my roof and he said it was a different kind of ladder???? Also they put an electric fan in my bathroom ceiling and refused to run the wire through conduit i already had in my spare room for my electric shower and proceeded to run conduit down the plasterboard in my upstairs landing even though i said if they left it i would cut out and bury the wire in the plasterboard wall, then they ran the wire up into my attic and down the outside head height of my stairs over to the electrical box when to my mind they could easily have gone to the conduit in the spare room and ran it down that way to the electrical box and then they put a big industrial isolation switch above my bathroom light which is in our hall. When i moved into my home in 1994 it was bare plaster walls & concrete floors with one double cupboard under the kitchen sink and two half cupboards on the wall. I have spent the last 22years of my life & thousands of pounds improving my home, Myself and my daughter hate wires and I have spent good money to insure we havent got wires all over the house. I am so upset at what they have done to my house and im not sure what to do about it. Has anyone any ideas? sorry this is so long!

ED E

Try using paragraphs, it'll be 100x more readable.

Outkast_IRE

I dont understand, do you own the house or are you renting it off the council ?

If the council own it, then once they meet the required standards for safety etc that will be their main concern with the work. Generally they dont care too much about how it looks.

Deagol

wicklowtown wrote: »

I am so upset at what they have done to my house and im not sure what to do about it.

Your house or the councils house?

If it's the councils house that you have spent 1000's on then maybe you should have bought your own place? That way no one can come in and do free upgrades for you??

Owryan

Ultimately if it's a council house I would imagine the council have final say in how they complete repairs/refurbishment. By all means complain if the work is shoddy or dangerous but if it's cosmetic don't expect them to come running.

Icepick

Was it actually your house?

Nono Toure

Deagol wrote: »

If it's the councils house that you have spent 1000's on then maybe you should have bought your own place? That way no one can come in and do free upgrades for you??

Smart arse. I suppose it was your "hard earned tax money" that funded all the work...

Calahonda52

Nono Toure wrote: »

Smart arse. I suppose it was your "hard earned tax money" that funded all the work...

Well it is that has funded the new work.

Deagol

Nono Toure wrote: »

Smart arse. I suppose it was your "hard earned tax money" that funded all the work...

Erm, can you dispute this conclusion somehow?

L1011

If its a council house - tough. No way to sugar coat that. You can get the wires re-run yourself if they are that disturbing as it appears you've had electrical work done yourself already.
If its a private house where they were doing remediation works for some other reason, you have comeback. If so, what was being fixed and why?

anewme

wicklowtown wrote: »

When i moved into my home in 1994 it was bare plaster walls & concrete floors with one double cupboard under the kitchen sink and two half cupboards on the wall. I have spent the last 22years of my life & thousands of pounds improving my home, Myself and my daughter hate wires and I have spent good money to insure we havent got wires all over the house. I am so upset at what they have done to my house

I think people are being unfair on op. Whether or not it is a Council house, this is someone's HOME, a much loved home, who have clearly put a lot of effort in over the years to build it into their home.

We complain time and time again about people taking Council properties for granted and now when someone takes pride in the home they have lived in for 22 years and I presume paid Rent on, they are told tough luck, put up and shut up.

They should not be expected to put up with sub standard finish finish just because it's a Council house.

op, ring the council department responsible for the works and ask for the supervisor to meet with you and have a site inspection to agree if your concerns are justified or can be amended.

This is clearly someone with some pride and respect in their home and whether they rent it or own it, their opinions after a long term tenancy of 22 years should be respected.

Ps! I hate wires too!

coylemj

anewme wrote: »

They should not be expected to put up with sub standard finish finish just because it's a Council house.

I don't think what was done was 'sub-standard' in the sense that it was unsafe or shoddy. It might not have been done to the cosmetic standard the OP wanted but if council workers had to take instructions from the householder tenant when doing internal work, there would be no end to the complexity and cost in a lot of cases.

paulgalway

Same scheme was done here in Galway.

When all work was completed, a rep from the company will call asking you to sign a document stating you are satisfied with all the work done.

I would suggest you be prepared; make a list of issues with photos.

Have 3 copies, when the rep calls, explain the issues and ask him to sign and date the 3 copies.

Give him a copy, 2nd copy take to the council housing dept. and 3rd is your copy.

Here, council investigated any issues and try to resolve them.

anewme

coylemj wrote: »

I don't think what was done was 'sub-standard' in the sense that it was unsafe or shoddy. It might not have been done to the cosmetic standard the OP wanted but if council workers had to take instructions from the householder tenant when doing internal work, there would be no end to the complexity and cost in a lot of cases.

In our case (our elderly father has a Council House) we (the family) paid for work to be done to upgrade the home that the Council would not carry out for the safety and security and comfort of a family member.

later, the Council were doing routine works and wanted to do the same on our Dad's house, which is their property fair enough. However, while the works were safe, they were a complete mickey mouse shortcut costmetically and just look rubblish so the family just said no. A meeting with the Supervisor outlined the situation and came up with an alternative and the works were carried out in a far more suitable manner.

Just because people live in a council house, they should not have to accept shortcuts and wires everywhere that you would not accept in your own home.