New patio is falling towards house..

CreadanLady · 06-05-2022 11:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020133#Comment_119020133

100%. Decks are a hazard and a complete pain in the hole. They get deadly slippy in the wet with grimey slimey film, and unless you power wash and treat them with coatings every year, they rot to shít in no time. And even with the best of care, they rot and fall apart eventually.

Absolute waste of time and money and I would never advise anyone to put in a deck.

Xcellor · 06-05-2022 11:17AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119023041#Comment_119023041

I have a deck, i loved building it. But ended up forgetting to deal with drainage coincidentally - the thing rotted. Lasted about 10 years. I had to pull it out last summer. I rebuilt it though with greater attention to moving water away, raised it well off the ground. Its true though it needs stained on a yearly basis.

Dont get a deck if you want a maintenance free experience -- the composite ones look good but about 3 times the price.

Xander10 · 06-05-2022 11:36AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119023057#Comment_119023057

I recently replaced a decking with a patio outside french doors. The decking served me well, but in recent years sagged a bit and started holding water and became dangerous. Plus the yearly upkeep was expensive. Likewise, I wouldn't go the decking option again.

My patio man worked on his own and took forever. The slabs to my eye are not perfect but generally fine. I don't worry about water, because as part of the job, I added a pergola with a perspex roof. So when it's lashing rain, I can sit out on it and stay bone dry.

Ginger83 · 06-05-2022 02:09PM

OP sorry to hear of the problems you are having.

The reality is that building in this country is a free for all. There are regulations and meant to be rules but they mean sweet fa and rarely if ever enforced. We would personally know that the head of building control in our county has never prosecuted anyone in his career so that will give you an idea. My husband invited them to prosecute him to have proof to fight a cowboy but they politely declined.

Your job looks rough, even the cutting around the AJ but your best bet is to hope the remedial work keeps water away from the house.

Xcellor · 06-05-2022 03:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024112#Comment_119024112

Yeah the rough pieces I can deal with, if there are left overs I can angle grind better ones. It's the fundamental parts like drainage that worry me more at this stage... I could have done it myself but its very large. They have been at it 1 month at this point!!! With Sundays bankholidays off but otherwise mostly onsite.

Anyway they are installing some drainage now which will run the perimeter of the patio and lifting and creating a more sensible fall AWAY from the house..

Ginger83 · 06-05-2022 03:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024540#Comment_119024540

I certainly would not recommend them to others

Xcellor · 06-05-2022 04:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024556#Comment_119024556

I think that goes without saying. Mistakes can happen it's how you deal with them that makes the difference. I think the scale of the project was more than he was used to.

The Continental Op · 06-05-2022 04:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024605#Comment_119024605

Dublin airport?

mickdw · 06-05-2022 05:40PM

He is there a full month!

Oh Jesus. This is serious. I thought it was a 3 day job or so with him 2 days in and 1 to do.

There is clearly alot of money involved there. With that in mind, I think you should get an Engineer to look over what is being done.

I'd love to see some photos of the job overall and how they are going about the task.

sydthebeat · 06-05-2022 05:45PM

i assume there are low rise walls included in that month of construction?

foundations / blockwork / cladding etc?

Xcellor · 06-05-2022 07:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024935#Comment_119024935

They did all ground work manually. Dug out foundations for wall. Hard to understand why it's taken so long. They were almost "finished" until the problem in OP.

I'm hoping this is the last weekend...

tonium22 · 06-05-2022 08:01PM

Stick with your patio plentyohtoole.

This guy is the 1 percent . I never seen the likes of him

tonium22 · 06-05-2022 08:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024540#Comment_119024540

A month?

That's heartbreaking

What's he charging for the job

Still stihl waters 3 · 06-05-2022 08:19PM

Is that a cash job op

muffler · 06-05-2022 08:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024540#Comment_119024540

A month? From what you have described so far I think these guys have managed to stretch a 5 - 7 days work into a month long leisure trip.

screamer · 07-05-2022 12:25AM

A month to lay a residential patio???? Smacks of incompetence. You need to play hard ball, tell them you’ll pay the final lot of money outstanding in a month, to see how the patio performs, hopefully some rain will fall in the meanwhile so you can see whether they have remediated it satisfactorily or not. In house building it’s called retention and snagging.

07-05-2022 10:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024935#Comment_119024935

To what end exactly? There's a lot of money involved so you should throw some more money at someone else in the construction sector which will... do absolutely nothing to benefit the OP.

mickdw · 08-05-2022 12:34AM

To get a professional opinion to confirm that the works being done are not going to damage the property.

An Engineer might well tell the op that the works simply need to be removed completely. If even this saved the homeowner the final installment to the builder, it would be a saving.

The op is talking about painting a sealer onto wall where patio is high against house. I don't agree with this. The raised external can in the worst case result in cavity being filled with water up to level of external which can result in significant damage internally. A painted on sealer may not be any benefit at all.

Xander10 · 13-05-2022 10:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119025457#Comment_119025457

Did you get this finished and if so reasonably satisfied?

I hope it isn't still dragging on.

tonium22 · 13-05-2022 07:51PM

I'm guessing the builder walkrd out

Or else he put in a water pump at the back door to clear the puddle

Ush1 · 16-05-2022 09:08AM

As my da told me when some cowboys made a pigs ear of my bathroom, you're only wasting your time asking fellas to fix something that is so fundamentally wrong to begin with. I'd be honestly looking to cut your losses, not worth the stress. Very few building jobs I've had done have been without issue, it's the reason I'm looking to try do more and more myself.

Xcellor · 16-05-2022 09:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119069397#Comment_119069397

I dont have the money to fix it so whatever remedial fixes etc are done are better than the alternative a building site in the back garden coming into summer with a 2 year old !!

I suppose I've learnt a lot from this experience. It's sad that peoples word means so little. I suspect cow boys in the trade do not even see themselves as cowboys which is half the problem.

31-05-2022 10:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119069645#Comment_119069645

What sort of money are we talking here for the patio?

And I hope you’re not paying them by the day given they’ve been at this one month.

I know it’s not ideal but would you consider asking them to take up all the tiles on the original footpath, and put all that back to just a footpath ? While it won’t look great it will sort worries around rising damp in your house?

31-05-2022 10:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119025471#Comment_119025471

Ah yeah I am. In fairness the guy I’ve employed just feels “right” if that makes sense? Absolutely no request for money up front and none offered.

he’s not cheap but not extortionate either but certainly higher than quotes I’ve seen on boards in recent times

I got him recommended from local builders suppliers - they gave me two names- they said, these are the two we’d stand over- I’ve seen pictures of his work - that’s about all I can do in this current market- fingers crossed all goes well -I’ll be back here if it doesn’t 😂

31-05-2022 10:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119023057#Comment_119023057

Mine just about lasted 16 years but the railings rotted before that- pain in the arse oiling it every year. Really not sure about those composite ones though- are they essentially plastic or a plastic compound? I reckon weathering would take its toll on them over time too - maybe subject to cracking ?

MIRMIR82 · 31-05-2022 11:22AM

Any update since Xcellor, were you happy enough with the final result in the end, well as happy as you could be?!

Xcellor · 31-05-2022 02:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119139091#Comment_119139091

Hmm well there is drainage in all around house and the fall towards house improved. They are still here finishing concrete .

Happy isn't a word I'd use. More like adjusting my expectations. The finish isn't great and I'll have to spend time sorting things out. His behaviour has been atrocious from the moment when a relatively basic problem was highlighted .

mickdw · 31-05-2022 03:33PM

They couldn't be still there. Jesus how much have you given them.

tonium22 · 31-05-2022 10:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119140354#Comment_119140354

He's a fukking moron

Cavemen would lay better slabs 10000 years ago. Running the **** water away from the cave .

awec · 01-06-2022 08:17AM

I don't understand how any genuine tradesman could afford to take so long on one job.

New patio is falling towards house..

Comments