Poor work and still not finished

finishthework · 26th January 2010, 13:50

Beware of buying in Milton Keynes from Taylor Wimpey. Promises promises that all fall flat.
Taylor Wimpey brought forward our completion date 2/3 months to 24/12/09. This raised concerns as the speed of the work required would lead to poor workmanship. On the 23/12/09 I got the first viewing of the house as prior to this date it was deemed out of bounds to the general public due to the obvious health and safety issues.
Got a call on the 24/12/09 to say the house was complete. The house was not completed due to the recent snowfall preventing work. I was promised all the work would be completed as a matter of priority after the Xmas break. It's now 4 weeks later and they have had the keys during this time. To date they have used some sealant to fill it around the cooker. Thats about it!
Have a list of problems and unfinished work that should have been done prior to completion.
Due to the house being surrounded by houses in various stages of build I am unable to get anywhere near the house during the daytime. Luckily I'm renting around the corner. If I walk to the property I need workboots due to the severe state of the road. The house next door is being built and the scaffolding comes over into my garden (which hasn't been finished). If I venture into our garden I will need a hard hat after seeing the bricks that had fallen yesterday.
A few days ago I went for a look to find a 4ft deep hole where the path to the front door should have been.
I cannot access the rear gate as the builders leave the security fencing laying against it.
After loosing patience I again raised concern at the sales office. It will be sorted I was promised.
Next day a team of plasterers had parked on the drive and unpacked all their equipment onto my property whilst they worked next door. If this wasn't bad enough I then found they had attached a hosepipe to my outside tap to use my water supply. Taylor Wimpey had my keys and had allowed this to happen.
I am still waiting for the tiling to be done, for the wires hanging outside to be sorted, for the other half of my wardrobe, for the holes in the bathroom wall to be filled, for the sockets to be fitted correctly, for the outside wood panels to be sorted so they match, for the broken brickwork to be finished, for the bay window to be completed, for the garden landscaping to be started, for the doors to be refitted so they close, etc etc etc.
With hindsight I should have not entered the sales office, believed the sales pitch, agreed to their extras, allowed the completion to go ahead, etc etc.
Time to go back to the property as the £2500 lounge Karndean floor needs stamping on again to stop it lifting....................Oxley Gate!

Tony · 26th January 2010, 21:24

This sounds really extreme. I guess you know why they do this. They needed the sale before the end of the financial year to make the figures look good. I hope you got a good discount and lots of incentives for this. H

ow did they manage to get this past the mortgage provider? Did you use their conveyancing solicitor and mortgage broker? Did the valuation surveyor not notice that it was not finished? How did it get its NHBC certificate/CML certificate from an approved inspector? This all sounds very dodgy

finishthework · 27th January 2010, 02:35

Their recomended solicitor, yes, but Hallifax for a small mortgage. The Wimpey broker was an idiot and discarded despite the incentives that were on offer. Halifax did the valuation prior to the start of building. They took advice that completion was done via builders completion certificate and notice of this from solicitor.
Seems the builders have being doing some work today, so fingers crossed this work will put right some of the many problems and negative thoughts I have regarding the builders.
Regarding discount.........got a free 4k kitchen upgrade and 2k worth of extras plus 5% discount on price.
NHBC pass was given a week prior to completion taking place and I did raise this issue with the NHBC and was told that they give the cerfificate based on structural completion and not cosmetic stuff.
I did raise a concern mid December regarding the outside wood panels. Some had a grey aged look. Wimpey stated it would all age this way in time so refused to change. I sent an email and pic to the NHBC and a day later they informed me that all panels should be at least a similar colour and Wimpey had agreed to change the miscoloured panels prior to completion. This is still outstanding!

Tony · 27th January 2010, 23:22

The CML certificate was introduced to stop people being moved into incomplete properties:

From CML website:

New Properties - Building Standards Indemnity Schemes
Paragraph 6.6.2
This amendment aims to prevent borrowers moving into unfinished new properties. Conveyancers are required to have confirmation from a new home warranty provider (NHBC, Zurich or Premier Guarantee), in the form of a cover note, that a new property has passed a final inspection and that a new home warranty will be in place on or before legal completion. The conveyancer must receive the cover note before sending the certificate of title to the lender and requesting the mortgage funds. Faxed copies of the cover note are acceptable.

finishthework · 28th January 2010, 00:30

The painters have been in for 3 days now repainting everything properly. Still waiting for the 2 damaged basins to be replaced, the other half of the wardrobe and some other minor works inside. The outside is still wanting a lot of work to complete.
Have attached pics of the rear gate that I tried to get through this afternoon without success and the view of the scaffolding in the rear garden. In need of a hardhat methinks!

finishthework · 2nd February 2010, 14:27

Pictures galore on facebook if you do a search

Tony · 3rd February 2010, 21:35

Only five weeks late and counting...

We have a flikr site here for snagging photos - Flickr: Snagging.org

willyj · 4th February 2010, 08:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by finishthework

NHBC pass was given a week prior to completion taking place and I did raise this issue with the NHBC and was told that they give the certificate based on structural completion and not cosmetic stuff.

The guidance given to NHBC Inspectors was that a final completion certificate should not be issued if i.) There is a defect likely to cause a future claim. ii.) There is a defect likely to have health and safety implications. iii.) There is a defect that is likely to cause disruption to the occupier to put right (including an unacceptable number of minor snagging items).

It doesn't sound as if these criteria were anywhere near met in your case.

At the very least it should be expected that you can get a furniture van to your property and move in without having to worry about workmen needing future access to your property to finish it off, a small number of minor items of snagging excepted.

finishthework · 4th February 2010, 13:08

The Health and Safety issues are a concern. The builders have not done any work on the adjoining property since mid December last year. They have bricklayers working on other houses throughout the site. I guess money is involved with a rush to complete other properties.
Have had painters filling in holes on the bay window this week prior to painting. That must have taken all of 30mins.
The £2500 karndean flooring in the lounge which had badly cut edging throughout was not put right. Instead someone has gone around all the edges with white silicon to hide the poor workmanship. The silicon itself has been poorly laid.
I received a letter from Wimpey this week stating they had tried calling to arrange a meeting to sign off some of the snagging work they had completed. I have had no call from the site manager and whenever I call him on either his mobile or landline I get no response. The letter also mentions the scaffolding which they state:

"when we raise the scaffold to the rear of your property we will reduce the width to remove out as we realise this is not ideal"

That is word for word and not a mistake in my typing.

Very tempted to call the HSE.

Tony · 4th February 2010, 21:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by finishthework

"when we raise the scaffold to the rear of your property we will reduce the width to remove out as we realise this is not ideal"

That is word for word and not a mistake in my typing.

I think it is a bit unfair criticising them for this. They are builders this is their profession and they excel at it. You can't expect them to be good at writing and spelling too.