Poor work and still not finished

New Build Inspections
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finishthework

New Member
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!
 
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Tony

Administrator
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
 
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finishthework

New Member
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!
 
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Tony

Administrator
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.
 
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finishthework

New Member
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!
 
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willyj

New Member
finishthework said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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finishthework

New Member
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. ;)
 
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Tony

Administrator
finishthework said:
"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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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finishthework

New Member
I know.
Removed a bucket full of broken bricks today that had fallen off the scaffolding into the garden. Barbeque anyone.....? :eek:
 
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GKandR4CH

New Member
Tony, what do you expect? Taylor Wimpey are the UK's NO 1 Cowboy Housing Developer.
The NHBC are now arriving this week (after months of forcing them) to inspect our illegal windows in the upstairs of our home.
They are all below 800mm, no safety catches, no toughened glass and no lockable handles.
Does this sound like a company who excel at building? No is the answer.
And the Developer still refuses to fix the windows.
Our home should never have passed a CML or been given a certificate.
mybryanthomeiscrap.co.uk
 
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Tony

Administrator
I don't think your house is alone. I have heard stories of these certificates being issued after a chat with the site manager rather than their being an actual inspection.

Tony
 
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blastu2

New Member
Taylor Wimpey Nighmare

We too purchased a George Taylor Wimpey home for our sins, and wished we had never heard of them.

We purchased our home, only for them to flood the ground floor on the day of ownership! We equally purchased the home with a major Gas Leak (unknown to ourselves or anyone else) the kitchen was designed and installed to a standard which meant NO appliances could be fitted in their alloted spaces as they were too narrow from the expected sizes. The sink unit was a single bowl instead of a one and a half size bowl. The units underneath were water damaged and not replaced. The central heating system operated independently, even when the power was switched-off! large amounts of mortar fell from the roof as the chimney was secured. The staircase moves away from the wall whenever you attempt to climb them. The water pressure is so poor - that if you are taking a shower, and someone turns a tap on, the shower then stops completely, and it's meant to be Taylor Wimpey's special "high-pressure-system" the shower cubical was installed up-side-down. The wash basins are all different sizes, and don't match-up with the pedistals they are sitting on. we have dozens of holes which were cut-out of floors to each room in order for them to cut the main pipe that controlled the heating - they left the old pipe in situ, and simply duplicated the new pipe alongside it. The cut-outs were glued back into the floor. The gas leak was finally found after living in the house for four weeks, and only found due to the defective condition of the design of the kitchen, if we hadn't of encountered the difficulties of installing our appliances then the only time the leak would have been found would be from the explosion!

The on-site manager declared himself the owner of our home in order to prevent us from being made aware of the "immediately dangerous" declaration notice by the emergency gas call-out service - he took the notice from them and stuffed it behind our gas meter on the outside of the house, only to be found by ourselves some weeks later when attempting to gain meter readings. We then gained a fraudulent investigation against us via our utility company as they thought we were trying to gain free gas supply because the readings never matched-up with the previous readings. We discovered that the same on-site manager had our gas meter exchanged without our knowledge, and again declared himself the owner of our home to the company who exchanged it. The last reading was never known, and the new meter began with all zero's!

This is the expectation you can expect from George Taylor Wimpey. We are currently in battle with them at this time. Keep your fingers crossed, and watch this space!
 
B

blastu2

New Member
George Taylor Wimpey Nightmare

We too purchased a George Taylor Wimpey home for our sins, and wished we had never heard of them.

We purchased our home, only for them to flood the ground floor on the day of ownership! We equally purchased the home with a major Gas Leak (unknown to ourselves or anyone else) the kitchen was designed and installed to a standard which meant NO appliances could be fitted in their alloted spaces as they were too narrow from the expected sizes. The sink unit was a single bowl instead of a one and a half size bowl. The units underneath were water damaged and not replaced. The central heating system operated independently, even when the power was switched-off! large amounts of mortar fell from the roof as the chimney was secured. The staircase moves away from the wall whenever you attempt to climb them. The water pressure is so poor - that if you are taking a shower, and someone turns a tap on, the shower then stops completely, and it's meant to be Taylor Wimpey's special "high-pressure-system" the shower cubical was installed up-side-down. The wash basins are all different sizes, and don't match-up with the pedistals they are sitting on. we have dozens of holes which were cut-out of floors to each room in order for them to cut the main pipe that controlled the heating - they left the old pipe in situ, and simply duplicated the new pipe alongside it. The cut-outs were glued back into the floor. The gas leak was finally found after living in the house for four weeks, and only found due to the defective condition of the design of the kitchen, if we hadn't of encountered the difficulties of installing our appliances then the only time the leak would have been found would be from the explosion!

The on-site manager declared himself the owner of our home in order to prevent us from being made aware of the "immediately dangerous" declaration notice by the emergency gas call-out service - he took the notice from them and stuffed it behind our gas meter on the outside of the house, only to be found by ourselves some weeks later when attempting to gain meter readings. We then gained a fraudulent investigation against us via our utility company as they thought we were trying to gain free gas supply because the readings never matched-up with the previous readings. We discovered that the same on-site manager had our gas meter exchanged without our knowledge, and again declared himself the owner of our home to the company who exchanged it. The last reading was never known, and the new meter began with all zero's!

This is the expectation you can expect from George Taylor Wimpey. We are currently in battle with them at this time. Keep your fingers crossed, and watch this space![/QUOTE]
 
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finishthework

New Member
My missing wardrobe door seems insignificant compared to your major problems. Have you raised concern and put in a claim with the NHBC. Methinks we should both follow the link below and get on TV.
 
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blastu2

New Member
We took the matter to the NHBC, who in-turn made a list of serious defects, we refused to allow Taylor Wimpey in the house again in order to make further repairs!!! Taylor Wimpey have breached our Data Protection by sending a personal letter in an attachment within an email, and then sending it to us and 13 others at the same time! We even received a call to our Ex-Directory & TPS Registered Telephone Number from their contractor after gaining it from an independent report that should never have included it - who challenged a Gas Safe Register report after they discovered the gas cooker was installed ilegally. The report has been found correct.

We have been insulted by the managing director of Taylor Wimpey in a letter which he then sent to many others beyond ourselves. The Information Commissioners Office has upheld our complaint against him, and found that they have breached our Data Protection.

The loft-space is held together with hundreds of standard nails which have been declared incorrect. We had to have the house rewired for telephone cable by BT as the cable used was very poor. We have no internal wiring for TV use, just sockets on the wall! A number of rooms have unsecured flooring which rocks as you walk on them. internal walls which section-off rooms have dropped away from the ceilings, and long cracks dropping down from ceilings onto door-frames - rooms directly underneath those that have dropped are taking the pressure from above which is compressing the door-frames to those rooms and stopping doors from closing.

We could go on but we are sure you would become bored after even further lists of horrors.

We remain in a stalemate position with Taylor Wimpey, and now been forced to take the matter to court.
 
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