Builder went on holiday!!

anders170

Hi, Ive hired a builder to build an extension on the front of my house. He was asked by Building Control to create a 1.5 metre trench, he has dug this and gone on holiday for 2 weeks. Now it has rained and the trench is full of water and has caved in taking half the garden and now heading dangerously toward the house. I have a kitchen fitter working this week who said he feels he should spend time pumping the water out and shoring up the sides for safety. However I would have to pay for this and I feel the builder should have protected the trench from the elements. Would I be in the right if I contacted the builder on holiday and asked him to send in a team to rectify this and make the premises safe, at his own cost? I feel he should have covered the trench with polythene etc at the least.

teneighty

No decent builder would dig a foundation trench and leave it open for more than a couple of days and usually no more than 24 hours.

I suspect your builder is a cowboy. The trench will have to be pumped out and sides and bottom tidied up and re-dug to remove all loose and soft wet soil. Concrete should be poured as soon as possible after Building Control inspection and approval. Extra concrete will be required due to the side slips and extra digging.

Absolutely you should contact the builder on holiday but suggest you should really be looking for a new builder.

Grenage

Your builder shouldn't have covered it with polythene, he should have boarded the ruddy sides immediately - especially in sodding Winter. Clearly he's a cowboy and you want shot of him.

fezster

Seconded. Count your lucky stars you've discovered his cowboy antics early on. Hopefully you've not paid any money up front. Get shot of him and get someone who knows what they are doing in.

phil24_7

The whole point of the foundations is to put the footprint of your building onto solid ground (that is below the freezing point). They should be dug and poured reasonable quickly and not left open for ages. They are usually dug one day and poured the next (unless they are particularly large). As has been mentioned, the bottom will need to be dug out of all the soft/loose soil and the sides will need to be squared up and/or shuttered and backfilled.

Why would a builder start a job so close to going on holiday. A good builder would have booked you in for the week after his holiday and used the week before (or however long) to tidy loose ends or do the small, odd jobs they never have time for!

Do you have a back up/second choice builder (from your initial quote stage) that can come in and take over the job?

Regards
Phil

DRP

AS others have said - crazy stuff from your builder.

I wonder whether he will have the brass neck to even come back after his holiday..?