PROBLEMS DURING BUILD! - What can I do??

NickJH7

Hi everyone!

Newbie here, after some advice. My partner and I are first time buyers (24, v. exciting!) and our house is currently about 5/6 weeks away from completion. However upon visiting today we have found two things we are worried about.

1) In the back garden there is a manhole cover which has not previously been stated on any plans whatsoever

2) They have mixed up the position of the in built dish washer & space for the washing machine.

I have asked them two be swapped around etc and waiting to hear back, buying a house is new to me by itself let alone things going wrong. Do I have any rights incase they get funny with me? Hoping this will be a last resort but thought I better be prepared just incase!

Any information or advice would be much appreciated as I'm very peeved & lost!

Thanks,

Nick

keithdc

NickJH7 wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Newbie here, after some advice. My partner and I are first time buyers (24, v. exciting!) and our house is currently about 5/6 weeks away from completion. However upon visiting today we have found two things we are worried about.

1) In the back garden there is a manhole cover which has not previously been stated on any plans whatsoever

Annoying, but has to go somewhere.

NickJH7 wrote: »

2) They have mixed up the position of the in built dish washer & space for the washing machine. I have asked them two be swapped around etc

Should be straightforward as long as they are the same size.

If that is the worst problem, you are doing well.

Congratulations!

flashg67

Minor irritants are to be expected in the buying process - yours sound frustrating but not deal-breaking, I imagine there will be a clause in their contract allowing certain 'small' changes - whether they're small to you is different of course. My builder changed the shape of my garden before completion and there was nothing I could do about it.
I ended up with 3 manholes - 2 back & 1 on my drive - they have to go somewhere and drainage plans will likely be subject to change,
Can't see why a dishwasher and washer wouldn't be interchangeable, they share the same plumbing requirements, so hopefully an easy one to sort!

NickJH7

keithdc wrote: »

Annoying, but has to go somewhere.



Should be straightforward as long as they are the same size.

If that is the worst problem, you are doing well.

Congratulations!

Haha thanks!
I know it has to go somewhere, the drive would have been a better fit imo, instead of in the middle of the back garden?
Hoping the kitchen units are easy. Thanks for your reply!

NickJH7

flashg67 wrote: »

Minor irritants are to be expected in the buying process - yours sound frustrating but not deal-breaking, I imagine there will be a clause in their contract allowing certain 'small' changes - whether they're small to you is different of course. My builder changed the shape of my garden before completion and there was nothing I could do about it.
I ended up with 3 manholes - 2 back & 1 on my drive - they have to go somewhere and drainage plans will likely be subject to change,
Can't see why a dishwasher and washer wouldn't be interchangeable, they share the same plumbing requirements, so hopefully an easy one to sort!

Thats a nice feeling as I wasn't aware of that, hoping the kitchen should be a breeze. The two that are located in the back, where abouts are they? My only peev is that it's in the middle of where all this grass will be.

Thrugelmir

NickJH7 wrote: »

My only peev is that it's in the middle of where all this grass will be.

Put a feature on top of it.

Davesnave

Try to imagine what it would be like if the builders didn't include any drains with the property, or if they did, that there was no way of accessing them without digging them up.

Although there are ways to make fluids travel against the force of gravity, the latter is probably the reason why the inspection chamber and pipework is the back garden, rather than the drive. It's almost certainly not a conspiracy to mess up your lawn, which is quite likely laid on a bed of compacted clay sub-soil and rubble anyway!

AdrianC

NickJH7 wrote: »

I know it has to go somewhere, the drive would have been a better fit imo, instead of in the middle of the back garden?

Manhole covers aren't placed to suit what looks nice. They're placed to give access to the drains. Drains tend to go in a reasonably straight line to suit the positioning of the pre-existing drains and the plumbing of the houses...

Smodlet

As Thrugelmir says, put a plant pot/small, solar-powered water feature/gnome on top of it! I've never heard such fuss over a manhole cover and as for the w/m and d/w being the wrong way around... On second thoughts, don't put anything on top of it; you might have to <gasps> move it. :eek::D:cool:

Maybe a little off-cut of astroturf would not be too heavy for you; of course, unless you weighted it down, it would blow away. Paint the manhole cover green?

eddddy

.... or, I've never used one, but you can even get grass topped manhole covers...





Although I'm not sure if you'll get drying out / water logging problems - and how 'invisible' they really are.

Smodlet

Excellent, eddddy! Methinks there would be a problem with drainage, though, as I see no holes in the bottom of the tray. Ironic, considering it would be on top of a drain.