What can we expect from builders renovating?

jennyb1234

We’ve recently finished an extension and full house renovation.  This included replastering and decorating throughout and was done through one main building contractor.

Whilst on the whole we’re happy with the work done and the standard of finish is ok, as we’re going round cleaning it’s becoming apparent that in some places they really didn’t bother to cover up whilst doing work and this means some of the cleaning is taking a really long time.

Examples:
- Plaster/Render on window frames and on bottom of window where it opens (eg they’d rendered upstairs and had the downstairs window open for air and not covered properly).  Each window takes hours of scrubbing with a toothbrush to get it out of all the cracks.

- Paint splatters on new laminate flooring.

- paint splatters on inside frame of not-that-cheap bifold doors... presumably again from having them open whilst painting outside and it not being covered

- paint & tile adhesive marks on bathroom vinyl flooring (the pattern means we can just about get away with it from a distance, but the adhesive won’t remotely budge).

Now - we’d expect to have to do our own cleaning (and as it happens with Coronavirus we’re doing some of the snagging too, Eg tidying up all the paint work room by room) - but it would be good to know whether this is a ‘normal’ expected part of building work or if our builders didn’t take enough care.  It feels like so much cleaning time could have been saved by properly covering things up as they went along?

EssexExile

It sounds pretty normal to me. I've had better & I've had worse.