Patio done. Expensive tiles. Clean lines..BUT :😥

redjet

diveunderthebonnet said:

redjet said:

GDB2222 said:

redjet said:

DRP said:

What does builder say about drainage and the lack thereof?

Sent them a video. They are not responding.

As it looks like you may have to sue them, how did you pay for the job? Any of it on credit? 

No. Some bank transfers to cover materials, mot and such. The rest was cash. Tiles were credit. Although not the sort of people you want to poke the tiger with. 

I presume they are not the sort of people to complain to ,are they a bunch of heavy handed men or is it you do not like confrontation ,if the second get a family member or a friend to be there when you complain.

They did all great job, bar a few places. But yes, somewhat heavy handed and getting angry on the phone with being told there is not a slope. They need to come back and finish grouting on another path but I suspect have .over on. I've a laser level and measured the slope. 3mm in 3m. Impressive if I wanted flat. Water pooling.. 

WIAWSNB

Hi Redjet.

You asked in your OP what can be done - if anything. The answer will largely come down to whether you are able to put up with the implied threat of retaliation?

You can guard yourself against this to a large extent by securing your property with CCTV cameras, and also having a chat with your local Bobby. Write down everything that has been said, timed and dated, as verbatim as possible. See what the police say about this. They will at least have a record, should anything subsequently happen.

To sort the actual patio will most likely require a written report by a surveyor. Armed with this - assuming it says the work is significantly sub standard in two mains ares - lack of slope, and lack of 'bed' - you then give the patio folk one opportunity to put matters right. If (when...) they fail to do so, you get your LegProt to act to reclaim the outlay.

Only you can make the decision as to whether you are prepared to do this.

It may be that the surveyor considers that, whilst not ideal, it seems reasonably secure, and the lack of slope a relatively minor issue, so hard to justify a full re-lay, I don't know. In which case you'd likely be looking at a comensurate refund amount.

Hellish position for you to be in, and obviously a whopping lesson learnt about payment methods in any case (tho' I'm not sure you had any realistic alternative).

redjet

Thanks. Discovered these cracks this morning..Builder says they did everything right and the problem is us. Here's a video of the no slope , unless I'm missing something it seems to be none.

https://youtu.be/1ZYurnJyAFw?si=mjb9taSJayicTdDx

But as you say, downsides could be AA agree to redo it properly, destroy it and walk away. 

redjet

gets worse. Bought this suction lifter for a few quid anticipating I'd need to do work. Picked 3 tiles straight up 

redjet

Final pic. I just lifted one of the noisier newly laid patio slabs by A and A. This is what I found. It's been down about a month. They've said they may turn up some time, maybe. Chased many times.

I've been advised not to pursue due to the stress and unlikelihood of getting anything back..

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Who is A and A OP? (Big firm, local co, LTD, sole trader?)

I assume you aren't happy with the service as your patio hasn't been laid correctly.

We can't see much from the photos or glean much from the text Can you detail specifically what the job was and what is wrong?

redjet

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Who is A and A OP? (Big firm, local co, LTD, sole trader?)

I assume you aren't happy with the service as your patio hasn't been laid correctly.

We can't see much from the photos or glean much from the text Can you detail specifically what the job was and what is wrong?

Small firm around Cambridge. Worked for several weeks. Came recommended. Laid the whole patio from mot up. Had quite a few tiles sounding hollow. Several moving. Grout cracking.

I've lifted 5 by hand despite them charging a small fortune for bonding agent. They said they had a laugh when we sent them a video of knocking on them.

photome

You would be much better just adding to your existing thread rather than starting a new one with limited info

born_again

Given you have lifted the flags, good chance some stuck to the flags or that flags are not level, thus causing drop in level. 

Especially bottom photo with wood.

redjet

born_again said:

Given you have lifted the flags, good chance some stuck to the flags or that flags are not level, thus causing drop in level. 

Especially bottom photo with wood.

There were a few very small patches where it was stuck. I've used some wood and some mortar mix to fill the void. The slab just had moisture underneath apart from about 5cm around the edges.

That last photo had barely anything stuff, that was literally the hole