Worrying survey report for newly refurbed Victorian terrace - what to do!?

Chief_of_Staffy

stuart45 said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

stuart45 said:

... does a really good job because of his pride in the work. 

It's heartening to hear that such people still exist, even though I'm unlikely to meet one.

There's still quite a few around, but unfortunately if you don't work in the trade you can't find them. 
A lot of the really good tradesmen prefer to work for a firm on an hourly rate, so are usually only available for a weekend job. 
Ones that aren't good enough to work for a firm will often go and find their own work. They can get away with it for years, especially in the more urban areas.
You do also get some really good tradesmen that want to work for themselves as well. The problem with self employment is that if a job has been under priced it needs a lot of self discipline to do the job to the same high standards that they would for a higher price.
Nowadays, I only work on an hourly rate for people. Some aren't interested, but I can do the work properly without any issues, and at the end of the job it still works out at a decent price. Generally, most good tradesmen tend to give a really high price to allow for a good job, so customers are often paying more than they would just paying by the hour.

I'd be happy to pay by the hour. The last decent job I had done was the guy who built and fitted the kitchen of my old house, in 2012. Drove from Liverpool to the Lakes every day, arriving at 8:30am on the dot, leaving 5:30pm, and his work was perfection. He told me what he was going to do, did it, then showed me that he'd done it. He wasn't cheap, as you'd expect, but the outlay was more than worth it.

Get me a professional who assesses the work properly, turns up when he says, is courteous and honest, doesn't lie or take advantage, does a great job and is on hand for any snags and I'll stuff £150 an hour labour into his pocket no problem. The trouble is, even with six figures ready to spend, I can't find a single such person. But that's probably another thread.

BungalowBel

Some friends of ours were told the house they were buying needed a whole new roof.  They had some of the worst slates replaced.  Forty years later, they have done nothing else.  The roof is still fine and doesn't leak.

I would want to see Building Control sign-off paperwork for the walls and chimney breasts that have been removed.  Otherwise, there is nothing there that can't be fixed, especially if you negotiate a reduction in price.