Urgh nightmare peaslaker! Well we’ve raised issues and some things have been redone a bit better. Tbh it’s been 3 weeks of dust, disruption, noise and no bathroom apart from the ensuite toilet and sink so we’re letting them finish as best they can and then will be discussing a discount for the poor finish on the tiling. We still owe them 8k!

It’s a ground floor bathroom. No floor boards. The room adjacent is the hall and is parquet floor not carpet. Tbh the floor height i could live with the imperfect tiling and the tiny gap behind the bath taps worries me and hearing that the tile backer should definitely go in 1st. Is tike backer always quite thick? This is a good centermeter thick which has brought the walls out further than i expected once the tiling is on.

Yes it does! Pbc.

They took up the original floor tiles which were perfectly flat. Put down some sort of yellow matting then there’s a big wedge of grey cement type stuff then our half cm thick tiles we chose. Definitely boarded around the bath. The original wall tiles were lovely and flat so tbh i think they are full of shit. We’ve only paid 4k so far and that included about 1.5k for some outdoor work they’ve done (pointing etc)

Double post

Update. The “top end” bathroom fitting is dragging on rather. Been here 3 weeks. Whole house filled with dust. Came back oneday to find they had laid the floor and it was shocking. Irregular spacing and tiles not level. Redone that. Not totally perfect but not far off. Floor is now an inch higher than the adjacent room.

Now they’ve mostly tiled the walls I’ve noticed a few small chips at the edges of some tiles and not all the tiles are completely flat to each other. Apparently it’s a difficult job because the walls aren’t flat. They ripped the walls back to bare breeze blocks then stuck big black panels about a centermeter or so thick on. These weren’t perfectly flat to each other (should they be?) then they are tiling on to that. In places the tiles are out much further than the original tiles such as proud of the original door frame. They said they will fit beeding?

Also the bath was put in 1st then the black panels then the tiles so the gap behind the bath tap to the tiles is only a few mms and there is not much space left on the edge of the bath where it meets the wall. Is that normal practice? How on earth they will seal behind i don’t know!

I suppose I’m wondering what level of perfection re tiling i can expect if my walls are wonky and whether to just ignore the minor defects or do we get them to redo or ask for money off as they are already running late and I’m pretty sick of having them in the house now 😞

Sorry to hear that. Been going through it with my 12 year old lab as her arthritis got bad suddenly a few months back, the gabapentine wasn’t enough either but we’re seeing some positive effects with the Librela injection, lot’s of environmental adaptions such as ramps and limiting her exertions.

My lab at 9 started leaping up from bed and hiding. She was diagnosed with arthritis. We’ve managed another good 3 years with her with medications, supplements and lifestyle changes but it’s really affecting her now and she gets very upset at times. Sad times as it’s awful seeing them distressed. She doesn’t seem to understand the pain isn’t an external thing that’s attacking her so she gets panicked and her heart races.

Nothing. There is no border

There’s a cheap place near folkestone that do a roaring trade for the tunnel i believe. Think it’s mostly done online then the final bit on your way out. Sorry can’t remember the name. Defo look into getting an eu pet passport if you go to Europe a lot. Spain and Portugal are easier than France now. We got one in Portugal for 30 euros. You do need to get the rabies done by an eu vet though for any future jabs.

I went for a dwarf crab apple in front of my house for same reasons as you. Has lovely dark red leaves and rich red blossom.

If anyone in Brighton wants to pm about which garage it was do feel free. Had a great day at work nipping about in my van 😊

Update! I drove my little van to work yesterday! After the advice on here I got a second opinion on my combo, a semi retired mechanic i have bought a couple of vans off in the past and who used to work on my vans but has moved out of town slightly. Last Wednesday morning I collected the keys from Wxxxxe Garage and paid the £150 they had charged me for putting on a new starter motor and then taking it off again and diagnosing a seized engine. They had not refitted the old starter motor but left it on the seat. Later that morning Jim came and took the keys on a horrible wet and windy day.

The next day I had two missed calls from Wxxxne whilst I was shopping and when I phoned them back they said they had talked to the guy working on my van outside the garage and he said it looked like the alternator that had seized solid, stopping the engine from turning over. They were very sheepish and said if it’s that they should have noticed and i could have my money back.

Jim had it recovered somewhere he could work on it and i got it back on Monday evening and he only wanted £510. 3hrs labour plus parts and recovery! Obviously he’s getting a big tip. I’m so grateful and relieved. It also looks like the suspension work Wxxxne did last year was unnecessary as it was originally thought to just need a new top mount on one side but apparently this garage is well known for charging as much as possible and doing extra things. I went round in the van last night to get my refund and they were really apologetic and also offered a free service. Obviously they don’t want any bad reviews and I’m sure Jim who knows them said something to them.

Jim is happy to help me with future work so that’s a weight off.

Thanks all!

Thanks for all the input. After a stressful week things may be looking up. I will update tomorrow.

How did you get on with the voda broadband? We’re just going through similar process to you. Just moved so no bb currently and were considering trying a mifi unit but after seeing 2 people above not happy with it not so sure. Though it would be Vodafone not 3 providing the 4g.

Not sure what to do. No knowledge of mechanics myself. I was going to go ahead with the work but after contacting another mechanic I know he recons they aren’t great vans so now not sure about throwing any further money at it. Also would be 2 weeks before garage could fix it and hire van is £280 a week.

It did not start at all btw.

3k plus vat fitted if i want to they were not pushing this BTW it’s me asking them after looking at what’s around locally although briefly. Just moved back into our house and got sick dog and cat so feeling rather stressed out. Appreciate all the help

Been sat 5 months. Sloped drive. Windy position, near the coast (few mikes)

They have tried to manually crank it with bar. Other half went down and watched them do it. Well respected local garage.

Seen a very similar van available 4.5k private. Same milage and year (100k/ 2016)but obviously totally unknown entity.

Not as good as a well made British style custard tart, or even a Spanish one. And I’ve had the ones from ‘the’ place in Belem too.

Not ‘as’ good no, much better. Uk egg custard meh. Pastal de nata 🤤

I agree! It’s just virtual virtue signalling. I actually took my Mother out for lunch irl. I am the best.

Yeah i can appreciate how this could work. I find public speaking and things like interviews absolutely terrifying but am otherwise very competent and confident in my work. Those saying it’s a route to alcoholism…Jeez..

Drank red wine and vermouth. Now I feel like I have a cold.

Come to Portugal. Coffee and a pastal de nata 2.50 euros!

Small thing. I need a new kettle. Should i stick with electric or switch to a stove top kettle on mains gas?

Big thing to look at in future is our downstairs is really warm, triple glazing and cavity insulation in brick walls but the bedrooms upstairs are chalet style with the walls that face outside very hollow sounding and they get condensation patches in a couple of places in the middle. Much colder upstairs. Not sure if the easiest thing would be internal insulation for those walls or if you could access the roof space behind them to insulate. The loft above is fully insulated and boarded out.

If dogs is an issue then use chicken wire or the woven willow idea with hedging to give screening/barrier whilst the hedge grows in.

Plant hedges instead of fencing. Lasts forever, storm resistant, soaks up noise and particulate pollution, looks nicer and much better for insect, bird and hedgehog life.

For more flavour make sourdough pittas and use a quality organic flour. Mix of white/wholemeal/rye

Fuzzy wuzzy I’ve fallen foul of fancy toilets in the past! Built in cistern that had been tiled with no access point so when it broke it was a nightmare and ended up with a whole new standard toilet.

pothead
ALWAYS put the pasta into the sauce, never the sauce onto the pasta

Hmmm… not sure my saucepanfull of pasta will fit into the pesto jar?!

That’s stunning!

I think knowing that we’re paying top end and that there are several ways of doing things will give me confidence to talk things through with the builder and ask for details of what he’s planning.

Right will look into baths a bit more. It won’t be huge due to the space and don’t want to waste water. Only 5 ft 6 so will be able to a have a relaxing soak after a hard day’s gardening.

How about this extractor?

https://www.extractorfanworld.co.uk/envirovent-sil100pir-silent-extractor-fan–pir-3195-p.asp

Right will look into baths a bit more. It won’t be huge due to the space and don’t want to waste water. Only 5 ft 6 so will be able to a have a relaxing soak after a hard day’s gardening.

@timmys hard to compare pre covid with now though and where are you based this makes a huge difference. No electrics in your quote? As I’ve said I’m not really concerned about the price that is all agreed. I just want to make sure we get a quality finish for the outlay.

@Sandwich not worried about fan noise. It’s a downstairs bathroom and there is an upstairs toilet so won’t be going off at night. I now realise after a bit of looking what we need is a motion activated fan so that it will come on when people (visiting guests) use the toilet during the day but might not put the light on. The extractor is needed for smells as well as moisture.

Can you see the photo? The 2 walls on the right side are external so definitely solid. I think the others are too but not sure. There’s £220 of tile backer in the quote if that sheds any light?

Current bathroom

Can you see this? What would have been the external window now only opens an inch as the boiler is the other side in the extension (utility area) so a hole is going in the wall to the side passage of the house for the vent.

@tjagain sorry to be dense but what do you mean by tanking the bath? I’m guessing that’s unlikely to be included as standard then? Is it spendy? It’s ground floor bathroom by the way if that makes a difference.

@cheekyget you sound like one of the good guys and 3k for an average bathroom sounds amazingly good value for the SE! You must be seriously booked up?! Our quote does include everything except the tiles and bathroom bits so all sundries, towel rad, pipes, electrician etc and i know we do pay more having a building company to it all rather than getting the individual trades in ourselves but it’s so hard getting people in it just seemed the easiest way.

@rockandrollmark wow that sounds amazing value! It’s really hard to find trades people in Brighton and it’s second only to London for prices with many months wait for decent people so I have come to terms with the cost.

I just really want to make sure we do it right so it’s quality and lasts to make the high labour costs worthwhile.

I appreciate people’s help on this. Will have a look at your link today.