A very painful process with poor attention to detail from planning through to build
Overall the build is good BUT.... and it's a big BUT -
the experience was painful.
Had I not been on site, inspecting every step, we would not be where we are now and that is not what I paid for.
I paid for what I thought would be a great installation service along with a great product. I was mistaken.
Whilst the end result is good, I thoroughly recommend you watch every step closely and speak up. Otherwise you'll be settling for less than perfect. And no one wants that for their hard earned dollar.
So: I needed to ask for replacement builders after one week of dealing with extremely rude builders with no interest in my specifications as the client. All the builder wanted to do was get the job done super fast regardless of how I wanted things done. Leaving their old beer cans in the skip was also not a good look and whilst I'm not suggestion they were drinking on the job - the optics did not look good following all the grief they had given me in the run up to discovering this.
Firstly - pest mesh. Do not pay for this unless you realise that all you're getting is what most people call 'chicken wire' and therefore not suitable for keeping rats at bay. It's an absolute rip off. Check out pest mesh online and you'll find galvanised stainless steel mesh from companies that specify their product as a proven deterrent against rats. Chicken wire is not the same and does not do the job. And not only that, it wasn't supplied with the delivery ( it had been forgotten about) and therefore not ready for installation when it needed to be. There was an attempt to fob me off with cement particle board that happened to be on site, but this is not what I paid for and not what is specified by rodent control companies.
This cost did eventually get knocked off my bill, but boy did I have to kick up a fuss about it. And all the builder on site wanted to do was get the job done as fast as he could regardless.
Second - The bi-folds arrived with one unit broken, this happens I know, but also without the correct gasket sealing product. This error was not shared with me, and the builder attempted to shove the doors in ultra rapidly at the end of what turned out to be his last day, as the light failed, resulting in them looking like they had been crowbarred around the frames. They also got fitted with out magnets, which I had to point out otherwise no one would have spoken up.
Again, no communication, purely a case of me needing to inspect every tiny detai &l make lots of phone calls to head office to complain.
Third - I very clearly said where I wanted the fuse box and the builder put it on the wrong wall and then tried to tell me he'd put it where we had agreed.
Fourth - I specified my own Quickstep flooring, and wanted care taking to lay the top of the range laminate so not to put repeat patterns side by side and I was told this was not possible. It is.
I had to insist this was done properly and in the end, along with everything else we insisted on replacement builders.
But not without the first builder leaving without supplying the plan of where he'd placed the electric cables within the walls, now under fresh plaster.
Fifth - When the new builders arrived, the lack of electrical plan resulted in two holes in the wall and ceiling which then had to be filled - there is now a bump in the otherwise perfect plaster. Totally avoidable and thoroughly unprofessional of the first builder.
Sixth - The sedum roof got delivered elsewhere and what arrived at our house was short of at least a square metre. This took weeks to rectify and now it has, we now have over 1m sq of red sedum that has been devoid of sunlight and water, trying to find life on our otherwise lush green roof. I have been assured that this will be replaced if it doesn't live, but I'm not holding my breath.
The guttering took several attempts to fit in its entirety despite all the components being on site. The deck was short of the required length, this also took two attempts to finish off.
Vivid Green tried to fob me off again, with an intention to try and refit the badly fitting, and in fact wrongly specified, gasket to the very expensive windows, despite me having been told it wasn't the right product for acoustic glass. As if I was stupid or something. I of course, said I wanted what I had paid for. Eventually, the gasket got delivered and fitted by the window supply company but only after I insisted they come to do this, and not Vivid Green.
Had the window fitter been informed he would have come with the missing magnets to fit too -but he wasn't told. This had to be done on yet another visit.
I could go on, but this is already an essay.
In short, shop around. Unless you're prepared to give up a lot of your time making sure you get what you want. If you're all about the detail - Vivid Green are not.
I'm happy with the end result but only because I personally supervised every step of the process
25 de abril de 2023
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