New restoration project - what have I done!
Discussion
Things tick along in your life and then something like this happens. No idea what can get into your head to do that regardless of 3 bottles of whiskey. Maybe stay away from multiple male occupancy or trades people in the future? Sorry thats a bit Donald Trump but you get my thinking. Dont let it get you down.
That's s
t.
However... before you write that floor off, try some brown specialist pens that you use to colour in the scratch.
They are designed for leather sofas, flooring e.t.c. to cover up scratches.
I accidentally damaged my flooring when moving our piano. We coloured in the scratches and you would never know they were there!
t.However... before you write that floor off, try some brown specialist pens that you use to colour in the scratch.
They are designed for leather sofas, flooring e.t.c. to cover up scratches.
I accidentally damaged my flooring when moving our piano. We coloured in the scratches and you would never know they were there!
Edited by Chris x on Wednesday 8th February 14:10
57 Chevy said:
The company made the booking with you, they are responsible.
Surely that's correct. The company made the booking so your contract is with the company. I would immediately be filing a small claims court case for £1,200 damages. Quick and simple. I am sure there are solicitors on Pistonheads that will confirm or correct this but it would seem logical to me. Horrible all that hard work - but INHO far worse than that is he threatening behaviour toward your wife (stuff can be fixed and replaced but shock fear memories can never be erraticated).
First question - I assume you do have insurance with legal cover given that I would pass this over to them they can peruse the company for all the costs & what would be heartache to you and the Mrs.
You could try escalating this with the company ie send a formal letter with proper pics to the CEO of the company (not some procurement dept). Remember the most important thing to any company is brand reputation - it matters not if they were subcontractors or directly employed they were representing the company. I'd say you should expect full renovation costs plus something as a we are so sorry for what happened.
Local press then works wonders too- bad reputation... potential loss of future trade simply not worth contemplating for any company.
First question - I assume you do have insurance with legal cover given that I would pass this over to them they can peruse the company for all the costs & what would be heartache to you and the Mrs.
You could try escalating this with the company ie send a formal letter with proper pics to the CEO of the company (not some procurement dept). Remember the most important thing to any company is brand reputation - it matters not if they were subcontractors or directly employed they were representing the company. I'd say you should expect full renovation costs plus something as a we are so sorry for what happened.
Local press then works wonders too- bad reputation... potential loss of future trade simply not worth contemplating for any company.
Thanks to you all for the kind words, having now spent some time cleaning and tidying its becoming obvious that a refit is on the cards, but you know what, I've tackled worse in this house.... biggest negative is that my workshop project will have to take a back seat until this rooms redone...
I'm taking some advice on this situation, as I also feel they have some responsibility on this, whether they are sub contractors or not, they are the ones who booked and paid for the rooms.. some more emails and time required.
In the mean time, as Dory would say... "Just keep swimming"
I'm taking some advice on this situation, as I also feel they have some responsibility on this, whether they are sub contractors or not, they are the ones who booked and paid for the rooms.. some more emails and time required.
In the mean time, as Dory would say... "Just keep swimming"
RichB said:
Surely that's correct. The company made the booking so your contract is with the company. I would immediately be filing a small claims court case for £1,200 damages. Quick and simple. I am sure there are solicitors on Pistonheads that will confirm or correct this but it would seem logical to me.
The fact they were there on business means the company has 'vicarious liability'. From Wiki: "Employers are vicariously liable under the doctrine of "respondeat superior" for the negligent acts or omissions by their employees in the course of employment. The key phrase is "in the course of employment".Sorry to see this has happened though chap, what a shame.
Edit to add, IANAL, and of course the courts would ultimately decide if this was "in the course of employment", but as it was a company booking I think they'd struggle to get off this one.
Once you have firm costs I'd write to the employer with your claim as a 'letter before action'. Make it clear they have 28 days to pay or you will take legal proceedings, and on day 29 do a money claim online, its a pretty simple process.
Good luck
Edited by Dan Gleables on Thursday 9th February 08:12
Bit of an update, It's been too long since my last post, the new business has been getting steadily busier and busier, which has been great. We've one an award from booking.com for customer service scores, been awarded a 4 star rating by Visit Scotland (apparently unheard of to go in at 4 stars at the first go!) and have received some amazing reviews.
Now the spring is here and the workshop is almost finished it was time to start work in the BBQ area, previously we had only gravelled it to give it a slightly more aesthetically pleasing look, but this was only ever planned to be a temporary solution. It's a small section of the main garden, tucked nicely round from the main house in a lovely sunny spot with great views across the garden and nice and private. It's also set down about 5 foot from the level of the main gardens, which also gives it a nice feel. If you go back to previous posts you'll see I rebuilt the steps a year ago in preparation for doing this area up, but time and money have meant it's been delayed until now, especially as I was told I had to finish the inside of the house first before I could start! Lol
It's a really odd shape, with a curved stone wall on one side, a serious unkept 'hedge' on the other and a new fence at the back...so a nice easy design situation then...not. As a keen bbq fan, I wanted a nice space for both a gas and a charcoal BBQ, and some storage, worktop space, sink area and a bar worktop for mates to sit at when round. Space for a small table And chairs, a large party table and space for a outdoor sofa set with a fire pit, plus as I live in Scotland, a big part of it would need to be under cover as not even rain or hail stones stop play up here!
After some initial surveying of the area I ruled out paving the area, a) due to cost b) due to my back getting progressively more easily to hurt over the last 3 years, c) because the levels over the area I wanted were over 300mm different... and finally d) under the gravel is tarmac, and to lay a paved area properly if have to lift the tarmac and re level the area with compacted hardcore... so a slightly elevated deck area it is then! Lol
Part of me loves decking, i.e. Working with wood :-) , part of me hates it, i.e. Maintenance and slipperyness (is that even a word?) but I've built a number of timber decks before, including a large raised deck at my previous house, and a fair few for friends over the years... biggest change this time would be to oil it rather than stain it. TBH I would have loved a composite decking, but at the scale I wanted it was horrendous in cost and would have meant delaying the work whilst I saved aside some coffers, and then I'd miss the summer!
I'll post some pictures of my design sketches up shortly, and a few befores etc, currently I started the work last Tuesday, so have only managed to get a few days working on it, but it's already starting to take shape. I reckon, including all the raised beds, roof structure and finishing details it's going to be a couple of weeks work in total, but I'll get things up to date first then see how much interest there is in the progress! Lol
Now the spring is here and the workshop is almost finished it was time to start work in the BBQ area, previously we had only gravelled it to give it a slightly more aesthetically pleasing look, but this was only ever planned to be a temporary solution. It's a small section of the main garden, tucked nicely round from the main house in a lovely sunny spot with great views across the garden and nice and private. It's also set down about 5 foot from the level of the main gardens, which also gives it a nice feel. If you go back to previous posts you'll see I rebuilt the steps a year ago in preparation for doing this area up, but time and money have meant it's been delayed until now, especially as I was told I had to finish the inside of the house first before I could start! Lol
It's a really odd shape, with a curved stone wall on one side, a serious unkept 'hedge' on the other and a new fence at the back...so a nice easy design situation then...not. As a keen bbq fan, I wanted a nice space for both a gas and a charcoal BBQ, and some storage, worktop space, sink area and a bar worktop for mates to sit at when round. Space for a small table And chairs, a large party table and space for a outdoor sofa set with a fire pit, plus as I live in Scotland, a big part of it would need to be under cover as not even rain or hail stones stop play up here!
After some initial surveying of the area I ruled out paving the area, a) due to cost b) due to my back getting progressively more easily to hurt over the last 3 years, c) because the levels over the area I wanted were over 300mm different... and finally d) under the gravel is tarmac, and to lay a paved area properly if have to lift the tarmac and re level the area with compacted hardcore... so a slightly elevated deck area it is then! Lol
Part of me loves decking, i.e. Working with wood :-) , part of me hates it, i.e. Maintenance and slipperyness (is that even a word?) but I've built a number of timber decks before, including a large raised deck at my previous house, and a fair few for friends over the years... biggest change this time would be to oil it rather than stain it. TBH I would have loved a composite decking, but at the scale I wanted it was horrendous in cost and would have meant delaying the work whilst I saved aside some coffers, and then I'd miss the summer!
I'll post some pictures of my design sketches up shortly, and a few befores etc, currently I started the work last Tuesday, so have only managed to get a few days working on it, but it's already starting to take shape. I reckon, including all the raised beds, roof structure and finishing details it's going to be a couple of weeks work in total, but I'll get things up to date first then see how much interest there is in the progress! Lol
dmsims said:
Cheers for that, but already went with this stuff.....http://www.screwfix.com/p/liberon-decking-oil-medi...
dmsims said:
Cheers for that, but already went with this stuff.....http://www.screwfix.com/p/liberon-decking-oil-medi...
So, this was the rough doodle I did to give us a plan to work to, the idea was to keep an element of a formal garden, bearing in mind the age and style of the house and gardens already it needs to work in style as much as possible, short of building a maze this was the best idea I could come up with!
I'm building a triangular area of decking off the house with the hypotenuse of the triangle to be parallel with the stairs down from the garden, this is the area that gets the most sun, and catches the last rays of the day, so will be putting the sofa, chairs and fire pit here. It'll be approx 8m along the back wall where it meets the house, and approx 6.5m deep, I'm then planning to intersect this at 90deg with the area which will be covered with a clear roof, in a traditional pergola style look and include the BBQ area, bar and small table and chairs. The big table will go on the triangular section if decking. It's all going to be built on one level to avoid steps and make the usable space, well more useable! Lol
I'll then build raised timber planters parallel to the decking on both sides of the path with two areas where you can get onto the decking and looking to put a water fountain of some description in the centre where the paths intersect, This will be stabs framed in gravel. The other area will have a pergola built and probably house a swing seat of some kind.. not fully decided in that yet.
So, quick sketch
I'm building a triangular area of decking off the house with the hypotenuse of the triangle to be parallel with the stairs down from the garden, this is the area that gets the most sun, and catches the last rays of the day, so will be putting the sofa, chairs and fire pit here. It'll be approx 8m along the back wall where it meets the house, and approx 6.5m deep, I'm then planning to intersect this at 90deg with the area which will be covered with a clear roof, in a traditional pergola style look and include the BBQ area, bar and small table and chairs. The big table will go on the triangular section if decking. It's all going to be built on one level to avoid steps and make the usable space, well more useable! Lol
I'll then build raised timber planters parallel to the decking on both sides of the path with two areas where you can get onto the decking and looking to put a water fountain of some description in the centre where the paths intersect, This will be stabs framed in gravel. The other area will have a pergola built and probably house a swing seat of some kind.. not fully decided in that yet.
So, quick sketch
First job was to finish blocking up the old doorway using concrete blocks, scratch coat and apply a colour render, not my strongest skill set I'll be honest, I can build a block wall no problem, and I can plaster well, but never loved rendering... anyway, it's done, so meant I could get on with the deck. First job was to map out the complicated, off angle shape to start with, then start framing it up. It was impractical to try to build the entire frame at 90deg to the deck boards so tried to keep it as simple as possible, bearing in mind the shape! It's all built out of 4x2 C16 treated timber, which I then put a coloured stain protector coat on as well, a) for longevity b) so you would see the frame less through the decking gaps. Plan was to support the frame on 4" square posts set directly onto the tarmac and wrapped in DPC every 1200mm, well within the span capacity of the joists, in fact well over the top... end rails were doubled up for strength and again supported directly on the 4" feet. At last an advantage of having a tarmac into hardcore base down there! The frame for the covered area then went in, bolted to the deck frame, but again right down into the tarmac to transfer the weight away from the deck boards. All the decking was cut around the posts as neatly as I could, and the outer frame fixed on to strengthen the whole frame up until the roof is built and fitted.
Next job was to fit the 5.4m deck boards, 33mm thick with a fine reeded effect finish using a hidden fixing method to avoid screw holes in the top surface, mainly because I hate seeing wobbly lines of screws down a deck, it stops water getting in the boards through the screw holes and also because the decking was not a 90deg to the frame in the triangular section it stopped the screws highlighting the angles.... according to SWMBO it's a bit OCD but made me happier! Then a coat of oil coloured finish to darken the whole thing down, I managed to under order the deck boards by 5 lengths which meant I couldn't quite get it finished yesterday, and the last 10 rows were not fixed down when I took the last pictures, but you get the idea!
Anyway, enough rambling, some pics!
Basic deck frame, sitting, err on the deck...
Dwangs fitted and bearers doubled up, and started to work on levels
Stained, raised, levelled (with a good fall for water!) and the pergola frame in place
Some decking!
Some PITA scribing...
And how it's sits as of today, with one coat of oil on so far...
Next job was to fit the 5.4m deck boards, 33mm thick with a fine reeded effect finish using a hidden fixing method to avoid screw holes in the top surface, mainly because I hate seeing wobbly lines of screws down a deck, it stops water getting in the boards through the screw holes and also because the decking was not a 90deg to the frame in the triangular section it stopped the screws highlighting the angles.... according to SWMBO it's a bit OCD but made me happier! Then a coat of oil coloured finish to darken the whole thing down, I managed to under order the deck boards by 5 lengths which meant I couldn't quite get it finished yesterday, and the last 10 rows were not fixed down when I took the last pictures, but you get the idea!
Anyway, enough rambling, some pics!
Basic deck frame, sitting, err on the deck...
Dwangs fitted and bearers doubled up, and started to work on levels
Stained, raised, levelled (with a good fall for water!) and the pergola frame in place
Some decking!
Some PITA scribing...
And how it's sits as of today, with one coat of oil on so far...
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