The ridiculous Edwardian...
Discussion
illmonkey said:
Scrunched up newspaper and plaster surely.
Of course, go trad or go bust 
Anyhoo, time has passed but work became all consuming so no further work was done. Picking it up again now.
Question for the knowledgeable ones on here
, has anyone used TIWI (thin internal wall insulation) before? For example:
https://www.twistfix.co.uk/thin-internal-wall-insu...
or this stuff
https://safeguardstore.co.uk/ultrotherm-internal-i...
There appears to be a move to actually research this stuff so that the millions of solid wall houses can get insulated with less disruption and reduced condensation and cold bridging issues. (Let me be clear, I know nothing about this, other than there are some diverse views on the subject!)
https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/resea...
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thin-in...
The en-suite is a small but quite cold room on the corner of the building, solid walls on 2 sides, plastered apart from that bodge. I can't put anything on the walls that will come in the room more than about total 20mm as I need all the space I can get for the shower and loo layout.
If anyone has used this kind of stuff and has thoughts to share, I would be very grateful.
judas said:
Well, things have taken a decidedly pear-shaped turn. This afternoon we fired the builder before he’d even bothered to make a start. After delays, mistakes, key things being missed on the quote, more delays, price increases, him dropping a bombshell about going off on holiday two days into the build, and the final straw of leaving the structural calcs to the last minute and finding out removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room was going to be much, much complicated yet unable to get a price for additional work we’d had enough. We’d lost all confidence that the job would be done anywhere near remotely on time or on budget.
Back to the drawing board. f
k 
Bad, but better than giving this clown your money, I promise.Back to the drawing board. f
k Update time, or not, as it happens...
We were hoping to be able to post here soon to unveil our lovely new kitchen. However, for the second time, it's all gone Pete Tong and we've just pulled the plug. This is developing into a tiresome pattern
There may have been a little nose-spite-face factoring into our decision this time, but after the last debacle we weren't going sit there having our chain yanked repeatedly until we got the message.
Long story short, we ended up going with a certain bird-related outfit as they could do everything. We made it clear we needed an all-in cost and here's our budget. All seemed to going swimmingly until they were required to do something other than show us pretty pictures and take our deposit. Despite them knowing we had several pre-fit jobs that were dependent on getting a proper survey done, it took weeks of chasing to get the fitter out to us. Then the bombshell: they'd split the order into two "to save us money" and it turns out the second half of the order was supply-only and hence didn't include any fitting costs. Budget was already looking a bit squeaky, so that was that. Called the showroom and asked for an urgent call-back from someone able to deal with this oversight, but no one, so far, has bothered to get back to us. So, the cancellation email has just been sent.
We were hoping to be able to post here soon to unveil our lovely new kitchen. However, for the second time, it's all gone Pete Tong and we've just pulled the plug. This is developing into a tiresome pattern
There may have been a little nose-spite-face factoring into our decision this time, but after the last debacle we weren't going sit there having our chain yanked repeatedly until we got the message.
Long story short, we ended up going with a certain bird-related outfit as they could do everything. We made it clear we needed an all-in cost and here's our budget. All seemed to going swimmingly until they were required to do something other than show us pretty pictures and take our deposit. Despite them knowing we had several pre-fit jobs that were dependent on getting a proper survey done, it took weeks of chasing to get the fitter out to us. Then the bombshell: they'd split the order into two "to save us money" and it turns out the second half of the order was supply-only and hence didn't include any fitting costs. Budget was already looking a bit squeaky, so that was that. Called the showroom and asked for an urgent call-back from someone able to deal with this oversight, but no one, so far, has bothered to get back to us. So, the cancellation email has just been sent.
Edited by judas on Wednesday 11th October 13:13
That sucks.
We completed a single story extension to our Edwardian this year, mainly changing the orientation of the kitchen to gain a downstairs toilet, utility and lighter kitchen.
We went with a local builder with a good rep and a rep for being expensive, I don't think they were in the end. It was night and day over any other building work we've had done. Professional and as hassle free as we could hope for. We got the kitchen from a local supplier, again no issues and worked with the builder, damages and anything other potential issues resolved without any hassle for us.
We completed a single story extension to our Edwardian this year, mainly changing the orientation of the kitchen to gain a downstairs toilet, utility and lighter kitchen.
We went with a local builder with a good rep and a rep for being expensive, I don't think they were in the end. It was night and day over any other building work we've had done. Professional and as hassle free as we could hope for. We got the kitchen from a local supplier, again no issues and worked with the builder, damages and anything other potential issues resolved without any hassle for us.
judas said:
Update time, or not, as it happens...
We were hoping to be able to post here soon to unveil our lovely new kitchen. However, for the second time, it's all gone Pete Tong and we've just pulled the plug. This is developing into a tiresome pattern
There may have been a little nose-spite-face factoring into our decision this time, but after the last debacle we weren't going sit there having our chain yanked repeatedly until we got the message.
Long story short, we ended up going with a certain bird-related outfit as they could do everything. We made it clear we needed an all-in cost and here's our budget. All seemed to going swimmingly until they were required to do something other than show us pretty pictures and take our deposit. Despite them knowing we had several pre-fit jobs that were dependent on getting a proper survey done, it took weeks of chasing to get the fitter out to us. Then the bombshell: they'd split the order into two "to save us money" and it turns out the second half of the order was supply-only and hence didn't include any fitting costs. Budget was already looking a bit squeaky, so that was that. Called the showroom and asked for an urgent call-back from someone able to deal with this oversight, but no one, so far, has bothered to get back to us. So, the cancellation email has just been sent.
I went with that bird related kitchen company and after we had spent ages designing the kitchen to the precise and awkward specification of my kitchen, they sent the paperwork through for me to sign off. I used this to help me get a fitting quote locally.We were hoping to be able to post here soon to unveil our lovely new kitchen. However, for the second time, it's all gone Pete Tong and we've just pulled the plug. This is developing into a tiresome pattern
There may have been a little nose-spite-face factoring into our decision this time, but after the last debacle we weren't going sit there having our chain yanked repeatedly until we got the message.
Long story short, we ended up going with a certain bird-related outfit as they could do everything. We made it clear we needed an all-in cost and here's our budget. All seemed to going swimmingly until they were required to do something other than show us pretty pictures and take our deposit. Despite them knowing we had several pre-fit jobs that were dependent on getting a proper survey done, it took weeks of chasing to get the fitter out to us. Then the bombshell: they'd split the order into two "to save us money" and it turns out the second half of the order was supply-only and hence didn't include any fitting costs. Budget was already looking a bit squeaky, so that was that. Called the showroom and asked for an urgent call-back from someone able to deal with this oversight, but no one, so far, has bothered to get back to us. So, the cancellation email has just been sent.
Edited by judas on Wednesday 11th October 13:13
Thank GOD one of the local kitchen fitters asked me why the units above the sink stopped 10cm short of the end of the wall and wouldn't line up with the units underneath. Apparently my "designer" had just decided unilaterally to lop 10cm off the originally agreed measurements to "be on the safe side" but didn't think it worth telling me. Obviously you can bet your life that if I hadn't caught it then I would have been blamed for signing off the specs.
In the end I'm actually very happy with the kitchen, it really is a nice job and the units are of good qualuty, but I feel like most of that is down to me and not them.
Just had a call from them half-heartedly trying to salvage the order. We remained unpersuaded and asked for our deposit to be refunded.
We still need a new kitchen but the missus is starting a new commission the other end of the country next week and I don't have the fortitude to go through this malarkey again this side of Christmas. At least we have a design we're happy with, which has been half the battle.
We still need a new kitchen but the missus is starting a new commission the other end of the country next week and I don't have the fortitude to go through this malarkey again this side of Christmas. At least we have a design we're happy with, which has been half the battle.
We split supplier and fitter.
Supplier - we used DIY-Kitchens - absolutely fantastic customer service, good quality and a lot of choice of cabinets - only down side is one showroom in the North - though they do plan to open one near Oxford soon.
Fitter - we used out builder and his chippy - both of whom had fitted kitchens before - chippy was traditional slow but sure and fitted it beautifully.
Worksurface - Natural Stone (through DIY Kitchens) - other than my querying one of their measurements - which they changed went well
End result - superb kitchen - however I did 3D model it / draw up scale plans / measure it xxx times / get the builder to sign off on the measurements / etc.
Supplier - we used DIY-Kitchens - absolutely fantastic customer service, good quality and a lot of choice of cabinets - only down side is one showroom in the North - though they do plan to open one near Oxford soon.
Fitter - we used out builder and his chippy - both of whom had fitted kitchens before - chippy was traditional slow but sure and fitted it beautifully.
Worksurface - Natural Stone (through DIY Kitchens) - other than my querying one of their measurements - which they changed went well
End result - superb kitchen - however I did 3D model it / draw up scale plans / measure it xxx times / get the builder to sign off on the measurements / etc.
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