24 Chamberlain Park - The Early Days Build-up Throughout the build process we were kept in the dark about when completion would be, eventually, after persistent chasing we were given a completion period of 18Nov-4Dec, which we were informed would “definitely be no later than the 4th”... A few days before the 4th Dec after receiving no further correspondence, or “10-2 notice”, I had to phone head office to be told the date had been moved to the 18th Dec - not one single phone call or letter to myself or my solicitor had been sent regarding the 2 week delay. Completion Day On Completion day even though the monies were transferred the day before and showing up on TW accounts by 9am, we were only allowed in the proper ty at 3pm after constantly harassing all and sundry. Some staff actually were surprised we were wanting to move in that day. The property was not finished when we moved in... • The property was still being painted SIX hours after completion • The Kitchen lights did not work, it transpired that they were actually being operated by the hallway lights which had been wrongly wired up and causing the fuse to trip • The small spotlights in the kitchen did not work at all, and now, 3 weeks later only one actually operates. • We had to re-distribute furniture to accommodate the Mastic of the flooring - which only happened 5 days after we moved in. • We had to oil nearly every door in the house as they were creaking and rusty • No manhole cover outside for water • We were given No information material on boiler, central heating or kitchen / kitchen cupbaords • 5 weeks in and we till have no washing line - or above material
PRIMARY CONCERNS... Kitchen floor flooded The first morning we had a pool of water in the kitchen and cupboard beneath the sink - no less than 2 leaks in the dishwasher pipes were found. Overflowing Sewers and the Emergency number On Christmas Eve the drainage system backed up and the ensuite Shower and toilet overflowed requiring us to call the TW “Emergency Number” at about 9am. Said number was anything but geared for emergencies and after about 10 minutes of trying to get through and explain who and where we were, an engineer job was “logged”... what this meant we didn’t know and they couldn’t tell us...This resulted in as many as 5 phone calls to chase an engineer, including to Metro-Rod themselves and at 5pm - EIGHT hours later - someone arrived to work on the problem. After nearly 2 hours on site - the engineer informed us that he had removed a large amount of building debris from the main street drains but that we need to “get on the builders as early as possible in the new year” as this could easily re-occur with the amount of material present.
Phone Lines and Broadband We were reliably informed on several occasion that the building was ready for BT to install our phone and broadband. As I work from home this was critical that we moved into a connected house. We booked in BT technician for the following week after completion and they informed us that the site was not ready for connection, they were still waiting for cable to be laid. 3 weeks in and there is still no sign of BT being able to connect the property. 3 weeks I have been unable to do any work. Energy Supply We were and have been unable to change energy supplier, or even ascertain what tariff we are on with Scottish Power since a technical issue with the supplier means they are running months behind on updating accounts - as such we do not exist as a customer, meaning we cannot change supplier or negotiate rates - I have also struggled to get through to anyone at Scottish Power, and upon finally doing so, have made it very clear that I will not accept being lumped onto a standard Tariff and paying over the odds for a service I would have in any other situation been able to choose a competitive rate. As well as The Drains, Wiring, Energy Supply and Phone lines, the following build questions need answering
• There is a large gap between the brickwork and the roof, which increases as you move towards the adjoining neighbors roof/property - this gap is so large and obvious that the neighbour spotted it whilst pottering about in his garden • The guttering is either ill-fitted or cracked causing water to stream down directly onto the wooden fence with any precipitation - apart from the faulty guttering itself, this water flow will cause the fence to rot in a very short period of time • The en-suite bathroom floor is an inch lower than the base of the tiles - why ? - This will need to be built up and re-laid as we are not having a thick block of wood covering it up. Shower and wall so un-aligned large amount of mastic placed to cover it up • Locks on Rear Doors to garden are rusted, keys are rusted inside them and unable to be removed, whilst not only unsafe, why have we not been given new locks on our new home ? • All outside Fascias above the windows are covered in cement spatters. • The property has clearly been hastily painted and received only 1 coat of paint - this is apparent all over with boarding and even writing showing through, there are also many examples of runs, silicon, cement and plaster spatters which have simply been painted over • The flooring - Floor tiles are unevenly laid, and in the hallway 1 in 4 hasn’t even been adhesed to the floor and gets displaced when vacuuming • The front door is an absolute disgrace - unfinished cement work all around, paintwork abysmal, bent screws lie bare, on fascia, wooden step outside old, weathered and loose, wooden bar on inside broken with bits missing. No Door stop and insstep mat was not built in. The light outside does not illuminate anything, as useful on as it is off. • Cold air leaks in through Bedroom 2 window when fully closed