Hi
I'm new here and am after some advice. I've had a bit of a nightmare with my builder Rawreth Builders - Sole Director Mark Garrard
DIY Doctor note: Mark Garrard contacted DIY Doctor to complain he had been blamed for bad workmanship when the work was actually done by sub-contractors of his Limited Company. Therefore, he says, he cannot be blamed because the Ltd Company chose the sub contractors, not him.
When we pointed out to him that, as sole director, it was clearly him that chose the sub-contractprs and was directly responsible for the quality of their work he said....."it was not me, it was a Ltd Company, big difference"
It is clear to us that Mark Garrard was trying to hide from his responsibilities by blaming the Ltd Company he is sole director of! In our opinion he should be avoided at all costs. The information on Rawreth Builders Ltd is publically available on the Government House website where an application for striking off Rawreth Builders Ltd has been filed.
DIY Doctor abhores bad building practice and from the emails received by us, from Mark Garrard it is clear he takes no responsibility for work done by his company. This is tantamount to rogue trading and we would be very interested to hear from anybody who had had similar experiences with Mark Garrard or any other builder.
He developed my house and to say it was difficult is an understatement. I've just won a court case against him for the bathroom for which after the shower floor leaked through the ceiling continuously from day one. After numerous repairs attempts over 18 months, and experts saying the whole thing had been installed incorrectly (even he acknowledged it should be ripped out) - he then walked away having had the money and left the floor ripped up and ceiling open. Anyway - that court case is now won.
He also tiled by 30' x 26' kitchen / famly room with 600 x 600mm porcelain tiles over underfloor heating (Wundafloor) which has the polysyrene base. From day one, grout was cracking and coming out. Anyway, so far 11 of these tiles have cracked. I've lifted one and can see that only a couple of small dots of adhesive have been used. That doesn't seem right to me?
I know the floor was laid only a week after the screed went down, and the grouting was done a couple of days after the tiles went down.
Is this method of laying a floor right? I know I will need someone to come and replace the 11 tiles, but what about the rest? I am worried these will also crack.
I don't expect him to be interested so will have to foot the bill myself for £2000 new tiles, ripping up and reinstallation unless I end up going down the court route again.
Thanks for any advice.
Andy Barnes
