Hello everyone,
After the assembly of our prefabricated house in mid-October, the work progressed quickly, so we gave notice for our apartment on January 31, 2014.
According to the schedule, the house handover was supposed to be on December 18, 2013. At that point, we would only have needed to do the painting and floor coverings (except in the bathrooms). So there should have been enough time.
Unfortunately, due to a two-week delay on our part (electricity could not be supplied as quickly as hoped), our builder has now added another four weeks of delay (you can read about all this on my construction blog – linked here in the forum).
The big problem we are facing right now is that the plasterers, who need to rework some defects, simply have not come. According to our site manager, they should have been here at the beginning of this week, but so far they still haven’t shown up.
As a result, we cannot finish our walls, and our flooring contractor “refuses” to install the floors until the walls are done.
I see that we might have to move into a half-finished house, IF at all.
I now need advice on how to proceed:
So far, I have only spoken by phone with our site manager, who was supposed to take care of things. Yesterday I complained to our customer service representative because nothing is progressing. However, they only refer me back to the site manager.
I have set a deadline for completion of all work in our house as January 28, 2014 (although I have little hope).
The contract doesn’t mention any construction period, only that after the house is erected, the interior work will be done “as soon as possible.” According to the builder’s brochure, the interior finishing takes 5 to 8 weeks, but unofficially, our site manager told us to expect 8 to 11 weeks.
Does anyone have tips on how to proceed now?
Many thanks,
Julia
After the assembly of our prefabricated house in mid-October, the work progressed quickly, so we gave notice for our apartment on January 31, 2014.
According to the schedule, the house handover was supposed to be on December 18, 2013. At that point, we would only have needed to do the painting and floor coverings (except in the bathrooms). So there should have been enough time.
Unfortunately, due to a two-week delay on our part (electricity could not be supplied as quickly as hoped), our builder has now added another four weeks of delay (you can read about all this on my construction blog – linked here in the forum).
The big problem we are facing right now is that the plasterers, who need to rework some defects, simply have not come. According to our site manager, they should have been here at the beginning of this week, but so far they still haven’t shown up.
As a result, we cannot finish our walls, and our flooring contractor “refuses” to install the floors until the walls are done.
I see that we might have to move into a half-finished house, IF at all.
I now need advice on how to proceed:
So far, I have only spoken by phone with our site manager, who was supposed to take care of things. Yesterday I complained to our customer service representative because nothing is progressing. However, they only refer me back to the site manager.
I have set a deadline for completion of all work in our house as January 28, 2014 (although I have little hope).
The contract doesn’t mention any construction period, only that after the house is erected, the interior work will be done “as soon as possible.” According to the builder’s brochure, the interior finishing takes 5 to 8 weeks, but unofficially, our site manager told us to expect 8 to 11 weeks.
Does anyone have tips on how to proceed now?
Many thanks,
Julia
Thank you for the responses.
Yes, it was perhaps bold, but more naive. Even though I’ve been reading along here regularly.
We have already asked our current landlords. However, they refused any further renting out, since their contractors will come in the first week of February to completely renovate the apartment. Besides, we no longer have a good relationship with them, so it took a lot of courage just to ask.
Family lives 70 or 600 km (43 or 373 miles) away, so that’s not an option either.
At least the plasterers were here today. That means from next week, we can start with the painting and begin installing the flooring in the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and bedrooms. We have many helpers for this; my parents are coming on Wednesday and will help a lot.
I didn’t know the house is considered officially approved once you move in. I really need to look into this again to see if we want to put up with it...
It’s heartbreaking...
Yes, it was perhaps bold, but more naive. Even though I’ve been reading along here regularly.
We have already asked our current landlords. However, they refused any further renting out, since their contractors will come in the first week of February to completely renovate the apartment. Besides, we no longer have a good relationship with them, so it took a lot of courage just to ask.
Family lives 70 or 600 km (43 or 373 miles) away, so that’s not an option either.
At least the plasterers were here today. That means from next week, we can start with the painting and begin installing the flooring in the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and bedrooms. We have many helpers for this; my parents are coming on Wednesday and will help a lot.
I didn’t know the house is considered officially approved once you move in. I really need to look into this again to see if we want to put up with it...
It’s heartbreaking...
About one month before handover (although you can subtract two weeks of Christmas holidays for the tradespeople), the site manager visited us again. Since we had painted our walls and installed built-in furniture in the dressing room as well as mounted lights between the last trades, we had already started using the storage space under the eaves: we bought shelves and set them up for our tools, painting supplies, etc. When our site manager saw this, he jokingly remarked that we had already moved in. I replied—also jokingly—that it was just a temporary station for tools so that we wouldn’t get in the way of the tradespeople. We understood each other... I had already read about the informal handover beforehand.
@ Armin
In which way is the moving company supposed to assist us? With the actual moving?
@ Bauexperte & Yvonne
Thank you very much for your replies.
Since it really isn’t possible to move into the house other than on the weekend, we will carry out the final inspection with our contractor this week and, if necessary, record any unfinished trades as defects.
In which way is the moving company supposed to assist us? With the actual moving?
@ Bauexperte & Yvonne
Thank you very much for your replies.
Since it really isn’t possible to move into the house other than on the weekend, we will carry out the final inspection with our contractor this week and, if necessary, record any unfinished trades as defects.
If I were you, I wouldn’t place furniture where sanding might still be happening (filler compound). Try to find a garage or basement at friends’ or colleagues’ places where you can store your furniture. Then rent a holiday apartment for a week.
I assume you want to handle the move yourselves?!
Good luck, Julia!
I assume you want to handle the move yourselves?!
Good luck, Julia!
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