ᐅ Renovating an Older Home with Challenges: How to Proceed?

Hello,

I had some bad luck during an old building renovation, and on top of that, more misfortune.

So, here’s a brief summary (yes, a pun) of the situation:

• House from 1909
• 3 residential units, one or two to be owner-occupied, one will be rented out
• approximately 280 m² (3000 sq ft) of living space in total
• 800 m² (8600 sq ft) plot size
• the rented apartment is not affected by the renovation
• no loans taken out so far
• major renovation planned, including partial age-appropriate remodeling
• heating boiler burst just before purchase, which actually turned out well because it led to a big discount; now a gas condensing boiler has been installed
• however, the contractor botched the installation: the stainless steel combustion chamber is now corroded on the outside due to sulfur-containing condensate running down the outside
• the same contractor (company) also acted as energy consultant and construction supervisor and was supposed to handle electrical work as well as heating and plumbing
• he started the work
• then unfortunately stopped and has been unreachable for months (for me and other trades such as drywall installers), but is still active on other sites. He does not respond to texts, calls, letters, or registered mail. A delivery certificate is now on the way.
• the insulation he planned was poorly executed
• the electrical installation is incomplete (and unlabeled, so someone else would first have to measure everything)
• the gas boiler is corroded, as mentioned above
• the work was performed in a completely different order than planned and agreed upon
• no invoices have been issued yet for work and materials done… materials are still on site
• the claim that he was a KfW-listed energy consultant turned out to be false; he was listed once, yes, but did not renew and is no longer on the list
• therefore, no KfW funding for individual energy efficiency measures is possible
• why didn’t I intervene earlier: mainly because I was away for work – and I live alone, so no one else could keep an eye on things
• so now there is an unfinished construction site standing there
• this makes it difficult to find other tradespeople
• rejections due to unclear liability
• allegedly completely overloaded tradespeople
• lack of detailed bill of quantities – well, that’s true, but it’s also a difficult situation right now
• so I hired an expert for evidence documentation
• the expert is taking forever
• the report produced is totally unusable
• the expert refuses to revise it
• allegedly, he could not write more due to missing documents – but he also did not request or point out these missing items
• in the reply letter to the complaint (only after the third attempt and threat of legal action was a response received) there suddenly are many more details (without further inspection or questions), and a risk of explosion is suddenly mentioned, which was not noted in the report itself
• further steps unclear
• an architect from the KfW energy efficiency consultant list was hired for further construction supervision
• numerous new quotes obtained, nearly all highly overpriced
• the architect calculated high remediation costs for the above-mentioned damages
• next steps unclear
• several thousand euros worth of KfW funding (individual measures) lost due to no timely application
• funding for several other measures still possible
• subsidized loan for age-appropriate remodeling still possible
• hidden damages discovered during construction halt
• damages to load-bearing timber frame elements
• boring holes covered over with some kind of bitumen paint
• severe rot spots covered with bitumen paint
• rot spots filled with mortar
• expert inspected site; next meeting with master carpenter pending
• repair costs unclear
• next steps unclear
• asbestos-containing protective panels found on one gable of the house
• of course, not mentioned in the purchase contract
• cost and procedure for removal unclear
• next steps unclear
• currently, because of all the unresolved points, I have lost track of the total costs
• this makes negotiations with the bank difficult, as financing is now necessary

Now the decision has to be made whether to:

• pursue legal action aiming to reverse the contract
• pursue legal action aiming for a price reduction
• “forget it” – accept the damage and sell the house as a tear-down/project house (land value)
• rent out the second apartment after all – but then face legal disadvantages because two units are rented out
• only partially renovate, leave the rest as a construction site, possibly find someone to renovate by themselves (supply materials, no rent, but labor in return)

Of course, I have to decide this myself, but any help (practical or advice) is welcome. Maybe someone can contribute practical input on a specific aspect.

Or does anyone have experience with any of these options...

In short: I’m at a loss and need help.

Sounds like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Good advice is really hard to come by here. It most likely means tearing everything down and rebuilding it from scratch. But no one will pay for that either :-(

Koempy schrieb:
to demolish everything and rebuild it completely

That would be an option if I could manage it. However, that doesn’t seem very likely.

I believe the best approach would be for you to reduce your other work commitments for a few months and focus intensively on the construction site. From what you’ve described, it seems like all the contractors are trying to push their own agendas, experts and architects are not doing their jobs properly, and there are repeatedly construction defects appearing that supposedly no one noticed before.

A complex construction project like this requires strong coordination and management; otherwise, everyone works independently and, overall, nothing is done correctly.

klblb schrieb:
reduce your professional commitments

Good idea, try telling that to my employer...

So what is clearly not unclear is that the OP is overwhelmed by the whole situation!

First of all, the financial possibilities need to be clarified. Since there is no information about this in the text, unfortunately we cannot help with that.
Everything else follows from point 1.