For those renovators or building a home
Mar 11th 2005, 5:32 am
#1
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Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,576
For those renovators or building a home
This was in todays Courier mail and it's one reason I won't have a home built out here.
Full Story
"Family lose on house of shame
Tuck Thompson
11mar05
A CABOOLTURE family of three has lived in a shed for the past three years after losing a legal battle with a shonky builder who left their home an unfinished shell.
The couple and their 16-year-old son must share a single bedroom, and the teen is embarrassed to invite his mates over as flies buzz around their crude living quarters.
"You have days when you just break down crying," said Lauretta Dumesny, who lives on Old Gympie Road with her husband, Allan, and son. "You're at your wits' end, but what do you do?"
Mr Dumesny, a commercial pilot, took precautions when he picked his builder in 2002.
He checked his past work and followed the advice of a building consultant and a plumber relative who heard good things about the man.
But workers cut corners almost from the start, the family said. The response was: "What do you know? We're the builders."
After the poor workmanship continued, Mr Dumesny followed the advice of his building consultant and cancelled the contract.
The decision triggered a chain of events that has cost the family $130,000 in legal and expert expenses and caught them in a cycle of despair.
The husband and wife still debate their decision; Mrs Dumesny now thinks they should have let the builder finish the house, then sold it.
But her husband said that would have been wrong – passing along a construction time bomb to someone else. "
I'll only part with my cash when the house is finished and I can have a complete check done. I've got grave reservation regarding the quality of some of the tradespeople out here and the proffessional bodies seem to be in league with the tradespeople rather than independent. Never had the same worries in the UK.
Full Story
"Family lose on house of shame
Tuck Thompson
11mar05
A CABOOLTURE family of three has lived in a shed for the past three years after losing a legal battle with a shonky builder who left their home an unfinished shell.
The couple and their 16-year-old son must share a single bedroom, and the teen is embarrassed to invite his mates over as flies buzz around their crude living quarters.
"You have days when you just break down crying," said Lauretta Dumesny, who lives on Old Gympie Road with her husband, Allan, and son. "You're at your wits' end, but what do you do?"
Mr Dumesny, a commercial pilot, took precautions when he picked his builder in 2002.
He checked his past work and followed the advice of a building consultant and a plumber relative who heard good things about the man.
But workers cut corners almost from the start, the family said. The response was: "What do you know? We're the builders."
After the poor workmanship continued, Mr Dumesny followed the advice of his building consultant and cancelled the contract.
The decision triggered a chain of events that has cost the family $130,000 in legal and expert expenses and caught them in a cycle of despair.
The husband and wife still debate their decision; Mrs Dumesny now thinks they should have let the builder finish the house, then sold it.
But her husband said that would have been wrong – passing along a construction time bomb to someone else. "
I'll only part with my cash when the house is finished and I can have a complete check done. I've got grave reservation regarding the quality of some of the tradespeople out here and the proffessional bodies seem to be in league with the tradespeople rather than independent. Never had the same worries in the UK.
Mar 11th 2005, 9:07 am
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 44
Re: For those renovators or building a home
Originally Posted by Kiwipaul
I've got grave reservation regarding the quality of some of the tradespeople out here and the proffessional bodies seem to be in league with the tradespeople rather than independent. Never had the same worries in the UK.
Mar 11th 2005, 9:13 am
#3
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,584
Re: For those renovators or building a home
Originally Posted by Kiwipaul
After the poor workmanship continued, Mr Dumesny followed the advice of his building consultant and cancelled the contract.
