Loft Conversion builder didn’t tell us he’d need to destroy our bedroom ceiling

[Roy Higgins]

‘m sorry you had to go through this. Its been 3 days since your post. How did the conversations go?

This might not be timely but when I read your post I thought how awful and out of control this may have felt.

If you feel there is space to do that, here are my thoughts on what I would bring up with them so you can move forward with clearer communication systems:

You are not simply entitled to be informed and see schedules of work; you’re the decider. Nothing should happen in your home that you don’t know about or haven’t authorised. I understand you may feel this has been implicitly authorised when notified of ‘cutting holes’ but equally it happened as a surprise and without caring to give an explanation at the time.

There could be a point to be made that the work has been carried without your informed consent.

You are responsible for your home and have to ensure all is in place to carry safe renovations. So its simple, you authorise what, when and how. And you can’t do that without information about structures, costs, timeline, possible risks, methods, etc.

I hope you feel you can trust the contractors and they’re engaging in meaniful discussion now.

[Sally Jones]

thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciate your thoughts and kindness.

It definitely did feel out of control! And made the whole thing feel very overwhelming – more so than major building work already feels.

And you’re right about it being up to us to authorise, somehow that doesn’t seem to be the assumed attitude of the builders. I even pointed out that as well as the privacy factor of it being our bedroom I have lots of sentimental items and some semi value, things I would’ve been sure to move to protect them rather than risk accidents.

Anyway, the discussion went ok, they were relatively defensive and felt it was a given they’d need to access rooms and said they’d mentioned “taping up” which my husband couldn’t remember hearing but even if he had wouldn’t have known what it meant or where. Communication has been marginally better since, mainly because my husband makes a point of asking detailed questions every morning and trying to preempt what decisions they will need to be made soon. There’s been some more frustrating and upsetting issues where we’ve been told things weren’t an option because there’s no longer time for it, but we hadn’t known we needed to decide sooner (staircase details for example). I think ultimately the job will get done and fine but it certainly won’t be an easy process and many of the finer details we’d hoped for won’t happen.

[Michael Rogers]

Our steels went in through the loft hatch but maybe dimensions are different for you. One bit of advice is if you haven’t done so, tell your insurance company you’re having work done then check the builders insurance as our builders wasn’t covered enough for our insurers. It’s an important bit that gets overlooked….you will be glad if you need it. And keep all your doors shut to save you the dust and keep warmer. Hopefully it will be over soon

[Rob Falconer]

I would call the lead guy and be very clear about your surprise and could they explain what work took place today; was it as planned and what specifically will happen tomorrow. I would then asked for 30mins end of day and start if the next day everyday to go through everything and walk the floor with them so they show you and talk you through it all. If you leave them- they will do what they want and in the order they want and will leave you behind.

[Micheal Carter]

Just to help with the heat loss, a tiny bit, are those plastic zipping door covers from Amazon. Really useful things.

[Tammy Stevens]

I would speak to them and ask them to tell you what’s happeningso you are not surprised or stressed by it. We’ve just had our loft conversion completed, our builders told us everything that was going to happen. Which rooms will get affected when and how, they had to cut into one of our bedrooms ceiling replace window lintel with steel beams, for our build a lot of steel was used and we had various bits of ceiling of the first floor affected. But you’d never know now.

[Stuart William]

You should have a schedule of works that outlines what is being done when. If unsure always make sure you are communicating and asking questions so you don’t get any more surprises. What is normal to them and standard ways of doing things might not be obvious to you as you don’t do this all the time. Speak and ask!

[Rosie Wood]

state your concerns and express firmly that going forward you’d like to be informed of what’s going on. Particularly those areas of work which will directly impact your day to day goings on. You are then aware and can adapt to the giving situation.

[Joseph White]

When my loft conversion was done they didn’t ’break through’ as they called it, until a few weeks into the build. The steels and new roof structure were in place before they broke through the floor/ceiling for creating the staircase access. This makes me wonder if they put a hole in the floor accidentally

[Charles Parker]

Get on the phone straight away. This is not a minor detail that they have overlooked and forgotten to tell you.

You need to get visibility on how/what/when etc.

I would not be happy with that not being explained in detail.

[Martin Jones]

Talk to lead guy in situ first, then escalate if needed. Maybe ask for a basic schedule of works so yog know what to expect. Good luck