#59 When Renovations Go Wrong - Snags, Fixes & What To Do Next

Renovations rarely go exactly to plan, and that’s normal. In this final episode of our 'What We Wish We Knew Then' series, we talk about what happens when things go wrong, from minor snags to bigger issues, and how to handle them calmly and effectively.

What we cover:

•  The most common things that go wrong (including our own disasters!) 
•  How to create and manage a snag list
•  Issues you can expect - from cracks and leaks to finishing details 
•  How to communicate clearly with builders and trades 
•  Why retention is critical - and when to use it
•  What to do if work isn’t fixed or things become difficult 
•  When to escalate and what support is available 

Key takeaways

•  Most renovation issues are normal and fixable
•  Clear communication and documentation are your biggest tools 
•  Retention protects you - agree it early 
•  A successful renovation is one where problems are resolved, not avoided 

A practical, honest guide to navigating the final (and often most stressful) stage of any renovation.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

Transcript

#  When Mistakes Happen

**Speaker:** [00:00:00] Welcome back to a brand new season of Rip It Up. Every renovation teaches you something, but it's only after you've lived through the dust, the delays, and the decisions, and then done it again like me, that the real lessons appear. This season, we're revisiting our biggest renovation topics, not with theory, not with optimism, but with hindsight.

Process planning, lighting, kitchens, bathroom windows, what worked, what didn't, and what we'd never do the same way again. This is what we wish we knew then. 

**Jen:** Welcome back to the podcast. Hi, Kate.

**Kate:** Chow, how was your, 

how was your trip to Italy? 

**Jen:** It 

was

so good. It was, I just, I Italian food in Italy. I think it's my favorite. It's just n. Unreal,

Like Unreal. We went to, we were up all over the place a bit. We were in Milan, we were 

in 

Cinque Terre 

and then 

we were in Pavia

Pavia 

outside Milan for a couple of days, which is the home of 

risotto 

They 

grow, they've all the like kind of 

our 

arborio 

rice 

paddy 

fields are in there.

We went to this Risotto [00:01:00] place and it was Gorgonzola and Orange Otto, and it's one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life. It was phenomenal.

**Kate:** me of the pizza from Kodiak. 

Isn't 

**Jen:** Yeah, the pistachio with Orange and Mortadella, I think, oh, it's, it's my favorite in Dublin. I think

**Kate:** So good 

**Jen:** it was great,

**Kate:** Italian food and a bottle 

Le 

**Jen:** but I miss the good weather here. Yeah. I love a,

**Kate:** like I mean yes it was nice I went down to in a blanket The beach it kind of cleared up but it wasn't as nice as Dublin so I was kind of slightly regretting my decision but it was also a nice relaxing weekend So

**Jen:** You never regret a weekend in Kilkee though.

The best. Yeah.

**Kate:** it

**Jen:** Yeah. This is, uh, listener, the last in this series where we kind of went back over what we wish we knew then with kind of fresh eyes, fresh from Kate's third renovation. Um, and so hopefully you found the series useful. We will be continuing on [00:02:00] with the podcast, but uh, this was kind of a 10 episode review of everything we know.

And finer detail with extra experience, so,

**Kate:** episode It's not necessarily linked but it definitely is a run on from this season I think coming

**Jen:** mm-hmm.

**Kate:** So oh my God Definitely come for that one That's gonna be

**Jen:** With a special guest who everyone loves. So yeah, definitely stay tuned for that. Uh, so this, this is the final. We've kind of covered most of the, uh, we've covered all the big items, some of the small items. And this one was a look back, uh, at the very end of your renovation on what can go wrong because things will go wrong, they always go wrong.

Um, so this is what to do, what to expect, what your rights are, uh, how to prevent it in the first place. If you're just going into your renovation. Or how to prepare yourself might even be better. 'cause you know, it's a big job. There's lots of moving parts, things go wrong.

So let's 

dive into it.

**Kate:** how to prepare yourself is actually such a good way of describing it.

cause in my [00:03:00] Like prevention is obviously better than cure cause the last thing you want is stuff major going wrong in your build 

**Jen:** Mm-hmm 

**Kate:** uh planning from the outset and good communication from the outset can hopefully

a lot of the major mistakes

**Jen:** I think The word there for me is communication. I think it is, it's so, so important. Like it's, it's the number one advice I always say. If anyone is like, how do I choose the right builder? Do I find no, it's, it's not like we have our pick of the litter at the moment 'cause everyone's out the door. But I would always say, go with somebody who you have good communication with, whatever that means to you.

Um, because it's really, I think that's the, the thing that makes everything work. Well,

**Kate:** I think you've said this a lot in our kind of renovation process episode that you had like good communication process with your 

**Jen:** yeah. 

**Kate:** your main contractor and you had a rhythm of meetings and notes and whatever And I always

think like [00:04:00] things go wrong Uh one of the best things you can have is is proof and some sort of

**Jen:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** of what should be happening or someone saying that something should be happening Because

if you've said it verbally in a meeting it can be lost You know It can 

be 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** and then it could just be forgotten about or whatever And then it's your word their word whatever

So like communication and upfront communication is key I kind of said to our builder early on this time cause we did have a little bit of an issue with our Plumbing They kind of forgot to do one pipe before they poured the concrete which was a hot return which is kind of 

like 

**Jen:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** hot water thing around the house And if you don't have that it can take like two minutes for a hot to heat up then in a

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** Do you know So anyway they forgot to put that in a little bit of a disaster because you know it's in our

So we had to kind of go around the outside of the house And we got to a solution but we kind of said straight away well it was actually key and my husband said it straight away he said Can you just look I'm [00:05:00] not we've no problem if something is forgotten or something is missed or there's a problem but just be upfront and we'll work through the solution together We'll come up with something happy with And I think if you go all guns blazing angry when there's a mistake made the next mistake will be covered up That's the way I feel about it

**Jen:** Agreed. Yeah. And that 'cause that you, you're developing a culture, and we always edit that you have to approach this like it is a job and you have to approach it like a working relationship, which includes management and stakeholders and like, I know those words are,

are horrible, but you have to treat it that way.

And I think the, the. The thought that everything should go perfect and that you get annoyed if it doesn't, doesn't really help. Unless you know it's a constant like disaster, then yeah, fair enough. Get annoyed. But there, you'll know yourself when you're going through a renovation. There's so many decisions to be made.

There's so many texts back and forth. There's like, there's little changes in mind. There's. [00:06:00] There's loads and loads and loads of things to keep track of. And with the best will in the world, like your contractor and your tradespeople are just not looking at their phone all the time, like they're getting on with the job at hand.

And it's, it is not that hard to miss something, you know, relatively small that turns into something big down the line. So I think that's such a good point, especially at the outset, you know, if you notice something. Is missed, taken in good faith that it was by accident and create that culture where if it does get missed again, it could be picked up and fixed and you move forward and it's not this big, huge blowout every time.

**Kate:** I think so And like I think especially when you have maybe junior trades working on your site 

**Jen:** Hmm.

**Kate:** they get an absolute boing cause you gave the main contractor an absolute boing they will hide the

like I just think you know having that nicer open relationship with your contractor and your trades but also staying on top of them a little bit you know 

having 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** good record like you said and the rhythm of meetings and being on site And I know

[00:07:00] to see you but like that you're popping into site know at a certain time and day every week or

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** see those big things And when you're at those site meetings I find if a floorboard is

down or the underfloor pipes are down but they haven't poured the screens yet take some bloody 

**Jen:** Take pictures. Take pictures of everything.

**Kate:** you having a picture record as well

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** once that

are down or the you know the floor's laid or carpets are

or whatever hard to pull proof then 

when 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** wrong So I think take those pictures take the pictures of wires behind

or whatever it is 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** things are covered over

**Jen:** because you can't x-ray your house, right? Like

no, not, not, not reasonably. Like if something is covered up with the best one in the world, like you could get a surveyor or an engineer or whatever to come in and check something afterwards, but they can't see through walls or see through floors. So yeah, so what I used to do was I would go in every Friday.

I would have a list of things, kind of points that [00:08:00] I was like, this is what's coming up, or this has been decided, or this has changed, or whatever it might be. Um, and then my contractor would have, now, we'd be back and forth a little bit during the week as well, but we kind of try and keep it to like that, you know, one-on-one time like, and,

um And then he'd be saying, okay, I need this from you now I need this ordered. Or we've come up against this, like, you know, we need a decision on that, or Can we do this this way? Or whatever it might be. Or, you know, I have a suggestion or a change or whatever. And then we would go through that and I'd be taking notes and he would take notes and I would always email that over to him.

Then at the end of the day, uh, and I had an architect, so I'd just keep him a copy and then at least that record was there from my own mind. 'cause I don't remember all the decisions I've made unless it's written down. I just, my brain is not. Perfect

far 

from, and, uh, and that I find that so helpful and it just meant then everything could kind of come out really honestly as well.

Do you know, like, uh, if that he wouldn't just, nobody was going off on one and making decisions on their own. Um, now it was hard. This is like pre COVID. Uh, when most of the work was being [00:09:00] done. So like that did mean, you know, trying to fly over at lunchtime on a Friday, like there was no working from home back then.

So I'm really conscious that it's not possible for everyone to, to take that much time and go in every week, but if you can at all or you can divide and conquer or whatever between you, if you're a couple, it's, it makes a huge difference to be on site. Um, and I will say,

**Kate:** sorry and also remember that like getting the notes down is important For you maybe them But this is your house So you'll

**Jen:** yeah,

**Kate:** detail You know every single room you know the sizes things you'll probably know the windows you're picking

But also these contractors and trades that are working on your house are you could be one of five jobs that are going at the same

**Jen:** yeah,

Yeah. 

**Kate:** like for them to remember all those five jobs to the level of detail that you

So I think yeah the more records you have the better

**Jen:** And I also think in these cases, a lot of times assumptions are made. Like you might assume that your builder's gonna do something some way, or they might assume that you want something done another way that they [00:10:00] normally do it. And your perception of what your house is, is going to be, has been formed.

In, you know, whatever you've seen, whatever you've done, whatever you're used to, whatever you liked from your previous houses, whatever. And theirs is, is similar but different from their own job and their own experience. So re like as clear as you possibly can. Like, this is what I want, this is why. And then I think take their opinion, especially if you trust them, um, on certain things.

Like I, I did and it worked out really well, uh, for me, but I trusted my builder, so that was easy to do. Yeah.

**Kate:** my biggest thing that went wrong I 

suppose 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** Usually it's plumbing actually in old houses and this isn't to dis

but just old houses and plumbing is complicated There's old systems that have to be retrofitted or completely re plumbed and then you have a lot of nooks and you have different levels and you've returned landings and you've attic spaces maybe and it just doesn't lend itself Very well to air

**Jen:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** potentially mixing So like we had a lot of issues in our [00:11:00] last build

uh before we had paid our attention Our plumbing was just cutting out when we had a newborn baby which is not ideal 

**Jen:** No. 

**Kate:** Like for rectification of those kind of things you have to get

involved If you're not getting much luck directly with your contractor

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** And the same went when we had dodgy windows in our last build that like you lay it

out for the main contractor keep your professionals if it's an interior designer interior architect or an architect or an 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** whatever keep them in the loop 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** asking em to do anything at this stage keep

so they have the full story they have the timeline they have

everything And then like if

**Jen:** And so it's not so easy for someone to fob you off if all those people are in view. Yeah.

**Kate:** Exactly And then I think you know when those professionals are involved you'll have a bit more weight behind you The likelihood of you know contractors and whatever paying heed and coming back and fixing things and acting with a bit of efficiency and whatever um is probably more likely [00:12:00] Like we got the stuff rectified but it took a while but it would've been impossible I think without you know our

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** involved I think 

**Jen:** Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's, uh, that's such a good point just because they, they might ignore you partly 'cause they're really busy, but partly 'cause there might not be, you might just give up and there might not be direct consequences if they just ignore you and fab you off. Um, but there will be if they're, as you said, like if there's an architect that they work with a lot, or, um, an engineer that they're accountable to.

**Kate:** Like for having a contractor you have a retention so you'll hold back a certain percentage of your costs for a certain amount of time to make sure you've 

no 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** defects in the build But like remember retention is kind of negotiable as well

**Jen:** Mm-hmm. 

**Kate:** they'll come back with their first You know uh percentage 

that 

**Jen:** 5% or 

3% or whatever.

**Kate:** say no I want 12 I want 

you 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** on 8 or whatever.

and you might land on 8 for 12 [00:13:00] months or

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** months or whatever So that is a negotiation It depends on your bill depends on your builder all that

you know cover yourself there And I think when you're at 5 of a build like they might want to be

**Jen:** Yeah,

it's not worth it to them.

**Kate:** They mightn't Yeah So make sure that that retention

**Jen:** Mm-hmm. 

**Kate:** same for like paying big down payments for like I told you our windows were

absolute shi last time and the handle broke off and bars were misaligned So lucky that we actually were only asked by them to pay 50 and then the other 50 was on delivery and we never paid them The others 50 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** were so bad the guy wouldn't come back

**Jen:** And 

so he was like,

whatever, just keep 

out. 

**Kate:** He just didn't 

**Jen:** I. 

**Kate:** He didn't reply to the

**Jen:** Wow.

**Kate:** contractor nothing so we couldn't

get him to come back So some of the bits

that were absolutely you know Y you know we couldn't live with as in leaking roof lights [00:14:00] stuff like that We had to get a third party in to kind of try fix it which a lot of people don't want to touch windows when they're 

not 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** thankfully we had only paid that guy 50 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** we had a

So just cover yourself that way Just make sure that there's some

on every big ticket item you're either paying for or with your contractor or trades or whatever

**Jen:** Yeah. Yeah. Um, and another thing as well is like, don't in that communication, when you do spot something like that, like say it ASAP, like just bring it up. Just, just say it. Take photos of whatever. Maybe it's nothing like, but if you wait the weekend, you're like, oh, I dunno. Now I don't wanna, they're busy. I don't wanna bother them.

I don't wanna. You know, sorry to ask now. Sorry about this, but just don't do that. Just say it straight away. Because things get harder and harder to fix with every passing hour and day because things get covered up and concrete gets poured and something gets sealed, and glue gets put in or sealant or whatever.

Like just say it's straight away. So some things that are really easy to fix, you know, early [00:15:00] on that are potentially impossible to fix a day or two later.

**Kate:** your like you mentioned before about the the underfloor 

potentially 

**Jen:** yeah.

This was this, this is just such an, a good example of something that is so easy to miss 'cause there's a million things going back and forth. But I wanted Underflow heating in my downstairs. Um, the floor was coming up anyway 'cause the floor was dropped to add on, uh, a dorm or extension upstairs.

Um, and I came in one day and they were about to pour. The concrete on the under floor. On the ground floor. And I was like, where's the, where are the pipes of the under floor heating? And they're like, what are talking about? We've ordered the radiators. Thank God I was in to see it because it was just something simple that was missed.

It was fixable because thank God that concrete hadn't been poured yet. Or did I even see radiators? I think that was it. Concrete hadn't been poured. And I was like, what are those radiators for? And they were like, for the downstairs I was like, there's no radiators. It's under for. So thank God it was fixable.

The floor was open anyway, but if that had been a day later and I hadn't [00:16:00] said anything, and I was like, I thought it was under floor and like waited to email or whatever, um, you, you said you do

**Kate:** I just don't know what's going on here Maybe this is the way it's meant to look at this stage but if you are not sure just ask the Be like is

**Jen:** just 

ask. Yeah.

**Kate:** before on the floor Or when does the under floor come in Just say some obvious point like

depending will drop with them and be like oh No there is underflow going on here or 

**Jen:** Yeah, and they're like,

get the wipes.

**Kate:** or like the pipes might be coming outta the wall rather than the floor

for radiators or something like, that Do you know 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** things that say it If it

**Jen:** Just say it.

**Kate:** it say it

**Jen:** If you see it say it

see it, say it.

**Kate:** what you see But like it's so

like yeah

don't let it, go on extra day or two because 

it's 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** how a build can move on a day or two 

**Jen:** And don't like,

**Kate:** late 

**Jen:** Don't be, dancing around. It. Don't be, don't be aggressive about it. Like don't, just don't be too apologetic and sorry. Now with Just say it. Just be direct. I think I don't, almost every contractor and trades [00:17:00] person I know appreciates it. When you're just direct and just say it like not accusatory or anything like just.

What's the story here? I thought it was this. And if you've established a relationship where it's fine to say, oops, we missed that this can be fixed, or we, let's fix it together, um, then you're way likely to get, you know, way more likely to get a much better result. Um,

so what else? Did you have any other major issues in your one?

Yeah.

**Kate:** circulation kind of thing was was missed So like we did have to work through kind of solutions and alternate solutions and they were saying oh we'll run a pipe on the outside of your house And I was like that doesn't sound very efficient Like 

**Jen:** Mm-hmm 

**Kate:** pumping hot water on the outside of my house 

and 

**Jen:** Yeah.

Yeah. 

**Kate:** insulated ground Like

we had to really think in our feet and I had to get a bit of

that we worked with to like to say what's our best alternate here So we did this kind of you know Thermally lagged pipe or whatever outside So it was zero heat [00:18:00] loss for that loop We had to put in an extra loop Look it wasn't ideal We had to pull up some paving slabs and whatever but was an extra day's work in the grand scheme of things and

**Jen:** Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** anything or said like no that was meant to be in

why wasn't it

**Jen:** yeah 

**Kate:** that pipe could have gone in without us knowing and we could have been losing so much heat

you know like 

**Jen:** Yeah.

Yeah,

**Kate:** I think us working together and being like okay let's just come up with a

together We'll figure it out 

**Jen:** yeah,

yeah,

**Kate:** for a better solution in the end So

**Jen:** yeah,

**Kate:** of directness like you said of calm rather than losing the handle on

**Jen:** yeah.

**Kate:** been a big issue otherwise

**Jen:** And not to over communicate, but just don't

be making assumptions that they know what you're talking about or you know, what they are intending to do. Um, there's one thing that came up recently actually, and it's not necessarily a mistake, but it's just one for kind of prevention against mistakes, is that it's getting more and more common to use.

Um. [00:19:00] The metal,

um, oh my God. The metal, uh, studs, partition studs. So normally you'd put in, like, normally the way a wall is built is that you put in timber, like straight timber battens, and then plasterboard gets nailed onto those. And then what that's handy for is in, if you're a homeowner, you will look to, if you want to hang something heavy, like, uh.

Heavy shelves like bookshelves or like a really heavy mirror or like something like that, uh, or our wardrobes, our alpha wardrobes, you will look to screw in directly into those studs. 'cause they can take so much weight and, uh, and off you go. But it's more and more common, uh, now because it's so much more efficient.

Um, it makes more sense to use metal studs instead. So there's these thin kind of metal rails that basically like clip into place. Um, and then the same thing happens. The the plastic report goes up. But why that's important is because you don't necessarily then have the studs to be hanging your heavy items off.

And that's not the end of the world. You can [00:20:00] still put in.

Uh, you can put in supports behind them. But all this to say is, uh, a mistake that you could prevent if you see that there's metal studs going up in your walls. As you're on your site visit, make sure that your builder knows, and that you know where you're planning to hang heavy stuff so that they can put in that support.

So what they typically do then is put in like wood, you know, paneling or something like that in between, uh, screwed into each of these, uh, metal, uh, studs. That would allow you to hang heavy stuff. So if you're putting up a heavy tv, hang on a tv, make sure they know exactly where you're putting, to put, where you're planning to put that TV bracket.

If you're hanging, you know, a heavy mirror or you're attaching, uh, something like an egg chair to the ceiling, or if you're

**Kate:** We 

**Jen:** hanging like,

**Kate:** before we sla out like so we took

**Jen:** yeah,

yeah, 

**Kate:** a measurement of the joist

so we knew where we were drilling

**Jen:** yeah,

**Kate:** million holes to find it

**Jen:** Oh, and you're ruined your ceiling and it's all fixable, right? [00:21:00] And you can come back and do things. What they do is they cut into a bit of plasterboard and they'll put in like a metal support or a, a wooden support, a beam support into the back of it, and, and you can hang it up again. So it's not the end of the world, but it does mean a bit of like repainting and all that kind of stuff.

So. All that to say is an easy way that you can prevent a mistake if you're coming up to your renovation. If you see them putting in those metal studs plan early on where you're planning to hang heavy things like bookshelves your TV and maybe a heavy mirror. Everything else is kind of, you know, plasterboard can actually take a bit of weight, but yeah, but, uh, just know, plan that out.

**Kate:** back in then right So a lot of these kind of mistakes and things that have happened those are kind of during the build and working through those problems And like when you move back in I guess there's gonna be a bit of 

**Jen:** Normal. 

**Kate:** are mistakes or not I guess like settlement 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** slide Cracking If you get really heavy rain like we did in the first few months of this

perfect test for our house 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** we knew if it was gonna leak or not The [00:22:00] roof the new parts of

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** like so

stuff like that will really test the house 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** so

things happen like sometimes you know a tiny bit of seal on some

mightn't 

**Jen:** are a bit wonky on their hinges or something that's going a bit funny. Yeah.

**Kate:** like they're

not the end of the world thing but these are the things to watch out for when you move in Like when you've 

had really heavy rain Do a walkthrough of the houses when that really heavy rain is hitting or just soon

just seeing any of the rooms does any of the ceiling look wet 

or 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** seals not ceiling or window seals or whatever those checks and then

them as soon as you can

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** more comeback you know with your trades

**Jen:** And it'll depend on your attention. And some things will take like a few days or weeks or months probably to come in and like you, there's going to be cracks in your walls. Just those little hairline cracks in your walls. Like that's, it's all normal. It's probably better off. You can fix it whenever, but it's probably better off to fix it, you know, once the [00:23:00] crack isn't getting any bigger, as sooner as possible.

'cause then you can paint over it and the paint is likely, it won't be as likely to show up as new paint against your. Existing paint, which might have changed color with, you know, wear and tear and so on and all that kind of stuff. Leaks definitely get some way back in. Sorry, I actually totally forgot. I did have a massive mistake in that I went to have a bath upstairs and, uh, my downstairs bedroom flooded my downstairs office.

All the water came through the lampshade in the downstairs bedroom. And what had happened was the waste, the overflow trap hadn't been connected to the waste pipe. Um, so. That was a bit of a disaster, but they came back and fixed it straight away. It was, it was, uh, it was doable. But yeah,

so anything like that.

Another thing, actually my builder came back for my, he was brilliant. He came back for everything, like any little, you know, any door that was off its hinges a bit or whatever, like he came back and touched all up. But, uh, one thing that he did come back and fixed was there was this mad dripping noise. So like anytime after it rained, if I was upstairs in [00:24:00] my bedroom, there'd just be this really loud, like drip, drip, drip, drip.

Oh my God. For my downpipe, it was so annoying. I couldn't sleep with it. Like, but he fixed that.

**Kate:** aluminum ones in my 

**Jen:** It's so annoying.

**Kate:** the old ones especially in the old old houses were like the cast iron kind

guttering and it's heavier duty whereas the aluminum is a bit thinner It kind of looks the same but it has a real tinny noise there's a drip And 

like 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** in both of my houses I think Um I usually shove a dish sponge in the bottom of it

**Jen:** Yeah. Or you can hang a, hang a little, um, chain from it. Yeah.

**Kate:** so I just put

a, dish sponge in the bottom of line and then the drip hits that rather than the bottom of the aluminum every 

time 

**Jen:** Oh.

**Kate:** ding ding So like yeah that's that's definitely a watch out Not necessarily flow it's

materials are a bit

**Jen:** It's a feature. These are kind of features that you can expect, you know, um, and just keep a, keep an eye, like keep a record of them and get your, your contractor back to just do it all in one. Ideally, like you can [00:25:00] just, if he's in the area, like they'll swing or she.

**Kate:** And if you're not sure if things are a flaw or fault like photograph it first but use like chat GBT or Claude or whatever AI you use and just say take a picture of something and be like I just did my house Does this look normal 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** this Is this the right setting Is this whatever Like just debug it a little

your 

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** of a bit more armed with the information you have the photos you have whatever And then if

it still is a problem absolutely reach out to your contractor and 

see if you can get it fixed But I would say act with a bit of haste as much as you can Like obviously some of these

surface depending on when you move back in summer winter whatever But like I think try and get to some of these things

**Jen:** Yeah.

especially if it's water. Anything water or electrical. Like if your heat, if your heating isn't coming on the way it should be, or it's not getting as hot as quickly as it should, or there's anything faulty with any of your electrics, that that is like an immediate, get somebody [00:26:00] back straight away.

'cause those problems tend to propagate. Um.

**Kate:** And in terms of like guarantees I suppose I think like major renovation works you usually have like a good comeback for kind of you know tweaks in general What what would you call it Like uh 

**Jen:** Snags. Yeah. Yeah.

**Kate:** months But then beyond that, depending on

specific warranties around actual and boilers, and that might be way extended,

**Jen:** Yeah,

**Kate:** workmanship of the build might be up to 12 months.

But then 

**Jen:** It can be even they, they brought in something. It is 2022, I think it was the Consumer Protection Act. Cover that note. So there is an expectation of, uh, you know, your builder, your contractor has to deliver, you know.

Up to stand, like standard, up to standard ship, whatever. So if you're really having serious issues and it is a few, you know, a couple of years after your house and it's directly related to the renovation or the build or whatever, new builds are separate.

New builds are covered generally by new bonds. Um. Insurance. I think that's [00:27:00] even up to 10 years potentially, which is a lot. But if it's a renovation, you're, you can't, you do have some recourse that there was like, clearly a serious issue in the way that the person carried out the work. Um, there is some recourse there under the Consumer Protection Act.

Um, and then if things go, I think it's up to, to five or six years. I think it might depend on the type of issue. I don't know.

**Kate:** there are repeat problems, right? Like

**Jen:** Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. 

**Kate:** kept coming back and they said, well, I tried to it and it keeps happening, keeps happening, whatever it

So again, keep your record of things and if you are really not happy with it, then you know, maybe that's your route to

**Jen:** Yeah, 

document everything. And this again, where photos help. Like I, every Friday when I was coming in to meet my

contractor, I would kind of for Instagram, but like, I would like walk around the house and just take a little video and a photo of everything. It's, it really helps just to have it. I didn't need it in the end, but

**Kate:** refer to it after the fact. It is

**Jen:** yeah.

Yeah.

**Kate:** of your version of your house are

so 

**Jen:** Yeah.[00:28:00] 

**Kate:** Take

**Jen:** yeah.

**Kate:** save them, put them in a favorites folder or whatever,

like, 'cause you go back to them after the

**Jen:** Know 

where like connections are, where joists are, where studs are. It's really helpful. Um,

**Kate:** I guess to round up, have proof, take all the pictures.

You can

**Jen:** yeah, 

**Kate:** arc with a bit of a retention or

**Jen:** you negotiate for it.

**Kate:** that. Yeah. Whether it's with your main contractor or with

kind big suppliers of things, communication is

**Jen:** Communication 

and then if things really go pear shaped, right? If you can just not get the issue fixed and you know there is an issue there and they're just not coming back to you, there are some avenues. So the fir the, the steps you, you should like write to your like email, whatever to your contractor and outline what's going on.

Clear documentation again. But then you can, you know, there's roots to like professional bodies, the trade bodies, um, safe Electric for electricians, the, [00:29:00] typically the C-C-I-R-I or the Construction Federation of Ireland. Um, for, for any kind of building works, uh, plumbers can be, it's a, not a straightforward with that, but if there's any gas involved or, or heating involved.

The RGI, uh, group, so there is, you know, there's avenues and there is the consumer protection. Uh. Commission as well. There's a small claims court, um, if you really want to take legal action, but all of this starts with keeping documentation of everything. Make sure you have a trail of like written requests to get this fixed with evidence and then, you know, go through the, potentially the trade body route of, of submitting a, a complaint.

Um, get a report, get a professional opinion on it, and then, you know, there are legal avenues if the person hasn't scarpered.

scarper. 

**Kate:** Hopefully they won't. 

**Jen:** Hopefully they won't. Like most, most of them out there are trying to do their best to do, to do a good job. Uh, small mistakes are totally normal and they just, you know,

**Kate:** Yeah. [00:30:00] absolutely.

**Jen:** documentation.

**Kate:** is key.

**Jen:** Yeah. That's it.

**Kate:** That's it.

**Jen:** It's

**Kate:** tune in next week 'cause we have a very exciting guest. We're 

not 

**Jen:** It's a cracker. 

**Kate:** but it's gonna be so good,

**Jen:** Yeah.

**Kate:** if you're just finishing 

your renovation 

**Jen:** Yeah. 

**Kate:** even just about to move out for 

**Jen:** Or 

just living in a house in general. You're gonna love. 

it. See you next week.

**Kate:** week. Bye.



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