# Builder no show



## Parazard2 (20 Jul 2020)

So after committing to the job since last November the builder, who had been recommended to me by an acquaintance who got work done by him recently, has gone radio silent and hasn't returned emails in 2 weeks. He was supposed to start today and we were supposed to be his next job. How do I prevent this from happening again? Did I annoy him with too many questions? Did he get another job? He seemed to honest and trustworthy I am really disappointed, but also this is going to cost us a lot more money to do next year due to changing family circumstances... Is there a blacklist of builders available somewhere?


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## Pinoy adventure (20 Jul 2020)

Have you tried calling him ?


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## Saavy99 (20 Jul 2020)

Maybe he caught the Covid


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## elcato (20 Jul 2020)

Does you mate have a number for him ? While it would be normal to answer his email he may have just stopped using it as a means of comms. I'd give him till Wednesday to see if he turns up - you never know.


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## PaddyBloggit (20 Jul 2020)

Parazard2 said:


> So after committing to the job since last November the builder, who had been recommended to me by an acquaintance who got work done by him recently, has gone radio silent and hasn't returned emails in 2 weeks. He was supposed to start today and we were supposed to be his next job. How do I prevent this from happening again? Did I annoy him with too many questions? Did he get another job? He seemed to honest and trustworthy I am really disappointed, but also this is going to cost us a lot more money to do next year due to changing family circumstances... Is there a blacklist of builders available somewhere?



Perhaps you are lucky that he didn't start!


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## Gordon Gekko (20 Jul 2020)

When was the last time you spoke with him?

Not being funny, is he still alive? Is he non Irish and might he have left Ireland?


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## Saavy99 (20 Jul 2020)

Parazard2 said:


> Did I annoy him with too many questions?



Its possible ad you scared him away


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## Leper (21 Jul 2020)

1. Nearly all builders and some associated with them are notoriously late in starting any job. Worse again they are famous for not finishing the job by the set date.  You are not alone.
2. Worse again they seldom come in on the agreed price.
3. Are you getting on the nerves of the builder? - Probably not, their mental defences compete with the defending armour on Russian tanks.


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## AndroidMan (21 Jul 2020)

4. They will drop one job for another without a second thought if the other is for more money for a longer duration. For the last few years, I found it nearly impossible to get small jobs done as their preference is the larger projects.


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## Steven Barrett (21 Jul 2020)

AndroidMan said:


> 4. They will drop one job for another without a second thought if the other is for more money for a longer duration. *For the last few years, I found it nearly impossible to get small jobs done as their preference is the larger projects.*



That's the same in any trade or profession. When someone is busy, they are going to take the bigger, high paying jobs. It is only when things are quiet that they will look at smaller jobs. 




Parazard2 said:


> So after committing to the job since last November the builder, who had been recommended to me by an acquaintance who got work done by him recently, has gone radio silent and hasn't returned emails in 2 weeks. He was supposed to start today and we were supposed to be his next job. How do I prevent this from happening again? *Did I annoy him with too many questions?* Did he get another job? He seemed to honest and trustworthy I am really disappointed, but also this is going to cost us a lot more money to do next year due to changing family circumstances... Is there a blacklist of builders available somewhere?



Did you sign a contract with him? What kind of job was he supposed to do, was it build an extension or a similar job?


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## Parazard2 (21 Jul 2020)

Pinoy adventure said:


> Have you tried calling him ?


Yes tried calling him twice (2 days apart) and he didn't take the call or call back. I followed up with an email and he replied to that. But that was 3 weeks ago now...


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## Parazard2 (21 Jul 2020)

PaddyBloggit said:


> Perhaps you are lucky that he didn't start!


That is what I am wondering now. Is this just the norm or should I see this as a red flag?


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## Parazard2 (21 Jul 2020)

Leper said:


> 1. Nearly all builders and some associated with them are notoriously late in starting any job. Worse again they are famous for not finishing the job by the set date.  You are not alone.
> 2. Worse again they seldom come in on the agreed price.
> 3. Are you getting on the nerves of the builder? - Probably not, their mental defences compete with the defending armour on Russian tanks.


Thanks that is reassuring in a weird way. So maybe he is still a decent guy and worth hanging onto for whenever he feels like doing this job? How can I tell?


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## Parazard2 (21 Jul 2020)

SBarrett said:


> That's the same in any trade or profession. When someone is busy, they are going to take the bigger, high paying jobs. It is only when things are quiet that they will look at smaller jobs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's a single storey extension. Not a massive job I guess but not tiny either. There's the guts of 50k waiting for him all the same... And it should get done relatively quickly too I would have thought.


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## Leper (22 Jul 2020)

Parazard2 said:


> Thanks that is reassuring in a weird way. So maybe he is still a decent guy and worth hanging onto for whenever he feels like doing this job? How can I tell?


From my leprous experience over many years:-
If you get inside the mind off the Irish builder and work out whether he is still a decent guy you should be conferred with a doctorate in psychology. Irish builders are driven by the amount profit and nothing else. It wouldn't bother them if you were knee deep in mud into mid 2021 or later.

I'm going to give you the soundest of advice and I don't want to set alarm bells ringing:- (i) Pay only what you have to and better again as little as possible on each stage of the construction. Pay the full amount and you'll still have his employees on your property come next January and God knows when the job will be completed.
(ii) Don't believe a word from the builder; builders couldn't tell the truth if they had taken truth **************************.


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## arbitron (22 Jul 2020)

My dad is a builder and I (briefly) worked in building. Have also been a customer. There are many experienced, honest, punctual builders and tradespeople out there - they will always be busy and will not give you the cheapest quote. I rather wait for them to be available and pay more than go with an unknown or for lowest price.  I am careful taking recommendations as everyone has different standards, so what one friend thinks is good work could look shoddy to someone else.  Best to see finished product if possible.

Some builders will accept every job going and overpromise because they want to make $$$, others overbook to guard against inevitable cancellations, others just have poor management skills. A lot of stuff written in the back of a notebook.

Sometimes they get delayed on a project through no fault of their own and are working full tilt to catch up. They may be overwhelmed and cannot face having a conversation where someone will get abusive. Customers can be tough going - myself included! I doubt you put them off by asking too many questions, you are right to get details.

Often people will forgive a few weeks as they expect delays, so some builders would rather be late and then announce "right we are ready to go now" in the hope that the customer will just accept it and be relieved to get the work done.

They are human beings so some of them will just be unreliable/lazy, some will have genuine emergencies (often a one-man-show so if they get an injury they are screwed), and others simply don't care.  You get it in every walk of life.

I agree in advance how payment will work, can be in stages for big/long projects. I would not pay up if the work is not done to satisfaction. It's good to go with a local builder who has a good reputation if possible as they will not want to get a bad name. If they are not responding to calls/texts/emails, I would move on, not worth the hassle.


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