Red blo*dy bricks!

Sorry for the lack of a build updates recently. Things have been rather tense after coming to terms with the fact that the bricks used on the extension are not a good match to the existing.

The issue with them is that they are too red/orange in colour, looking brand new and unsympathetic to the original bricks on the existing house.

It all became much more noticeable when the fascia of the existing house above the extension was replaced but with correctly matched bricks (i.e. not all red ones). The fact that the brickies could get the right colour bricks simply highlighted that the extension bricks were wrong.

So, yesterday it all came to blow. I had to express my concerns and general disappointment over the lack of colour match with our builders. A site meeting was arranged to discus the issue, what could be done to resolve it and ultimately decide who was going to pay to put things right. Needless to say this was a tricky conversation (it’s never easy to point the finger and for someone to accept responsibility).

Regardless of who’s fault this was, the bricks had to come down and be replaced with new ones. Ones that include a mix of colours to match the bricks on the existing part of the house. Thankfully, we came to an agreement (without dispute) and works started immediately to demolish the extension bricks.

Our head builder went straight to the merchant’s yard and physically hand picked the right mix of coloured bricks (1200 in total). And today, we took delivery of them for the brickies to crack on with the rebuild.

I’ve got to say, I’ve been really impressed with the way our builders have responded to this issue. Not only have we come to an amicable resolution, the speed to put this right has been fantastic. One day on and we have half built extension corners which look much better (and more natural) in colour match to the original bricks. Long let this continue!

I’m just so pleased that I didn’t let this lie as I never would have been happy and would have always wished I had said something. I must say a thank you to my mum who was very supportive on this and in fact very persuasive to ensure I did something about it!! Thanks mum!