Dominique's work...

Click photos to enlarge - I'm thinking of trying BloggerBot, but would rather get this post sorted first, so Watch This Space!

Here are just a few example of why we were becoming concerned with the quality of Dominique's work. The darker lines on the concrete of the kitchen floor had appeared the last time we visited the house in October - a sign of the damp coming through where he had not laid a damp-proof membrane under the concrete. We had asked him to lay insulation and damp-proofing under all the floors.

He also let his workmen hide the metalwork on the new windows; I believe he did not know about this before we pointed it out to him. but it's another example of work that we were not happy with. Given the quality of the windows, the surround looks even worse in comparison.

Considering he's a plumber by profession, I think I could do a better job! In fact I know I can do a better job; it's been a long time since I soldered anything, but dad wouldn't have let me make a mess like this! And this is piping that was going to be on permanent display, not something that would be hidden by a kitchen unit.

This is the piping under the vanity unit in the bathroom; given that they don't just have mice over there, but a whopping dormouse problem too, this just looks like a "cat-flap" for the furry critters!

Don't get me wrong; I think dormice are cute! But that doesn't mean I want them making themselves at home in our house!

This is the leak that was under the toilet, and if you look carefully you can see the cracks in the concrete (outlined in red). As we only stayed at the house for 3 weeks since the concrete was laid, I wasn't happy that it started to crack so soon.

An example of one of the holes in the concrete; they were there before we arrived in July, so it wasn't my weight breaking through!

M. Boyer chipped away at this to see how deep the concrete was, and the insulation: about 2 inches of each, laid on bare earth; my worst suspicions were confirmed.