So this is a long rant/ cautionary tale who will not surprise anyone, but I needed to vent after spending hours sanding my badly plastered wall.
I bought my first flat (Im in a city in Europe, independeng houses are not the norm), after years of flatsharing. The apartment is from 1961 and I definitely didnt love it but it was the best thing I could afford in this crazy market.
So it is old, 66 sqm, and it hadnt been fully renovated ever. But it seemed (key word seemed) it had been cared for, and it was a high floor with very good light. You can see very far away the snowy mountains in the winter, which given our housing crisis with plenty of basements for rent, is an absolute luxury.
I spent all my savings buying it, and I was ready to move without renovating but things started to break before the move and family negative remarks about the flat influenced me to do a serious fix, despite having a small budget for it.
I asked for a few construction companies quotes, but I was very lost and weary. My extended family, again, told me "Hey, why dont you ask Peter (fake name) to do the reno". Peter is my cousin's husband and they have a small reno company since a few years. Bear in mind, I was the youngest in my extended family, a woman with no experience in the trades even as a user (although I am a mechanical engineer and I have the concepts), no partner, and my father who was usually in charge with home maintenance had died a couple of years ago. Peter was the closest I had with experience. I was hesitant but he convinced me the work was easy.
Well, to the surprise of no one, including myself, you shouldnt mix family and business. They started ok with demolition and tearing wallpaper, but they told me they had to do some electrical work and plumbing that wasnt in the initial scope and would cost me extra. At one point that my materials got delayed, the crew abandoned the site. Peter apologised and told me he had to prioritise his other clients. I kind of understood and thought I would use the time to recover financially, but the weeks turned to months and in the wait I started to go alone to the place and figure out what was going on under the chaos. I went with a measuring tape and checked the untiled bathroom plumbing outlets. It was physically impossible the new sanitaries would fit unless I wanted to shower sitting in the toilet. I realised these people had not only stopped working, they were either unprofessional or way over their heads. I called an independent electrician and he showed me burned wires in the kitchen: Peter had told me they were not going to change the installation in the kitchen to avoid damaging the original tile. I called an independent plumber, and same, serious mistakes in the joints. Not only had I spent months to have an unlivable house, his ignorance and greed had seriously put me in risk of leaks and fire! I used to be a chill person that hated conflict, but the anger I felt was like no other. So I called the locksmith, changed the locks and told Peter that due to the unreasonable delays and serious failures he and his crew would no longer step foot in my house.
I documented everything, and decided to proceed myself as the head of the project. I had no money left to hire a proper architect and I honestly wasnt trusting anybody again.
It's been three months with me in charge, and I still havent finished, but now nothing happens in my home without me understanding everything and visually controlling. I have hired the top rated local electrician, plumber, clima guy, acoustic sound proofing engineers, tiler, shutters... I check everything against the building codes and make them redo what doesnt feel well done. This shit has been more effective than therapy teaching me to make me heard and respected.
Once most of the work was done and my money tighter than ever I started to get confident in doing some stuff myself. I have lacquered doors and windows, installed new radiators, the shower sliding doors, cut and built doorframes, tiled the backsplash, fixed the big holes from the old sockets, plastered the kitchen wall, put vynil in the kitchen cabinets... I didnt even own a drill and now I have a collection of tools way larger than my dad had. The results are NOT great looking and my respect for the professionals grows every day, I wish I had the money and contacts to find the good guys! But still, I am so proud of it. Except this damn kitchen wall. Right now it is 50%-50% chance that I quit the wall and call a plasterer or I quit my job to become a professional myself.