Expand your living space (The Garage Conversion Company)

Member Name: Cat19

Product:	The Garage Conversion Company
Date:	30/07/09 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Efficient, on time, good organisation, good workmanship

Disadvantages: Quite expensive, a whiff of bully boy tactics.

My previous home, one we rented in Bermuda, was much larger than the house we bought and moved into when we moved back to Blightly last summer. It took me a little bit of time to adjust mentally, but there were some things that no amount of adjusting was going to conquer, such as where on earth to put things. We found ourselves particularly short of space for our book collection which remained unpacked, then we had pictures and other objects of art with nowhere to go and we were without any space for an office.

On the other hand we did have a large double garage which was doing little other than storing boxes of books and other things we could not find room for in the house. Neither my husband nor I have any interest in carpentry, mechanics or anything else that some people use their garage for (nobody parks their car in there do they?) so it really was a waste of 30m2 of space. So we began to debate whether we should convert it to increase our functional living area.

Our garage is detached from the house but close by and a large square, each side being about 5.5 metres in length. We obviously did not require such a large home office but were very enthusiastic about creating our own home cinema after seeing some on various property programs. We decided to use half the garage for the home cinema and then divide the other half in two, retaining one section for storage and making the other area into the home office. With a rough idea of what we wanted, we started to look for companies to do the work.

We decided that it would make sense to get in a specialist company that would manage the whole project, rather than deal with different tradesmen and cobble it together ourselves. I am not saying that this is the best approach or otherwise, I didn't try it the other way, but this was just the way we decided to go. The Garage Conversion company was the first to pop up when we started to look around on the internet. I made online contact with a couple of companies and the Garage Conversion company were the quickest to get back to me (in fact the other did not) so I decided to make an appointment.

Pre-build~~~

The Garage Conversion Company or GCC as I will call them from now, called to make an appointment. I was immediately ticked off that they suggested the decision-maker would be at home when they came to visit. By that I assume they meant my husband as what wife can possibly make decisions in this day and age. Anyway it suited us that we are both home, two people asking questions were always going to be better than one. A sales representative arranged to come around at 7pm one evening.

We found the sales rep to be very friendly and he answered all our questions to our satisfaction. His ball park estimate of the work was higher than we had thought, but then we are not builders and really had no idea what to expect. In fact I have to put my hand up and admit we were a little bit lackadaisical in that when we did go ahead we did not get more estimates. During the meeting we were able to make a couple of decisions, one of which was that we would keep the exterior looking just as it was, i.e. with double up and over garage doors, but only the one that went to the storage area would be functional, the other would become a false front as an interior wall would be on the other side. We thought this decision both saved money and also we were pleased not to draw attention to the changed use from a security aspect.

We were told a formal quote would be provided in the next day or two and indeed it was. We thought about it for about a month and although GCC called after a few weeks, we did not feel unduly pressured. In the end we decided to go ahead as we were told we could buy now and pay in full in one year's time. Unfortunately, as we had been out of the country, it turned out that we did not get the credit, but by the time we found this out, two days later, we had already set our heart on it so went ahead anyway.

Before the work started we had another visit from the sales rep to do the paperwork and we also made some changes to our plans as we realised that the seating for the home cinema would be a tight fit. We discussed at length that this room was to be a home cinema and that we wanted to get all the wiring in the walls during the build and not have them visible. At this point we were considering engaging a specialist Audio Visual company to source the goods and also assist with the positioning of speakers, cables etc. We were told this would not be a problem and to discuss with the surveyor.

A few days later, the surveyor arrived to go over plans a final time. I discussed the wiring that we wanted to be in the walls and which had already been discussed at length during the previous two home visits. I found the surveyor not open to getting involved with our home cinema wiring, claiming that he did not want his crew involved in laying wires in case they laid them in the wrong place or they damaged them later on during the build. He also refused to work with the specialist Audio Visual company that we had idenitified. The best he could offer was that we should ask them to leave cords in place that we would tie our cables to, pull them into the loft, run them across the loft and then attach to other cords which they would leave in place for us to then pull our cables into place. We were not very happy about this arrangement but as we had already paid a 25% deposit at this point didn't feel we had a choice.

Additionally I asked the surveyor to price up laying a wooden floor for me, I had a quote from elsewhere but getting it done as part of the build was more convenient and he was able to get the wood I liked and came in slightly below the quote I had from elsewhere.

Planning permission and building regulations~~~

Planning permission is legally the responsibility of the home owner, if it is required, the GCC will help obtain it for a fee. A change in legislation on 1st October 2008 means that most garage conversions do not require planning permission providing the work is internal and does not enlarge the size of the building. This can be verified on www.planningportal.gov.uk.

Exceptions are when the building is listed or if there have been specific restrictions placed on the property. We were keen to contact our council anyway, GCC went to the offices and confirmed that there were no development restrictions on our property. This was confirmed in writing, although they did say that we could only use the garage for incidental usage such as a home office or home cinema, but we could not create more living space, such as with an extra bedroom or reception room.

The conversion does require building regulation approval and it is part of GCC's responsibility to ensure that the building is in compliance. We were extremely dissatisfied with how this was handled by GCC. We had no idea what the process was or how long it was supposed to take, we were just told that we had to wait. Eventually and after very frequent phone calls on our part to the Head Office, it turned out that it had been overlooked after all. Two months after the job was completed we finally got our building regulations compliance certificate.

When our build was finished, we tried to clarify the building regulations situation immediately, but the company were vague and unhelpful. After a few days we managed to get it in writing that if regulations were not met then GCC would put it right at their cost. But as the weeks with no news or updates went on, we started to regret having paid the bill before receiving the building regulations certificate and given my time again, I would hold back some money as a bargaining chip.

The Build~~~

Our build started on a Monday morning, the first thing that happened was the arrival of a skip which remained for the duration. Then a team of two builders / carpenters arrived and they were the key people who were on site every day. On the first day they ripped out the built in shelves and cabinets that were in the garage and put in place the wood on the floor which marked out the positioning of the dividing stud walls. I found the crew did not work exceptionally long days, but they seemed very efficient and I felt that there was sound progress every day. After a few days, the electrician came round and put in place cables for all the lighting, plug sockets, radiators, extractor fan. It was then back to more wall, floor and ceiling building.

I cannot remember what happened each and every day, but during the second week the external door and window were fitted, the plasterers plastered all the walls and ceilings, the internal door was fitted, the wooden floor was laid, loft was insulated and the electrician came back and fitted the switches, plug sockets, heaters, etc. I thought everything ran like clockwork, the right tradesperson turning up on just the day they were needed and I didn't need to do a thing. I also found all the chaps extremely pleasant and friendly. I could not be happier with this aspect of the build.

Unfortunately, in the middle of this we had to run those home cinema cables through the loft and there came the mishap. Firstly we did not find it that easy to pull cable through anyway, the conduits that were in place were a little too narrow for some of the cables we need to pull through. But we managed to get the subwoofer cable pulled up into the loft eventually, my husband doing the pulling from up there, he then moved across to the other end of the room where it needed to come out, but the roof is a very awkward place and he was walking on beams, he slightly lost balance at one point, held onto the upright beam and somehow it dislodged one of the ceiling panels which came away.

We were very upset about this, especially as the ceiling had already been plastered. We were very disappointed with GCC's attitude towards us. Firstly we called the surveyor, who we understood to be the project manager and told him what had happened. He immediately made us feel worse with his conclusions that people would have to come around the next day to assess the damage and decide what needed to be done. From his tone and words, we immediately assumed we were going to be hit with a huge additional bill. He also seemed to be critical that we had been in the loft, even though it was him who left us no choice as he would not let the team run the cables for us.

We also spoke to the sales rep who thus far had been pleasant in his dealings with us. Well no longer, he totally supported the surveyor, said he fully understood why he would be annoyed by us damaging the ceiling mid build and also started a rant at me about me accusing them of shoddy workmanship, which I had not, I explained exactly what happened as it happened.

Whilst he was extremely aggressive and rude to me, I am no shrinking violet and pointed out that; a) we had made it very clear from the start that we were using the space from a home cinema and would need cables running in the walls; b) that we had been told all along that this would not be a problem, c) that when it came to the crunch and despite workers being up in the loft space at frequent points during the build they were not allowed to put my cables down, a job that would have taken them less than five minutes and d) that my husband is unaccustomed to clambering along ceiling joints and frankly insisting that we had to do this ourselves was asking for trouble.

At the end of the calls, we abandoned our efforts to run the rest of the cables and went to the pub instead to drown our sorrows. We then decided to call my father in law, a retired builder and explained that a ceiling panel was falling down. And his response; "Well nail it back up!" Yes obvious really. If only GCC could have taken such a pragmatical view instead of making us feel that we had seriously hindered the entire project.

The next day, the ceiling was nailed back up within a few minutes although as it had already been plastered, it is not smooth and although we patched up with polyfilla and of course painted, it is still quite noticeable. We also asked the team to run the rest of the cables, which of course they were able to do in minutes. I do not understand why they were not allowed to do this in the first place. And I say allowed as I believe they would have been more than happy to do it, but I have reason to believe that they are told to do the bare minimum, exactly as per the spec and are in trouble if they do one single thing extra for the client. Obviously somebody does not realise what makes the difference for clients. I should point out at this point that GCC operates franchises and I cannot say whether this mentality comes from GCC or my particular franchise management.

Despite this little mishap, the job was finished on time and took two working weeks from beginning to end, including laying the wooden floor and skirting. We are very happy with the standard of work.

Job complete~~~

Unfortunately, again the "management" let the side down in my view at the end of the job. On the last Friday, the builder who had been there throughout came to me and asked would I be in a position to "sign off" the job. I was not really sure what he meant by that but assumed it meant that I would have a quick look around. He returned later, I get the impression after speaking to his management, and clarified that he actually wanted me to sign a document saying that we were completely happy with everything and pay the outstanding amounts. He seemed very uncomfortable to be dealing with this side of the business.

I said that I did not think there would be any issues at all, but would rather not sign off until my husband had the opportunity to look around. I thought this was very reasonable, but he returned again (after speaking to his management) and said that would not be possible! Interesting that they could not do the initial meeting without my husband being present but he was apparently not allowed to inspect the finished work before I make payment, which would be done by bank transfer not cheque.

So I called the sales rep and explained the situation and he agreed that it was reasonable for my husband to be able to look at the finished product and we did not have to hand over payment that day. Very kind. In actual fact, the electrician did not finish until 8pm, the skip had not been removed and we did not have the building regulation paperwork, so even if my husband had been home we would not have been in a position to pay up anyway.

The payment for the wooden floor was separate to the main conversion. I was asked to pay almost £1,000 in cash and when I said I did not keep that amount of cash, they offered to drive me to the cash point to get it. I have to say, I find trades people that drive clients to cash points rather dodgy. (Again, I do not think this was the builder's doing, I feel he was very uncomfortable and acting on instructions). I declined to be driven to a cash point explaining that I would not be able to take that amount of money out at once anyway and was told that in that case it would cost more (VAT). We pushed back on this, making clear that the price quoted already included VAT as far as we were concerned and they conceded.

The removal of the skip was a bit of an issue too. We needed it gone as we had furniture being delivered the next working day, which was a Tuesday as it was a bank holiday weekend. I checked several times during the day that it was going but it got closer and closer to 6pm and it remained there, we tried calling head office, sales rep and the project manager but got nowhere. I finally managed to track down the skip company myself and it was collected on the Saturday morning.
The next working day was Tuesday. Between us we must have had upwards of fifteen phone calls and messages, plus emails from the sales rep demanding to know where our payment was. We could not believe it as they didn't even finish until 8pm the previous working day. I felt it was not only unreasonable but outrageous bully boy tactics. Fortunately, I am a professional business woman and don't bully easily, but I can imagine it would be extremely intimidating for some. I half expected them to pay me a visit.

As far as we were concerned at this point, there was still the matter of building regulations outstanding. It took a few days for us to get an assurance that if the conversion did not comply that it would be put right at no further cost to us. Once we had this in writing we settled the final bill.

The handling of the financial matters at the end and not forgetting the loft mishap totally clouded our experience with this company. We made it clear that we were happy with the work and were not delaying payment, indeed it was paid within about a week of completion, once we had the clarification on building regulations. I feel this is quite reasonable on our part and the harassment which started one working day after the completion of the work was utterly unwarranted and unnecessary.

My product rating is lower than it would have been other than for this behaviour. Were it not for that, I can only say that I am utterly delighted with my new home office and home cinema. I think we perhaps paid a little more than we needed to, but we will get years of enjoyment out of our new space and we think it will be a huge selling point when we get to that stage in due course.

Summary: A job well done but poor customer care.