A MAN has said he's devastated after a builder left him £52,000 out of pocket.
Sam Davison, 33, claims his family have been forced to live on a construction site for months after renovations at their home inCaddington, Bedfordshire, turned into a "complete mess".
The dad-of-two recently discovered the tradie he hired, Gareth Farr, is the subject of a Facebook group of 1,000 members all with complaints about his work.
Sam and wife Hannah, 35, hired Farr's company Home Counties Building Services for a single storey front extension, remodelling of the rear and garden work.
But they claim they were left with a building site of a home with exposed beams and crumbling walls.
The couple also had to re-mortgage their home in a bid to rectify the issues.
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Police officer Sam said he has now decided to take legal action as well as reporting Farr to Trading Standards.
He told the Mirror: "In short, we had a quantitative surveyor complete a report on our house.
"We had paid Gareth £52,500.00 of an estimated total of £70,000.00.
"The works he had completed were valued at £26,500.00. And of those, we’ve paid in excess of £20,000.00 to have them rectified so far.
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"We have managed to get the back of our house partially completed having re-mortgaged to do so.
"The front of our house, however remains a building site."
Sam's neighbour, who is a builder, raised concerns when he noticed steal beams were not put in correctly.
He said the property was in a "right state" and told Sam instantly.
An inspection found a number of issues including a lack of damp proofing and insulation.
Farr said he has struggled with depression and anxiety lately which has impacted his work – but he has many happy returning customers.
Farr said: "I have successfully run hundreds of building projects around Caddington and the surrounding villages across several years and have been in the construction and landscaping business for 24 years.
"I have lots of repeat and happy customers that would share this feedback with you. I was recommended often locally on this basis.
"I have struggled with depression and anxiety, for which I am now getting help, and this impacted on how I delivered my work in the last few years on a few occasions."
What should I do if I’ve fallen victim to a totally unsatisfactory builder?
According to Consumer Rights Expert, you should get in touch with Trading Standards.
And if you're trying to get money back from the faulty job, they advise taking the builder to court.
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