Construction defects - Damage control?

That sounds extreme. Is there a guild/arbitration board/ombudsman/chamber at your place that can help before taking legal action?

Apart from the chaos, what is so terrible about the staircase? An 18 cm rise is very comfortable and a 26 cm tread will be a comfortable 28 cm with an overhang. However, I would like to see how you squeeze a 4 m long staircase into such a dollhouse.

You are also thinking early on that it won’t fit. Removing a concrete staircase will be fun. Then the ceiling openings need to be redone – so how far along is the construction exactly? Is there already a reinforced concrete ceiling on top that you now want to cut through?

For this whole mess, you thought about it for 10 years just to end up with a mega botch job, now the staircase is supposed to be different and you are standing with 3 children in front of a building ruin? Sorry, but my sympathy is limited.

What does the construction company actually say? Suing is always the last solution. You have a warranty and the shell builder may first have to make repairs.

The crux, unfortunately, is that you have to sue for the warranty... In principle, they say they want to renovate. HOW the renovation must be done, we have not yet determined. We have to wait for the approval of the building authority.

The problem may be that the company can aim for the cheapest renovation, not necessarily the safest for us. Unfortunately, suing is almost hopeless because the company can file for bankruptcy at any time. That would mean we would also have additional legal and attorney fees.

Where are you building? What are you building? That is only 45sqm internal measurement (if at all). ... in that house? That should actually cost the whole house. The construction botch is not your problem, but with the price you were taken for a ride.

You must not forget 80 m2 DB basement....

A colleague built a basement with WU concrete 10 years ago and also currently has water ingress in the basement for 3 months. Really annoying, you build it watertight and then something like this.

How can something like this be explained? Why problems only after 10 years?

Aside from the chaos, what is so terrible about the stairs? An 18 cm rise is very comfortable and a 26 cm tread becomes a comfortable 28 cm with an overhang. However, I would like to see how you squeeze a 4 m long staircase into such a dollhouse.

You are considering early enough that it doesn’t fit. Removing a concrete staircase will be fun. Also the ceiling openings again – yes, how far along is the construction now exactly? Is there already a reinforced concrete ceiling on it that you now want to cut through?

For this whole mess, you thought about it for 10 years just to end up with a mega botch, now the stairs should be different and you are standing in front of a construction ruin with 3 children? Sorry, but my sympathy is limited.

Thank you for your kind comment
yes, unfortunately we ultimately chose the wrong company. we did check, but in the enthusiasm to finally build, apparently we were careless. would you expect a master builder to mismeasure by 53 cm in height?

I don’t understand your comment – schadenfreude? our big mistake was not hiring an external building inspector and that we paid the submitted invoices according to construction progress. the groundwater came when the basement and shell were already standing for 8 months. how could one have foreseen that?