Floor plan planning shortly before submitting the building application

When you read all this, you can really lose the desire to build

I also make three crossing signs when I'm done. As a layman, you are hopelessly at the mercy of the whole thing and you simply cannot schedule enough expert supervision appointments. Now I have to call him again tomorrow to see if he can approve the plaster and how things look with these stair transitions. The other matter has to be done by a specialized installer expert. Simply annoying.

Above all, we keep falling further behind schedule. My interior finishers can’t come in because they don’t want to paint as long as the drywall ceiling isn’t installed. That keeps getting delayed because not even a Blower Door test has been performed. That is scheduled to take place in about two weeks at the earliest, and only after that will the drywall ceiling be installed. Tiles can’t be laid before either because of the screed drying. It’s all just stupid.

Above all, they want to take the easy way out by sticking to the nine-month construction period. However, they only manage that because the owner trades are separated out. The nine months would have to be met even if everything was included there. It will be a case for the lawyer to accurately quantify the exact days of delay that can finally be applied there.

We also have no mesh on the concrete ceiling, only the joints were smoothly filled. We didn’t want fleece anyway. You? That would be the painters’ task anyway.

I find the stair transitions neater than ours. What’s going there – will there be a wooden paneling around it later? Or is it just going to be plastered? Then something is naturally missing, it won’t hold on the Styrofoam like that.

I can’t say anything about the plaster – our Q2 was very neat, of course you could partly see wiping marks, but we didn’t have dents or anything like that. Did you find it acceptable or very noticeable?

I can’t say anything about the ventilation, but having the heating pipes lying like that is obviously not okay, there has to be insulation between the pipe and the door, of course. The question is how far you can still bend them now.

I find the stair transitions neater than ours. What’s supposed to go there – will there be a wooden cladding around it later? Or will it just be plastered? Then something is obviously missing, the Styrofoam won’t hold it like that.

So the painter is commissioned to install painter’s fleece in the house. And he says it’s not ready for painting like that and asks how it should proceed from there... I can’t say more about that. I’ve now written to him again, asking him to please specify exactly what he requires, otherwise I can’t keep up. As a layperson, I’m just a ping-pong ball for all these companies. I simply find it terrible.

I can’t say anything about the plaster – our Q2 was very neat, of course you could sometimes see wiping marks, but we didn’t have any dents or anything like that. Did you find them acceptable or very noticeable?

Well, the only noticeable thing I find is the plaster splashes on the precast concrete ceiling. The realtor also criticized that the ceiling is no longer even because of that and said it’s not his job to clean the ceiling properly. That is not just an optical problem but a structural one since it’s no longer even. Now I’m supposed to ask the general contractor to clean all that off.

Otherwise, you don’t immediately see the dents visually. You have to brush over them or lay a straightedge on them. He says that to do Q3 he would have to apply a very thin layer, but that’s not possible here because of the dents, so he wants to sand it and charge for that extra. I have no idea, maybe he’s fooling me too. Probably only the expert can clarify that, since both parties will probably push it away, and I can’t assess it either.

I can’t say anything about the ventilation, but having the heating pipes lying there like that, of course, is not okay; there has to be insulation between the pipe and the door, obviously. The question is how much you can still bend them now.

You can’t bend them; it’s a very, very stiff material. I walked on it and touched it. The tiler said today that the only way to fix it is to break up all the screed and redo it.

So I think the underfloor heating in the area of the window is totally messed up. The screed was subsequently chiseled out so that the window fits like that?! You can even see the red clip for the fastening on the upper pipe? And, the pipe was patched? Oh dear.

The screed was subsequently broken out so that the window fits like that?!

Apparently yes.

The worst thing is that long before laying the underfloor heating and the screed, everything was known about the upcoming work regarding the terrace door replacement.

simply bent more or less and also directly adjacent to the window frame.

Bending doesn't matter, I would say, as long as the minimum bending radii are observed. However, I would also have a bit more screed chiseled away to gain a little more space for rerouting.

Also, the interior fitter for tiling and painting was here today and asked me why the stair transitions were not finished.

You took tiling and painting out, i.e. your trade? What condition was agreed upon at the handover screed to painter? Paint-ready handover/takeover? If the screed layer or the general contractor (GC) does not hand over paint-ready and your painter expects or has offered a paint-ready takeover, you have to take care of the delta.

He also said he doesn't find the Q2 plaster acceptable. With a straightedge, he showed me dents and said that before he executes the Q3 plaster, he has to sand all the walls, which is actually not his task and must be charged extra.

Why does someone else do Q3 different from Q2? Otherwise, see above, interface: how is it handed over, how is it taken over?

He then asked why the work on the concrete ceiling was done without mesh?

In the meantime, I have patched/painted a handful of ceiling joints among friends. I haven't seen or painted any mesh there.

Above all, they want to take it easy so that they meet the nine-month construction period. However, they only manage this because the self-performed trades are separated.

As already mentioned above, prime examples that you should carefully consider and regulate removing trades when dealing with the GC.