Old building renovation with obstacles. How to proceed?

Hello,

I had bad luck with an old building renovation, and on top of that, misfortune struck.

So, a brief rundown (yes, a pun) of the whole thing

[*
House from 1909
[LIST]
[*]3 residential units, one or two are to be used personally, one will be rented out
[*]total approx. 280 m² living space
[*]800 m² plot area
[*]the apartment to be rented out is not affected by the renovation


[*]no loan taken out so far

[*]core renovation planned, partly age-appropriate conversion planned

[*]before purchase, the heating boiler burst, which was actually quite good, a high discount, now there is a gas condensing boiler installed


[*]however, the craftsman botched the installation: by now the stainless steel combustion chamber is corroded from the outside due to sulfur-containing condensate water that ran along the outside


[*]the same craftsman (company) also acted as energy consultant and construction supervisor and was supposed to do electrical work as well as heating and plumbing


[*]also started
[*]then unfortunately stopped and has not been reachable for months (for me and the other craftsmen, e.g. drywall), but is still active on other construction sites. Does not respond to SMS, phone, letters, registered mail. Now a postal delivery certificate is on its way.
[*]the insulation he planned was executed incorrectly
[*]the electrical installation is incomplete (and without markings, so someone else would have to measure everything first)
[*]the gas boiler is corroded, see above
[*]the work was carried out in a completely different order than planned and agreed upon
[*]no invoice has even been issued for the work and materials carried out ... material is still on the construction site
[*]the claim that he was a KfW-listed energy consultant turned out to be false, he was once, yes, that is true, but he did not renew it and is no longer on the list
[*]therefore, no KfW funding for energy efficiency individual measures is possible


[*]why didn’t I intervene: well, mainly because I was not there due to work – and I live alone, so no one else could just check
[*]so there is first of all an unfinished construction site standing there
[*]this now makes it difficult to find other craftsmen


[*]rejections due to: unclear liability
[*]allegedly totally overburdened
[*]lack of detailed bill of quantities – well, that’s true, but it’s difficult right now as well


[*]so an expert was brought in to secure evidence


[*]expert takes forever
[*]the created report completely unusable
[*]expert refuses to revise the report
[*]allegedly could not write anymore due to missing documents – but did not request anything nor pointed it out.
[*]in the reply letter to the complaint (only after the third attempt and threat of legal action was there any response) suddenly many more details appear (/without further inspections or questions) and suddenly there is mention of an explosion hazard that is not mentioned in the report itself
[*]further procedure open


[*]architect from KfW energy efficiency consultant list commissioned for further construction supervision


[*]lots of new quotes obtained, almost all completely overpriced
[*]architect calculated high remediation costs for the above-mentioned damages
[LIST]
[*]procedure unclear


[*]several thousand euros worth of KfW funding (individual measures) lost due to no timely application
[*]funding for some other measures still possible
[*]subsidized loan for age-appropriate conversion still possible

[*

during the construction stop, hidden damages discovered


[*]damage to the timber frame on load-bearing parts
[LIST]
[*]wormholes painted over with a kind of bitumen
[*]severe rot spots painted over with bitumen
[*]rot spots filled with mortar
[*]expert was on site, next appointment with master carpenter still pending
[*]repair costs unclear

[*]procedure unclear

[*
asbestos-containing protective panels were found on one gable of the house
[LIST]
[*]of course, not mentioned in the purchase contract
[*]effort for removal unclear
[*]procedure unclear

[*

at the moment, I have no overview of the total amount due to many unresolved points
[*]this makes negotiating with the bank difficult, because without a loan it no longer works now

Actually, the time has come to decide whether

[*]legal dispute with the goal of reversal
[*]legal dispute with the goal of a reduction
[*]"forget it" – get rid of the damage – sell as a demolition house/project house (land value)
[*]rent out 2nd apartment after all – but then legal disadvantages because 2 apartments rented out
[*]only partially renovate, leave the rest as a construction site, possibly find someone who renovates in self-performance (provide material but no rent, instead work)

Of course, I have to decide that myself, but any help (practical or good advice) is welcome. Maybe someone can contribute something practical to a part of it.

Or has experience with one of the solutions...

so, briefly: I don’t know what to do anymore and need help.

[*]

Sounds like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Good advice is really hard to come by. It sounds most like tearing everything down and rebuilding it completely. But no one will pay for that either :-(

to tear everything down and rebuild it completely

would be an option if I could manage that. However, that rather does not seem to be the case.

I believe the best thing would be if you scaled down your other professional commitments for a few months and focused intensively on the construction site. At least from the story, it seems to me that all the craftsmen are trying to sell you something, experts and architects are not doing their job properly, and there are repeatedly construction defects appearing that supposedly nobody noticed before. Such a complex construction site needs good coordination and management, otherwise everyone does whatever they want and overall nothing is done properly.

cutting back on professional commitments

Good idea, tell that to my employer ...

So what is clearly not unclear is that the OP is overwhelmed by the whole situation! First, the financial possibilities must be clarified. Since nothing is mentioned about this in the text, unfortunately we cannot help with that. Everything else derives from point 1.