07 March 2024 , 10:40
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A furious homeowner says he is almost £20,000 out of pocket after a ''botched makeover'' ''destroyed'' his garden.
Andrew Donnelly hired a firm for the work but says he was left with tilted fencing, cracked paving and lights that caused electricity surges in his home. He says a lack of drainage placed by the company during the landscaping has even caused Andrew's garden to heavily flood during rainfall - ''up to his back door''.
Andrew took out a civil action against Cambus Fencing & Landscaping and was awarded £5,349 by a sheriff. The hearing found the firm had failed to carry out remedial repairs to remedy its sub-standard work at his home. But the 51-year-old says he has yet to receive a penny of the court award from the Coatbridge-based company.
He said: ''This has been an absolute nightmare. I've been put through two years of hell. I'm now left with a garden that floods right up to my back door in heavy rain because the drainage wasn't put in the right place. The ground is also bellowed and none of the work has been finished to the standard I was expecting.
"It's a big area and the plan was to landscape over three different levels. When I initially contacted the company and discussed everything in detail, I was quoted £12,000. I felt confident they would do a good job and agreed to pay a deposit and then I paid another two sums as they went along.
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"In hindsight, I should have held some cash back, but I trusted what I was being told. The plan was to have 50 square metres of patio and 60 square metres of rendered wall with lights installed. Initially, it looked alright but within two weeks I noticed cracks appearing in the brickwork.
Andrew Donnelly's garden patio (Newsquest/SWNS)"There was also no structural coloration, causing the fencing at the back of garden to tilt. I also noticed the drain was placed to the right-hand side near the gate, but the garden was slopping off to the left, causing it to flood and lift up the stones. The steps up to the second level also had no support, causing them to lift off the ground."
"The garden was just falling apart. There was just problem after problem, and despite complaining on several occasions. 'I was assured any issues would be dealt with before it was declared complete." Andrew also claims that he was left with faulty garden lights that caused his electricity breakers to trip in his home whenever they were switched on.
He added: "The garden lights cost £600 and had been installed by a sub-contractor used by the company. Whenever I put them on, they would cause a surge indoors, which obviously wasn't safe. After complaining several times, an electrician was eventually sent out and we discovered the lights were full of water and hadn't been sealed properly before being installed in the wall."
"I've had to disconnect them until the garden is finally sorted out.'' Andrew says after repeated failed attempts to get the firm to repair the list of faults, he was left with no choice but to pursue a civil action to recover some of his cash. This was held at Airdrie Sheriff Court on May 12 last year, with the court deciding the firm did not run a defence before finding in Andrew's favour.
Court documents shown to the Glasgow Times state: "The sheriff in respect of there being no appearance on behalf of the respondent at the case management discussion, awards the claimant Mr Donnelly, £5000 together with expenses of £322.85." The judgement also took into consideration that the firm was advised by the sheriff to carry out remedial work but failed to do so.
Andrew, from Cambuslang, Scotland, says he's now being forced to find another £6000 to repair the defects that were left behind. "I'm thousands of pounds out of pocket," he said. "I also had to pay for reports from three other landscaping firms to locate all of the faults and how much they would cost to repair. I've almost reached £20,000 now for a project that should have cost around half of that and the garden still isn't finished."
Andrew Donnelly says he has been left almost £20,000 out of pocket (Newsquest/SWNS)''I can now only afford to have the work done bit by bit. All I ever wanted was a nice garden, finished to an acceptable standard. Even during the civil action process, I was willing to reach an agreement to just fix the faults, but the company just weren't interested."
Andrew claims he's now unable to pursue any further legal action against the company because of a change of name with Companies House. He added: "It's just been a slap in the face to discover the firm has changed its name and registered as a new entity, so that means I can no longer legally pursue them for the costs awarded to me."
"Legally, despite it being the same individuals who are behind it because it's now under another name, I've been advised that I can't take it any further. It's a situation I never thought I'd be in and the whole thing is just really sad. You put your trust and faith in a firm to carry out work and then you are left to pick up the pieces when things go wrong."
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Andrew says the two-year-long battle has taken its toll on him physically and financially. "The entire situation has been incredibly stressful," Andrew said. "My main focus is now on making the garden safe and useable. Currently, when I look out the kitchen window and see the mess, my heart just sinks. I was excited to get the garden transformed, now it's just a reminder of a horrible few years that has ended up costing me a lot of money."
A spokesperson from the firm said: "We have absolutely no comment to make regarding this matter."