A Retirement Home Project Fell Apart Mid-Construction, So The Owner Reclaimed His Pipes And Left The Builder With Nothing But An Unfinished Frame
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Some revenge gets expensive. This one got the plumbing involved. A builder stalled one man’s nearly finished retirement home. So he reclaimed what he paid for.
See why the walls had problems.
Fine, keep the house…but I want what I paid for
This was a situation my dad found himself in about five years ago when he contacted a builder for a humble little retirement unit outside Melbourne, part of a larger development in the area.
Being abroad at the time, he had to coordinate as much as he could remotely, but ultimately, he was able to visit the site after construction was underway.
The foundation was poured, brickwork and framing were going up—all the basics. He picked out the cabinetry, fixtures, appliances, and utility needs, checked on progress for another month, and then flew back abroad for what was supposed to be a few more months.
Everything was great until the builder stopped replying.
Well, you can imagine what happened soon after in early 2020.
Rather than bunker down in a hotel until the house was finished, they stayed at their second place in the US while keeping in touch over the phone. Despite the early setbacks from COVID, the house seemed to be coming together nicely. Pictures were sent, and family in the area would drive by occasionally for updates.
Until one day, when the builder started to be less communicative. Late replies, vague phrasing, timelines getting pushed egregiously. Things that couldn’t be explained, even considering the effects of lockdown.
Unfortunately, it seemed the father paid a lower price than everyone else.
Something didn’t seem right.
Family drive-bys confirmed neighboring units were continuing to completion while his was left untouched. Port-A-Loos were eventually seen in the front yard.
After a bit more digging, it turned out good ol’ Dad was one of the first contracts, at an agreed-upon price well below what the market was quickly turning into.
A couple of cheeky after-hours peeks showed they’d gotten the walls finished but not much else. Cabinets and flooring sat in the middle of their rooms, bath fixtures still boxed, appliances wrapped.
He made sure to get what he paid for.
It wouldn’t take much more to finish things up, yet they hadn’t moved on it for months.
After being ghosted for nearly three more months, with no noticeable progress, he cut his losses and had lawyers sort out cancelling the contract. The house would be on-market again after he’d had the chance to remove property he’d already paid for in advance, which wasn’t much in the end, but did include…the pipes. All of them. And he wanted them back.
The builder was suddenly very responsive, but the damage was done, and our family got to see what the house’s framing looked like again.
The pipes? A friend picked them up in the company truck for the metals recycler he worked for.
Wow! Builders like this are the absolute worst.
Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit relate to this story.
For this person, the whole story makes no sense.
Here’s another reader who feels the story doesn’t add up.
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This is a great thought.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who decides to mute her boss’s number after he insists on calling her at home after hours.
According to this person, the story is too incomplete.
After months of delays and ghosting, he canceled the contract and demanded back the property he had already paid for.
That included the house’s pipes, which were removed and hauled away for recycling before the builder could resell the place.
The house stayed, but apparently the plumbing had other plans.
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