The Strangest Reasons For Construction Project Issues | Meyrick

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For the most part, issues with construction projects are down to either issues during the planning phase that were not caught in time or issues caused by the weather and other factors outside of the contractor’s control.

For the most part, builders will factor every possible issue into account when devising realistic timelines for longer construction projects and will ensure that people are kept updated if any issues might cause significant delays.

However, in the huge and expansive world of construction projects, you sometimes see stranger issues for delays, cancellations and other issues, and here are some of the oddest.

Sagrada Familia’s Scope Creep

The longest ongoing construction project in the world, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still years away from completion and not one person who was born the day construction began is still alive today.

A lot of this comes down to scope creep, in part caused by the death of the original client and later the main architect of the project, Antoni Gaudi, who noted that his client was not in a hurry and radically increased the scale of the project.

Ryugyong Hotel’s Change In Purpose

Known somewhat ominously as the “Hotel of Doom”, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea was designed to be the world’s tallest hotel when it was initially proposed in 1986 and had it opened on time would have achieved that goal.

Unfortunately, partway through construction, the Soviet Union collapsed, causing a financial and trade crisis that halted the project and led to major issues with the building’s design.

Even two decades later and a decade after it was claimed it would be complete and ready to open, the hotel still lays dormant as a giant monument looking for a reason to exist.

Building A Tower On Poor Foundations

Have you ever wondered why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans in the first place?

It was built with a laughably small foundation for a building of its size and density onto dense clay earth and would have fallen over entirely had a civil war not stopped construction.

Its infamous lean has since made it a great landmark, and a monument to strange construction issues.
For more information and advice from builders in Wolverhampton, get in touch today.

House Price Survey Shows Midlands Lags Behind

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Homeowners in the West Midlands might have been pleased with the relative affordability of their home when they bought it, but those keen to increase its value at a time when the property market seems to be weakening may have taken note of just how far behind the region lags for prices.

A new Halifax survey of Britain’s most expensive streets has shown that London dominates the list of the costliest places to reside, where even being a millionaire is nowhere near rich enough. Of the top 20 streets for price, 19 are in the capital and the other in Ascot.

Britain’s most expensive street is Phillimore Gardens in Kensington at £23.8 million, just ahead of the £23.5 million cost of a home at Grosvenor Square in Mayfair.

Of course, most London properties cost far less than these plush pads in the most fashionable parts of the capital, but by comparison the most expensive street in the West Midlands region, Bakers Lane in Solihull, is ten times ‘cheaper’ at £2.3 million.

Most people planning a loft conversion in the West Midlands will not have a home costing even the top Solihull prices, but such a home improvement will at least significantly bolster their property’s value.

According to the latest Land Registry figures, even Solihull prices, now averaging £344,000, are lower than any London borough, the cheapest of which is Barking & Dagenham at £356,000. Elsewhere, the average home costs £234,000 in Birmingham, £226,000 in Telford & Wrekin, and £202,000 in Wolverhampton.

The change in the costliest West Midlands road actually represents a significant drop for the region; last year the Express and Star revealed Carpenter Road in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham had an average price of £3.09 million, with Solihull having to make do with second place as Old Warwick Road came in at £2.1 million.

House Price Fall Boosts Case For Home Improvements

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There are many benefits to adding house extensions in the West Midlands, but the value of doing so has increased with the latest data showing a continued decline in property prices.

According to the latest Halifax House Price Index, covering December 2022, the average home increased in value by just two per cent over the course of last year, down from 4.6 per cent in the 12 months to November 2022.

The reason for this was the strong increase in prices in the first half of the year being counterbalanced by an outright decline in the later months as the impact of the wider economic malaise took effect.

Following the 2.4 per cent decline in November, there was a further drop of 1.5 per cent in December. Moreover, director of Halifax mortgages Kim Kinnaird did not see the lower rate of fall in December as a sign of the market bottoming out, predicting instead that a combination of recession and higher interest rates means prices will fall by eight per cent in 2023.

Householders may therefore consider a home improvement as a good investment to increase the value of their property, but that is not necessarily the only reason for doing so. Those looking to upsize might find adding space offers an alternative to trying to buy a larger house.

The benefit of the latter is that people can work with designers on getting just the sort of extension they want, whereas a depressed housing market with limited supply might make fining the ideal home hard to do.

While Halifax predicts an eight per cent fall in prices this year, Japanese bank Nomura has predicted a gloomier outlook for prices, with a 15 per cent decline by the middle of 2024.

Its panel of economists acknowledged that their forecast was gloomier than most, describing it as “a larger fall than assumed by the Bank of England, Office for Budget Responsibility and consensus.” They said this sort of decline would be needed to normalise the balance between squeezed incomes and higher interest rates.

What Will Be The Most Popular Kitchen Trends Next Year?

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The new year is approaching, which is often time homeowners think about ways they can spruce up their house or flat and embark on redecorating plans. If the kitchen is on your list of things to renovate next year, here is our pick of the top three trends that will be huge in 2023. 

Sustainable materials

As well as thinking about what you want your kitchen to look like, more people will consider what they want it to be made from too. Sustainable materials will become huge in 2023, as homeowners try to do their bit in the fight against climate change and opt for more durable materials, including wood, stone, and steel. 

Jeppe Christensen, founder of Reform, told Good House Keeping: “The sourcing and recyclability of materials will also be taken into account to a greater extent.”

Hidden pantries

The desire to hide away all your bits and bobs in the kitchen is still going strong, which is why hidden pantries will remain popular next year. You can create a really smart, sleek kitchen having tall pantries that keep everything hidden behind its doors. 

According to Melissa Klink, creative director at Harvey Jones, speaking to Woman And Home: “That wow moment, when you open what looks like a cupboard door to expose a whole secret room behind just never gets old. A crowd-pleaser for sure!”

Butcher-block island

Large, open kitchen-diners are still going strong, particularly when teamed with a central island. Make yours stand out next year by opting for a butcher-block island that looks incredibly stylish, as well as durable. 

Opt for a colour such as walnut, as this warms the room and makes it feel more homely. 

Call our kitchen fitters in Telford today to book your renovation project.

Jeremy Hunt Plans Extension On £1.7m Home

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Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt has come under fire after his plans to extend his £1.7 million London home were reported. 

He has submitted a planning application to Westminster City Council for various works to be done on the four-storey town home in Pimlico, which he bought in 2010. 

Despite applying in September, the Liberal Democrats and Green Party have recently criticised Mr Hunt, saying he is “out of touch” with the public.

Co-leader of the Green Party Adrian Ramsay said: “For many, the current economic crisis has left people choosing whether to heat their homes or put food on the table.”

He added: “But for the richest, life appears to go on in a completely normal fashion.”

The Evening Standard revealed a heritage design and access statement for the application, which stated intentions to increase residential floorspace in the property. This includes making bedrooms bigger, remodelling the internal space, and adapting the lower ground floor to include a larger bedroom. 

The council has not yet made a decision on whether the work can go ahead on the home, which could be worth twice as much now.

According to the Land Registry, the average house price has increased from £174,458 in January 2010 to £295,000 in September 2022, a rate of growth of 69 per cent. Therefore, Mr Hunt’s property could currently be worth as much as £2.87 million. 

This comes after the chancellor announced the Autumn Statement last week, which included plans to increase taxes by £25 billion, and reduce public spending by £30 billion. 

If you want a house extension on your Telford home, give us a call today. 

Most Effective Ways To Reduce Construction Costs

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When working on a construction project, whether that is refitting a kitchen, building an extension or even building a house, the most important determining factor for what you will be able to do is your budget.

Therefore, in order to make the most of your budget, either to do more with the money you have available or have more breathing space in case of any possible contingency, it is important to know how you can efficiently make the most of the funds you have assigned.

Take Your Time Planning

A highly popular quote, often credited to Benjamin Franklin is that “time is money”. This can lead to the fatal error of wanting to get straight to the tangible construction phases of a project and neglecting the vital yet more abstract planning phases.

The more you plan, the more you look at blueprints and the more you consider every aspect of a home before you build, the more focused your construction will be and the less expensive alterations will be in the long run.

After all, changing a blueprint costs a relatively tiny amount compared to changing and destroying completed work if you change your mind.

It also lets you prepare and plan for certain risks, which reduces unexpected costs and will save you money in the long run.

Prioritise Communication

In order for any complex project to be a success, everyone needs to be on the same page, so it is essential to share the latest versions of documents and drawings, have regular correspondence and keep each other aware of any updates that could affect the project.

The closer people can collaborate, the more efficiently they can work and it leads to fewer costly issues that come as a result of miscommunication.

Know Where To Save

One clear way to reduce costs is to opt for lower-cost materials and fixtures, but it is important not to be lured into false economy.

Saving money by not buying a marble countertop and choosing effective but lower-cost appliances is a sensible move to reduce costs, but reducing money on foundational materials or cutting short surveying and planning for cost reasons can lead to issues that are very expensive to fix later.

For more information and advice from builders in Wolverhampton, get in touch today.

What To Know Before Building Your Dream House

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So many people have the same dream of building a home that they can call their own.

Whilst for some this is simply about buying a house as opposed to renting, for others this dream is very much literal, and they will hire the architects, builders, roofers, specialists and every other contractor needed to make their dreams come true.

This is often the logic behind the clients in Grand Designs, but before you get to work building your dream house, here are some considerations to keep in mind.

Always Plan For A Rainy Day

The more complex and ambitious a project you attempt, the greater the chance that something could cause delays or otherwise make your construction more expensive than it otherwise would be.

Adverse weather, the results of a survey, fluctuating costs of building materials, last-minute plan changes and contingency plans for certain aspects of the dream house not initially factored in can add huge amounts to a budget, and it is essential to bear those in mind to avoid cutting back in other areas.

Typically, you should have an extra ten per cent of your construction budget set aside for emergencies that can be drawn out to stop any critical delays.

Do Not Break Ground Until You Are Happy With A Design

The first step is the planning and designing phase, once you are clear about your budget, these plans can take the form not only of traditional blueprints but also three-dimensional models allowing people to visualise how the finished building will appear.

Take full advantage of this planning phase and use them to comb through every possible detail of your design. Modern architectural plans include models you can walk around, which help you visualise what it is like to live there.

It also lets you tweak the plans and the budget until you are happy and can afford it, avoiding the risk of expensive changes later on.

For more information and advice about construction and roofing in Telford, get in touch today.

The Strangest Oversights In Building Design

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When it comes to construction, it always pays to be prepared, working closely with construction experts, architects and surveyors to ensure that an ambitious design works as intended.

Oversights have affected some of the most ambitious and famous buildings in the world, such as how an oversight with construction foundations led to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

However, this is not the only time an oversight has caused a strange or potentially dangerous situation, as the following stories will show.

20 Fenchurch Street

Often known as the Walkie-Talkie, the gigantic bulbous skyscraper that has been described as amongst the worst planning disasters in London’s history was criticised enough for its somewhat ostentatious design.

What made it worse was an oversight with the top-heavy design that caused the building to curve outward and form what was effectively a concave mirror, which during a 2013 heatwave caused light to focus on street level to such an extreme level that cars melted and doormats set on fire.

When asked about the issue, Rafael Vinoly, who had seen a similar issue with the Vdara Hotel project in Las Vegas, noted that he did not expect London to be so sunny.

Stata Centre

The Ray and Maria Stata Centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were designed in an ambitious deconstructionist style, similar to successful buildings like the Imperial War Museum in Trafford or the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Whilst the building was intentionally controversial from a design perspective, the biggest issue it had was that the strange design choices were made with aesthetics in mind over practicality, which led to water damage, cracked masonry, mould, failing drainage and emergency exits blocked during icy winters.

This led to a lawsuit calling the design “deficient” but was ultimately settled out of court once the more major issues had been fixed.

 For more information and advice from builders in Wolverhampton, get in touch today.

6 Wintertime Roof Maintenance Tips

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Winter can be taxing on all of us, our homes included. You may notice extra wear and tear on your roof over the winter months. The harsh conditions can make your roof deteriorate faster than usual so ensuring you stay on top of maintenance is important to keep your roof in good condition. 

Wet weather means your roof may be more prone to leaking. Snow can also cause this so making sure your roof is properly sealed and leak-proof before the rain sets in can help prevent them before they happen. 

Heavy snow can also put additional stress on weaker spots of your roof so removing snow before it builds up may be a good idea to prevent any damage.

Similarly to pavements and roads, when water enters cracks in a roof and then freezes and expands, it can worsen existing damage so it is a good idea to have your roof checked and maintained year-round in preparation for the winter. 

High winds and storms are also prone to happen during the colder months which can cause damage to your roof. Making sure the roof is clear from debris, fixing any existing wind damage and replacing missing or broken roof tiles can help prevent leaks, mold and holes from occurring. 

Even if you take the proper precautions and maintain your roof well, you may find that the wintertime causes damage anyway. You should aim to repair this as soon as possible regardless of severity to ensure that it doesn’t worsen or cause additional issues for you. 

You may want to arrange a professional roof inspection to check for any issues and fix them. While some people may be able to perform maintenance tasks themselves, others may feel more comfortable leaving these jobs in the hands of professionals so they can have peace of mind knowing their roof is winter ready and their home is protected. 


For roof repairs in Wolverhampton, get in touch with Meyrick Builders and Roofers today!

How Home Extensions Can Boost Your Property’s Value

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There are many reasons for having a home extension, from the practical benefits of having another bedroom, extra storage space or a larger kitchen to the additional value it may give a property.

Many people could be seeking house extensions in the West Midlands for either reason, but in the latter case this may be particularly relevant in bolstering property values over the next couple of years.

While the government’s response to the current economic difficulties has undergone a major U-turn, the fact remains that even before the recent turbulent events in the corridors of power the Bank of England was predicting a recession.

All that could bring an end to the recent house price boom, especially with the Bank also expected to raise the base rate further. 

Rightmove recorded that asking prices for homes rose again to a new record of £371,158 in October, but demand fell by 15 per cent, suggesting the tightening mortgage market caused by numerous product withdrawals will stop the market from defying gravity for much longer.  

Householders keen on exploring ways to maintain their property values may find that is exactly what an extension can do. 

According to the Extension Prices website, the biggest increase in value could be 21 per cent for loft conversions, although it can be as little as 12.5 per cent. A garage conversion can be worth up to 20 per cent in an urban area, while conservatories added 5-15 per cent. At the other end of the scale, a larger kitchen only adds four per cent on average.

Of course, the very occasional extension project can bring some unexpected benefits. A couple from Ellerby in North Yorkshire recently pocketed £750,000 after an auction of a collection of gold coins they discovered during a renovation of their kitchen.

The oldest of the coins was 292 years old, meaning that by just eight years they were not old enough to be classed as treasure, which would have made them the property of the crown. The hoard, once belonging to merchants from Hull, thus passed to the couple.