Yahoo News Mum-of-three's 'absolute nightmare' after rogue builder left off skirting boards and damage during £31k job
A mum claims that her life has become a living nightmare because of a builder who ruined her forever home.
Nichola Evans, 56, had hoped that the house would bring a fresh start for her and her family after she got divorced in 2018.
After agreeing a price of £21,370 with the builder for the work Nichola, from Swansea, Wales, agreed to move out into a rented house with the hope that the work would only take 14 weeks.
But the dream turned into a disaster for the mum-of-three when she found out that the house had not been completed - after the cost of the project spiralled to £31,000.
Nichola, who now has to sleep on the sofa at her daughter's house, said: "It's been an absolute nightmare, my two dogs and I are living with my daughter in her two bedroom house.
"I've had break downs, the stress has been terrible, I've had sleepless nights.
"I've lost my cool with the kids because of the stress, when something like this you hurt the one's you love.
"The builder has had total disregard for what he's done, I can't put it into words really."
Nichola used inheritance money from her parents to transform the house into a new family home and budgeted £25,000 to renovate it.
She selected a builder who told her the work would cost £21,370 and moved into rented accommodation.
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Nichola added: "He claimed he could do a 60 minute makeover and I'd come back into the house and it would be done. He also said I wouldn't need to worry and that he'd deal with all the contractors and manage everything.”
The work began in February and at the end of the first week Nichola made the first payment of £5,000.
At the beginning of April Nichola claims things started to go wrong.
When she asked for an update on the work with the expectation that she would soon be able to move in she was told repeatedly that more time was needed.
She alleges that despite paying money for work to be done on the property much of it was never completed and what work took place was of poor quality.
The costs for the project also increased after the builder informed Nichola that the house had severe damp and required rewiring, increasing the overall cost to £31,000.
Nichola estimates that £20,000 of damage has been caused in the house from the initial building work.
She is currently raising £10,000 on GoFundMe to fund the cost of another builder coming into the house and completing the work so she and her family can finally move in.
Nichola's daughter, Katy, 27, said: "It's been a nightmare, at first it was exciting for my mum as it was a fresh start, but then it got stressful as we noticed what was happening and then he started taking us for mugs.
"It's put a lot of strain on us all, he's disrespected us and taken us for fools.
