As loving couple Delia and Mick Cunningham returned from their summer holiday, they were eager to set eyes upon the £34,000 renovation job...
As loving couple Delia and Mick Cunningham returned from their summer holiday, they were eager to set eyes upon the £34,000 renovation job to their home of over three decades.
But they were instead left horrified after finding their house had been trashed by the hired Polish labourers who had thrown booze-fuelled parties, splashed out on Sky Sports pay-per-view programmes and even slept in their bed.
And, to pile even more misery on to the devastated couple, the cowboy builders botched the renovations - which would have allowed the Cunninghams to sell the house and move closer to their Asperger-suffering son.
The couple, both 60, from Hardingstone, Northamptonshire, were disgusted after walking into the pigsty of a kitchen, which had empty vodka bottles strewn across the floor and mouldy food littered across surfaces.
The workmen had also guzzled all of the food from the fridge, kept a stash of cannabis and, according to Mrs Cunningham, urinated on the outside walls of the property.
The mortified homeowner, who has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket, said: 'Obviously we told them to get out straight away. The place was a tip.
Delia and Mick Cunningham were left devastated after they returned home to find rogue workmen had not only botched their £34,000 renovations - but effectively moved in.
They found five bottles of vodka in the kitchen bin with a mixture of mouldy food and packaging - and the fridge had been emptied and restocked with Polish food
The couple were stunned to discover two Polish labourers (pictured) in their bedroom, all their food had been eaten as well as empty bottles of vodka lying around the kitchen
The workmen had guzzled up the entire contents of their fridge and left the resulting mess strewn around the room
'These two labourers, who we think might have been homeless, were living here and they didn't realise we would be back.
'The worst thing is they had been sleeping in our bed. They had used the food out the fridge and cupboard.
'We found cooked food in all the pots and pans and some was stored in the fridge, it was everywhere, even in the garden.
'If that's how they live in our house, imagine what they must live like it their own. They just had no respect for the place. I couldn't believe the audacity of them.
'The two men had even watched pay-per-view items on our Sky subscription. They had disconnected the gas so we had no hot water or heating.
'But they had managed to find two electric heaters and our blankets and had really made themselves at home.
'We knew they had been sleeping on our bed as the pillows were everywhere and the TV was on a different channel to the one we had left it on
The Cunninghams have now been left thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result of the shoddy work to their three-bedroom £250,000 property.
The couple had wanted to carry out large scale structural repairs so they could sell it up and move to Anglesey to be nearer their son.
The couple, who have both just turned 60, had wanted to carry out large scale structural repairs so they could sell it up and move to Anglesey to be nearer their son
Mrs Cunningham said that the builders had used the side of their £250,000 home of 34 years 'as a toilet'
They were quoted £34,600 to replace the brickwork, fit new foundations, replace the guttering and insulate the walls by specialist firm Marek KBI Limited.
When the work began in February this year they were told it would only take five weeks to complete so they went to stay with son Mark, 29, in Anglesey.
To make matters worse a second company then continued to make a hash of the work meaning the pair are still sleeping in a leaking building site seven months on.
Mrs Cunningham, a former store owner, says the couple now face a further £34,000 bill to rectify the mistakes made by the bungling builders.
She said: 'We had wanted to fix up the home and move to be near my son who has Asperger's Syndrome, and his wife, who has a brain injury.
'After looking around online, we were recommended a specialist who quoted us £34,600 for a number of jobs that needed doing in October last year.
'They began in the February - but from the start it was a disaster. From day one they took over.
'They built a barbecue in the garden using our blocks and bricks. People were using the side of the house as a toilet and we found cannabis.
'We went away to Anglesey for four days - but when we came back there was this horrible smell.'
They found five bottles of vodka in the kitchen bin with a mixture of mouldy food and packaging - and the fridge had been emptied and restocked with Polish food.
Mr Cunningham, a Carlsberg factory worker, kicked the building firm off the site halfway through the job, having already paid them some £17,000.
But the work they had done was dire.
Delia and Mick returned to find their home trashed, with bottles and cooked foot littered in the rooms
Asbestos piping was left at the Cunningham's Northamptonshire property by the Polish builders
The brickwork was not level and a gap had appeared in the join between their neighbour's home.
The new wall did not meet the roof and two independent builders assessed the work as being poor.
The driveway was left cracked where ready mix concrete had been delivered.
A whole new drive and garden path is now needed and carpets had to be ripped up because workers trampled cement into them with their boots.
The Cunninghams then enlisted a second company to fix the work botched by KBI Limited, as well as fitting doors and windows and repointing the bricks.
On June 11, Bradford-based company Your Choice quoted them £13,750 to do the work in 16 days.
The couple by this time had been living with boarded-up windows and doors for months.
But the situation has not improved for the couple, who have been married for 35 years, and the house is still nothing short of a building site.
The wrong fascias and guttering were installed by Your Choice, meaning that water is dripping all down the front of the house when it rains.
The front door was measured incorrectly and will have to be replaced or the floor inside the doorway will have to be taken out.
Mrs Cunningham said: 'We decided to go with a national company who sounded like they were the answer to our prayers, but it turns out they have been no better.
'In fact, they have created even more problems.
The Cunninghams also returned from their holiday to find a tin of cannabis discarded in the house
The new wall did not meet the roof and two independent builders assessed the work as being poor
The bungling builders mucked up the brickwork, leaving Delia and Mick devastated
The Cunningham's driveway was left cracked where ready mix concrete had been delivered
Mr Cunningham, a Carlsberg factory worker, kicked the building firm off the site halfway through the job, having already paid them some £17,000. But the work they had done was substandard too
'We were given five different start dates and they eventually started on July 15 and even then you could hear them swearing in the garden and people were phoning him moaning about not being paid.
'He wanted all the money up front but we ended up paying paying him £5,000 - then they disappeared the following week.
'So far we've spent £22,000 and got this mess to show for it.
'A lot of the work they have done has created other works to be done.
'They have fitted items that were not ordered and even after 'resealing' guttering we still have major problems every time it rains
'The walls inside and out become soaked and now we're restricted to living in our bedroom as we its still a building site downstairs.'
Currently, Your Choice has not been clear as to whether they have finished, will be returning to complete the works, or will even tidy up the building materials.
It means the Cunninghams are currently in limbo and having to obtain a third quote from a building contractor to fix the work done by both Your Choice and KBI.
Mrs Cunningham said: 'We've had independent people come out and tell us the whole thing needs tearing down and doing again. But we haven't got another £34,000 to spend.'
Former director of the now-defunct KBI Limited, Marek Buza, said he was 'deeply sorry' for the way workers treated the Cunningham's home.
He claimed that the two men were not sleeping or staying at the house to his knowledge and said he was forced to hire cheap labour and cheap parts to do the job within the budget.
Marek KBI has been reported to Trading Standards and the Cunninghams say they are considering reporting Your Choice as well.
The couple say the stress of the situation has ruined both of their 60th birthdays.
Mike even suffered a blackout weeks ago and fell down the stairs of their home, which doctors put down to stress.
Mrs Cunningham added: 'The whole thing has been a complete nightmare, we wish we had never started.
'We just want to warn other people so the same doesn't happen to them.'
The Cunninghams have now been left thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result of the shoddy work to their three-bedroom £250,000 property
To make matters worse a second company then continued to make a hash of the work meaning the pair are still sleeping in a leaking building site seven months on
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