A substandard job or unreasonable customer?
I had Peter James Novell of Novell Property and Gardens Ltd, Company Number: NI700786, from Downpatrick, County Down, working on a garden make over at my home from 23rd Feb 2026 to 21st Mar 2026.
It actually started on 24 Oct 2025 when both the front and back gardens were treated with pet friendly weed killer (£75) that worked really well. Peter was back on 10 Jan to discuss what I wanted for both the front and back gardens. On 11 Jan I received a written quote and contract by email. On the 12 Jan I paid £2000, a further £1300 was paid on 13 Mar.
Work commenced on 23 Feb. It wasn't a stay until it's finished job, it was a couple of days a week. Over the course of 4 weeks quite a few things occurred while Peter Novell was working at my property. The builders skip as quoted for £350 in the contract wasn't brought to site, waste was removed in a van and also placed in my bins. A can of paint with an unsecured lid was left where it caused an accident to a visiting delivery driver. My hose pipe spray gun was broken and replaced by one of their own. Old nails in the fence and gates weren't removed, they were painted over. Sharp tacks that remained after a piece of mesh had been removed from the bottom of the gate, stabbed my small dog in the face, thankfully it wasn't a serious injury. New fence slats were added to an existing frame to separate the bin area from the garden. The new wood wasn't sanded down before painting as it's rough to the touch. The bin area was to be cleared, levelled and paved, yet I had to remove bits of old brick, stones and wood that had been left in one corner at the base of the tree. I had to ask for the painting in the bin area to be finished. I had to ask that the membrane under the decorative stones be trimmed as it was left covering a drain. There is still a lot of membrane visable. The membrane is only held down by the stones, no areas have been pegged down. There is hardened grouting along the edges of the new lawn and in the decorative stones. An edging stone is chipped. A gardener who came to cut the grass said for a newly laid lawn there's a lot of bumps and dips.
With the patio, type 1 sub-base was stated in the contract, but my old stones that had been there for 15+ years were used. These stones would have been mixed with dirt, soil, moss, dead weeds, bird droppings and probably dog excrement. I stood and watched Peter shovelling my stones from the pile on my path (where they had been kept since they were lifted) onto the area that was to be the patio, then compacted for the base. My stones were also compacted under the membrane of the new decorative stones. He claims that aggregate was mixed with my top better stones and the patio is laid on a solid foundation. At no time did I see any of my stones being cleaned or mixed with anything.
With the finished patio: it hasn't been measured correctly, the outer borders aren't even, the patio isn't square. He didn't use spacers, there are uneven gaps between the slabs. There are chips on the edge, corner and centre of slabs. There is black print around the edges of 2 slabs. There are concrete stains on the edgeing stones. After it rains water remains on areas that don't correspond with the direction of the gradient fall he stated.
He was due to come on the 10 Apr to fix the chips, remove the print on the slabs, check why water would be lying, and replace a chipped edging stone. He never showed up.
I then contacted Peter with a full list of all my concerns that had occurred over the 4 weeks. He offered a goodwill gesture of £412 to contribute towards the purchase of new slabs, without admission of liability. I declined. I have no way of removing and replacing the slabs. I was advised not to accept any gesture of goodwill without admission of liability, and not to let anyone else work on the patio.
I asked Peter how his work was covered regarding guarantees/liability. He stated that there was no guarantee beyond my statutory rights, and since I declined his gesture of goodwill he would not be offering any further works, guarantees, or financial contributions.
On the 13 Apr I noticed I had been blocked from his Facebook and Instagram pages.
I did not have a budget limit. I did not ask for a rush job or to cut corners. Everything looks fine from a distance, but not so much close up. There was absolutely no care or attention to detail. If you decide to use Peter Novell and his team, it would be beneficial to get some clarification on guarantees or liability in your contract, because if there are any faults you may be offered a gesture of goodwill to contribute to rectifying the issues yourself without any admission of liability.
UPDATE: On 14 May I received a partial refund of £1300 without admission of liability if I agreed not to continue with legal action.
I have a lengthy review on my Facebook page that contains a lot more detail, photos and videos.