Where a house is being worked on floor by floor, most of the damage we are called to fix later happened during the build and to the parts nobody was working on. It is entirely avoidable, and it is worth knowing what to protect before the work starts rather than repairing it afterwards.
What gets damaged during somebody else's work
The pattern is consistent: glass scratched by material carried past it, window frames dented on a staircase, mesh torn, and handles broken by doors being held open with a brick.
None of it happens to the floor being rebuilt, because that is being replaced anyway.
So protecting the finished parts of the house — the stair, the doors on the route in, the windows near where material is stacked — is worth an hour at the start. It costs far less than the repairs, and by the time they are noticed nobody can say who did it.
Cement and construction dust on finished glass
Cement dust settling on glass is not ordinary dirt. Cement is alkaline, and left on glass through rain and sun it etches the surface permanently.
Once etched, no cleaning recovers it and the pane has to be replaced.
So glass anywhere near active building work should be covered, not just cleaned occasionally. On a house being rebuilt in stages that means the finished floors' windows, which is exactly what nobody thinks to cover because that floor is not being worked on.
Checking the untouched floors afterwards
When a floor is finished, the natural thing is to look at the new work, and the damage is elsewhere.
So it is worth walking the rest of the house specifically — every window that faced the work, the stair, and the doors on the route materials took.
We are happy to do that as part of a visit. Finding a scratched pane or a dented frame while the builder is still on site is a completely different conversation from finding it six months later.
How the job works
- Tell us about the jobSend a few photos, rough sizes and what you need. Use WhatsApp or the form. For a repair, a short video of the door moving helps a lot.
- We call you back in about 2 minutesWe confirm what you need and a time to visit. Where we can, we give you a rough price on the call.
- We come and measureWe measure the opening and check the walls, floor and ceiling around it. Anything made to size is made to these measurements, so they must be right.
- You get a written priceIt lists each item, with GST as its own line. If anything about the job changes, we tell you before we go ahead.
- We fit itYou approve the price and pay the advance. Our own team fits the work, checks that every door and window opens and closes properly, and clears up. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days.
