Rachel M. needed the 22-metre front boundary wall of her village-house property near Varna rebuilt from scratch. The communist-era breeze-block wall had been patched for years and was past patching. Georgi Kovachev was introduced through fixbg.uk. This is the full record.
Demolish existing 22-metre breeze-block boundary wall, remove all rubble from site. Dig new strip foundation to 600mm depth. Pour reinforced concrete strip. Rebuild wall in 215mm blockwork with stone-faced outer skin to match neighbouring properties. Height 1.8 metres from ground level. One gate pier at east end, 450 × 450mm, with ironmongery set in for customer’s gate (gate supplied separately by customer). Point all joints. Clean site on completion.
Introduction and quote accepted. Rachel found Georgi through fixbg.uk. The enquiry went in on 10 March; Georgi visited the site on 12 March, quoted on 13 March, and Rachel accepted on 14 March. 30% deposit (EUR 798) paid the same day. Start date agreed: Monday 16 March. Written scope signed by both parties.
Demolition. Old wall demolished and rubble loaded out over two days. The breeze-block wall came apart easily; the foundation was worse than expected (no reinforcement, poured directly on topsoil). All rubble removed from site by end of day 2.
Buried drain pipe found. Georgi’s team began digging the foundation trench and at 600mm depth found a clay drain pipe running directly under the proposed wall line for approximately 3 metres. The pipe was live (connecting a rainwater downpipe to a soakaway at the east end of the property).
Georgi stopped work at 11:00, photographed the pipe in situ, and called Rachel directly. He explained the situation, confirmed that building over the pipe was not acceptable (it would restrict future maintenance access and could cause subsidence if the pipe failed), and proposed a 3-metre diversion to move the pipe clear of the wall line. Written WhatsApp message followed confirming the scope: EUR 180 for the diversion, including materials and two additional labour-hours. Rachel confirmed in writing the same day.
Resolved: in writing, same day · +€180Drain diversion and foundations. Drain pipe diverted on day 4, new run bedded in pea gravel and tested. Foundation trench completed in full on day 4. Formwork set on day 4 afternoon; concrete poured on day 5 morning, left to cure over the weekend.
Blockwork rising. Work resumed Monday 24 March. Courses going up steadily, two rows per day at this stage. The inner blockwork skin and stone-faced outer skin laid together. Rachel visited the site on day 10 and photographed the progress.
Wall to full height. Remaining courses completed. The gate pier at the east end built out to 450 × 450mm, ironmongery (two heavy-duty weld-on hinges and a keep plate) set in the block at the agreed heights. Gate pier finished four courses above wall height with a wider coping stone to cap it properly.
Pointing and coping. All stone joints pointed in a pale buff mortar to match the stone face. Concrete coping stones laid along the full 22-metre run and pointed. Coping stones on the gate pier set with a slight weathering fall to shed rain. Site cleaned throughout.
Completion and handover. Final clean of site. Georgi walked the wall with Rachel, checked every joint and the gate pier ironmongery. All remaining 70% of agreed payment (EUR 1,862) plus the variation (EUR 180) invoiced and paid same day. Total: EUR 2,840.
The EUR 180 addition was for a genuine unforeseeable event: a buried drain pipe that neither party knew about. It was confirmed in writing before any additional work was done. The extra two days of duration followed directly from the same cause. Rachel confirmed in the customer review that Georgi could have built over the pipe without her knowledge and chose not to.
“Georgi rebuilt our 22-metre front wall from scratch. He found a drain pipe running under the line on day three and rang us immediately rather than building over it. Everything was confirmed in writing before he touched it. The finished wall looks excellent and the site was spotless on the last day. Very professional from start to finish. The two extra days and the EUR 180 addition were completely understandable given what he found. If anything, it is a good sign that he stopped and called rather than just pouring concrete on top of the problem.”
Introduced through fixbg.ukThe drain pipe variation is a useful illustration of how a well-run job handles an unforeseeable event. The pipe was not visible before demolition. The right response, which Georgi gave, is: stop, photograph, call the customer, confirm in writing, price it, get agreement before doing anything.
A less careful tradesman builds over it and says nothing. The customer finds out later, either when the pipe fails or when they try to do maintenance and discover a wall sitting on it. The cost at that point is significantly more than EUR 180.
No adjustment to Georgi’s profile as a result of this journal. Both the variation and the two-day delay were reasonable consequences of a genuine unforeseen circumstance, handled correctly.