A 90-year-old pensioner faces having to knock down and rebuild her £36,000 bedroom extension after a builder made it 12 inches too small, she has claimed. Mary Nelson used part of her life savings to have a ground-floor bedroom installed at her home in a bid to drastically improve her standard of living. However, she now faces having to pay another £30,000 to have the building knocked down, after claiming the builder made it so small that she can't fit a bed inside.
A 90-year-old pensioner faces having to knock down and rebuild her £36,000 bedroom extension after a builder made it 12 inches too small, she has claimed.
Mary Nelson used part of her life savings to have a ground-floor bedroom installed at her home in a bid to drastically improve her standard of living. However, she now faces having to pay another £30,000 to have the building knocked down, after claiming the builder made it so small that she can't fit a bed inside.
The retired midwife suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and, because she doesn't have a stair lift, said it can be 'painfully difficult' for her to climb up the stairs to bed every night. Ms Nelson, from Leeds, said she planned to have a 5x3metre extension built, including a functioning wet room. But she claims she has been left with a 5x2.7metre room which is 12 inches too small to fit a bed, after the builder 'walked off' the job in October.
The builder denied all of Ms Nelson's claims, calling them 'inaccurate' and saying it was a 'great shame' to have to leave a client 'dissatisfied'. He also claimed the drawings he was given by Ms Nelson 'didn't measure 3metres wide' and that he built it 'to the correct width', adding that he walked off the job after his 'staff faced abuse'.
Ms Nelson's extension had been intended to act as a bedroom so she wouldn't have to climb the stairs every night. Ms Nelson, however, said she has been left 'out of pocket' and facing another similar bill to have the building knocked down and replaced. She believes she was targeted because of her age, saying: 'I feel like I have been taken advantage of because of my age - it has happened before.
'The stress has been unbelievable, I was kept in hospital for 11 days due to my blood pressure being really high. 'I'm angered by what has happened. ' Ms Nelson said she first heard from the builder in July 2024, when she submitted plans for planning permission, though she turned him down at the time.
In March 2025, she took him on after contacting several builders and agreed £36,150 for the four-week job to start on June 8, before handing over a £4,000 deposit. She said: 'He was very charming, polite, and kind.
'He seemed very positive and was great at explaining the project to my family and me, letting them know I was in safe hands. ' Ms Nelson said she paid him £16,000 in total in June when the work began. The pensioner said it started well after they successfully knocked down her conservatory, but after they had finished the footing process, Ms Nelson said she had a 'gut feeling' it was too small.
'I have a similarly sized bedroom upstairs in my house, and from just looking at the size of the space, it just looked smaller,' she said. The builder denies the claim.
Ms Nelson said the builder 'walked off' the site, which had problems including a leaky roof and mortar gaps over the industry standard Ms Nelson said she now faces paying another hefty bill to have the extension knocked down and rebuilt Ms Nelson also said the completed brickwork was 'shoddy', with some areas having one-inch (25mm) mortar gaps that were 15mm bigger than the industry standard. She added that the roof has since leaked after a number of the tiles became loose.
The builder denies both the claims, adding that the roof was 'water tight' while he was on site. He then got started on the wet room, which Ms Nelson says he also 'disregarded', instead installing a shower cubicle. The builder said his quotations did not include a wet room and that it wasn't mentioned in their meetings and it would have 'significantly' increased the cost of the job.
He also said there wasn't enough space to fit a disabled toilet, and that 'no grab handles were priced during the quoting process'. Ms Nelson said: 'The whole thing has been a disaster.
'I had the option of a stair lift or the new room, and now I wish I had gone with the lift. ' Ms Nelson had only paid the builder £33,490 before he left the job in October when the project had run two months over schedule, allowing her to keep the remaining money so that another builder could do work on it. The builder claimed the delays were caused by 'weather, materials delays, and late payments'.
Samaritan builder Graham Nash, who has helped more than 500 people who were victims of cowboy builders, advised Ms Nelson that the safest option would be for her to 'knock it down and have it rebuilt'. Mr Nash, a Leeds-based builder who has helped victims recover £650,000 from rogue builders, offered to complete the works for Ms Nelson for £30,000 - which would just cover materials and not labour.
Mr Nash, who owns Pinnacle builders and won the SGS Local Hero Award, calls out cowboy builders on social media and helps affected homeowners
Mary Nelson Pensioner Bedroom Extension Builder 12 Inches Too Small £30 000 Bill
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