Organic Talents Construction

Izzy McRae
1 Star
Organic Talents did a full renovation of our house and built a two-story rear extension including kitchen and side return. The project started in September 2019 and was initially expected to take around 3 months. We moved in to an incomplete house in August 2020. The whole process has been very difficult. The key issues were: huge cost overruns, lack of transparency around those costs, poor workmanship and a refusal to take ownership of mistakes, let alone responsibility for paying for and fixing problems. To say we have found Organic Talents challenging to deal with is an understatement. Firstly, the positives. The architect they used was very strong and some aspects of the work such as plastering was done to a very high standard. Plus we have every reason to believe that the initial ‘behind the wall’ work such as replacing joists was done well. They matched new brickwork and roof tiles to the existing structure by using reclaimed materials. It is also worth mentioning that the team continued to work throughout the pandemic, for which we were grateful. However, other aspects of the work were very poor. For instance, there are still steel joists visible above the doors of our rear extension (see photos). Even more seriously, they did significant damage to the stonework of the house. Against our request, they instructed a contractor to cover the stonework with cement and paint over the top of it. A non-porous paint was used and the cement was not colour matched to the stone, so now we have to get this removed and repaired at huge cost. (Organic Talents insist a porous paint was used, but we found a non-porous paint that exactly matches what was used left behind in the basement.) When challenged about this, they said they made the decision to save money. Finally there are other niggling issues, a wonky drainpipe, bad repointing (see photos). None of these have been addressed, despite being raised by us repeatedly, and promises given to fix them. We gave Organic Talent an ultimatum of three months to fix the problems, which we then extended by a further month. We are now 5 months past the ultimatum. In any project of this size, things go wrong and there are cost overruns. However the cost overrun has been almost twice the original quote. It has been impossible to understand the reason for this because the accounts lack specificity and detail. Once, when I asked for detail and was given a verbal breakdown of costs, I found I was being asked to pay twice for paint and £1000 for a garden side door. The second huge issue has been the lack of ownership to resolve the outstanding problems. We first raised the stonework issue in June 2020, but nothing has been done apart from a paltry offer to cover a fraction of the cost, paid directly to the stonemasons. We estimate resolving the stonework problems will run into the tens of thousands. Organic Talents have not only left us to sort the whole thing out ourselves, but have offered to give us around £7k plus VAT compensation. Even then they won’t pay this directly to us, only to the stonemasons, no doubt to claim back the VAT. Taking all of this together, the project has been highly expensive and stressful for us to manage. The lack of ownership and urgency to fix problems has compounded issues arising from the original mistakes. The onus has been on us to chase and chase them to talk about next steps. We’ve only had one visit over the past six months by a tradesperson appointed by them, and that was to look at the repointing. They looked at it and left, having done nothing. Increasingly we have used other tradespeople to address the outstanding issues and complete final parts of the project. Invariably this has been far better executed, more timely and less expensive with far more engaged and responsive client management. The whole experience has really impacted our happiness over the past couple of years, and our enjoyment of our home. We would strongly recommend against using Organic Talents. I will update this review if there are any developments.
Monday 7th March 2022

Caro Mayo
5 Star
Blanca and the team are the best construction team we've worked with. The team are exceptionally professional, clean and polite. We were especially impressed with the level of detail and carpentry work. Having Blanca project manage the project was incredible! She is responsive and creative. She planned and designed areas we hadn't even considered possible. To be able to deal with just one person who covers every aspect of the project was efficient and reassuring. We can't recommend Organic Talents highly enough. We are already planning our next project with them!
Wednesday 30th March 2022

Silvia C.
5 Star
I got in contact with Organic Talents from a friend that recommended the services, back in 2017, since then, they have been in charge of several renovation projects for us and my friends and all of them are happy with the professional services that Blanca and Duda deliver to their clients.
Friday 25th February 2022

George Goode
5 Star
Organic Talents Construction completed a full renovation at my aunts home. The workmanship on everything was outstanding and we could not be happier with the results. What really set Organic Talents Construction from other companies is the careful planning which went into the project before they began which ensured that everything went smoothly and according to schedule. Blanca and Duda as a team are just impeccable. I highly recommend them for any remodelling or home addition you may be contemplating.
Thursday 24th February 2022

Donna Loveday
5 Star
Over the last few years we have instructed Organic Talents Construction to undertake several build projects at our home. These have included a major kitchen extension, refurbishment to the bathroom, the creation of a downstairs cloakroom and exterior decoration. We have always found them to be professional with a skilled and friendly team who always deliver high quality work. They are completely trustworthy and we cannot speak more highly of Blanca, Duda and the OTC team.
Wednesday 27th July 2022