Kitchen Damaged by Fitters

katykitten

Im having a kitchen make-over and asked the fitter to remove a couple of display cupboards from the wall, one came off fine but the other has left a massive hole in the plaster board. They havent offered to repair the damage and have suggested i get a plasterer in - it looks awful!
Where do i stand, i have contents and buildings insurance but i doubt if these fitters do!
thanks

TomsMom

You are paying the fitter to remove a couple of cupboards. He damaged the wall. He should repair it or pay to have it repaired. It shouldn't be mega money. He should have some sort of insurance to cover this if he wont stump up out of his own pocket.

Have you paid him for the work carried out? If not withold his payment. Tell him you will pay him for removing the cupboards after he has repaired the damage. If he wont repair the damage tell him his payment will be put towards a plasterer doing the job.

katykitten

thanks for that, very reassuring - no money paid up front as yet as when i booked them they said i dont have to pay til im satisfied with the job so i guess that would include fixing any damage!

EliteHeat

What did they do exactly to cause the damage? did they remove the cupboard in a way that was careless or irresponsible?

bryanb

Was removing the cupboards part of the agreed work or an extra?

katykitten

it was agreed that the units would be removed - not an additional request. I didnt observe the guy removing the cupboard but he said that it was glued on and thats why the plasterboard came away! I found out that he is a regular fitter and subcontracted this job out to his friend who gave me the original quote so im not sure who is liable really, however no money will be exchanged until the hole is rectified!

EliteHeat

katykitten wrote: »

it was agreed that the units would be removed - not an additional request. I didnt observe the guy removing the cupboard but he said that it was glued on and thats why the plasterboard came away! I found out that he is a regular fitter and subcontracted this job out to his friend who gave me the original quote so im not sure who is liable really, however no money will be exchanged until the hole is rectified!

If they were glued on it's hardly his fault is it?

You can't expect fitters to pay for damage that was both inevitable and not their fault.

latecomer

While you haven't paid, you have bargaining power. Make sure you dont pay until you are happy as fixing a bit of plaster board shouldn't be an issue for them.

C_Mababejive

you paid to have the cupboards removed but this presumably didnt include "making good" as this may not have been foreseen as a consequence of cupboard removal.

Presumably he exercised due diligence in removing the said cupboards?

katykitten

hmm yes take your point, i guess they didnt have a lot of choice as the cupboard had to come off - cant see how they would have done it any different but i still feel miffed at the hole in my beautiful kitchen wall for xmas - maybe a new way to explain how santa gets into the house!!

EliteHeat

If it had been me taking the cupboard off, I would have stopped as soon as I felt any unexpected resistance and referred it to you. You could then both OK and witness the removal at your own risk. But it really does not sound like it's their fault..