Would you pay extra...?

yumyums

We're having a new bathroom done by a fitter who has organised all the trades, design and ordering of tiles.

The project is in its final stages and we've just had a message to say they've run out of tiles. When the tiles were ordered we were told that he got 15% extra so we're really surprised that we now need hundreds of pounds worth of extra tiles (natural stone so quite expensive). The contractor has already gone ahead and ordered the extras.

What would you do in this situation, pay for the additional stone or expect the contractor to cover it as his calculation must have been way off in the first place?

Thanks for any opinions

StuC75

sounds a bit iffy to me.. Was all stock delivered to site?

Once had it where I bought tiles and found they had supplied smaller dimension tiles (but same qty) so was nearly short on the order (in terms of m2 provided). Fortunately I had my receipt where it had the sizes \ & volume required so could chase up a refund as not supplied correctly..

Have you seen any of the invoices? sounds like someone could be taking a little kick back out of this?

phill99

StuC75 wrote: »

sounds a bit iffy to me.. Was all stock delivered to site?

Once had it where I bought tiles and found they had supplied smaller dimension tiles (but same qty) so was nearly short on the order (in terms of m2 provided). Fortunately I had my receipt where it had the sizes \ & volume required so could chase up a refund as not supplied correctly..

Have you seen any of the invoices? sounds like someone could be taking a little kick back out of this?

Why do people automatically think that tradesmen are on the take? It's absolutely outrageous and people always jump to the worst inclusions.

It may be that the tiles had a high level of wastage due to awkward cuts.

If they are travertine, they will be soft and prone to breakages while being transported.

How bloody stupid to say someone is on a kickback. Most tradesmen just want to do a decent days work for a decent pay rate so that they build a reputation to get more work.

StuC75

In my case yes, the shop when asked to suppply a certain sized tile, supplied tiles that were much smaller.
The fitter (who was without blame in all this), measured the kitchen as x by y - less for odd shape + for spare, using tiles that were say 40cm by 40cm needed Z number of tiles. The shop in question supplied a smaller size option of tile that was say 30 by 30 (and cheaper per unit) - these were fitted and only had handfull left left over (when expecting say over 10% spare).

A trip back to the shop with the tiles left and my invoice, and a length conversation got the difference refunded. I could sense that they knew exactly what had happened.

Jaynne

I think you need to find out why they've run out of tiles, has the order been messed up and less delivered or as suggested the wrong size been sent. Alternatively is the room an awkward shape and that not been taken account of or has the guy simply not calculated it right in the first place.

If the guy has given you a quote to supply and fit and given you a price for the bathroom in x tile fully done then I'd say that he should be taking the hit for this as its his screwup and you're paying for the job - he knew in advance all the measurements and nothing has changed. If he's just fitting and told you how many tiles to buy but screwed up sadly that's probably on you though you could try and get a bit out of him.

keystone

You need 15% extra at the very beginning to allow for cuts and wastage. Thats a minimum. Sometimes it doesn't work out and you have to go and get some more. Your assertation, OP, that his calculation was way off in the first place sounds incorrect. To put it in context how many extra boxes has he had to order and what area does that represent in comparison with the total area to be tiled?

Cheers

keystone

StuC75 wrote: »

The fitter (who was without blame in all this)

Don't agree. His mistake was to tell you the number of tils to get and not the area required.

A trip back to the shop with the tiles left and my invoice, and a length conversation got the difference refunded. I could sense that they knew exactly what had happened.

Shop will normally take back whole boxes without any quibble. Its when you try and return ones and twos and part boxes they get offish - quite rightly. They can't resell them. In an event you should keep some back in your garage for the time when one of the laid tiles gets broken and you have no other way of replacing it.

Cheers

StuC75

keystone wrote: »

Don't agree. His mistake was to tell you the number of tils to get and not the area required.

Shop will normally take back whole boxes without any quibble. Its when you try and return ones and twos and part boxes they get offish - quite rightly. They can't resell them. In an event you should keep some back in your garage for the time when one of the laid tiles gets broken and you have no other way of replacing it.

Cheers

Pedantics aside my fitter quoted the number of tiles needed, the size of the tiles , and the coverage of those tiles.

The company inquestion (not to name names but think All Murray) invoiced that but actually supplied a smaller size tiles , a size they also sold that was cheaper than what was invoiced. The tiles were slate, and they sold them separately - not as a pack of ten,, so was perfectly fine to return singles.

The house has since been sold, so not my problem if breaks, nor did I have a garage at the time to store them in, although half a dozen tiles have been left behind the kickerboard on the floor (or whatever it is called).

So Sometimes mistakes are made in what is supplied..

keystone

All of which information would have completely modified my post in response to yours. Can only respond to what people actually write. So thanks for clearing it up.

Cheers

StuC75

No problem, didnt feel the need to give the full specifics in the earlier post. Intrigued to hear back from the OP re just how short the tiler is ..

yumyums

keystone wrote: »

You need 15% extra at the very beginning to allow for cuts and wastage. Thats a minimum. Sometimes it doesn't work out and you have to go and get some more. Your assertation, OP, that his calculation was way off in the first place sounds incorrect. To put it in context how many extra boxes has he had to order and what area does that represent in comparison with the total area to be tiled?

Cheers

The original order included an allowance for 15% extra. The correct size and number of tiles was delivered. They're big 600x600 ones and 10 extra have been ordered which seems a lot given we had 33 tiles to begin with.