Kitchen fitting prices - invoice just received - HELP!!

Russe11

Mealybug wrote: »

Hi Russe11, thanks for your comment. What extra work? He didn't do any extra, in fact I have been told as a fitter he should have fitted the extractor fan and the sink which I have had to pay other trades to do. I agree that I foolishly agreed to an hourly rate BUT he led me to believe I would be better off doing so. Leveller2911 I totally agree and would reiterate to anyone looking for a fitter to agree a fixed price and get it in writing. I unfortunately am new to all this and took him at face value. Lesson learnt but having had a number of very good, honest tradespeople who have done an excellent job at a reasonable price I guess I got complacent (or maybe I got lucky depending on how you look at it?!)

What do you mean, "He didn't do any extra", you said you was asking him to come back and correct various things, finish other bits and replace damaged parts.

It is one of those things that all comes down to experience, a good job is dependant on individual expectations and previous experiences.

Often good work can be seen if a bad job is done afterwards.

Bad work than is considered good can often show up when good work is done aside a bad job.

phill99

Russe11 wrote: »

I'm lost here will the poster that are saying he should come back and correct work free of charge, the OP agreed £20 per hour, if any further work is required, that also is chargable at £20 per hour.

.

Don't be silly.

You can't expect to pay someone to rectify their c£ck ups. That would only encourage them to continue to make a right balls up because they know they will get paid to come back. Then they would make more mistakes knowing that they would get paid to come back. Then they would make more mistakes knowing that they would get paid to come back. Then they would make more mistakes knowing that they would get paid to come back. Then they would make more mistakes knowing that they would get paid to come back. Then they would make more mistakes knowing that they would get paid to come back.

Can you see a pattern emerging here?

Mealybug

I'm a bit lost here. I haven't asked him to do any additional work, he is coming back to put right a couple of things that he has AGREED are substandard. Also he estimated 3-4 days and the bill is for 76 hours! He has actually had less work than he originally thought as I decided to replace the wooden breakfast bar with granite which he didn't install and I had the doors factory fitted (at a further cost to me of £180). Surely an experienced fitter could estimate a job better than that? Anyway please no falling out anyone - its only a kitchen!

sparkiedave

from what I've read of the above, and from what I see in the trade, none of this is a surprise, I've had guys try to charge me for "hire of a core drill" after they gave me a quote for installing a boiler, kitchen fitters of "dubious quality" making all sorts of !!!! ups and thinking it's fine.

charging for fuel - not unless he mentioned it with the quote
extra hours - unfortunately you allowed this by not having a fixed price, sounds like the extra hours may have been down to incompetence, but without being there at the time and seeing his work, we can only guess.

standard of work- if you are not happy with the finished kitchen, then you have paid an even higher price as you are now stuck with something which is expensive and sub standard.

tired_dad

You agreed an hourly rate. Learn your lesson and cough up. However, it's fair to allow him to correct all issues before you pay.

If you decide to get someone else in to correct faults then that's your prerogative but you still need to pay his hourly rate as agreed.

You might be feeling raw thinking he asked £1200 for the job as a fixed fee but took longer to do the job on an hourly rate. No one here can comment without seeing the job. Maybe it was a longer job than originally thought. Maybe there were unexpected issues. Who knows. Either way it's irrelevant. You agreed an hourly rate.

Sorry to sound less than sympathetic but you live and learn. I would consider yourself lucky and move on. There are people who have lost a lot more than a few hundred pounds to learn the same lesson.

raycbr

Hi,

Having read through a lot of the messages I thought you may want input from a actual professional kitchen fitter direct.

Obviously, as you may have already learnt, a full and detailed quote with individual prices is always the way to go but in some cases it is hard to put a price if the kitchen is not standard or being installed to square walls and level floors etc.

As you basically agreed to pay per hour then i'm afraid that the overall hours worked are going to be due, but you need him to give you full hours listed on invoice. I personally do not charge for items that have taken me longer than usual as professionally we should all be able to work at relatively the same speed and if i'm having a hard day (brain not engaged or cant think straight on a simple task) then you shouldn't have to pay for that.

Fuel! No way you should pay for that. Regardless of hourly or fixed price he should have stated payment before hand.

I do agree with a few people on this forum 76 hours plus snagging hours is a ridiculous amount of time to install a kitchen (especially without hob and sink) and that if he has cut a plinth beyond futher use or damaged anything then it has to come from his pocket to repair. A plinth usually only costs £20-30 from trade places so I wouldn't worry too much, should take no more than 10 minutes to fit (once tools setup).

For future ref, you should not expect to have to pay for a trademan to drive to site, extensive tea breaks, stand around chatting, setup and pack away (in my case anyway as it takes around an hour a day, too many bloody tools).

One last thing, your kitchen will settle. Doors will drop slightly, drawers may not close properly and worktop may move slightly (only slightly, don't panic). Your fitter should offer to pop back in three months or so and put right, it takes no more than an hour, which includes re siliconing.

Hope I have helped as there seems to be many arguments on here clouding your issue.

trf1960

I agree with what was said above but as an example, my father, who lives in a retirement property, is having his small kitchen refitted with units (carcasses already built) from Benchmarx.

His builder/fitter will be completely gutting the old kitchen (stripping out the old units, removing existing kitchen tiles and flooring) and installing the new units and all fittings. He has a colleague that deals with mitering the wooden worktops and routing the holes for the new sink and hob. We are buying the tiles and grout etc which he will then put up. He will paint the ceilings and remaining walls. We are taking care of the flooring which will more than likely be cushioned flooring. Now remember this is a small kitchen consisting of three cupboards on one wall and a total of 6 floor cupboards and oven housing and he is being charged £1850 labour. Initially I was shocked at the charge but after speaking to others, they all seemed to think that was a good price! We know his work is excellent as he did my father's bathroom from scratch and all were delighted with the end result.

I think you know by now that you should have accepted the original quote he gave but I still think his final quote is okay.

buglawton

When I had a kitchen done (complete gut and refurb with electrics, ready made units), it took 2 men 4 long days. Say 80 hours. They were driving from Wales to Reading daily too. Saw them working, they were intensely busy the entire time.