Would you say anything to the builder ?

Sooetie

It would drive me potty

excuse the pun

I would have to have the bad tiling redone and the shower head pole resited in line with the control below - another few new tiles.

My neighbour (a builder) used to be very patient with me when he helped me out - getting things lined up etc.

Unfortunately for me he's so busy now he doesn't have time

Maybe that says it all

mehera

I am a trade professional and personally I sympathise with your builder!

1) You should have been up front and told him you were not happy at the time about the tiling - which is not the worst I have seen by the way, but I can see your point!

2) You were planning to deduct money when you settled up with the builder so he was right in that degree . . .

Programs like 'Cowboy Builders' encourage people to to do things like this!

Legally you have every right for work of a 'reasonable quality and standard.' Changing a whole wall because you don't like the way a couple of tiles are broken could be seen as a little extreme by some - and there is no justification shouting 'Cowboy' because of this . . .

Your builder is a human being like yourself no doubt with a family to support . . .

As far as contract law is concerened you cannot simply deduct money from an invioce becuase you dont like the work - that is inviting someone to take a Court Claim out against you!

If you have issues you should ask the contract to remedy them first and foremost. This is required by contract law as well.

Should you go to court a judge will not look in your favour if you have not given the contractor a chance to remedy any problems.

Should they fail to do so then of course that is another matter!

You have to bare in mind that you have a binding legal contract with your builder.

You cannot just withhold payment or throw him off the job without attempting to fulfil the contract requirements properly.

I am not picking on you, but I am raising a pertinent point about misconceptions people have about 'tradesmen' due to the many programs on tv at this point in time.

You have to be very careful . . . .

DirectDebacle

Hope you are a better tradesman than you are a lawyer.

The Op paid for a professional job and got a DIY one.

If the door wall is otherwise ok then it can be simply rectified by removing the 2 cuts and replacing with one L cut.

Window wall is another matter and as has been said is badly set out and needs re-doing. Some tile trim around the raw edges wouldn't have gone amiss either.

mehera

I am sorry but I think you all are being over the top an extreme over this!

If the OP had a problem with the work they could simply request it being redone.

Did they tell the builder that they did not want any part tiles like in the picture in advance? If they did then that would be one thing.

Calling the job 'DIY' or this man a 'Cowboy' because one tile of tiles is broken unevenly is completely unfair!

Next time pay more to get a dedicated tiler to do the job. Builders are multi-traders after all and are not experts in every trade.

People should be aware of this before they book the job however.

In fact many times hiring separate tradesmen may even save you money as well as get a better quality job.

And I know for a fact that the law regarding contracts like this requires you give the contractor fair opportunity to rectify any issues.

I have just been in Court and won my last claim against a company that failed to give me the opportunity to do rectify the issues they had.

Needless to say the judge threw out all of their deductions and ruled that they pay the contract in full!

A very practical demonstration of the law here I think!

Tyler_Du

When I spoke to the builder and aired my concerns he refused to even acknowledge that a problem even existed, as far as he was concerned it was right as "I've never had any complaints before" and "that's how I've always done it". He was most put out when I said that I'd had a second opinion on the job from a few other people, who agreed with me.

Funny how the tiling in his home (which he agreed to show me) was perfect :wall:

mehera

Often is the way that we dont see eye to eye on these kind of things!

Still we can still come to some kind of agreement whereby everyone is left happy to the best of our ability . .. .

robatwork

mehera wrote: »

I am a trade professional and personally I sympathise with your builder!

1) You should have been up front and told him you were not happy at the time about the tiling - which is not the worst I have seen by the way, but I can see your point!

Don't equivocate. Do you think the tiling around the window is of an acceptable standard for a professional tiler?

Leif

I think the OP has behaved in a reasonable way. The builder could have offered to redo one wall, and replace one tile, but agreed to a deduction instead. And he is right about not deducting until the payment was requested, to avoid the cost of rework being absorbed i.e. charged to the client, under the guise of something else. I suspect that happened to me, when a builder damaged a window, paid for a repair, then charged me the same amount for something else they added on to the bill. (I'd done research to find out how much the window repair was, it was ~£150.)

elsien

mehera wrote: »

Did they tell the builder that they did not want any part tiles like in the picture in advance? If they did then that would be one thing.

Do I give my builder a list in advance of all the mistakes I expect him not to make. Oddly enough, no, that's not generally on the list of things we discuss.

andyhop

mehera wrote: »

Often is the way that we dont see eye to eye on these kind of things!

Still we can still come to some kind of agreement whereby everyone is left happy to the best of our ability . .. .

Ability or inability

I am a tradesman and would not do work in customers house that I wouldn't do in my own.