Would you expect work men to clean up afterwards?

JustAnotherSaver

Having had 2 jobs finished recently i wondered what other peoples opinions were.
When i do a job for someone, i leave things as i found them as best i can. My mum had someone out fitting a new wood burner last year. Messy job but once he'd done the room was spotless. Heard he was a tidy worker & he didn't disappoint.

Of the 2 jobs we've had done, i was handling one with the wife the other. The one i had arranged was the drive & the chap was very tidy. Took away all his rubbish. The hedge that was ripped out - gone. The soil that was dug up - gone. Everything gone. All that's left is a nice new drive.

The wife sorted out getting walls & ceiling plastered.

The job itself looks good. I'm happy with the finish. There's just a few things i'm not keen on myself & if i'd have been handling it i wonder if i'd have been on the phone to say...

* See the photo i'll put at the bottom. Big chunks of hardened plaster, beading, bags of rubbish, empty bags of plaster, broken skirting, ceiling paper. We didn't discuss the removal with them. We made the mistake of thinking they'd take it - they didn't. I also didn't discuss removal with the drive way chap, but he didn't leave us a ripped up hedge or tons & tons of soil (thankfully).

* In plastering the wall they removed (& broke) the telephone master socket. I'm wondering if the wiring will also be busted. I hope not but the socket is.

* In doing the ceiling they seem to have bashed a section of the wall which now isn't smooth.

* Dirt trodden into the carpeting. Is the onus on the homeowner to lay something down or should the workmen? Hopefully this will wet-vac out, but as we don't have one we'll need to hire one - cost. The wife asked her workmates who were of the opinion the work men should lay something down - sort of like your mechanic does with your car seat.

* They ripped off some wallpaper that the wife had purposely left as she was going to paint it. As a result we're not too sure how to approach rectifying this now as i believe it'll look crap painted as it is due to the ripping.

* We had an interior door boarded up. The wife said that when removing the door, there's now a section that's splitting. She said she was able to remove & refit it perfectly fine. I haven't seen this myself so i don't know how bad (or not) it is.

They're not the cheapest & i just thought they could've removed their rubbish. It looks like we will (somehow) have to remove it, but it's too much & to messy for the cars. God knows.

As i say, their actual work looks fine, but what's gone on around that, i'm not too happy with. Maybe we're unrealistic. These are the first jobs we've had done so maybe this is how it is. Just that i'm totally happy with the all round results of the drive in terms of what we're left with at the end, but the plastering - i'm thinking, i like the plastering, but what's been left here & here i'm not so happy with.

duchy

The contractor and his wife work as a team .......or "The wife" means the woman who is married to YOU ?

JustAnotherSaver

duchy wrote: »

The contractor and his wife work as a team .......or "The wife" means the woman who is married to YOU ?

Hmm, maybe i should've asked a different question, such as what did you do today, then maybe you would've said whether you'd expect someone to clean up, since asking if you'd expect someone to clean up didn't work for you?

So less of the nitpicking ... are you able to respond to the actual question?

duchy

Yes I could .....but as you were so rude I'm not going to waste my pearls of wisdom on the ears (or should that be eyes) of swine.

Have a nice day !

ky822000

Hmmm, what an 'unusual' response from your previous poster - people are usually so helpful on here...

In response to your question, YES, I would expect a tradesman to clean up after himself, particularly when working inside a property.

Lots of my friends are various trades people and would be horrified at that mess!

Firstly, was the person (people) who did the job the ones that did the quote? You may find that they sent an apprentice or subcontracted, but I would be speaking to the owner in the first instance because they may not be aware of this.

If the job was done by the owner of the company, then you firstly need to get them back to tidy up, and I would be withholding some money until it was sorted to my satisfaction (not all of it, because they will have incurred expenses and you don't want to p*ss them off).

Secondly, any reputable tradesman will have insurance against any damage they cause so I would be asking them about that when I pointed out the telephone socket and general damage.

A small note for the future - be at home until you know your tradesmen; a steady stream of tea and the odd bacon sandwich is always gratefully received and rarely interpreted as an opportunity to keep an eye on the work being done

muckybutt

Hell that's a right mess !

As a contractor myself I always clear up after myself and often get told I can go and clean up again.

Goes without saying that if you make a mess you clear it up, you put dust sheets down as required or even seal off rooms if needs be, carpet protection film if needed and so on.

As for your situation I certainly wouldn't be cleaning the carpet, that is for him or the contractor to sort out and at their expence as well as getting shut of the c**p they have left behind.

JustAnotherSaver

ky822000 wrote: »

Hmmm, what an 'unusual' response from your previous poster - people are usually so helpful on here...

True. Not sure where my original post was rude either tbh. I asked a question & didn't get an answer. I suppose there are still those around who get great enjoyment out of doing things such as correcting the elder generation when they refer to "taping" something on their Sky+ for e.g.

Hey ho...on we go...

In response to your question, YES, I would expect a tradesman to clean up after himself, particularly when working inside a property.

Lots of my friends are various trades people and would be horrified at that mess!

I thought so myself but as we've not really had any work done before, i had nothing to go off.

The property is empty & the living room is just down to the wooden floorboards, but the hall is carpeted & they've trodden dirt all over that & up the stairs. I tried hoovering it out which got the majority of it out but it's still a dusty colour. It needs a wet vac for sure now.

Firstly, was the person (people) who did the job the ones that did the quote? You may find that they sent an apprentice or subcontracted, but I would be speaking to the owner in the first instance because they may not be aware of this.

It's a family firm. While the one who did the quote didn't do the work, he was on site initially & as said, it's just one family.

If the job was done by the owner of the company, then you firstly need to get them back to tidy up, and I would be withholding some money until it was sorted to my satisfaction (not all of it, because they will have incurred expenses and you don't want to p*ss them off).

I would do this myself (withhold some)
The thing is, the wife (or my wife, depending on if the term "the wife" offends you?? It's just how i speak...) said that she was dealing with these guys & she's left me to deal with the drive way guy, so all the correspondence has been like that - her with them & me with the drive way guy. I've said to her before about things i'd be saying to them & she just tells me she doesn't want to as she doesn't feel comfortable.
I know she's going to go pay them up in full & as such they'll have no reason to come out & clean up then. If they do it'll just be out of goodness.

Secondly, any reputable tradesman will have insurance against any damage they cause so I would be asking them about that when I pointed out the telephone socket and general damage.

Fair point. I understand they needed to remove the socket, but it's in bits, some bits broken & the wiring looks like it's clinging on for dear life. We had an electrician out for another job & she looked at that & said what on earth have they done.

A small note for the future - be at home until you know your tradesmen; a steady stream of tea and the odd bacon sandwich is always gratefully received and rarely interpreted as an opportunity to keep an eye on the work being done

It would be preferred, believe me. Unfortunately if we were stopping at home while this was being done we would've used 13 of our 20 days annual leave & there's more work to be done, aside from my employer doesn't like you booking more than 5 in a row without special request.

muckybutt wrote: »

Hell that's a right mess !

As a contractor myself I always clear up after myself and often get told I can go and clean up again.

Goes without saying that if you make a mess you clear it up, you put dust sheets down as required or even seal off rooms if needs be, carpet protection film if needed and so on.

As for your situation I certainly wouldn't be cleaning the carpet, that is for him or the contractor to sort out and at their expence as well as getting shut of the c**p they have left behind.

I don't mind sorting a bit out afterwards. Wiping things down & such, but there's a lot to do really. They don't know, but i have access to an Iveco van which could take that rubbish to the tip (no idea if you have to pay). I say i have access - again it'd be a favour asked of my employer & i hate asking favours.

As for the bold red - that reminded me, the kitchen is absolutely covered in dust from top to bottom. It's everywhere - all over the worktop, all over the sink, all over the cooker & around the rings, on top of the cupboards which will be a nightmare to clean, it's literally EVERYWHERE.
This happened a few days in to them plastering the walls. I don't know what was done to make it so dusty but hell fire, it's really dusty!!! That's going to take a good few buckets of water & a lot of elbow grease, patience & plenty of swearing!!
Having not seen what caused it & having no idea about the job myself, i don't know if it was avoidable. If not then oh well. If it was then that's pretty poor.

trollopscarletwoman

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

* In plastering the wall they removed (& broke) the telephone master socket. I'm wondering if the wiring will also be busted. I hope not but the socket is.

* .

* . God knows.

On the telephone thing I very much doubt that the wiring has been damaged. On my STANDARD bt line only two colours of wire actually do anything-orange and white.

The voltage is very low. However, if forums are anything to go by re-instatement of master sockets is legally a bt job (if bt) and they will charge £100+ probably nearer the £150 for 15 minutes work.

JustAnotherSaver

I found some more photos on my phone of what i'm on about...

This is the carpeting in the hall...



It looks like it's been worn away almost. I've hoovered that since but it's not how it should be. The far right & far left patches are pretty much what it's supposed to look like, not the big piece in the centre.
We were debating renewing the carpet, but that's not the point. We were debating it - as in undecided.

It may look like nothing in the photo, but a standard hoover isn't taking that back to how it was beforehand.



That's the wallpaper they ripped off while plastering the wall you see.
The wife cleared the paper on the wall requiring plastering but purposely left the paper on the wall that'd been ripped. Neither of us are a fan of that paper, so she wanted to paint it.

I'm no expert, but i'd say that now can't be painted because it'll surely show through & stand out, as it isn't even. It doesn't run to the edge, but runs around the edge, so to take it off you're going to have to take a lot off & the last time we stripped that paper it lifted the plaster.

So short of re-papering i'm not too sure what can be done. It can't even be left, which would've originally been an option, as it looks bloody ridiculous now.

Not too sure why it needed ripping. Surely it can't be to work the plaster into the edge, as then they would've needed to rip the ceiling paper off as well when working into that edge.

Not impressed by that one at all.

JustAnotherSaver

trollopscarletwoman wrote: »

On the telephone thing I very much doubt that the wiring has been damaged. On my STANDARD bt line only two colours of wire actually do anything-orange and white.

The voltage is very low. However, if forums are anything to go by re-instatement of master sockets is legally a bt job (if bt) and they will charge £100+ probably nearer the £150 for 15 minutes work.

Yeah i thought it may be ok as i thought i remembered phone wiring being flimsy stuff. Even still, not the point really (though i appreciate what you're saying).

Yeah i read that about BT. Bit of a rip off.

Could be an excuse to fit an upgraded socket - one with a connection for broadband into the router.

DRP

Plastering creates a huge amount of dust.

Our plasterer was really good about sealing doors and laying down sheets. They also left no waste. Even so the hall outside the plastered rooms had a thin layer everywhere - which I don't blame them for as it is inevitable to a degree.

I would certainly be ringing them before you/the wife pay them to let them know you're disappointed and will be retaining a part of their payment until it's sorted. That way, your wife doesn't have to have any awkward conversations, she just pays them the 90% (or whatever you've agreed).