How to handle a flooring man

DirectDebacle

What about this thread?

Last week got a quote from a long established local carpet shop to supply and
fit vinyl as follows.

Bathroom floor 1.2m x 3m
Landing outside said
bathroom 2.1m x 4m

Includes removal of old vinyl and hardboard, and
cutting and installing new hardboard, adhesive, door bars and sealant.


They want £495. I nearly fell off my chair. Am I out of touch? This is for the
cheapest vinyl that they stock (£25 per sq metre inclusive of fitting). I asked
if they could get me a vinyl I've seen online which is £8 psm and they said no.
I asked if they would just fit the vinyl (I'll buy it online) and they said
no.

The only way to reduce the cost would be to have adhesive just
around the edges not all over the vinyl. Then they could knock off £50.


B.

You were quoted £25 p.sq.m. fitted.

12 sq. m. = £300.00 not £495.00.

Is the man coming recommended by the same shop that gave you the above quote? If so expect more bizarre pricing.

Feeling_Blue

Don't forget shops do have to make a profit. Some comments on these threads seem to imply they should all be doing it for nothing.
If you buy vinyl online, the shop wont fit it for you. Why should they, most shops fitters are sub-contracted and the shop makes no money of the fitting.
The shops generally provide much of the fitting work for the fitters, that is why they expect the fitters not to moonlight. If people keep buying online, we will soon have no shops whatsoever.
The comment on the £3.50 sq/m sounds about right.
The comment on the £495, that does sound expensive, but remember if the shops takes the old vinyl away, they will have a charge to dump it either at the local tip or in their own skip.
It seems a lot of people want a professional job, but don't want to pay for it.

Tyler_Du

What part of the country are you in ?

AL1013

Depending on the size of the floor there is normally a minimum charge of around £50 for fitting a vinyl floor. That said if the meterage price is more than this it would go to price per sqm around £3.50 as previously mentioned. If your floors need plying etc there will be extra cost for that and the disposal of old floors would be extra again.


Most shops will source a specific vinyl from the supplier they use if they want the business. I know some shops give out the numbers of the fitter for the customer to liaise directly if you have already got the flooring as most floor layers are self employed. There is no harm in asking.


I don't know where they are getting £495 from but you need to take into account pattern direction, what the width of the vinyl is which could mean that you need more vinyl than 12sqm etc... are they hardboarding or using ply which will be more. Disposal of flooring is quite expensive too. You could keep cost doen by uplifting your old floor & disposing it yourself. Vinyls can also be loose laid but it is normally preferable to stick down to some degree.

bundly

macman wrote: »

Wha sort of weirdo has a minimum charge of '£78.30'?

The only man in Hastings who is listed on the website of approved fitters by the http://www.nicfltd.org.uk

bundly

DirectDebacle wrote: »

You were quoted £25 p.sq.m. fitted.
12 sq. m. = £300.00 not £495.00.
Is the man coming recommended by the same shop that gave you the above quote? If so expect more bizarre pricing.

The £25 did not include adhesives, door bars, etc. That is what took it up to £495.

No the new man is coming from another shop.

bundly

Thanks for all the comments my friends.

The second freelance fitter quoted me £110 less than the first one.

He wants £270 for removal of old, fitting of new and all the new hardboard and accessories. All I have to pay for is the vinyl, which is £100.

So I'm saving about £120 by buying vinyl online and getting it fitted.

The fitter usually works for a local carpet shop, so I guess if he wasn't any good they'd have sacked him by now. I've met him twice now and he seems very smart, efficient, friendly and professional.

Thanks again for the advice and tips etc

B.

bundly

Feeling_Blue wrote: »

If people keep buying online, we will soon have no shops whatsoever.


It seems a lot of people want a professional job, but don't want to pay for it.

Just came back to respond to Blue's two comments above.

Firstly, If people keep buying online, we will soon have no shops whatsoever. This is true of everything (I am thinking Amazon etc.) But the consumer doesn't have any obligation to pay out more just to keep a local shop alive.

Secondly, It seems a lot of people want a professional job, but don't want to pay for it.

It depends what you mean by "pay for it". We all expect to pay for services we buy, but why should that mean we should submit to being ripped off?

There has to be a reasonable upper limit on what one should be paying for a tradesman. If a person who earns only £7 or £10 an hour is being asked to pay a tradesman £50 an hour or £100 an hour, that person has a right to ask whether the tradesman is taking the mick.

B.

ollski

bundly wrote: »

There has to be a reasonable upper limit on what one should be paying for a tradesman. If a person who earns only £7 or £10 an hour is being asked to pay a tradesman £50 an hour or £100 an hour, that person has a right to ask whether the tradesman is taking the mick.

B.

I've read this a couple of times and still don't understand it, what has someones income got to do with a tradesmans cost?. I would suggest a person who earns 7 or 10 quid an hour and isn't happy retrains as a tradesman and enjoys their quarter of a million annual salary you seem to have everyone pegged with.