URGENT ADVICE required - builder has made a bodge job of my bathroom refit.

Doozergirl

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

Renovating for 17 years means nothing here and as for being on a forum board again that matters not here to.

Basically very simple process here as to my post :-

OP posted a problem by a tradesman that tiled the bathroom and I liked this work against my kitchen being tiled (You see the pattern here don't you, Two jobs of a similar nature) So with this in mind me posting my experience is as a valid as anyone else's even if they claim superiority over my situation/experience.

I stand by what I said to tile this bathroom in full with floor and walls is a easy quick job that would take a decent tradesman no more than 5 days maximum, You may add a extra day to strip back the previous bodge job done here, Depending upon area and expertise required this work could be done at easy £200.00 a day and that is a good level of work.

Well, we can agree on the amount of time a tiling job like this should take. But this is a *bathroom refit*, not a tiling job and I was talking about the whole job, not one element.

See the new plumbing to the loo and the sticker still on the pedestal, the latest Victoria Plumb logo on the shower screen, the new extractor that seems to vent into their eaves instead of outside?

So based on your paying £200 a day for tiling and a respectable guess at no more than 5 days for tiling, that takes us to £1000 in tiling labour. Take £200 for a qualified electrician sorting the electrics in the room in two fixes and we're already over the OPs price and we haven't actually fitted the bathroom yet. Tiles, grout, materials, extractor fan, bathroom suite for £500? We're not talking decent stuff her. There won't be cement board on the floor on that budget; I'm hopeful but not confident about ply.

FMB is not a forum board, it's the Federation of Master Builders. We won the regional award for bathrooms in the Master Builder of the Year Awards, but that matters not when we're talking about bathrooms.

Stevie_Palimo

Doozergirl wrote: »

Well, we can agree on the amount of time a tiling job like this should take. But this is a *bathroom refit*, not a tiling job and I was talking about the whole job, not one element.

Tiling is the most part here by the looks of things and is the bulk of the work that needs doing, The bath, toilet and sink could be fine however a plumber in to check and make sure would not be a fortune, If they need to correct anything it may be a days work for them two at a push. ( A few hundred at most. )

See the new plumbing to the loo and the sticker still on the pedestal, the latest Victoria Plumb logo on the shower screen, the new extractor that seems to vent into their eaves instead of outside?

As per above you have no idea on the rest of the work it is listing tiling issues and vent only, Factor these parts in as per my posts of a tradesman to come in and re tile only, Yes you need the vent sorted but that is hardly a months work as you are purporting here.

So based on your paying £200 a day for tiling and a respectable guess at no more than 5 days for tiling, that takes us to £1000 in tiling labour. Take £200 for a qualified electrician sorting the electrics in the room in two fixes and we're already over the OPs price and we haven't actually fitted the bathroom yet. Tiles, grout, materials, extractor fan, bathroom suite for £500? We're not talking decent stuff her. There won't be cement board on the floor on that budget; I'm hopeful but not confident about ply.

Not on about materials as you full well know and also you are implying the whole job is shoddy when in actual fact as stated in my point above the OP says tiling and vent are wrong, This could have a been a decent enough plumber looking to maximise the income gained on this job, They could be just rubbish at doing the tiling.


FMB is not a forum board, it's the Federation of Master Builders. We won the regional award for bathrooms in the Master Builder of the Year Awards, but that matters not when we're talking about bathrooms.

I was not on about the FMB remark I was stating that you pointed out about your full 17 years of so called knowledge and that fact that you also claimed because I do not post on this particular board as frequently as you do that I would not be entitled to post my opinion here due to you obviously knowing everything.



With reference to the OP's post if it is indeed is just the tiles and vent that need to be redone then for the final time the amount I stated and timeframe is more than adequate to have this work done and yes a sparky will be due to do a 1-2 hour job at most at a very high amount of say a hundred at a push.

This is all based on your OP and you paying for materials.

Furts

I cannot work it out. The pan connector does not appear new, nor the extract grille, nor the yellowing and black mouldy silicone, nor any work around the window. Even the window has broken glass - is this also something the bathroom fitter has done?

Basically the whole room looks like it has been untouched for years.

One of life's mysteries to me.

andyhop

It's a shed of a job . It's not the worst I've ever seen either!!

3-5 day bathroom refits will never be great . Day in day out for the last 15yrs we spend 3-5 days stripping the room back and rebuilding . This is before a bath or tile is fitted

Preparation is key to a durable install , while I don't condone jobs like this and feel sorry for the end user it's ultimately down to the one paying the bill . £1100 isn't sufficient so if something too good to be true it generally is

andyhop

The images are plagued with faults, the experience can see this a mile off. He wasn't a plumber or a tiler

Flexis on pipes - cowboy effort, used by the unskilled. Cheap and cheerful and the rubber will perish in a few years, flexis as a last resort if used should be kept straight or with little bend as possible

Pan connector, standard connector pushed into a cast iron pipe, this isn't sealed joint

Ptfe on a compression joint, the seal is on the olive not the thread, all your doing is stretching the nut

The screen is fitted too far back

Tile cuts are obscene

No silicone in corners for expansion gaps

ryder72

Its a total bodge job but its not clear if it was a retile job or a complete refit. Even if it was the former, its a bad job. If it was a latter then it needs to be started again. Even a small ensuite with a shower, toilet, basin including stripping back, renewing plumbing, reboarding with cement board to shower area, ply/cementboard floor, full tiling and second fix isnt going to proovide change for under £3k in the South East.

thenap80

ryder72 wrote: »

Its a total bodge job but its not clear if it was a retile job or a complete refit. Even if it was the former, its a bad job. If it was a latter then it needs to be started again. Even a small ensuite with a shower, toilet, basin including stripping back, renewing plumbing, reboarding with cement board to shower area, ply/cementboard floor, full tiling and second fix isnt going to proovide change for under £3k in the South East.

Yes it was a total refit. I have today spoke to Citizens Advice Bureau and they have advised sending him a message asking that he put right the rubbish work he has done. I sent him the request via email saying he should get a reputable firm to complete the work to a suitable standard - not the mess he has left it in. He hs 14 days to reply after which I will call back CAB for step 2 advice.

I don't anticipate this cowboy making an attempt to fix the problem. He can't do it himself as he is shoddy and he will be well out of pocket if he pays someone else.

I read up on Small Claims Courts - looks like that may be a route. Oh and he has since deleted his account from the rated trader website and my previous message to him on WhatsApp does not appear to have reached him. So I reckon he will just go missing now. Still, I have his registered trading address which I have passed to CAB and also to Trading Standards.

thenap80

Furts wrote: »

I cannot work it out. The pan connector does not appear new, nor the extract grille, nor the yellowing and black mouldy silicone, nor any work around the window. Even the window has broken glass - is this also something the bathroom fitter has done?

Basically the whole room looks like it has been untouched for years.

One of life's mysteries to me.

Yep, all supposed to be new. I went round when bathroom had been totally gutted and only went back when job finsihed.

Cowboys. I can't use the other word beginning with a C on here that I'd like to use for them.

Furts

thenap80 wrote: »

Yep, all supposed to be new. I went round when bathroom had been totally gutted and only went back when job finsihed.

Cowboys. I can't use the other word beginning with a C on here that I'd like to use for them.

True but also accept your role in all this. You allowed the work to be undertaken with no inspection/checking/supervision on your part. You chose to pay for the work without ever seeing it first. You knew there were issues for perhaps weeks because you have been placing a number of queries on this Forum. You relied on the tenant to inform you of a damaged carpet - you had not been to check.

Being a landlord does entail accepting some responsibilities for these matters. Be reasonable and frank here - you could have taken a greater degree of ownership over all this. Because you failed in this a con artist has rolled you over and robbed your pockets.

All round a sad tale to tell.

cddc

That is like a bad DIY job. OK you did not pay much, but most people with no experience would do a better job than that. Small Claims Court takes time and he will probably plead poverty even if the judge rules for you and then pay you back at ten pounds a week or something.

You have my sympathy, it is not always easy to find good tradesmen if you no longer live in the area and have few contacts there. These find a tradesmen websites are no guarantee of quality work., and if something looks too cheap to be true then it probably is.