Full house rewire gone badly wrong - what are my next steps

RubyHouse

This is a long story, will try to keep it 

Doozergirl

Woah!  That escalated quickly!   Is it possible that you might have gone a bit far now? He hasn't taken any money, which takes him out of the 'outright cowboy' camp.   

I do sympathise that you're left with an uninhabitable house but I also do this stuff for a living and it's like this all the time!  People pay project managers to deal with the main bulk of stress.  Doing it all yourself is cheaper, but it's going to come with additional stresses.   Coronavirus has made it all much worse as materials are still hard to come by.   

It's a bit naive for him to not have the relevant materials on site before starting a job, but everyone's getting burned like this at the moment.   It's also really important to adopt the tea and cake philosophy in order to get stuff done, not throw people off site.  

A lot of electricians don't really care who is coming in after them.  Our guys complain that the electrician leaves holes in their work, the electrician complains that they obstruct his work.  It's an endless story.   When I'm dealing with historic coving and skirting etc, I have to go around a specifically talk about items and discuss alternative routes to the one of least resistance, but sometimes there has to a compromise and additional cost.   Trades don't known what what the grand plan is and I also fully anticipate, with the benefit of years experience, what plaster is going to fall off the walls in an old house -  it's not the electricians fault if it is old and has blown.  How old is this house?  Massive damage can occur and it often isn't going to be the electrician's fault.  

It's a nightmare trying to live in a house and having this work done.  Yes, it's awful that you're having to try and live in it, but it's an added complication, not anyone's fault.   A full rewire is a huge undertaking and moving out for the weekend isn't going to be enough when it includes the plastering too!  That was optmistic. 

Throwing your toys out of the pram Hasn't helped this.  The guy is entitled to finish his work with formal notice from you to complete - usually 14 days.  You cannot just decide that he isn't on the job and expect him to lump the cost until you decide whether to pay him or not.  The time for due diligence is before you hire someone, not halfway through.  Equally, this house may have thrown you a surprise that isn't his fault. 

Do you have photos, please? 

RubyHouse

I accept he is entitled to some payment for the work carried out and want to stress we are not avoiding paying. Although he started asking me for money when my husband was out, I am not accusing him of being a cowboy and am not on the warpath to wreck his reputation or livelihood. But I know I am within my rights to cancel if the work carried out so far is not satisfactory (even without the 'damage', the back boards to sockets are wonky, the outside light is incorrect and not secure etc). 
It may seem sudden to a third party, but I believe we had been more than accommodating to the circumstances, accepting different fittings since ours were out of stock. We also accepted an extension of 5 days to the initial agreement and gave him notice that it could not go beyond that deadline. He had different finish fittings to hand so could have set them in as promised. He also had 4 weeks notice before starting the job to source the required parts. 
If the 4 day turnaround was not feasible, I feel he should have said, as we are not the experienced professionals. If that was the case, we could have made other arrangements. 
My annoyance is with the live wires, confrontations with neighbours after he blocked their drive twice, damage to irreplaceable panneling (we discussed when he first viewed the job that it must be protected and he put forward a solution). And the fact that he kept letting us down last minute. The house is 1950s with some original features, I accept there would be some damage but in each socket or switch, the coving is ripped and/ or the skirting board damaged, damage to outside brick work and amongst many other things. 

fenwick458

why can't i see the first post anymore?

Clive_Woody

fenwick458 said:

why can't i see the first post anymore?

Maybe admin folk deleted some of it if it mentioned a company by name

Doozergirl

Clive_Woody said:

fenwick458 said:

why can't i see the first post anymore?

Maybe admin folk deleted some of it if it mentioned a company by name

They didn't.  OP must have deleted it.  

shaun_from_Africa

Found on Google cache:

Long story but I'll try to keep it simple and stick to facts....

We booked an electrician to complete a full rewire of our house including first and second fix. The plastering was completed by a separate tradesman. We were told the job would be completed in 4 days start to finish so stayed with friends for the weekend that the work was being completed. Full payment was to be made at the end of the job when we were happy with the finish with the final price being approx £2.5K
We were leaving the house in his possession for the weekend returning only to let in the plasterer when the first fix was done in time for the electrician to return for the second fix on a Monday. 
The plasterer pointed out a huge amount of unnecessary damage to coving, walls, skirting boards and ceilings. As well as wonky back boards and poor chasing which did not allow the plasterer space to apply the browning and plaster in some places. Tried to contact the electrician immediatley and sent some photos but was told he would speak to us on Monday as he was out with family (fair enough it was a Sunday). 
By Monday afternoon, we hadn't heard anything and called about 2pm to be told the fittings hadn't arrived yet from his supplier and he was expected the delivery any minute - then we would work to finish the job same day. I called his supplier for a tracking number (he gave me order confirmation via email so I was able to do this) when they stated they were actually out of stock of all items. 
We then called back the electrician to inform him and he called us back with an update that they would be in stock later in the week. In the meantime there were two working sockets in the hallway directed from power in the garage. We had to return home on this day and asked him to come to the property to set up the hot water and so we had an opportunity to point out the damage. He arrived with no tools to connect the boiler leaving us without hot water and said the damage will 'look fine by then end'. 
He returned Tuesday morning with a plan to fix all light fittings and prepare switches and sockets ready for them arriving on Wednesday / Thursday - although he did connect the boiler this day and bring in a temporary board with more sockets for the hallway, the lights were not fitted and wiring in sockets were not prepared. 
He would be back later in the week to complete the job. We informed him repeatedly that our hard deadline was 4 days later as we were getting more work done in the house and decorators were starting upstairs. 
We called the supplier again on Wednesday who informed us they were out of stock and not expecting the items for another week. Cue another call to the electrician who came back with a resolution to fit everything by the end of the day Friday even if he had to apply white fittings and change them over later. 
He stayed for 1hour on Friday from 2.30 to 3.30pm and did not complete the work.
He then said he would arrive first thing Saturday to complete the work. He arrived 2 hours late, had a confrontation with my mother, and two of my neighbours and left after 45 minutes as he was waiting for a delivery at home. At this stage I had to cancel the decorators thankfully, the joiners who were fitting new french doors had some cordless power tools so they were able to complete the job. 
He promised to arrive Sunday to finish the job. 
On Sunday, he cancelled at 2.30pm by text saying he was out with his family. 
This is when we cancelled the remainder of the job. 

Since then, we have emailed stating that due to his actions and failed promises, confrontations and poor workmanship, we were cancelling the remainder of the work. And that he should send an invoice for work carried out so far minus the cost to repair the damages cause, we send him a detailed list room by room of what was completed vs promised and descriptions of the extent of the damage and also the fact that I was electrocuted from live wires left where the bedroom light switch should be. We stated that only when the work is complete by another tradesman and the repairs are made, will we be in a position to discuss the payment. 

We now have another electrician who can complete the job but can only give us an estimate of the cost as he is unsure of some of the wiring (not all of the cables were marked up). He has made the house safe for us in the meantime by taping up and switching off the loose wires, and put some power back int he kitchen so we can plug in the fridge freezer and cooker. 

 So - what do we do now and how do we complete the negotiation of the payment he is entitled to?

Rosa_Damascena

This is a harsh lesson for your electrician and a mistake he won't repeat. The rudeness and attitude is unforgivable and in your position I wouldn't want to see his face again. In fact I think you're lucky to find another sparky to fix someone else's botched work. Hold your nerve and continue with your plan, just expect the overall cost to be higher than £2.5k but we all live and learn.

Risteard

2.5k for a rewire was a nonsense quote. And it's not even white plastic you're saying!

A standard 3 bed house with white plastic would be in the region of 4.5-6k with nothing special in it.

I can't see how he's responsible for the damage.

tacpot12

Risteard said:

...

I can't see how he's responsible for the damage.

I would say that it depends on the damage. I do think some householders think that tradesmen are miracle-workers, able to insert wires into walls and pipes under floors without a great deal of disruption and subsequent making-good. Doozergirls comments about blown plaster are certainly true. My 1900's terraced house had very bad plaster in some places; any attempt to channel out the plaster resulted in large chucks dropping off the wall regardless of the care taken. But even once these factors are taken into account, it is possible that the damage caused was unnecessary or easily avoidable if adequate precautions had not been taken. 

As Risteard says, the price quoted should have rung alarm bells as a standard rewire would be more expensive, and once you add in a tight timescale, the need to take extra protection and the on-going coronavirus pandemic, it begins to look like an inexperienced contractor was selected for this critical job. 

fenwick458

hahaha you paid £2.5k for a rewire, expected it done in less than a week, and are surprised that it hasn't gone to plan??