Not happy with decorating work carried out - next steps ?

Jimmy_Boy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

You say he took 6 days to build stud work (one wall?) and plasterboard, is that 6 days at 8 hours a day? 

Not full days, about 40 hours work in total.
The work carried out in that time was -
 - build a stud frame on wall, insert earthwool, plasterboard, skim,
 - build a stud frame on ceiling, insert earthwool, plasterboard, skim
It's not a big room (3.7m x 2.7m)
The skim is not smooth on the second room either, this is why I am reluctant for him to fix it.

Jimmy_Boy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

That ceiling in the second batch of photos looks really wavy, was that new plasterboard installed or a skim over an existing ceiling?

Frame attached to ceiling, earthwool, new plasterboard, skimmed.

47Revisited

Any reason for the frame on the ceiling? Skim should be smooth & flat ready for painting, more so on new plasterboard.

Jimmy_Boy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Regarding materials, builders can charge anything really and marking up materials is common. If you know what has been used have a look on the Travis Perkins website, without a trade account to login in with the prices there are 

Thats a problem for me as I could not say with any certainty exactly what has been used, I could only guess. I know he has got all the material from the same place under my name but on his account.
Would I be within my rights to contact the merchant to request a copy of sales receipts for purchases under my name on his account ? (Im guessing DPA might play a part here as it was not me who paid for them directly - I paid him, to pay them)

Jimmy_Boy

47Revisited said:

Any reason for the frame on the ceiling? Skim should be smooth & flat ready for painting, more so on new plasterboard.

Because I wanted to have spotlights, and new electric cables run for new sockets. With having to run new cables to the spotlights and electric cables from the fuse board , and wanting a clean finish seemed like the best way to go - lower ceiling, earthwool for heat/sound insulation, and hide all the cables and be sure enough depth to fit spotlights.

47Revisited

Fair enough. No you can't request data from his account. Don't pay him anymore till he rectifies the work he has done. It's not acceptable.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Jimmy_Boy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

That ceiling in the second batch of photos looks really wavy, was that new plasterboard installed or a skim over an existing ceiling?

Frame attached to ceiling, earthwool, new plasterboard, skimmed.

In that case it should be nice and smooth IMHO, we had our kitchen ceiling done, guy whizzed round and perfect looking ceiling, same guy did the landing and living room, again a fast job and done really well. 

If you post the photos on 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/in-my-home-includes-diy-moneysaving

You'll probably get some more opinions on the quality of the job, I'm guess others will agree it's poor.

Regarding consumer rights, from what I understand you have the right to a repeat performance:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/55/enacted

and if that fails the right to a price reduction:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/56/enacted

Price reduction can be up to the full contract price and you can still claim damages (e.g if it cost more to correct the work than the original cost) from the trader.

Again I wouldn't pay any more until issues are fixed, not sure how it's possible smooth out that ceiling. 

Just to add, speed of work seems slow to me but whether the difficulty of attaching framing to the ceiling justifies the time I don't know.

Also in the last picture the plasterboard above the window doesn't look level, it's higher at the joint. 

Jimmy_Boy

Thanks for all your advice, its appreciated.

So im thinking of what my next steps should be...

Should I now try and keep all correspondence between myself and him via text/email for future reference if it was to end in court? I assume I should use a slightly more formal tone as well rather than 'Hi mate... etc'

Im having someone come round next week to have a look and give me an idea of how to fix this and whats involved.
Im thinking it all needs re-skimming and re-painting, im hoping the plasterboard would not need removing and replacing.
So, as I dont really want him to return to do the work, based on the above the 'right to price reduction' would be the path for me to take?

If for arguments sake (to make the figures easier to work with) he charged me £1,000 skim and paint walls / ceiling, I could request the full £1,000 back. Then for someone to fix it cost £1,500 (extra time due to having to fix issues, and then redo), I could request damages for £500. He would then owe me a total of £1,500, I owe him £600, so he pays me £900.

Im not the brightest spark!, have I mis-understood my rights, or am I on the right track?

Thanks again.

mcplumb

You have entered into this with no specification and no indication of the finish you require. I'm not sure where you are based, but £18ph won't get you much quality around here (South East)

 

Jimmy_Boy

I live in the south west. Have since been told by other people in the trade that £18 p/h should be of good quality.

Although no written specification or schedule was drawn-up, it was verbally agreed what work was to be carried out and he originally stated finishing by Christmas (Started work late October / Early November).

I have stated (verbally) that I would like the walls to be skimmed so that I can achieve a good smooth finish for the paint so that they look nice.

He's told me he will 'do a great job'. I believe the skimming and painting work has not been done to a good standard, and as I have paid him a reasonable price (I believe), its not unreasonable to want it to be fixed and finished to a good standard (at his expense).