Problem Builders

CalumFinnerty

Good insights and wise advice, NSG.

Nothing is written down, JC. Wise advice. Going forward that will be part of the SOP.

Again, thank you all for your excellent advice!

CalumFinnerty

Hi everyone.

Yesterday, the builders went round to the plasterer and got back £300 of the £700 they'd paid him.

The builders attempted to repair the faulty workmanship of the plasterer themselves rather than hire a new plasterer.

They have gouged out, filled in, and sandpapered the large vertical bulges themselves.

How much of a reduction should we ask for when presented with the final bill?

The cost of the plasterer has been reduced from £700 to £400 and the bathroom plaster work still has slight ripples and filled in patches.

Doozergirl

There is always some element of work to be done by the decorator to get a perfect finish on a freshly plastered wall. 

Nearly half price is okay, no?  It won't take a decorator a day to sort the final bits, so you should be in a better financial position.  

CalumFinnerty

Thanks, DG.

So I should offer £200 towards the cost of the plasterer rather than £400?

Doozergirl

I thought they'd already reduced it from £700 to £400?

NSG666

Calum, DG will answer for herself but I took it she meant it was going to be £700 and will now be £400 so just less than a 50% reduction. Edit - sorry DG's post overlapped.

Because the job is being charged on trust rather than having being quoted you can only hope that the cost of any remedial work is not being passed onto you. That said if the plastering was going to cost £700 but the builder has paid £400 yet it requires £300 of remedial work then you are no worse off - you can't expect it to be rectified and get a discount. Of course if the final finish is substandard you might expect a discount.

The job must nearly be finished by now?

CalumFinnerty

No.

They paid the original plasterer £700 for one and a half days work.

Then, when they saw the state of his work, they went round to his house and demanded the money back.

He gave them £300 back.

We have paid nothing yet.

CalumFinnerty

Thanks, everyone.

The last post was for DG.

The builders have now told us that because of the mess caused by the plasterer they will have to have an extra day to complete the project because the spent one day fixing the plasterwork.

So, should we expect to pay the £400 they paid to the plasterer or have an additional discont for the substandard work?

Also, should we be expected to pay for the additional days work despite it being caused by the negligence of the person they employed?

NSG666

CalumFinnerty said:

Thanks, everyone.

The last post was for DG.

The builders have now told us that because of the mess caused by the plasterer they will have to have an extra day to complete the project because the spent one day fixing the plasterwork.

So, should we expect to pay the £400 they paid to the plasterer or have an additional discont for the substandard work?

Also, should we be expected to pay for the additional days work despite it being caused by the negligence of the person they employed?

Look at it like this:

Let's say they quoted and you agreed to a sum of £10,000 for the complete job. They employ a plasterer who does a poor job but they spend some time sorting out the poor workmanship to give you the finish quoted for. In this case what they paid the plasterer and how much extra it cost to sort the poor workmanship would be nothing to do with you, you get the finish you expected and pay them the £10,000 agreed.

In your case they were presumably going to pass on the £700 for the plastering work so as long as the the plasterer's bill and the cost of the remedial work are no more than £700 that's fine.

CalumFinnerty

Thanks, NSG.

If they paid £700 but ended up paying only £400, it is unreasonable to pay £700.

They have just patched-up the wall it does not look top quality work.

So, it seems reasonable to pay £400 less a discount for the quality of the work plus a discount on the extra day which would not have happened if they'd hired a competent plasterer.