Plasterer wants materials AND 30% deposit upfront?

rainbow_fountains

I had a quote from a plasterer to skim the artex ceilings in our 3 bed and do some work on the kitchen wall (remove tiles and skim), quote was £1100 which seems reasonable I think.

There are a few potential red flags though, first was he said the price is “£1100 if you want an invoice or £1000 in cash wink wink” which I’m not that comfortable with, I also can’t find him on gov’s company house. He has a website, email and Facebook but the only place I was able to find his last name and address was in the yellow pages, online he goes by his first name and mobile number, no landline and his email address is a generic one not a professional one, same for website. His texts aren’t very professional, lots of “chat speak” and spelling mistakes but I don’t want to judge because not everyone is great with spelling. It sounds like he’s available fairly quickly, which is usually a bad sign but then again this is a small job he could fit around other jobs so not that surprising.

During his visit he mentioned we’d need to pay for materials, either he can supply or he can send a list of what he needs and we can buy it from Wickes - I’m fine with this arrangement. But this evening when he text me the materials list he also said he needs a 30% payment upfront to book the job in. I’m happy to pay for materials upfront but I was surprised to be asked for a 30% deposit on top. We’ve just had our bathroom remodelled and plastering and coving in another room and neither of those tradesmen asked for upfront payment and they provided invoices, were on company’s house etc.

I was also a little worried about the time frames, if there are any professional plasterers here maybe you can help - last time we had an artex ceiling skimmed it was a 2 day job. Day 1 was covering the ceiling in adhesive and letting it partially dry, day 2 was the plastering. This plasterer says he can do it all one 1 day - but does that give enough time for the adhesive to set? 

Overall does this whole thing sound dodgy? Should I move on and find someone else or am I just being paranoid?

tacpot12

Duplicate post - see Plasterer wanting 30% payment up front? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

WustyRex

1) Plasterers are that because they are not brain surgeons. Not met many that can spell.
2) 1000 + vat is 1200 so his discount is just that , a discount for cash and saves it going through his books. Cash is king.
No reason for him to be a registered company he is a jobbing plasterer probably no site work. 
3) Does the £1000 not include materials ?
4) I complete jobs from a few hundred to hundred thousand, 30% is normal as time is money, staff, travel, other bookings. confirmed and committed customers. Staying at home because you changed your mind or are not ready yet.... ££££'s 
5) Price seems OK but personally I would never just skim over Artex. Board over an skim every time. 

good luck