Kitchen fitter has left without completely finishing - advice?

batman2000

As the title says, I recently had my kitchen replaced. The fitter left on Feb 23rd, promising to come back once the electrician had moved a couple of sockets (long story) which was done the next day. 

I’ve been contacting him but he says the plasterer needs to fill the holes left by the moved sockets before he does the final work. So the plasterer is apparently the hold up, and I have no direct contact with the plasterer.

The list for finishing includes extractor ducting, fixing upstands in place, a missing wall panel, fixing window boards into place, positioning kickboards. He left the place in a mess, with pencil marks inside cabinets, drawers full of wood shavings and screws etc. I’ve cleared some up and now partially using the kitchen but obviously I can’t move back in yet.

It’s beyond frustrating! Any advice for how best to handle this would be appreciated. I’ve stupidly paid most of the bill holding just a few hundred back, but I’m thinking that’s not enough incentive for him.

ThisIsWeird

Who was the plasterer employed by, you or the kitchen fitter?

batman2000

ThisIsWeird said:

Who was the plasterer employed by, you or the kitchen fitter?

He works with (for?) the kitchen fitter, but I paid him directly. In other words the fitter organises the plastering. 

macman

If you paid him direct then arguably your contract is with the plasterer. He is clearly not a sub-contractor-the fitter just 'introduced' him. 

batman2000

macman said:

If you paid him direct then arguably your contract is with the plasterer. He is clearly not a sub-contractor-the fitter just 'introduced' him. 

My original quote from the fitter was itemised, and one of the items was plastering? No mention of paying directly until the plasterer had been. I knew from the beginning, on the other hand, that I would be dealing with the electrician separately (and he’s been great, no complaints there).

What would you do? I’m considering having it finished by another company.

rob7475

Have you paid the plasterer for the work he has done so far? I take it he would be charging extra for the additional work after you've had to have sockets moved?

If that's all that's holding the kitchen fitter up, either fill the chases, backboxes yourself (very easy with a bag of bonding and some easifill), or employ another plasterer / handyman to finish the plastering for you

batman2000

rob7475 said:

Have you paid the plasterer for the work he has done so far? I take it he would be charging extra for the additional work after you've had to have sockets moved?

If that's all that's holding the kitchen fitter up, either fill the chases, backboxes yourself (very easy with a bag of bonding and some easifill), or employ another plasterer / handyman to finish the plastering for you

The sockets were fitted in the wrong position, too close to the upstands, so had to be moved. Whose fault that was is questionable, but the electrician did a good job of moving them. I’m not a diy-er and it’s not my job to finish them, surely? It’s been 2 and half weeks now and I have the feeling the fitter is using this as an excuse.

edited to add: getting another plasterer in to fill the holes is a good idea though, and remove the obstacle for the fitter. I’ll suggest it to him and judge his response 👍.

rob7475

batman2000 said:

The sockets were fitted in the wrong position, too close to the upstands, so had to be moved. Whose fault that was is questionable, but the electrician did a good job of moving them. I’m not a diy-er and it’s not my job to finish them, surely? It’s been 2 and half weeks now and I have the feeling the fitter is using this as an excuse.

edited to add: getting another plasterer in to fill the holes is a good idea though, and remove the obstacle for the fitter. I might suggest it to him and judge his response 👍.

I'd expect the spark to know what height to fit sockets above a worktop to allow for upstands. Did you specifically tell him what height you wanted the sockets at or just allow him to use his own judgement (they should be capable of using their own judgement by the way :-) )

Who arranged the electrician, you or the fitter? 

If the fitter has arranged all of the other trades for you, I'd say he is responsible for sorting the issue but it may help move things along if you suggest you'll arrange for the chases to be filled.

Have you paid him for the full job now or is there still some outstanding. It's best to try and agree to withhold some of the money until any snagging has been sorted.

batman2000

The sockets didn’t even clear the upstands originally 😕. Kitchen fitter was going to try to fudge it but I insisted they were raised (not cut around). The electrician was arranged by me, but through the fitter who gave me his number. They often work together. Apart from this mistake, the electrician has actually been very reliable.

I’ve just received a message from the fitter (unprompted) saying he’ll be here this week to do ‘what he can’ but the plasterer is struggling to get here due to car trouble 🤷‍♀️. It means he still won’t be able to finish it. I’m making enquiries about another plasterer now.

I held some of the money back, yes, but I’m thinking it wasn’t enough to be an incentive! 

ThisIsWeird

Thanks for the clarification, Batman. (That sounds sarcy )
Ok, from what I understand, the sparky boobed by placing the sockets too low. He should be very familiar with splashback positioning heights, or should have checked with the kitchen fitter. So, unless he was told to 'fit them at this (wrong) height', then he got that wrong.
That's seemingly ok, tho', as he's now sorted this. But, it introduced an unexpected delay to the whole proceedings which is now causing hassle to the kitchen fitter, and that's not his fault.
The plasterer is likely reluctant to give up a day elsewhere just to patch a few holes, but needs pressure applied on him to do so. (I agree - this filling is not for you to do!) 
So, an unfortunate combination of events, which - to be fair - was set in motion by your lovely sparky. So I think it would be fair to bear this in mind as you get the kitchen fitter to put more pressure on the plasterer.
Who do you have this 'contract' with? Surely the kitchen fitter, since he's the one who added the plasterer to his quote. I don't think it matters if you've paid the plasterer directly - it was part of the whole kitchen quote, and contract.
So, you have a £ew £undred kept back from the 'fitter? Cool (tho' not enough in general terms!), so perhaps message the fitter and nicely explain your frustration, and offer an option if he cannot get the plasterer back in X days; "I'm happy to find another plasterer to do the work if your guy cannot, but I would have to use the balance of what I owe you to cover this. Please let me know right away which way to proceed as this is dragging on too long. Ta muchly."
If you are happy to do this. But I see this as you dealing only via the 'fitter, and he needs to kick his plasterer's butt, meta speaking.
 

batman2000

Thank you @ThisIsWeird, that makes so much sense when you write it out like that. Which is why I needed some outside input, I’m too close to the matter! I will see the fitter tomorrow and pose the question/suggestion about the plasterer, with a time limit because it’s now dragged on for nearly three weeks and I’m desperate to get back into the kitchen!