Reasonable cost to repair small hole in wall and make good?

ProseccoGirl

We have had an electrical contractor damage a wall, by drilling right through into another room!!!  

To repair, it would need to be rubbed down, filled, and then painted to match.

What do you think would be a reasonable cost to get this done?

They have offered £25 as compensation.  Which seems very low, as it would be at least 2 hours labour over 2 days, allowing drying time, if done professionally.   

We had a ball-park figure more like £125-£150 in mind.    Would that be unreasonable? 

They haven't asked for actual quotes yet.  

Bigphil1474

Mainly depends on the house - top notch new house, I'd be wanting a pro job, otherwise I'd DIY. For me, if it's a painted wall, and I still had the paint left over from when it was painted, I'd take the £25 and do it myself.

A couple of hours labour for that type of work would be less than £50 if you could get anyone to come out to do it. Over £100 sounds way too much. The other thing to consider is if the electricians are generally pretty good - you might need them for work again in the future. Alternatively, ask them to get someone to fix it.

Mark_d

The hole in the wall is perhaps 1cm in diameter?  To repair the damage might take a couple of teaspoons of Polyfilla, a little bit of sandpaper, and a couple of paint sample pots (£2 each).  It looks like the compensation you've been offered is £10 for materials and £15 for the small amount of time it takes you to repair the damage

stuart45

You'll be lucky to get someone in to do that repair for £25. You might be lucky if someone's working nearby and can whip in and do the job. There are some fast setting fillers on the market.

ThisIsWeird

ProseccoGirl said:

We have had an electrical contractor damage a wall, by drilling right through into another room!!! 
To repair, it would need to be rubbed down, filled, and then painted to match.
What do you think would be a reasonable cost to get this done?
They have offered £25 as compensation.  Which seems very low, as it would be at least 2 hours labour over 2 days, allowing drying time, if done professionally.  
We had a ball-park figure more like £125-£150 in mind.    Would that be unreasonable?
They haven't asked for actual quotes yet. 

Unless you can DIY it - in which case the £25 would just about cover the materials - it is way too little.

So, could you DIY it? Or do you know anyone who'd do this for a couple of bottles of Prossie?

It's one of these annoying little jobs that will take much longer, and be more involved, than many folk realise. So to get a 'pro' in to do this will be fraught; lots of handyfolks would be reluctant to do it unless they either happen to be in the 'hood doing other jobs, or they get paid adequately. And the 'proper' cost of having that hole fixed 100% is likely to be waaay over £100. It will likely involve:

1) Tidy up and make good the hole.

2) Remove dust, moisten if needed, and fill with filler.

3) Go away until it dries - best leave it for a day.

4) Return. Sand flat. Determine whether a further skim is required - if it is, then apply, and go away again.

5) Sand flat again. Obtain same colour paint. Do you have the old tin? If not - and even if you do - expect a colour or textural difference, and for the patch to be noticeable, quite possibly 'very'.

6) Observe the raised edge of this repair, as the paint has soaked in to the filler and caused it to very slightly swell. So, sand it down once more, and paint again.

7) Argue with handyperson whether the final final job is acceptable. Grudgingly accept the truth of their explanation that there was simply nothing they could have done to make the patch invisible, due to the slight colour imbalance, and textural difference in the paint applications; only a repaint of the whole wall would achieve success. Agree a price for the full repaint - £300?

8) Weep uncontrollably into your hanky.

9) Understand you won't have that sparky coming back to your house if you insist on £100+ comp, let alone £300+, even tho' it may be the actual cost of sorting this 100%.

So, is there any chance you know someone who could patch this for you? It would likely save a lot of heartache.

Mind you, the patch might still be visible.

A thought - when they have to chase out walls for cables and stuff, who do they have on their team to make good the walls afterwards? They must either do this sort of work themselves, or have a known P&D on their cards to call on, surely? In which case, why not add this wee jobbie to their list?

The real problem is still likely to be the colour match, tho'.

ashe

Best bet is either do it yourself - I had no clue and watched youtube videos and i've done all sorts of filling after decorators did bad job, electricians left huge channels after installing new fixtures etc, its really not that difficult. If you cant face it, look into a local handyman and bundle it up with a couple of other jobs he can do with you. 

ThisIsWeird said:

A thought - when they have to chase out walls for cables and stuff, who do they have on their team to make good the walls afterwards? They must either do this sort of work themselves, or have a known P&D on their cards to call on, surely? In which case, why not add this wee jobbie to their list?

The real problem is still likely to be the colour match, tho'.

I've used a fair few electricians who have been really good, but none of them have done plastering/filling/sanding after channelling stuff out. At the rates electricians charge, surely you'd not want them to price in the time to be doing this given how easy it is anyway?

ProseccoGirl

Thank you for all your replies.

£150 compensation negotiated.  

Bookworm105

Mark_d said:

The hole in the wall is perhaps 1cm in diameter?  To repair the damage might take a couple of teaspoons of Polyfilla, a little bit of sandpaper, and a couple of paint sample pots (£2 each).  It looks like the compensation you've been offered is £10 for materials and £15 for the small amount of time it takes you to repair the damage

what a flight of fancy.
How many tradespeople do you know who will travel to a property, do work there, and then travel on all for £15 less travel costs. Barely minimum wage

the £150 OP has obtained is more realistic 

ashe

Bookworm105 said:

Mark_d said:

The hole in the wall is perhaps 1cm in diameter?  To repair the damage might take a couple of teaspoons of Polyfilla, a little bit of sandpaper, and a couple of paint sample pots (£2 each).  It looks like the compensation you've been offered is £10 for materials and £15 for the small amount of time it takes you to repair the damage

what a flight of fancy.
How many tradespeople do you know who will travel to a property, do work there, and then travel on all for £15 less travel costs. Barely minimum wage

the £150 OP has obtained is more realistic 

He isn't on about a tradesperson doing it for that, he is on about how basic a DIY job it is. Having tried to get people to fill holes before, I know its difficult. I also know that a few minutes on YouTube shows you how basic these jobs are to DIY. I've filled holes after work and done a much better job of it than trades have when they have attempted it.