Problems with Decorator - Advice required.

WIAWSNB

It's a tough one for a layperson.

Unless the other quotes were considerably higher - so making this one suspiciously cheap - then a person may well think that ~£2k for what is a hands-on job that most folk can carry out themselves to a reasonable degree, and that doesn't require expensive or specialist equipment, is in the correct ballpark. Say two weeks solid work, so that's ~£1k per week - not shabby. 

It is labour-intensive, no question, but not complex, and not rocket-science. 

Unfortunately, the agreement on expectation was a bit vague - 'the walls would be perfect (ok, that's pretty clear) and the woodwork significantly better than what it was).

Well, the walls might be - I cannot tell - but the woodwork is completely and utterly unacceptable, and it's equally clear that the most perfunctory level of scraping and sanding - along with a bit of filling - would have transformed the finish. So that makes it clear he didn't carry out this most basic level of prep. 

The guy has just not done this. At all. He hasn't. Regardless of cost. 

If the walls are 'acceptable', then the OP should pay for this. The woodwork? No. 

RocketRonnieRadox

Thanks for the comments. The walls are missing coats. Patchy in places and have not been properly sanded so they contain dust and grit in places.

further to this he has dropped paint on a decorative floor which is a sanded and varnished pine floor. I had even given him an appropriately sized sheet to cover the floor with that he did not use leading to Paint being splattered on the pine floor.

may I reiterate that not one room has been completed fully in the four weeks that he’s been there. heaven knows what he spent his time doing he has even told my son that he doesn’t need to work because he is on benefits and it only does it to give him a reason to get out of bed every day.

so he has done a mist coat in PVA and first coats of the colour however additional coats are required. Cutting in is not straight and will need to be redone.

I accept that I won’t get a perfect finish on the skirting boards but not one iota of preparation has been done no has the filling prior to commencement of work we went round and I explained what I wanted and he gave me the price. yes it was cheap, but he had the chance to fully appreciate what was required before quoting.

to clarify the agreement relating to the woodwork. He said the skirting boards would be pretty much perfect, but the doors were not so I did the doors myself. Granted, he may have underestimated the work, but that is for him to determine and their responsibility for as he is the professional of giving the quotation

as it stands he has failed to make contact with me yesterday and there is £1100 outstanding. his last communication was to pay him the £500 and he will collect his things and leave however the cost of correcting all this work as well as the floor exceeds that £500 and I am highly reluctant to handover any more cash.

the job is not complete let alone done to even a decent standard.

what do I do ?

WIAWSNB

Do not hand over a further penny.
Check your Leg Prot.

Swipe

I'd refuse to pay the remainder and tell him to come and collect his things. He's hardly going to kick up a stink if he's on benefits and not declaring the income.

RocketRonnieRadox

He has just messaged me saying that he will complete all items on the snagging list and allow me to inspect before final payment. 

WIAWSNB

RocketRonnieRadox said:

He has just messaged me saying that he will complete all items on the snagging list and allow me to inspect before final payment. 

Hmm, over to you!
With such an offer, you are morally, if not contractually, obligated to allow the opportunity.
I guess you can't lose out; the finish will at least be 'better', but if not acceptable, then he doesn't get paid.
If you cannot agree with the standard, you may need to be assertive and suggest that the work needs to be independently assessed. Certainly based on what he's done so far, he'd be laughed at.
LegProt? 
The above is, of course, if he's a legitimate tradesperson. From what he foolishly said, however, he instead sounds like a chancing scrounger. In which case, you can cut your toes now if you like - there's nothing he can do about it.
How much have you lost over this? 
If you do cut ties, you can/should also leave an honest review wherever he has them - the guy needs reeling in. It could consist purely of his claims - 'OCD about my work', 'meticulous', 'get the job right', etc, and then a series of photos of the 'finished outcome'. Let it speak for itself.
Bear in mind that for a proper job, you are going to have to either DIY, or dig a lot £eeper.

bjorn_toby_wilde

RocketRonnieRadox said:

so he has done a mist coat in PVA and first coats of the colour however additional coats are required. Cutting in is not straight and will need to be redone.

PVA is a woodworking glue. It has lots of uses but it really doesn’t belong in a mist coat. The emulsion will not adhere properly to it.

This guy is no decorator.

Doozergirl

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

RocketRonnieRadox said:

so he has done a mist coat in PVA and first coats of the colour however additional coats are required. Cutting in is not straight and will need to be redone.

PVA is a woodworking glue. It has lots of uses but it really doesn’t belong in a mist coat. The emulsion will not adhere properly to it.

This guy is no decorator.

This. 

And one also has to appreciate that the minimum wage for an employed person is basically £100 a day.  That's without any type of overhead for them, so no one self employed should be charging that, and certainly nobody skilled.  Painting and decorating, contrary to some people's opinion, is a skilled job. 

I don't see any point in looking at legal protection.  The man clearly has no assets and the OP still has the majority of the money and therefore all of the power.  If he doesn't possess the skill to rectify a century of wrongs, move on and find someone else, expecting to pay them closer to £200 a day, whilst considering how long it takes to do a proper job - room by room, which is how a proper painter and decorator will work, allowing to you assess quality properly.