Advise please - Great Work, Poor Service - Tile Advice

[JSMPJA]

Hi there,

I’m not an experienced tradesperson by any means, so wanted to pose a question on here for peoples thoughts.

My partner and I found a tiler in December, to tile the whole ground floor of our new build house.

We were initially quoted the following:

- Installing wood effect rectangular tile to whole floor downstairs. Including Removing then refitting W.C Suite for tiling- £1550

- Joinery Work - £130

Materials Needed Cost - £255:

1 x 5L Primer
8 x Bags S1 Flex Adhesive
10Kg Grout

I just want to highlight that I cannot fault the work so far, the grout spacing between the tiles and the levelling is spot on - the work itself appears to be of great standard.

However, the work was to be completed the week of 13th December 2021, over a period of 4-5 days. It’s now 11th January 2022 and it’s still not completed.

He was meant to have received help for the job, however as two of his mates didn’t help he’s been working this by himself which has contributed to the delay. He turns up at any time in the morning (which varies between 8:30am and 12pm) without prior warning, with very little communication over the past weeks.

He also caught Covid before Christmas, between 23rd Dec - 4th Jan, which again I can appreciate, however the job should have been completed way before this.

Because of this, we’ve had to spend our Christmas and New Year living out of the bedroom, as the ground floor is full of dust, tiles, and his tools everywhere, so we’ve stayed confined to mostly one room whilst the job was being carried out.

He’s advised he would not charge the £130 for joinery work, or the additional £150 to remove a radiator. Would it be unreasonable to ask for a discount for the delay and inconvenience this has really put us through, or am I being unreasonable?

Thanks all

 

[Dave]

Imo it is unreasonable to ask for discount on a price agreed beforehand. If he has took longer then he is the one losing money or he is doing other jobs , hence why he is late some days. Have you asked why he has been late ? .
How big is this floor area. ?

 

[JSMPJA]

Imo it is unreasonable to ask for discount on a price agreed beforehand. If he has took longer then he is the one losing money or he is doing other jobs , hence why he is late some days. Have you asked why he has been late ? .
How big is this floor area. ?

Hi Dave, thanks for getting back. This is why I’m in two minds about this, it was agreed to be completed the second week of December, this is now a month later about 3/4 of the way finished.

The downstairs is approx 38m2.

He’s admitted he had to go to another job on one occasion to help a mate out (who is the same mate that was apparently supposed to helping out with my job). I haven’t asked why he’s late, he’s mentioned sometimes he’s been in traffic or had to be somewhere else, but most of the time he doesn’t turn up until after 10 and done by 4.

 

[Dave]

You’ve got a good price there as well tbh. I would insist he finishes ASAP , no excuses and no other jobs.

 

[Huddersfield Tiling]

Glad you are happy with the job so far, but he's light on the price which makes me wonder...

38m2 requires at least 10 bags of adhesive (20 Kg each) and about 20 Kg of grout. No silicone priced in? He's under-priced materials for a start.

Happy to write-off £280 for joinery and the radiator just like that? I wouldn't be.

Has he only started the easy bits and not reached the points where higher skills are needed like cutting around objects?

I'm getting increasing volumes of calls from potential customers reporting cowboys bailing-out on of something they can't handle with the excuse of Covid.

Just a thought...

 

[Kaffee]

Yeah, seams very light on adhesive and grout. Can you post some pictures?

 

[JASON]

There is no excuse to be a month behind. It’s a 4-5 days depending on floor cuts and awkwardness of the job