good hearted builder

[Spud]

I went to price up a 65m2 floor last friday when a private customer got my number through a recommendation from the tile supplier and arrived on site to by met by the builder, he was in the process of laying a floating chipboard floor over ufh in the extension and told me he intended to prepare the tiled area in the same manner ,I suggested he needed to rethink the prep work and put a minimum of 65mm of screed over the ufh if he wanted the tiling job to last longer just a few weeks ,I went over how I thought the floor should be prepared and asked him to call the supplier of the ufh system and the tile supplier to confirm what I was telling him was correct after giving him a very competitive price for the floor tiling he asked me to look at the bathrooms which were in the loft with loads of beams and angled ceiling with several tile sizes to consider and a wet room shower floor ,he asked me how much I would do the bathrooms for and I told him I would send him a price over for the floor and the bathrooms,
I got a call from him to today and he said" Gary thanks for the price ,I am going to tile the floor myself and I will get one of my lads to have a go at the bathroom but can you do the shower room " I didnt know whether to laugh or cry he has decided that the shower room is far too awkward for him and his blokes to tackle and wants to get me to do it while they do the easy stuff ,I know there is a recession on but I feel like telling him to go west and do the awkward shower room himself especially when he asked me to give him the same meterage rate that I quoted for the kitchen floor :yikes:

 

[Daz]

What a cheek! I'd price it at a level that you are happy to do the work but ensure that you do it after he & his boys have done their tiling. Otherwise he'll get you on-site and then spend all day picking your brains on how do to do the "easy" areas.

If you don't need the work, then tell him to get stuffed, it's all or nothing!

Daz

 

[DHTiling]

I would tell him to do one..:incazzato:

 

[kilty55]

i would not be keen to do the job gary,i suppose it comes down to if you really need the work but is this guy going to give you any repeat work ............only if its awkward by the sounds of it good luck eother way

 

[Stewart]

As above for me.... I would tell him to jog on the cheeky begger or charge your normal rates for the shower room if you want the work.

 

[user123]

uuurrgh.... yes, do your bit last if poss, if you are going to do it... then they can see the difference in workmanship, too without you having been anywhere near their work at the time..

 

[hillhead]

As above Gary do you need the work?
I'm sure you don't want to do it at the kitchen floor rate either !!
The builder i work for has a latvian who said he can tile a bit to me today, this could be fun sometime.
Builders are unreal lately, i'll have fun in the next two days with one.

 

[Colour Republic]

I would say the price for the shower room was based on the other works being accepted at the same time... the price has just doubled

 

[Pebbs]

I will get one of my lads to have a go at the bathroom

Says it all doesnt it..........have a go... tell him to let one of his lads have a go at the shower room as well. Dont do this shower room Gary, your better than to be used like this by a muppet.

I hate people sometimes!

Lynn

 

[Scott]

Do it! It will give the customer something to compare it to, then you can tell the buildr to "GO Compare Go Compare!"

Seriously though Gary what is it with you and angled ceilings in bathrooms?

 

[Rob Z]

UFB.... More than once, I have spent time with a prospective homeowner customer, or a GC, detailing the steps needed for a quality installation, only later get a variation of the call that Gary got: "Hey Rob, it sounds pretty simple once you explained everything....we'll tackle it ourselves"....followed up with "Do you think you could stop by for a minute to make sure all the prep work is done correctly?" I'm not making this part up

And one time, just to take the award for having the brassiest pair, I had one of these numbnuts call and try to give me grief because their guy messed up what I had said I would do. They thought I was in some way responsible.

 

[nybor62]

the cheeky sod , tell him to get lost

 

[Colour Republic]

Do it! It will give the customer something to compare it to, then you can tell the buildr to "GO Compare Go Compare!"

Seriously though Gary what is it with you and angled ceilings in bathrooms?

:lol: I'd like to know too :lol: i'm sure he does more with than without :crazy:

 

[tfs]

Doesnt sound like you will be getting much work from this guy even if you do the shower room for him as he would rather do it himself.

 

[spooner68]

sounds like a clever sod without a clue about how to prep a job or any common sense when dealing with a pro tradesman. Even with a decent price the job is sure to be a total mare. I've had "the builders lads" doing jobs on site at the same time as me and am heartily sick of them watching, commenting and brain picking let alone the shambles of a job they do. Unless you will be in the poorhouse as a result you should tell him all or nothing as Daz said. Cheeky buggers, probably priced it wrongly and trying to save a few quid without any thought as to the quality of the job.

 

[Perry]

Gary tell him were to go when you give him a invoice for you fist meeting

 

[user123]

Gary tell him were to go when you give him a invoice for you fist meeting

Freudian slip there... :lol:

 

[White Room]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[Pebbs]

Gary tell him were to go when you give him a invoice for you fist meeting

Sounds painful, made my eyes water reading that...

 

[akinsontiles]

I'd consider wether you think that by going in first and doing your shower room immaculate. This way the owner of the property will have your standard to judge the builder's by. Trust me I think you'll get the call to complete the work once the builder has created lip city even on the "easy stuff."

 

[Mike]

there's far too many other trades having a go at tiling cos there own trade is struggling. there's lots of property maintenance companies here offering tiling as one of their many trades and all the builders here can tile. i bet they've had no training, still use pva and haven't got a clue what tanking/ditra etc. is. rant over

 

[Dan]

I missed this one. What a cheeky git lol

I'd actually say to him 'oh, me do the hard one and you do the easy one hey? - no thanks mate'.

 

[Spud]

update on this job
we ended up tiling the bathrooms, i didnt personally tile it but one of our tilers did that works for me he did a lovely job and the customer is very happy with the work he has done as he finished the bathrooms the builder and his lads started the floor a 60m2 kitchen floor and 8m2 utility room I got a call from the home owner last week asking me to return to the job to give my opinion on the tiling the builder has done,In politely declined as the builder hasnt paid us yet for the work and told the home owner she is putting me in an awkward position between her and her builder and I didnt want to be piggy in the middle ,the upshot of it is that there are 3-4mm lips on the tiles which were purchased from a very high end tile shop who actually gave her my card in the first place ,I did point this out to her and asked her why she allowed the builder to do the floor and she claims this was done to speed the job along my business partner will be going there this week to have a look and i will post some pictures of the builders floor tiling job

 

[SandyFloor]

How do you fell about it, Gary?....be honest.

 

[Spud]

honestly I think that it serves the customer right and I am sick to the back teeth of stupid people making rash decisions by letting unqualified part skilled chancers loose on tiles that have cost a small fortune just to save a very small amount of money

 

[DHTiling]

honestly I think that it serves the customer right and I am sick to the back teeth of stupid people making rash decisions by letting unqualified part skilled chancers loose on tiles that have cost a small fortune just to save a very small amount of money

My feelings too..🙂

 

[Stewart]

Couldn't agree more Gary and I'm more than happy to inform the customer of this when I get the call to put someone else's work right...

 

[White Room]

Hope you get your money from the builder, very awkward situation.

 

[SandyFloor]

I think a lot of blame lies with builders too. They must convince the customer they are capable of doing the job and the customer won't know any better.

 

[johnryan]

get your money from the builder, and wash your hands of it if i were you. wouldn't want to get dragged into a dispute between them, which could happen if she starts to say 'well, the tiler said this' etc.

 

[hillhead]

Typical again Gary, i'm going to face this myself soon i know.
My main builder has a house ready for tiling and i haven't got the nod yet, money is so tight with him i fear his chippy and brickie may end up attempting the tiling. lol.
Can't wait for the pics Gary