Bad plaster work done, what can i do?

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by g4rfr81, Apr 30, 2016.

  1. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member

    Hi, i moved into a new home, an older home so stripped walls in living room to reveal tiredold plaster work! Got some plasterers in for quotes to have some work done and pucked one and went with them! Supposedly they were gonna remove all the tired plaster ( i think bossing was the technical terminology for it) basically you could tell it was done, not connected to the walls in many places!
    I was told they would remove all this loose plaster and replaster ready so i could paint the walls once dry! From one thing to another i began to feel i wasnt getting the job i was expecting and from things such as removing old copper pipe work under my floor boards(that was exposed as i they were moving lights for me) to "get it out of my way" to things such as leving the place in a mess i became concerned! Two weeks have now past and after returning from a weekend away to what we hoped would be painting the walls time, i return to cracks appearing in many places all around the room!

    Where do i stand as to getting anything done? Ive tried msging the people but surprise surprise i get no reply, can i do anything legally to get my money back? More importantly what do i do with my walls? Are the cracks just gonna get worse and worse? Can i fill over them or am i wasting my time? I think its safe that they didnt strip the walls back to brick as i thought i was getting? Is that gonna be my only sure way fix?

    Many thanks to anyone that can give me help i just want it done so i can move in lol
     
  2. I think you will need to start looking round local pikey camps for them.
     
    g4rfr81 likes this.
  3. Jitender

    Jitender Screwfix Select

    Do you have pictures?
     
  4. Jitender

    Jitender Screwfix Select

    Older home - is this 1950's/Victorian?

    Cracks - is it crazed?
     
  5. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member


    Thats an annoying thing, i took pictures but for some reason my phone has removed them! I can get more of its current state but its just long cracks that run from one edge to another whether its from the corners of the windows to the ceiling or from the coving to the floor, theres not hundreds of them yet but theres enough of them and they are on every wall!
     
  6. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member

     
  7. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member


    Annoying thing is i found them on a ratemybuilder type of site and they had 100% feedback from 20+ jobs! Seemed like a nice bloke!
     
  8. Jitender

    Jitender Screwfix Select

    Hard to say but if I employed a plasterer, would expect a crack free finish.

    How certain are you hat the old plaster was removed beforehand. Is the plaster sound onto the wall, i.e. when taping is it loosed/hollow?

    Was the finish an undercoat plaster followed by finishing plaster?
     
  9. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member


    Well i didnt think i was expecting too much for a crack free finish! Im actually more convinced he took nothing off the wall and just plastered over it! I had opened my fireplace up abit so that wall i had removed the thick old plaster so in some places it needed thicker build up but as for everywhere else its just been skimmed over, it does sound hollow still in places!

    Another thing is even all the new coving is cracking, i spent two evenings myself filling the corners and joints as they were left terrible and i just told him i wasnt paying him full for that!which i didnt but now wish i hadnt paid him at all!
     
  10. Jitender

    Jitender Screwfix Select

    From a previous experience from using another site for trades, I think the feedback isn't genuine. I was nearly threatened to put good feedback on for one job.

    Best to use a local plasterer and recommended from friends.
     
    g4rfr81 likes this.
  11. Hi G4.

    Is this job fully 'above board'? Ie, do you have, say, a written estimate for the work done, and receipts for the payments you've made?

    Do you have any written explanation about what was required - eg all loose plaster to be removed before making good?

    If so, you are covered. If not, you'll be lucky.

    If you can 'prove' what the work required was, and you can show the payments you've made, then you can legally oblige these coves to redo the work 'properly' - ie no hollows, no cracks, no gaps - a surface ready for painting (following a good wipe-down).

    If they refuse, you can legally employ another plasterer to do this work instead, and then sue the original ones for the cost. And you will almost certainly win. (But take advice - eg CA - before doing so.)
     
    g4rfr81 and CGN like this.
  12. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member


    I thought that might be the case, my original estimate was just jotted down on un-headed paper as he said he didnt have an with him, that was just a price with no real description though just says walls x amount, coving x amount ceiling x amount, but then when it came to payment it was cash but i said do i get some sort of gaurantee as i wasnt happy and he jotted down on headed paper work carried out at my address and the gauranteed for bad workmanship not damage! Doesnt specify what he done but didnt know if that would make a difference!
     
  13. g4rfr81

    g4rfr81 Member


    Actually he wrote his company name and name with contact number on the price sheet!
     
  14. Phew - good job you have that, G4.

    That will almost certainly be enough. Put it this way, if it goes all the way to a county court and muggins actually deigns to turn up, who do you think the adjudicator is gonna believe?

    Yep, you.

    What paperwork you have will almost certainly be enough - and will in fact demonstrate the sloppiness of the other guy's approach. And you will chust explain that you are basically a trusting person and didn't want to make a fuss over the lack of detailed invoice at the beginning - which you now regret, of course, and will not be as careless again. (We all know that, in practice, despite knowing what we should all do, it's a really uncomfortable feeling to challenge someone on such an issue - it's like saying you don't trust them when they haven't even started.

    Anyhoo, if the plaster still sounds 'hollow' in places - and if these are the same places as before they started work - then it's a no-brainer. No credible plasterer would skim over loose bonding - it's a waste of time and money.

    Take lots of photos of how things are - a wide shot, and then close-ups.

    And get advice from yer local CA - or phone them up. They are genuinely brilliant.
     
    g4rfr81 likes this.

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