Had a builder over recently who quoted me 2500 labour to refit my bathroom, we supplied the parts. Along the way we also asked him to fit 7 doors in my house which he did. When fitting one bedroom door he planed too far and exposed the chipboard underneath, he said we could take the money off what we pay him but I insisted on a new door. He got a new door and cut 8cm off each side to fit the damaged door to our airing cupboard depsite me informing him we wanted a different door there but we agreed as it looked okay we would pay him for fitting not for the door itself. After discovering problems in the refitted bathroom including scratched bath screen, chipped bath, shower head being far off center and flooring laid directly to the floor boards we raised these issues, he came over and argued with me over them. The tiles move when you walk on them on the floor so all grout is cracked. He is now asking for £100 more to fit the bath panel and £100 for the boxing under the sink. He refuses to answer me about the flooring. He also wants to charge us for the damaged door or take the new one he purchased. I've attached pictures of the above. Stupidly I paid him before the job was done, I sent £2000 by transfer and paid £1050 in cash. His invoice then came back with £1000 labour and £1000 materials (which were actually ~£300). What is the best thing to do? He is refusing to replace the flooring and wants the full amount including door money to finish the bathroom, without the flooring. He said "who said it is my responsibility to check the floor" Do I need to give him a 'last chance' to fix it before starting a small claims case? Thanks.
Obviously you know that you don’t lay tiles directly onto floor boards, builders don’t fit bathrooms , bathroom fitters do.
His Check a trade says Bathroom Fitter, builder and Tiler. We paid him £2000 when he was getting near the end. Then another £1050 in cash before he sent his invoice which said £2000 (1000 labour, 1000 materials). There is still £250/350 outstanding depending if we pay for the door. Our fault for not getting the invoice first but he is now saying he wants the money first and will send the invoice after.
Check a trade. Oh dear Invoice first. Money later that’s how it works. I suspect he is quids in and he’ll walk off the job. Go back to your scope of works/ quote and ask him to complete that for the agreed price. Point out the faults and ask they be corrected. All in writing. If he does not respond then you’ll need to try to recover monies via small claims oh and did he suggest cash to avoid VAT? If so go online and report that to HMRC. Won’t help you but no harm in making life difficult for him. the work is shocking. No excuse for that
The floor has been down for less than a week when these photos were taken. Is check This is essentially what we have done, over WhatsApp but he refuses to accept responsibility for the floor and won't fix it. I believe cash was to avoid VAT, he said it has been paid into his business account now so any further money will be transfer only after invoice. If he does walk away am I correct in saying we can get reports and pay someone else to do the work then claim this back from him? Not sure how small claims works. Someone else said about their business insurance but I'm no pro here. Thanks for the reply
Ignore business insurance whoever said that is daft. His insurance is there to indemnify his business for claims against it. You claim from his business. what you need is to gather together evidence: what he was supposed to do and what price. Where there are quality issues these need to be pointed out and a reasonable time given to address. Then char him a few times. If you get no response then you need to write again to say you will appoint someone else to rectify. Get 2-3 quotes for rectification and write a final demand saying he should rectify and if he fails you’ll recover costs via small claims then ultimately put a small claim in: this can be done online and is dead easy. One critical thing you will need is a name and address for the claim. This should be on his invoice the process above, getting to submitting a claim is likely to take about 3 months tbh
Latest message: "I know this will never end so please find someone else and I will pay for it". Solves my problem I guess, adds new ones but I'm not sure if this would be enough to go on if it went to a court to claim back the cost.