Get Proper Builders In She Said

A decent electrician should be able to chase in those back boxes without making to much mess, even with the cables there.
 
Additionally, if you’ve had (domestic properties England & Wales) new circuits installed, consumer unit replacement, work carried out in special locations (e.g. in zones in bathrooms & additional requirements for Wales), your LBC needs notification. This can often be included with the original planning or building regs for your extension/build approval. Best have that verified by your LBC. Whenever I did work on extensions etc, I notified LBC regardless.

Wots scores on the doors @nheather?
 
If it it were me I would tell the builder that I want:

1) All electrical (plugs, switches, lights removing
2) The room re-skimming (inc ceiling)
3) All electrical fitting put back flush (after you have re-painted)
4) As part of a concession you would be happy to pay for the skim and would take care of repainting

There is the argument as to why should you but, you mention you are a perfectionist so you will never be really happy.

You infer that you were looking into making good yourself which suggests you are prepared to spend money and time on getting it right

By doing the above you get the main snags properly sorted whilst not overly crucifing the builder

in reality the only issue with the above is your wife who will not like the idea of the mess and delay
 
Seems a bit of a long way round of doing things, instead of chopping in a couple of back boxes?

It is and only mentioned as OP referred to being a perfectionist and the issue is not limited to just one electrical fitting I.e plus or lights but three I.e lights, switches and plugs plus,pmthe fact that the filler round the window really need to be Gypsum anyway.

we’re the issue on limited to say 1 or 2 points rather than four and OP not being a perfectionist then making good would suffice.
 
If it it were me I would tell the builder that I want:

1) All electrical (plugs, switches, lights removing
2) The room re-skimming (inc ceiling)
3) All electrical fitting put back flush (after you have re-painted)
4) As part of a concession you would be happy to pay for the skim and would take care of repainting

There is the argument as to why should you but, you mention you are a perfectionist so you will never be really happy.

You infer that you were looking into making good yourself which suggests you are prepared to spend money and time on getting it right

By doing the above you get the main snags properly sorted whilst not overly crucifing the builder

in reality the only issue with the above is your wife who will not like the idea of the mess and delay
[/QUOTE
I really cannot justify your comments @MSW
How can you think that it is acceptable to pay a tradesman again for the work that they have already fudged up. You have said that he should actually pay again to put the complete and utter shoddy work right. The chap you got round last xmas to put up your lights, is he still there??
Do perfectionist send their food back every time they visit a restaraunt?
The guys paid for a future investment on his house and you are suggesting that he pays to have it re-plastered to fill in the gaps that a bus could drive past. ??
That so called finish and hand over would be labelled as a rouge trader in my neck of the woods.
 
I’d want a gypsum plaster finish myself too. It’s the best wall finish that you can get in terms of appearance and durability. Best in the world- British Gypsum rock.

Edit: rock as in the actual rock that the plaster is made from, not that the company ‘rocks’ :D
 
Last edited:
I’d want a gypsum plaster finish myself too. It’s the best wall finish that you can get in terms of appearance and durability. Best in the world- British Gypsum rock.

Edit: rock as in the actual rock that the plaster is made from, not that the company ‘rocks’ :D

What makes it better than any other gypsum? Or are you just being patriotic?
 
The plaster finish is arguably the best in the world, the actual plaster itself in one of the most advanced plants in the world and the biggest plant in europe, the technique of applying and finishing is also world leading.

I’m not suggesting that I’ve visited every country to examine their plaster finishes but British is one of the best in the world I have seen.

Not me being patriotic in the slightest :D
 
The plaster finish is arguably the best in the world, the actual plaster itself in one of the most advanced plants in the world and the biggest plant in europe, the technique of applying and finishing is also world leading.

I’m not suggesting that I’ve visited every country to examine their plaster finishes but British is one of the best in the world I have seen.

Not me being patriotic in the slightest :D

It's not often my area of expertise comes up in these forums so I was curious as to why you think that. I've been in their plant, and also Irish Gypsum. I also deal directly with their French parent company and have supplied various equipment to both for extracting the raw material.

Armitage Shanks make the best sanitary ware in the world.:smashin:
 
Last edited:
It is and only mentioned as OP referred to being a perfectionist and the issue is not limited to just one electrical fitting I.e plus or lights but three I.e lights, switches and plugs plus,pmthe fact that the filler round the window really need to be Gypsum anyway.

we’re the issue on limited to say 1 or 2 points rather than four and OP not being a perfectionist then making good would suffice.

I, as an electrician, have had to replace existing electrical back boxes, for example for deeper ones to accommodate dimmer switches or slim plate socket outlets.
Its quite a simple task to remove the existing back box, deepen the recess, replace with new box and make good if neccessaary.

Any competent electrician/trades person could carry out this task, without the need to re skim a plastered wall.
 
As a professional, this is a bodge. Arguably there isn’t much work involved to correct it but the fact that filler has been used on large parts of the walls screams cowboys 🤠. What’s more worrying is the fact you haven’t been told what’s happening with the electrical certification side of things, that can become a big problem very quickly if things aren’t handled properly and per regulations. Hope you get resolved promptly and professionally.
 
You've reinforced my arguments with my wife as to why I won't bring in the professionals. It's not that I'm mean, but I hate bodged work and nearly everything done to my home by the pros is unsatisfactory. I can bodge better than them! But I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I'd rather take my time to do it perfectly.
 
Have you paid them?
 
I can completely sympathise with people not wanting to get a professional in. I am seeing it from the other side though as someone who is fully Qualified, Insured and with almost 30 years experience yet customers will accept a quote from someone unqualified, uninsured and with no training whatsoever.

Customers need to start asking the right questions before appointing a tradesman. In this instance (Electrics) the customer must ask to see copies of any relevant qualifications, must make sure they are a member of a governing body (NICEIC or NAPIT for example) ,that they have a Public Liability Insurance Policy in place and lastly that they will receive the relevant certificates when deemed necessary.

My electrician gives me a certificate on every single job he does for me. All kept on file by me, a copy sent to the customer and also held with building control.
 
I can completely sympathise with people not wanting to get a professional in. I am seeing it from the other side though as someone who is fully Qualified, Insured and with almost 30 years experience yet customers will accept a quote from someone unqualified, uninsured and with no training whatsoever.

Well, my experience with a qualified professional with a lot of experience was this: I was planning to build an extension at the front, one storey and 10sq m surface area). The qualified and experienced builder (with a fancy website an a fancy name) gave me a detailed quote which listed everything and the total cost was £30k. Amongst the chrages he had lsted was £500 for using an outdoor toilet, £1000 for security fencing (absolutely unneccessary) and other tripe like that.

Another similar builder with lots of qualifications and experience (he had a fancy website too, and a fancy name) quoted me £27k.

I got another person, builder, (no company or website, but with a pair of hands that truly showed his experience) who quoted me £15k for the same job.

Suffice to say the last one got the job and a good job he did.

The problem is that there are no price indicators in the building trade (similar to RRP) so the public can't check someone's quoted price against anything official. So builders, like the first two above, can charge what they please and rip people off.
 
Which qualifications did the builder have?

I think the fact still remains that if you do some proper homework on who you are getting in to do the work, the likelihood of getting a better job done increases. I’m not suggesting you can’t get a good job done by someone who is far less expensive or seemingly less qualified. It’s just less likely in my experience. Also it does depend on which trade we’re talking about.
 
Well, my experience with a qualified professional with a lot of experience was this: I was planning to build an extension at the front, one storey and 10sq m surface area). The qualified and experienced builder (with a fancy website an a fancy name) gave me a detailed quote which listed everything and the total cost was £30k. Amongst the chrages he had lsted was £500 for using an outdoor toilet, £1000 for security fencing (absolutely unneccessary) and other tripe like that.

You did what is one of the wisest things, and obtained several quotes.

i had an extension done a few years back, and did the same. The guy I picked in the end, was the one that did the neighbours, watched him work there. He gave me a quote, which was the cheapest, but it didn’t have a breakdown. When I asked for one, he said you’ll just have to trust me!

He did a great job, knew all the building inspectors, finished on time.

The Construction Design Management 2015 regs, puts into place H&S on domestic properties. Perhaps your builder with the security fence & outdoor toilet, was adhering to the rules.
 
Sorry about your problems, OP.

Plan, document, plan, document, plan some more and document the lot! Builders that eventually did mine said it was the most detailed spec they had ever seen. Saved me loads at the inevitable dispute because it was clearly documented.

I used them because the same main joiner had built the house and was old school do it slow and right.

Still had a mare before it started. One job was building an external staircase to 1st floor level. Their plan was to build a temporary staircase to access the house from the back to do the internal work then build the actual staircase. Eh, why not just do the staircase first and save the £2k for the temporary?

Next, I caught the sparky telling the PM, "Usual arrangement, John, think of a number and double it?"

Trust nobody!
 
IMO unless a major operational need only amateurs use 25mm back boxes.

They can make life so difficult if you want to use screwless flat plate or USB sockets etc..

Totally amateurish, again who pushes down lights into the ceiling before testing??? I’d be wanting some electrical certs ASAP.

Sick of these cowboys ruining a trade that I and others have worked damn hard in over the years..
 
I have worked in the building trade for over 30 years. In that time I would say around 95% of all the tradesmen I have worked with I wouldn’t let them any where near my own house to do any work.
It does not matter what qualifications they have or how many years experience they have ,they still can be totally useless
John
 
IMO unless a major operational need only amateurs use 25mm back boxes.

They can make life so difficult if you want to use screwless flat plate or USB sockets etc..

Totally amateurish, again who pushes down lights into the ceiling before testing??? I’d be wanting some electrical certs ASAP.

Sick of these cowboys ruining a trade that I and others have worked damn hard in over the years..

Afraid 25mm back boxes for socket outlets are used predominantly in new builds, especially with dry lined walls. Saves having to chop out the walls.

Not saying it’s good practice, but times money.

I did make the point about electrical certificates & compliance (if applicable) back in #41. Hope OP’s not encountered problems with that.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom