Is this a full day for a plasterer?

So what’s he been doing ?

Prepping the walls ?

I would assume he was waiting for something to dry before he could carry on, and that’s why it worked out that way. Have you asked?

Did he tell you it would be done in a day and a half? I think he priced the job and then gave you a time frame of how long it would take.

Believe it or not, not everyone who accepts cash as legal tender in payment for services or goods rendered is not paying income or NI tax on it. 🤨

There are other taxes to pay

😂

? Doubt he has revenues that reach the VAT threshold.

7hrs a day on a job site is a full days work as most tradesmen the travel to and from the job site is part of the work day.

You paid cash so no tax for him to pay

Plastering is a funny job like that. Knocking up a fresh mix might take you 20-30 minutes, but you need it to cure slightly so it adheres to the previous coat. If the previous coat hasn’t sufficiently dried, then there’s no point applying the next coat cause it won’t adhere. At the end of the day, either you trust him as an expert to do a good job, or you don’t. If you don’t, don’t pay a day-rate. Day-rate payments work for people you trust. Otherwise it’s a job rate.

i just paid £60 for a double glazing man to sort out my bifold door. I told him the problem, he said “I can sort that, £60, I’ll be there about 5.” And we agreed. He did the job in 10 minutes. I suppose that technically makes his hourly rate £360. Not bad work if you can get it! But he did the job, and I’m happy with what I paid for…

If he knew you were clock watching he’d of had a dinner and probably slowed down a touch
arrive at 9 hour for dinner leave at 5 is 7 hours literally 45 minutes difference

Day rates are not 7 hours of work to the minute. It's whatever you can get done within your working hours. So it sounds like the guys work 8 to 4.

First day started at 8:30 no break so should finish around 3:30. At 2:45 there was probably nothing left they could do in those last 45 min. They can't start a new batch of plaster and stop halfway.

The next day the guy worked from 8 until 1:45 without break. So technically he worked until 2:45. If he finishes at 4 than your really complaining about 1 hour and 15 . The guy is not going to find an extra 1 hour and 15 minutes of work somewhere else and he is not going to sit in your house waiting for the clock to run out.

This is why you are paying per day and not per hour. Also your not taking into consideration the unseen labour. Going to buy supplies, quoting, invoicing and other admin.

Unfortunately yes. And don't know where you live but that's about half price compared to snotty south

£220 per man per day is an absolute bargain. As long as you are happy with there work,

I recently had plasterers in and I found the same - they started early but finished early as they had to let the plaster dry. They couldn't do any more that day.
They don't do a 9-5.

Why is it ridiculous? They may have done all they can do that day - so what would you rather them do instead?

You quite confidently stated it wasn't a full days work.

But it could well have been all he could do that day, and therefore he charged a full-day rate accordingly.

I know all about timelines and tradies working round each other - and often DH has jobs brought forward or pushed back as a result of it. That's just the nature of the beast.

I would never recommend a day rate for works
We only accept quotes based on the full job
as your dh does

I haven’t mentioned anything about how long it might take to do a job. We do however need a timeline as other trades need to fit round each other. Deadlines mean clients aren’t mucked around either delays and additional costs.

The last plasterers I used arrived at 8:30 and left after 4:30.

I think leaving at 1:45 is ridiculous but not sure there's much you can do, aside from giving honest review to anyone who asks

😆😅😂

Then you should know it's impossible to predict how long plaster will take to set and how long a job will take as a result.

DH often sets aside a week and is done within three days. Other times he'll give three days and has to work a Saturday and Sunday to make up the time.

Which is why decent tradies charge by the job, not the hours, so that they can go home at 2pm or work until 6pm and not mess the client around financially.

I’d rather a hard working tradie earning £200 didn’t declare it tbh.
Spendthrift Rachael in Accounts is already taxing everyone through the roof with zero inclination to cut back on anything.
It’s time the private sector stopped supporting these political fat cats with their pay rises, free heating and enormous expenses.
Focus on your own tax return instead of policing everybody else’s.

I manage and programme trades on site as part of the domestic jobs I do
So I have many years of experience re timings on all trades

Of note those who work on larger projects in the tens of millions work longer hours.

From my own experience of plasterers, they stay til the job is done. "Job and finish" basis. So they arrived in the morning 8am didn't leave until near 8pm when kitchen was being renovated years ago. They don't come back second day as they move on to the next job etc. They stay until its done.