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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Builder aibu

29 replies

rooty123 · 21/09/2020 18:59

I've just had invoice from builder that's 10% on top of original quote, so £1000+ extra

We've queried it with him as was told there were no extras when we asked if there were going to be - throughout project. The reasons for extras seem unfair, ie extra floor tiles when he knew how big the floor was at the start, putting a shelf up we said we'd be happy to do, a different style plug socket (same price online).

The flooring is the biggest extra and it's doubly annoying as we went for a cheaper tile to keep in budget, his addition makes it more expensive than our first choice of flooring.

I'm furious. Aibu not to pay for the extra tiles?

OP posts:
HostessTrolley · 21/09/2020 19:09

Did you get the quote for the work in writing? If so is there anything on there about possible variation in cost?

Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 19:17

No mention on quote of variations. He requoted at beginning of project and tripled the cost of the plastering which should have been a warning sign, but at that point we just wanted to get on with it.

OP posts:
MomToTwoBabas · 21/09/2020 19:57

I'd be fuming and wouldn't pay

TreadLightly3 · 21/09/2020 20:16

Sounds like he’s trying it on to me. I would argue this and not pay the extra. His fault as you said and he should be required to justify the change of price for sockets. Sounds like a chancer. Good luck

MissConductUS · 21/09/2020 20:24

When we had our deck replaced with a bigger one DH noted that the builder, who we had worked with before and really liked, seemed annoyed about something. DH asked him what was wrong and he said that in his quote he hadn't allowed anything to cover the labor to dismantle and remove the old deck, but that it was his mistake so no extra cost for us.

That's how it should work.

Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 21:34

We've had loads of work done on various houses over the years and this is the first time we've had this happen.

The floor was also done months ago (whole other saga) so there was plenty of time to mention that it was going to be a lot more expensive than quote.

I feel like he's just making it up now to make up for his total lack of organisation on project which must have cost him ££.

OP posts:
TreadLightly3 · 21/09/2020 22:30

Yup

Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 22:39

Can he take me to court if I don't pay? It was ££ anyway.

OP posts:
Roundtoedshoes · 21/09/2020 22:40

Don’t pay up OP, he probably does it regularly and gets away with it - that is a lot of money!

FAQs · 21/09/2020 22:42

Have you worked out the cost of the flooring yourself PSM.

FAQs · 21/09/2020 22:43

You’ll also need to add wastage if it’s tiles.

WetdreamBeliever · 21/09/2020 22:48

The builder is being very unprofessional. You agree a price and honour it.
If he had finished a day early, you would've still paid him the agreed amount. If he overruns on cost or time, it's up to him to just suck it up.
It's a part of being in business.

WetdreamBeliever · 21/09/2020 22:54

And just to add: no, he can't take you to court.
Unless, at some point, you agreed to cover the cost overrun. Check your emails. It's deceptively easy to say 'I just want the job finished, get on with it'- they could reasonably take this as approval to proceed.

Shizzlestix · 21/09/2020 23:03

If he didn’t measure up properly, that is his fault for guess-timating, not yours. When a carpenter took the absolute piss trying to charge us more than we’d expected, I just told him no.

Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 23:17

We said we wanted whole floor tiled, in quote it said 25m2, however floor was actually 35m2. He's charging us for the extra m2.

OP posts:
LUZON · 21/09/2020 23:23

Have you spoken to him about it at all?

Voice0fReason · 21/09/2020 23:27

@FAQs

You’ll also need to add wastage if it’s tiles.
No, the builder needs to allow for wastage in his quote.
Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 23:28

Yes, my dh spoke to him, he thought we were being unreasonable for not wanting to pay it

OP posts:
OrigamiOwl · 21/09/2020 23:29

@rooty123

We said we wanted whole floor tiled, in quote it said 25m2, however floor was actually 35m2. He's charging us for the extra m2.
Did he measure the floor or did you?
Original poster
rooty123 · 21/09/2020 23:40

He did. We thought it was roughly that, didn't get the tape measure out when the quote arrived but we had talked a out tiling whole floor and he had measured it (a few times actually)

OP posts:
WetdreamBeliever · 21/09/2020 23:50

@rooty123

We said we wanted whole floor tiled, in quote it said 25m2, however floor was actually 35m2. He's charging us for the extra m2.
This might change things. He quoted for 25 Sq metres what you considered to be the whole floor. Did he at any point indicate that it could cost more, or his quote was invalid or he would need more materials? Did you at any point thereafter say something like 'I just want it done'?

This may not be as black and white as first presented. Check all your correspondence, emails and letters. And remember that a verbal contract is still a contract, so review what was said and when.

Adamandtheaunts · 22/09/2020 00:01

Re the plastering - plaster has been a nightmare to get hold of due to issues at the factory caused by covid. My builders have had break ins on sites that have ignored the expensive tools and only stolen the plaster.

rightmoo · 22/09/2020 07:40

We had no idea that he'd had to get additional tiles until the invoice arrived. His assertion is that we only wanted the main floor tiled, not alcoves - ridiculous as these are all very much still the main floor (don't even have cupboards etc in them).

Appreciate plaster costs have gone up.

He alluded to some carpentry potentially being more, I said ok, let me know if it is please but heard nothing else. This was the only time he mentioned any additions. I asked him a few times throughout the project and at the end if there were any extras and he said no.

Mascaramademehappy · 22/09/2020 07:42

I was trying to get plastering done and was told by several tradesmen that the price of plaster was so high they were not taking on new jobs for a while so there could be an element of that in the plastering cost increase.

rightmoo · 22/09/2020 07:52

We'd already agreed the additional plastering costs at the beginning of project so this isn't included in the extra £1000.