To be at the end of my tether with my new bathroom

[constantlylactating]

Apologies for the length, I'm trying not to drip feed. Any advice gratefully received, we're at a bit of a crossroads with our tradesman I think, and I feel the need to ask for advice from anyone who may have experienced similar.

We bought our house last August, knowing full well that several things needed doing, one of which was replacing the bathroom. We finally got around to it this month, and after getting several plumbers/bathroom fitters in to quote, we settled on one that I found on checkatrade. He had very good reviews, and the photos of his work looked like the kind of vibe we wanted to go for. He was also very reasonably priced. We decided to also have a small toilet/sink fitted under our stairs at the same time.

We booked him to start the first week in May, we were hosting a party at our house this weekend just gone, and he knew when we booked the work in that was our hard deadline for it being done- it gave us 3 weeks, he said it would take two. I feel the need to explain this wasn't just a new suite, this was back to brick, re-plastering, the lot.

That first monday was a BH and he said that was fine. However the day before he said he would be unable to start til the Tuesday (he had a family emergency, which sounded quite far fetched, but who knows). The rest of the week went well, apart from he left a tap running in the kitchen as he couldn't turn the stopcock off properly. He didn't tell me, I turned the tap off, which caused water to start flooding through the ceiling below the bathroom.

The following week he didn't turn up on the monday and tuesday because he was unwell. Fair enough - I don't want germs in the house, we've got two young kids, whatever.

The work wasn't finished by the end of the second week as promised, so we entered week 3 (last week). He didn't turn up on Tuesday because his van broke down on the way to us. (wow he's unlucky, right?)

The work STILL wasn't finished by Friday of week 3, which was our hard deadline. He said it was just cosmetic things to finish off - and I will say this - my new bathroom is really beautiful. However, the toilet cistern needs adjusting as you can't flush it, and the shower mixer doesn't mix - so unless you want icy cold or scalding heat, it's beautiful, but unusable.

He PROMISED he would be back yesterday (bh monday) - I said are you sure, it's a BH etc, but he said yes. Yesterday comes and there was no communication from him whatsoever, he just didn't turn up.

He has now messaged to say he was in hospital the last two days, is being let out today, and will be back tomorrow to finish off. Without writing a big list here, he will not be finished in one day, there is still too much to do. He is also clearly very very unlucky...

Here's where I'm not sure what to do. We have paid him 3/4 of the final bill. This was his payment plan, and we did agree to it. I am also, as I said, really happy with the work that HAS been done. I'm perfectly happy to have paid for what has been done, it's lovely. We have not yet paid the last 1/4, and obviously won't be until the work is complete and we are happy. My question is, what do I do if this carries on, how long do I let it drag on for? Also, is he really just this unlucky, or has he been taking me for a ride this entire time? I think I know which it is, sadly.

YABU - it's fine, just wait it out, it's your own fault
YANBU - it's not ok, here's some advice.

Find someone else to finish the work. Don’t pay the final instalment.

Do you think? Cut our losses? I'm just not sure where we would stand, legally - I've heard horror stories of tradesmen coming back to rip out their work.

Sounds like he’s overstretched himself, DH is a retired bathroom installer and always only did one job at a time, always on time, his payment policy was 50% on day of commencement, balance when he was finished and client completely happy, unfortunately it now seems that tradespeople turn up after dropping kids at school, then need to get supplies, need to collect kids. We had a roofer do some guttering, 2 days work took him around 2 weeks, van broke down, children ill, he was ill, DH had over 50 texts from him, DH told him we could never recommend him to our friends and family as he was too unreliable, he even left his ladders here for 2 weeks, he then had the cheek to ask about doing more work for us, DH said no chance. Unfortunately Checkatrade cannot be relied on, do an honest review once he finished and see if it appears.

Give him an ultimatum that you want everything finished by the weekend. If you say you are going to get someone else in, he may say go for it and it’s not easy getting someone in to finish jobs.

I think your "hard deadline" was your undoing.
If the guy finishes everything off, you need to pay him - don't pay that last quarter until it is all finished properly tho.

He’s likely booked too many jobs in and is trying to squeeze you all in around each other.

That said I do think a three week deadline for a bathroom gutting and installation is very optimistic at the best of times, especially with two bank holiday weekends.

We had similar, same company. He stopped receiving my DH calls so I called him on my mobile number he didn’t know, he answered and “ was in London” in the middle of our job, had left so many faults! I were in the Midlands, I told him that it was unacceptable, my DH had paid some of the money. I wouldn’t have paid any upfront. He didn’t come back and took his details off the site.

The timeline was unrealistic and far too optimistic. I don’t think you can just decide to find someone else. You need to agree a new deadline with him and if he doesn’t hit it then you can find someone else, although the time to find someone else will probably take as long!

I think legally you have to give him the opportunity to finish, and a few weeks is a reasonable length of time. The fact you had a party is irrelevant

You know, I’ve met so many unlucky tradesmen over the years! It’s not a profession I’d want my children to go into, so much illness, family issues, deaths, and good god, none of them have any luck with vehicles, do they? Poor sods.

I had one builder who’s mother died twice in an 8 week period- poor man, what luck! Another who was simultaneously stuck on the Isle of Wight and in Scotland at the same time!

I’ve had a lot of work done on a lot of houses over the years, but finally, we met a wonderful builder who only does on job at a time, arrives when he says he will, is more than reasonably priced and just does his job and more importantly, is fucking honest and doesn’t feed us bullshit. One job at a time means you have to wait months for him (we had to wait from a quote in Jan until work started mid sept), but it’s worth it.

He and his family are actually close friends of ours now as well.

Yes this is week 4 now, and I have given him until the end of this week. We had a similar job (same level of work) done in our old house in 2 weeks, so I didn't think it was unreasonable. As a pp said though, he doesn't start til almost 10, is finished by 3, so I think the tradesman we used previously must have worked full days to get it done, I don't remember.

This is it, if he'd said that our job had run over, and he had to do a 2 day job he had already promised to do, I wouldn't care, it's all the excuses piling up I don't like. We're in week four, and so far he has missed 6 days for various reasons.

It may be difficult to get someone to finish the work of another tradesman, so you might have to stick with this one, frustrating as it is.

I genuinely would rather he just do it - despite everything I have been getting on with him really well, love his work and would just like it finished so I can pay him and move on! Luckily my husband is quite handy and could probably finish most of it, so worst case scenario we could get someone in to fix the shower, then my husband could do the rest.

Is 2 or 3 weeks not long enough then to do a complete bathroom refurb? Back to brick? Everything? Getting ours done in November. Huge waiting list as they are very good. Been told 2 weeks.

Good luck with that. It’s highly unlikely you’ll find someone else to do it, especially within a short timeframe. I’d say grit your teeth, be nice and make it easy for him to come back and get the work done. It sucks, I know.

Personally wouldn’t go with someone who is free to start so quick. My husband is a builder and if you want an extension with him you’re waiting at least 9 months. Why is he just sat around ready to take on 2-3 weeks worth of work at the drop of a hat and why isnt he booked up?

did he agree to your “hard deadline”?

we get a lot of customers wanting a new kitchen by Christmas in mid December and they tell us it’s a hard deadline but we could never and would never guarantee it!

a lot of excuses from him. Must be the unluckiest guy in the world. I’d tell him he has a final deadline of x otherwise you’re withholding the final payment in order to pay someone else to finish it

I think checkatrade is absolute rubbish. I’ve had some absolute cowboys turn up to quote. But I would never leave a poor review as they know where you live so it just isn’t worth it. Word of mouth is the best way to go in my opinion. Not much help now, I know. But I wouldn’t take checkatrade to be worth anything.

we had a full refurb in our last house in two weeks so it is possible!

Workmen have a far higher incidence of unfortunate ‘incidents’ than any other profession in my experience 🙄 In the past 6 months, we’ve had various contractors claim to be hospitalised (although they are miraculously back at work within a day or 2), or have van breakdowns en route. It’s very frustrating as you know it’s usually bs.

If you’re otherwise happy with the bathroom so far, I’d be inclined to let him complete the work but be firm about timeframe and absolutely don’t pay another penny until it’s finished and you’re happy.

Sorry, he wasn't free to start so quick, he came round to quote in january, we agreed to start first week of May. He knew about the party and assured us 3 weeks would be more than enough time, he stated explicitly it would take 2 weeks.

Great advice re that final payment thank you

100% agree. Would never, ever use Checkatrade (or similar sites) again. I hired a roofer through Checkatrade several years ago - turned out that he was a convicted con man who had been to prison more than once, for ripping off pensioners for thousands of pounds of non-existent roof work. He charged us 3k for work he never did, and we later discovered that he just kept changing his trading name every time he got caught out. Checkatrade were not remotely interested when I complained to them but it was clear they do not do any of the vetting they claim. I never use anyone now unless they have been personally recommended by someone locally.

Yeah it’s the lies that get me.

The builder we use now is so upfront. He took one day where he had to look after his sick son when his wife was away with work. Fair enough!

It’s the stupid excuses some of them make that piss me off. Just tell the truth.

So far he's had
1 day missed because his parent went missing a couple of hours away from home and he had to join the search party
2 days missed for sickness
1 day missed for a broken down van
2 days missed for a hospital stay

All within 4 weeks! Super unlucky.

If you're going to get a bathroom fitted I would always recommend going to a proper bathroom place and getting them to fit it.

I know a few trades people personally and what they're all up to when they're making excuses to get out of work. I've heard it all.

FWIW my FIL is a trades person and his van actually did break down on the motorway last week, but it was pretty much a case of the boy who cried wolf where he'd made so many excuses up for no days or half days that when he'd actually committed something went wrong.

He feels that the beauty of being self employed is that you can take time off when you want, but there's no loyalty to customers. That's why I'd recommend not employing someone who is self employed, and always just go with a firm or a branch even if they're not the cheapest.

Oh for fucks sake, do all these builders live on the same Eastenders set, I’ve also had one who didn’t turn up for two days and told me he was out on a search party for a missing parent 🤣🤣

I think they should keep a spreadsheet of which lie they have told to which customer.

When one told me his mum had died, again, I did actually say, “is that the same mum that died last month? That’s unlucky.” He went bright red and started blurting out a story of “oh no, that was my nan, what I meant was, she was like a mum to me.”

It would actually be be funny if it wasn’t so disruptive.

Yes, our next large job will be a kitchen, we will absolutely be going with a company!