Is this a full day for a plasterer?

[Sam9769]

Plasterer came to do some work with his mate yesterday, each charging £220 cash for a day's work.
They arrived about 8.30am and left at 2.45pm, no lunch break.
Plasterer came on his own today at around 8am and left at 1.45pm, no lunch break.
AIBU to think that this is not a day's work?

Always get a job price, not a day rate. If you're happy with that then you won't be clock watching.

@Sam9769 That 'working' day sounds about right for many workmen/contractors who have been to our home. They tend to rock up at 8.30am, have a break around 2 hours later for 20 minutes, (nearly 11 by now,) then work til half past midday, then have half hour lunch, (so back about one,..) Then they work til 3pm at the latest. They stop a few times in between for the multiple coffees and teas they expect too. Imagine if all jobs were like this? Be lovely wouldn't it?!

Some people will make excuses for them, and say but but but, like bringing up the 'travel time,' because no other job has travel time does it? 🙄 In many cases, the travel time is several miles, and most people have a job that is further than that, and don't make the 'what about the travel time' excuse?!

Some are hard workers, but let's not pretend that some of them aren't quite lazy.

The plasterer took my pussy.. read it in this week's Take a break.

DH is a plasterer.

He never works a full eight hour day, it's just not possible. Plaster takes time to mix, to get on, to set. And the amount of time it takes is hugely unpredictable as it depends on the weather, the batch, how humid the room is etc.

So yes, most days he finishes at 2pm but that's because if he was to start another mix at that time, he'd be working well over 8 hours. It's a physically exhausting job and it's not one you can do for 8 hours a day, everyday, for years on end without doing yourself some serious damage.

That said, he doesn't price by time, he prices by job, so whether he leaves at 10am, 2pm or 5pm, the client pays the same price.

That’s like the plasterer we use. He prices for the job and gives us a rough idea of how long it will take and when he’ll be here and we go from there. He’s done every wall and ceiling in this house, sometimes more than once!

Plasterers and most trades usually charge by the job not the day. And they decide how long the days are. Sometimes they come to a natural break or a stage that has to be left before they can carry on
It's hard to advise on whether the price is reasonable without knowing what the job was.

It is perfectly legal to pay a tradesman in cash.
Cash is legal tender.
It’s not up to you to police anybody’s tax return.
Do you work for the inland revenue? If not, pipe down.

What have you had done

Agree
Its not illegal you are of course quite right

but I am well Within my rights to point out cash payments are more likely to lead to tax avoidance and given the state of the economy
it would be great if everyone paid what they owed in tax.

So
To those who care don’t pay in cash. We all have a right to refuse to pay in that way.

Ha yes, DH has been doing this since he was 14 as an apprentice under his dad - he's now in his 40's and is re-doing some of the homes he did 30 years ago!

No it’s not a days work

You seem very sure of that @BrownTroutBluesAgain - do you have any actual experience of working in the trades?

Yes
Im an architect

As pps have said, both the painter and the tiler who recently did work for me, arrived around 8.30, worked until they were at a suitable point in the job - Tiler had the tiles on but n out grouted, painter had done the prep and undercoat.

Neither was a full day. Then they came back when round 1 was dry and carried on. And yes, their day starts when they leave their workshop.

But they quote for the job, not by the day or hour.

A plasterer has to come to you to see the job and give a quote, go and buy any materials needed, do any paperwork involved for quoting, invoicing, paying tax etc.
Over 6 hours doing a physically heavy job is enough for one day. Add in travel to supplier and paperwork it is definitely a full day. Many white collar jobs are 7 hours daily so not much more and less tiring.

So no.

An architect is not a tradie 😏

Yes, with no lunch break I think there isn't much in it op. Most trademen work 8-4 with breaks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

😆😅😂

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

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.

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.

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