Having a wobble over house renovations

[Dogleg]

We’ve recently inherited some money so are now in a position to carry out some much needed updating to our house.

We need 2 new bathrooms and a kitchen, I’ve found a local fitter who has great reviews and appears to do a very good job on kitchens and bathrooms. He came out and was really kind and helpful and produced very competitive quotes (around £2500 for the labour and extra materials) for the bathrooms quickly. I have to source and pay for the tiles, suites shower units etc which is coming to around £2 per bathroom.
He’s also involved in the kitchen planning and he’s really helpful but is definitely pushing me to use his favourite suppliers rather than me shopping around to get the best price. He’s kind of pushed me to use Howdens for the kitchen which is fine as I like the kitchen but I did insist on them price matching to DIY kitchens.
Slight alarm bells are ringing as he wanted me to visit a local supplier for the bathroom tiles but I found nice porcelain tiles for the walls and floor online at a great price. When I sent him the link to check they’d be ok he said that he’d rather I put ceramic on the walls and that I should get them from his supplier, (twice the price) but when he quoted he never mentioned this and he gave me a total meterage for both bathrooms which led me to believe I could have the same tiles for walls and floors (which I wanted). Now I’m not using his supplier suddenly he wants to charge me an extra days labour as porcelain tiles are harder to cut and the job will take longer!
He’s the same with the kitchen floor - I’ve found great aquastep laminate online for £22/m2 but he wants me to use his favoured supplier as they can advise better on what to put on the part of the kitchen that has a timber floor apparently but their aquastep starts at £30/m2! Im finding that if I decide to shop around rather than use where he wants me to buy from then there’s a potential problem with how it will work.
No doubt he gets a back hander from these places, it’s making me nervous to start purchasing things and start putting out a lot of money. Having a proper wobble with parting with the best part of £25k to get this work done. I just don’t want to be ripped off and I’d rather be able to source and buy the right product at the right price rather than line others pockets. Any advice? Is this common?

He's taking you for a mug .

I would be looking for another fitter.

My dh is not a tiler, but in a related industry. He hates working with porcelain! Lots of damage when cutting, so needing more materials and it does take longer, all of which costs more!

From bitter experience I have also learnt that not all tiles are the same to lay .......... it's always worth getting a second opinion but your fitter may not be setting out to rip you off

Porcelain, natural stone or mosaic tiles etc will cost more to lay. However, you need to be assertive with what you want and certainly don’t overpay for stuff.

He's wanting to make at least 30% and quite possibly 50% on everything he supplies. Don't do it.

Get quotes - and by all means ask him to quote on fitting buyer supplied materials.

Can make a huge difference

And DIY kitchens are hugely better quality - as my fitter acknowledged after fitting it.

You should be able to source and buy EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT for your own home. Its none of his business what you want, he is paid to install what you buy and if its harder than he likes, tough.

I own a company in the construction industry and it really pisses me off when general builders try to impose what THEY want on a client, as either they are getting a kick back from the supplying company or its just easier for them.

Just so you know, bathroom wise, we have used Victoria Plum 6 times now and had great experiences every time. Not the most incredible quality, but looks fantastic for the price. Also Tons Of Tiles online are absolutely great, although shipping is high.

He might be getting kick back from some of the places eg Howdens, but his quote has to be a specific amount so he has quoted for the materials he knows well and has good experience with. If you pick a load of stuff he has never fitted before then if course there will be a bit of a learning curve and also a higher risk of damage or wastage which would all be at least partially at his cost. Also he knows the lead times so no wasted days waiting for material needed on site. So the quote may go up but not necessarily because of a rip off it could also be because of increased risk too.
It could also be simply he doesn't want the job if it's high risk, because enough people will go with the common suppliers.
Hope that helps see things from the other side. Having said that the negotiation works both ways so stand your ground on what you want in the same way he stands his ground what he wants.
Then your will eventually either meet in the middle and both be happy or will decide there's no solution and call off the job.

He probably get a discount and charges you full price . I wouldn't mind as long as everything is there in the job supplied by the customer and waiting to go . it may take all little longer with porcelain cutting and grouting . you have to be flexible with customers and it the customer option to pick what they want and customers have to be flexible with trades . nothing more annoying when the right materials are not on the job ready to go or customers constantly change their minds unless they pay doing jobs twice . it has to work both ways .