Decorator caused damage - WWYD

[velvetthrow]

I've recently moved into my new home and as a treat to myself and the children (mainly to keep everything breakable including the TV out of reach of the kids!) I had a wooden media wall fitted by a professional carpenter across one of the walls in the living room.

Under each shelf a spotlight was fitted all of which are connected via a transformer which is behind the unit (not accessible). It looked great when finished and all lights worked perfectly.

I then enlisted the help of a local decorating company to paint the entire living room and media unit. Not that it's overly relevant but they were very slow and the work took longer than expected for what isn't a huge room and 2 people, but anyway...

Neither me or the children went into the room during the work being done at any point so the only people who touched the lights were the decorators.

When they painted the units they removed the metal plates from the lights to protect when painting. Fine. They then re fixed the plates in place once the job was done.

That evening I turned the lights on for the shelves and one of the lights didn't work and I then noticed that the cable behind the unit was loose and had been disconnected from the transformer. Presumably as it was left hanging the weight became too much and it disconnected from the transformer.

There is now no way of reconnnecting this one light without getting the carpenter back, cutting through the wood, reconnecting it and then having to fill the wood and repaint.

The decorator is stating that the design of the unit wasn't as his carpenter friends would do this and the transformer should be accessible, maybe so, but either way I'm still left with the issue to sort and a unit which I've paid a lot of money for, that looks off with 7 shelves that light at 1 that doesn't.

He has sent me full invoice for payment along with photos of how he thinks the unit should have been built and how to fit an access panel (not something in my skill set at all!)

My feeling is that if I have to pay a carpenter, he should at least be offering to cover this cost. What would you do in this scenario?

I agree with you.He should cover the cost. He should have not touched the light and used masking tape or something to work around it.

I agree with the decorator, what a silly design.

If the light would still work if it was connected to the transformer then it's not the decorator's fault. The transformer should be accessible so it's easy to reconnect.

It does sound like a bad design but he knew what the set-up was when he accepted the work and should have told you when he realised that the work couldn’t be done without damage, not ploughed ahead regardless.

Personally I think the carpenter is to blame more than the decorator, transformers fail and should be accessible for replacement.

he shouldn't have touched anything of yours outside of his remit in order to do a basic paint job. He has broken this. He is not hired for his opinion of someone else's work. I would not pay the invoice until you agree an amount for the damage caused. You need to take this to email now and state the issue and your discussion so far and that you are happy to pay him after agreeing an amount to deduct for the problem he has caused, then make a suggestion of the amount. I would also contact the person who did the job too and explain that it was not done properly and they need to fix this too. Good luck

Did you make it clear to the decorators that the transformer could not be accessed therefore not to touch the lights and use masking tape? Because if you didn’t it is your fault, they can’t be expected to know that the unit is badly designed. I’d get the carpenter back and just suck up the cost, the lights could get damaged again and you’re better off securing access to the transformer.

What shitty carpenter did you hire? Why did it make it inaccessible?
If the painter needed to remove something in order to do the job, and simply removing it has meant the light has disconnected and it cannot be fixed because of the poor design then that’s not his fault. Fittings and electronics should always be accessible, and the painter had to remove parts in order to paint the wood. It isn’t his fault the design is shit.

I don't think it's either of your faults, the carpenter has designed it really badly - it has to be accessible for exactly this reason

Thanks all.

The various views on this the interesting.

@PSEnny No I didn't know myself where the transformer was located until now, but the decorator came by to quote as the unit was being built and spent a considerable amount of time talking with the carpenter (I wasn't present for the whole conversation) so he may have known then.

He swapped numbers with the carpenter at the time (to share each others details with customers I guess) and he has since contacted my carpenter who explained to him, apparently, where the transformer is located.

He just keeps referring to the poor design of the unit, which beforehand he was saying was brilliant. The lights could have been covered and not left hanging during painting but this was how he did it.