Is this a dodgy job?

[llcoolfay]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if a tiler should be expected to know how to remove a stainless steel splashback. The guy who tried to remove one for me put a big chip in the ceramic hob and dug a couple of holes in the wall then gave up.

When I turned up I saw straight away it was too thick just to be glued on so I took the cooker hood down and sure enough, there were two screws and a flange under the hood. There was another flange at the bottom running behind the worktop so you had to lift it up. It took about 20mins and it would have been quicker but there was one bolt and three screws and I didn't have a spanner on me.

When I booked the job I said to them: I would like you to remove the hood and tile behind it but don't bother if it is going to be hassle.

I'm freshening up a 10 year old kitchen and the hood chimney thing goes up into a top panel running across the top of the wall units. Adding 8mm of tile and adhesive behind it would have made it difficult to put back together.

To be fair, in response, they said they would not be removing the cooker hood but that was in the context of the tiling job.

The communication was good too and they warned me it was going to be tight to take the splashback off and the units might get scratched a bit. They actually got fairly chewed up on one side.

When I asked why he didn't remove the hood he said the insurance doesn't cover them to do electric work but it was no different to loosening a light switch to tile behind. Actually it was probably a bit safer. I didn't have to disconnect anything, I just took it down and left it wired in.

Apparently I have to fix the hole in the wall and then they will come back and finish the job (they did one wall already).

It was so obvious that it was fixed. It was a big lump of metal and wood, not a sheet of steel. And when you did try and force it the units and hood moved.

Am I wrong to expect reasonable care and skill even though it was not the tiling bit of the job?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Andy Allen]

I've tiled my fair share of kitchens as many on this site know.
And came across this very same issue when asked to remove a metal splash back.
The flange gose behind the hood and below the work surface, and I certainly didn't know this till I started to try and remove it !
I end up cutting it in half with a multi tool and removed it that way.
Would I ever do another one....not a chance.
Would I remove the cooker hood.....not a chance.......
Some on here would do that kind of thing, and fair play to them....
If I ever come across it again, and I have, I tell the customer to remove it, to much risk involved in something going wrong, for me anyway....

 

[Waluigi]

sounds like a bit of miscommunication somewhere and perhaps a Tiler without much knowledge of cooker hoods which is understandable.

No excuse for damaging things though.

On a personal level I’ll do whatever it takes to get the best job done. If that means removing anything then I’ll do it. If costs are incurred by me doing these things then a discussion with the customer would need to take place.

That’s said, if I’m not confident in doing something then I won’t do it.

 

[Qwerty]

I've yet to find something that I haven't been able to/ not known how to remove. If its electrical then a quick call to my sparky and its disconnected and I can remove. If its plumbing then I'm fully competent and insured.

I wouldnt remove something if I didnt know how or without damaging it unless customer said to carry on. Reasonable care and skill totally comes into play here without saying .

 

[Spare Tool]

If you get involved with removing anything then you have to be capable of removing it without damage and putting things back as they were..
Once pulled out a range cooker to slip a couple of rows down the back and scratched the ends of the worktops, customer made me replace the stainless steel ends so when it came to putting the cooker back in I asked him to come home from work and do it, he tried lifting the cooker with the door and it shattered all over the floor, karma was restored and I packed my things and left happy...easiest option is just don't get involved 🙂

 

[Boggs]

You can’t beat a good bit of Karma.

 

[Andy Allen]

I would tackle anything in my own home, no problem at all.
But with all the blame culture that comes around now a days Im with Andy, and don't get involved.....

Having said that if I start something, I will finish it, as I did in the case I just explained, even if I would of had to get someone in ,I would of done...

 

[GoneGuy]

They should have contacted you to say that they was having trouble then you could have arranged a solution.
I try not to remove anything such as cooker hoods, toilets sinks etc, I explain to the customer that my insurance doesn’t cover me for these removals and re fits.
Imagine removing a cooker hood and a cable gets cut etc and someone gets an electrical shock?? I know it sounds a silly scenario but you never know.

 

[Dumbo]

They should have contacted you to say that they was having trouble then you could have arranged a solution.
I try not to remove anything such as cooker hoods, toilets sinks etc, I explain to the customer that my insurance doesn’t cover me for these removals and re fits.
Imagine removing a cooker hood and a cable gets cut etc and someone gets an electrical shock?? I know it sounds a silly scenario but you never know.

It's not outside the realms of possibility

 

[J Sid]

Many of our tilers complain if carpenters, Plumbers, decorators do tiling work so why should we take work from them