Quite few Bodged jobs posted lately.

[cm ceramics]

I'm sure a lot of the jobs these days are solely driven on price, as per any job I've been to view recently they're always saying the other guy quoted this much below your price and he can start tomorrow.
Always say to them, why can he start so soon and sooo cheap, is it because he's got no recommendations from previous jobs for future projects, or is he rubbish at his job or a genuine reason.

Also to many people trying to diversify. I've got a mate whose a painter and decorator and he just finished painting a bathroom and his gaffer came in with a few boxes of tiles, tubbed addy n a diy cutter. "Stick them round the 3 bath walls its easy.
He's never done anything like tiling in his life hence the reason he was on the phone to me asking loads of questions like " how to put the sticky stuff on his new painted walls.
"How do you get them straight"
"How can you put the stuff inbetween tiles"

 

[SteveyJ]

I feel a lot is on price, I am getting calls now and people are saying they want a cheap job and it doing straight away, I think all the talk about the recession tells the customers we are all sitting around waiting for their call, expecting us to be cheap and available also due to the fact there are alot of 'so called tilers' also quoting for the work who might be available and cheap but lacking in skills. As people have already said vans have alot of sign writing now which say gardening to tiling undertaken?!?!? My van doesn't say landscape gardening!!!

Also like has been said - other trades are doing themselves more I think - a plumber friend of mine who I used to do some work for now is doing it himself, and he kept phoning for advice, but when I tell him what he needs, he goes and buys something else cause what I told him to get is 'way too expensive', I warned him it will all come back and bite him in the arse and he's now stop questioning me about how and what to do?!?!?

 

[Brian the Tile]

should be each to there own stick to the trade that you served your time to, how many are time seved,it will never happen im afraid not to many jack of all trades, makes me sick

 

[Rookery]

I quoted on a full bathroom refurb recently. Tiles off, suite out, pipes boxed in, walls made good, new white tiles with mosaic border, new suite, new thermostatic shower, new screen. I lost out to a plumber who did the job for £1000. Is the suite reasonable quality - no. Is the wet area tanked - no. Are the pipes boxed in - no. Is the tiling any good - no. Does the homeowner care - no.

 

[Andrew Case]

Comes back to what i said about Pride. I can understand getting it cheap if you were renting the property out - we have a lot of that up here in morecambe. But if its your own house, then the best would be wanted surely.
I have learnt that "pay cheap, get cheap"

 

[merit]

i havnt got a problem with multi trading it works for me , i only get a plumber and electrician because i dont have enough experience about that aspect of the job,some dont know what they dont know and have a go anyways,most real tradesmen can turn there hand to most things, but know there own limitations,big difference to swapping a bath over to pipng unvented systems ect

 

[Ken Bruty]

Imo, it's price driven mainly, I see so many bodged jobs mainly by multitrade companies where they are doing most of a job and say "yeah I can do the tiling for you as well", it always seems to be 100 quid to get the job!, and conveniently forget to tell the customer that it wasn't the all in price, charge them extra for the other bits and bobs, all in all ending up costing the same amount as it would from a professional tiler, and then for good measure they make a mess of it too! :lol: Sounds like a good deal to me! NOT!!! Sometimes it's a time thing but not that often I find.

 

[AliGage]

Don't rule out crap tradesmen regardless of how long they've been doing that trade.

I see a lot of posts that slate 'Jack of all trades' or 'multi-trades' but I personally know 3 'multi-tradesmen' that could wipe the floor with 80% of tradesmen that only stick to one trade. All trades are bursting at the seams with guys that are crap or just average at what they do, you try and find someone that goes that extra mile with real craftmanship you'll struggle. I know because I look and try out people all the time.

It takes a certain mindset to become great at what you do. Many people learn their trade parrot fashion and have no real understanding of why they are doing something or why this works and that doesn't. So when they are faced with something new they don't know where to start or how to solve problems.

Multi-traders (ok good ones) have a massive advantage over single trades, they see 20 steps ahead, things are done in such a way it doesn't have a negative effect down the line. It's the reason I became a multi-trader, I was sick of finishing or altering the work done by the trades that had gone before me. I rip out a lot of properties and it's rare for me to see something that couldn't have been done better but when a do find some beautiful work I give them a silent nod and wish i had their number!! It's seeing something where somebody has not taken the easy option and spent considerable extra time even if it means the finished product is only slightly better. Attention to detail and all that.

I would love to spend more time on the designing and project management side of things and not always be on the tools but it's very hard to put together a big team of exceptional tradesmen, i've been trying for years.

This year i've subbed out more jobs or tried new tradesmen then ever before and almost always there has been a problem so i'm going back to turning away work rather than the head ache. And these are all tradesmen that have told me they have 15-30 years experiance.

So keep in mind that for all the bodge jobs you see where somebody is out of their depth, a lot of it is also from single trades who think they are better than they are. It's not as simple to blame it on plumbers taking on tiling, or plasterers taking on decorating. As I say all trades have their fair share of tradesmen that couldn't give a damn and they have been doing it that way for 15 years+

It's always gone on but maybe now people are picking up on it more as they are short of work and feel that work was rightfully theirs. The industry won't change from within, keep educating the customers and let them make an informed choice.

This forum needs a "Love it!" button. Quality post CR, and so true. I do a lot of my work from design through to completion. This is a service i try to offer as exclusive to myself. I come across many a bodge tearing rooms apart. But all my projects i quote to put everything right and in short, re-build the room from scratch. My aim to leave a square, functional, pretty, sustainable and sound room behind for my customer.

Maybe it's a sign of the times and people are underquoting and buying work, and then rushing the job by cutting corners to make the best profit. But, if it's one thing i've found along the way is if you do educate the potential customer and justify the expense, most can never turn round and say they don't want a top job done. It then boils down to price, but i'll never buy work. The price is the price in the same way you can't buy a Merc for the price tag of a Kia.

 

[John Benton]

A customer said to me when i went round to view 'I want it to look expensive but done as cheap as possible, if that makes sense' I said no it doesn't because the 2 don't go hand in hand. When you want it done cheap something has to be compromised, either quality of work or quality of materials, usually both. After I'd done my quote, she sent me an e-mail with a few questions. I was the most expensive out of the 3 quotes but I had sat down with her and explained about tiling over painted walls, priming etc and it did the job. The other 2 were both prepared to tile over paint and use PVA, as I specifically asked her to ask them what they would do. It worked and it normally does unless like you say, some customers don't care about consequences, they just want it done cheap!!