Some advice please

[ms.tiles]

Hi All

I did a job a few months ago for a building contractor.
It involved a 3 bed bungalow with every floor being tiled over polypipe underfloor heating.
I started on a Wednesday and got there to no adhesive and only half the floor being laid.The contractor asked me to do the kitchen first. I didnt get tiling till 4pm that day and was following his lines he had set out to.
The owner of the building came in at 5.30pm and started ranting at me saying the floor was supposed to be finished that night and she was told there would be 4 of us on it. It then came to light that the whole job was supposed to be finished 3 months before id even started.
The floor was all over the place and in my estimate i had stated that i wanted it self levelled but this wasnt done,maybe i should of walked away then but a friend got me the job and the contractor was promising me all his future tiling work, his last tiler was getting £70-80,000 worth of work over 6 years which i though was atleast a good start.
The building is atleast 100 years old so not entirely square. With the contractors setting out he said the hallways between the kitchen and lounge and kitchen and bedrooms would have to be diamond set,which i later found out the customer didnt want. i had to tile all the rooms first then do the hallways as all other trades was in there working aswell (project management is not the contractors strong point). i did the rooms and was told the hallway which didnt even have the polypipe down when i did the other rooms would be self levelled. This never happened and when i came to tile it, if i did diamond then the tiles would be atleast 50mm higher than the rooms off it. having told the contractor he said just go straight set but they didnt quite match up as setting out the rooms to look right meant not following his (non-existent)laser line that he said he had drawn on the walls,which was plastered over before i started tiling the hallway and i never see or was told about until tonight.
To cut the story down a bit, i did everything i was asked to do by the contractor and he paid me in full, the client withheld some of his money as she wasnt happy with some aspects of his work, he asked me to tile the ensuite walls and after id tiled 90% of it he came to me and said "if the customer asks ive tanked the walls"!!!!!!!!
He used the wrong plasterboard aswell. now the owner has had QS in to check his work and they heard about the tanking through the friend of mine so they have told him to rip out the ensuite and put up the correct plasterboard and tank it as he said he had done and charged her for. Now he expects me to go in right away,drop my work ive got on and do it for free or the owner will get the QS to make the contractor pull up all the tiling due to it being out of square in the building which he has said they will make me do it. the owner said she was happy with the tiling until the tanking issue came to light.
I told him i cant do it until December and id charge him,he said he wouldnt pay me and totally denied the tanking comment.
Do i have anything to worry about??
Hes the type of bloke that never answered his phone and didnt pay me for nearly 3 months afterwards. Id never work for them again,ive worked for people that had them do some work and they said they are chaotic and so disorganised. i regret even setting foot in that property and ive learnt a lesson from it.

im really sorry for the essay but i thought it would be best to try and get the story across properly(i hope).

i even done the job a bit cheap as there was the promise of the exact same job next door.

many thanks if you take the time to read this post and give me any advice

Mark
MS.Tiles

 

[Ian]

I wouldn't worry at all, sounds like a cowboy chancer that has been caught out and is trying to recover some of his costs by expecting people to put right HIS mistakes for free. Tell him to do one, politely of course.

 

[kilty55]

hi there,as above you have been paid in full for your work and the customer was happy

it seems the only reason your being asked to re tile is because he hasnt tanked as promised.....you are correct to charge him for this

do not give in to threats from him or the customer regarding any work

if the customer is unhappy with the tiling i would be expecting to see it in writing via the contractor who is the person liable for all the work concerned
was this a verbal discussion or an email that he sent you?

 

[White Room]

As above, you don't need the hassle...

 

[Stewart]

Having worked to the builders spec, the builder is chancing his arm in trying to get you to put right for free. In saying that though, as the tiler, it's your responsibility to do the job properly and to the correct standards. This includes correct setting out and tiling onto a suitable substrate. In not doing so, you leave yourself wide open to problems you may have to rectify at your own expense.


Created on iPhone.....

 

[ms.tiles]

Thank you Bri

I had a bit of a chat with him tonight, he called himself Mr Honest.........
The wife only gave birth Friday afternoon and being tired my temper got a bit frayed with him which i do regret.
I wasnt to bad with him but he didnt answer my calls for about a month but now he needs me hes calling every day even when my wife was in labour with my new son so i got a bit grumpy.
I told him id never work for him again so hopefully thats the last i'll hear from him.

thanks again

 

[ms.tiles]

Hi all
Sorry replied to Bri without seeing your replies.
I worked to the contractors requirements and the setting out was done with the contractor and the owner, she was happy but he never told her about the diamond set. The owner wasnt around and the contractor was on site at random times of the day. I used the advised adhesive from the tile shop which i did research,its a single part adhesive thats as flexible as a 2 part also ardex fl grout.
everything has been over the phone so no writing or email. This is all from the contractor,i told him to get the owner to call me direct and i'll explain everything to her,he said she wouldnt talk to me.

i appreciate every reply so thank you

 

[paul78]

you been paid in FULL so no worries, even if he says he will repay you to redoe the job i wouldnt do it as i wouldnt trust him!!
As for future work dont even go there as the hassle will outway the wages easily.
I think youve been lucky to get paid in full also so count your lucky stars and NEVER do any work for him again, even the smallest of jobs.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I think you've been a very lucky boy.
He paid you in full so he must have been happy, he is your customer so just deal with him and don't get involved with his client. As he has already told you he will NOT pay you for re doing the en suite - that's it job done, walk away and in future don't talk to friends about what you do/don't do on jobs.

 

[Ajax123]

As per all the other comments. Walk aay head high and dont get in to a discusion with the client. Plenty of good customers waiting for your services. Hassle not required....

 

[jay]

oh what a fickle web we weave .good luck learn from your experience

 

[ms.tiles]

Hi all
Appreciate your time in reading the essay above and i'll take all comments on board.
The client told a friend she was happy with the work until she found out he had lied about the tanking. the contractor was happy with my work. ive told him i will not do anymore work for him and will probably just stick to my domestic work.
The owner is quite happy to have all the tradesmen back apart from the building firm workers. the other side needs doing so we'll wait and see. my friend has been asked about project managing it as he has done a few jobs and will actually manage it.
would i do it, im not to sure really,probably not.
i have done a big job before,2 massive bathrooms and nearly 200sq mtrs on the ground floor of a big house,i got work from that job that probably kept me in work for 6 months, there the jobs that make it all worth while.
i hope nobody has to deal with this bloke again,hope he goes back to ground work and digging holes,which apparantly he's good at.

Thank you all i know it was a big post to read through.
Ms.tiles