Poor plastering

Tmurf

I built my house 2/3 years ago and due to circumstances have only noticed in the last 12-18 months that the plaster finish on some walls were very poorly finished.
Only started noticing the lines/dips or hollows after walls were painted and curtins went up and the light was shining on the walls.
I have had 2 other plasters in to look at the walls and both have basicly said that the workmanship was very poor - didn't straighten walls before skimming and when skimmed they thought that they weren't worked on enough times.
They also said it would not have been noticed until after the were painted, they look alot worse when the sun shines on them.

What should I do with original plaster with regard getting compensated to get someone else in to fix his mess.
I have contacted him and he is not plastering any more and financially he said things were tight.

Would small claims court be a good route to go down.
Or a good belt of a hurley - my preferred option.


Thanks

4Sticks

Tmurf wrote: »

I built my house

Take responsibility then

Tmurf wrote: »

Would small claims court be a good route to go down.

Why should a judicial system be maintained for this purpose. You paid years ago for work which by it's very nature is easy to inspect therefore you explicitly accepted it. Not like a plasterer can conceal his bad works !

I just wonder what state the covered up works you have paid for ....

Tmurf wrote: »

Or a good belt of a hurley - my preferred option.
Thanks

Speaks volumes.

Tmurf

Sticks
Responsibility works both ways - Should not the person who carried out the work take responsibility for their poor work ??

As I said some walls, not all. They looked fine after being plastered, when then later paintered and curtains put up, the light shines differently on the walls and shows it up.

I just wonder what state the covered up works you have paid for ....


Not sure what you mean exactly by this.

And as regards the Hurley
It comes down to frustration looking at the walls when you expect a job done correctly.

sydthebeat

You have no legal recourse.
Have you receipts from this guy?

moy83

You (or someone ) should definitely have been able to see that the plaster didnt look good when he was there doing the job . Fair enough the paint and light will show it up worse but the time to find fault and put the plasterer straight was when he had the first room or two finished .
Its not an easy job to redo a full house after its been painted and second fixed and floored . You would have to cover everything well and make room to work in all the rooms . Thistle bond , then give them a coat of bonding to straighten the walls and skim again . You might get away with working to the skirting and architrave without taking it off .
Loosen all the switches and sockets , take off radiators and curtain poles .

Get a good plasterer with references and look at a couple of jobs they have done .

Had you seen this guys work before or was he recommended ? Pricewise was he the cheapest price you got and if so was there much of a difference between his price and the others ?

The reason I ask is that I'm a plasterer myself and often lose jobs, which I dont mind but sometimes when I hear the other price is way lower than mine I just know they will have to cover too much wall per day to make a wage and things are going to be neglected .

glashanator

Is it soft sheen or silk on the walls TMURF?

4Sticks

You could always sue the builder ... oh wait a minute ..

fozz10

its not a good idea to do a self build unless you are a trades man yourself who can recognise good work and know good trades men. this is what happens other wise. I am a plasterer myself and these kind of stories annoy me. how fellas like this are given work is beyond me. if u knew what you were looking at u would stop this a day or 2 into the plastering. no one should ever get a plasterer based on being cheaper. you either get one recommended and then check out their work or you know one that is top class or you dont do it at all. you cant hide bad plastering generally all good plasterers will be in the ball park of eachother price wise anyway. and if they are much cheaper then there is a good reason for it

Sleeper12

The small claims court doesn't cost much but it will take at least one full day. Do you have an invoice? Did you pay by cheque? If not then you have no proof that he did it at all.
You will need photos & I bet you're bad plastering doesn't show in photos. So if photos are no good you will need a plasterer to spend the day in court as a witness so it'll cost you his days wages. You can't claim for this.
If you do win & the dodgy plasterer has no money then you still get nothing.
I've been there myself and my heart goes out to you on this.

Tmurf

Cheers
I had seen his work in 2 different houses, 1 he was working on at the time, the second had been done a few months
He wasn't the cheapest

wirehairmax

Not much point in looking at his work when you didn't know what you were looking at?

moy83

Tmurf wrote: »

Cheers
I had seen his work in 2 different houses, 1 he was working on at the time, the second had been done a few months
He wasn't the cheapest

If the other two houses were fine , I wonder why yours isnt as good ? Have you asked him to come back and take a look or touch up anything ?

moy83

Sorry I see in the op that you did . I dont think there is much you can do with him now , its either pay someone to put it right or live with it which is annoying

Stella Virgo

tpmcompany1 wrote: »

The small claims court doesn't cost much but it will take at least one full day. Do you have an invoice? Did you pay by cheque? If not then you have no proof that he did it at all.
You will need photos & I bet you're bad plastering doesn't show in photos. So if photos are no good you will need a plasterer to spend the day in court as a witness so it'll cost you his days wages. You can't claim for this.
If you do win & the dodgy plasterer has no money then you still get nothing.
I've been there myself and my heart goes out to you on this.

would you take on a builder/plasterer that was taken to the small claims for shoddy/bad workmanship........;) you may not get the money back,
but you can make it very difficult to for him to get work again.reputation is everything in the building game.
bad reputation = no work.

Sleeper12

Sorry op I didn't read the statement properly. I didn't realise that it was a self build. I believe you have no comeback at all. Technically you were the forman / overseer on the job. It was your job to make sure work was of good quality. I believe that the buck stops with you.
Had you got a builder in then he would be responsible. That's why it's is cheaper to do the self build. A builder builds stuff like this into his price.
My heart still goes out to you.

Sleeper12

Stella Virgo wrote: »

would you take ouilder/plasterer that was taken to the small claims for shoddy/bad workmanship........;) you may not get the money back,
but you can make it very difficult to for him to get work again.reputation is everything in the building game.
bad reputation = no work.

I've been to the small claims court. If a tradesman looses the judge orders him to pay a certain amount. That's it. It's not on the 6 o clock news & it's not in the newspaper. No one knows about it. Tradesman just continues doing bad jobs. If he can't pay, he can't pay.
The small claims court explains this when you file your claim. They warn that if he has no money then it is a hollow victory.

Also in this case, as it is a self build, the homeowner was the builder /foreman on the job & it was his job to make sure it was up to standard.