Hiring a plasterer on a daily rate

[Kethry]

Hi everyone

I’ve got a lot of plastering work to do. I’ve never plastered anything and I figured this job was just too large for me to tackle as a first time, so I have hired a plasterer who comes highly recommended by a friend.

He wants £120 per day, I will supply the materials, and he says the job should take 16 days at the most. From what I’ve read on-line, this seems like a reasonable rate and time frame.

I’ve never hired a tradesman on a daily rate before, so I’m just wondering how to handle it. For example, I would assume we should agree how many hours a day he will work, and if he doesn’t work the full time on a particular day then I can expect to pay him less for that day. There’s probably some other things too that need to be agreed before he starts that I haven’t thought of.

I’ll need to discuss things like this with him before he starts, so any tips on what I can reasonably expect and require of him would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Richard C]

You would have done better to have posted the Plastering Forum rather than General Discussion; may be better if the Mods moved it for you.

At £120/day your plasterer is rather cheap IMO, is he a plasterer or someone who thinks he is & does it on the side? You need to check the quality of his work by looking at his previous jobs very carefully. I would NEVER advise going down a day rate route, what constitutes a day & how hard someone works? It’s too open ended & open to far too much interpretation; 16 also days seems a long time, what exactly is he going to do that’s going to take him that long? Does it include ceilings? Any remedial work? Is he working alone? What size are the rooms being plastered? It may be why he’s only charging £120/day; my advice would always be get a price for the whole job. If you’re supplying the materials, don’t pay anything up front, only pay for completed rooms as & when you’re satisfied with the quality of his work.

It may also pay you to have a good read through the plastering Forum archive posts.

 

[snico]

That was my thought, I would rather get a quote for the whole job, than per day.

You know what these tradesman are like, turn up late, go home early....knock off for the pub on a Friday

 

[Kethry]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I was in 2 minds about posting it here or on the plastering forum. Guess I made the wrong choice ! I went with here, because it isn’t really a DIY question.

I would have preferred a quote for the whole job, but he says that on big jobs this is how he wants to work. I’ve agreed because he has done work in the past for 2 people I know, one an acquaintance and one a good friend for whom he has done a lot of work. They both say he was reasonably priced, fast, and did excellent work. (Both of them are the kind of people to know a bad job when they see one.) So I’m much inclined to go with him on his terms rather than calling someone out of the book and risk getting a total cowboy.

He’s basically plastering the whole house. Skimming all the ceilings that I have plaster boarded, about 60 SQM. Skimming another 50 SQM of walls, some of which are plaster boarded stud partitions and some is re-skimming existing plaster. And also about 80 SQM of 2 coat plaster where the walls have been knocked back to the brick.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Always best to employ someone, that has got good recent references and you can view their work.
I must admit it is best to get a price for the whole job rather than a daily rate.
But not all tradesmen are lazy, idle, late starts, early finishers and long break layabouts!

 

[HERTS P&D]

I agree with the guys above, it is always best to get a price, that way you know where you stand. If the job is too big for him to price up, then you could break it down by saying a price for upstairs and down, or even by room.

Andy

 

[joe-90]

The benefit of pay by the day to the customer is that if you are unhappy with his work you can sack him.

 

[Richard C]

The benefit of pay by the day to the customer is that if you are unhappy with his work you can sack him.

If you’re supplying the materials, don’t pay anything up front, only pay for completed rooms as & when you’re satisfied with the quality of his work.

 

[1john]

Propose to him that you will pay him £1920 for the job, which is what he is asking for, then agree payment schedules.

 

[roughcaster]

Kethry wrote,

I’m inclined to go with him, rather than risk getting a total cowboy.

Yeeeehaaaaa,,,,, i'm on me way Kethry!!!!
I'll tell you what though, get another couple of quotes and you'll be surprised what the job'll cost. Sounds a lot of work. You also said if he doesn't work the whole day, you'd pay him less, but if he works a longer day, would you pay him more? There's much involved working it all out.

 

[Richard C]

Kethry wrote,

I’m inclined to go with him, rather than risk getting a total cowboy.

Yeeeehaaaaa,,,,, i'm on me way Kethry!!!!

Exactly my thoughts; maybe I could even spin it out a few extra days to sort out some "unforseen problems"

 

[roughcaster]

Ok then,,, me and you Rich', well put a quote in. I'll go saddle up Trigger.

 

[Richard C]

Ok then,,, me and you Rich', well put a quote in. I'll go saddle up Trigger.

Me working in "masterclass"; I'd do it for nothin with no strings for the experience M8, mix & make the tea but make sure you put decent sized saddle bags on Trigger

 

[Richard C]

Mistake; Ohh sod it

 

[Kethry]

Sorry for not getting back to everyone who took the time to reply, but it’s been a very bust last couple of days. The plaster started on Wednesday and I wasn’t quite ready for him, so I’ve been working like crazy to get everything ready !

I’ve taken the advice most people gave and he’s now doing the job for a fixed price. I wasn’t too concerned about him working slow, while on a daily rate, to make the job last longer, cos I would have noticed and had a “word” to say about it.

However, with a fixed price for the whole job, I like the idea that if anything does goes wrong then it’s his problem to fix before he gets paid.

Thanks for all your replies. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m optimistic, he’s working hard and seems to know his stuff.

Sorry roughcaster and Richard, I won’t be needing any cowboys at the moment, but if I ever need some cows rounding up, I’ll let you know.