Months Of DIY Work Destroyed In 2 Days...

[Spuggy1uk]

I work full time and all of my spare time over the past couple of years has been spent ripping out old fibreboard ceilings, replacing with plasterboard and a full remodelling of the wall layout to the groundfloor of our house. This has included battening and boarding existing walls to straighten everything up. Up until sunday we had plasterboarded walls and ceilings which were plumb, level and straight.

On monday (day before yesterday) a locally recommended crew of plasterers came in, and have destroyed the lot.

1. They have plastered right down to the floor, leaving bellcasts at the base of every wall.
2. Every internal corner curves into itself, is 'wavy', and is no longer vertical.
3. There is not a single flat wall. All are concave, convex and full of lumps, holes and scrapes.
4. They plastered inside the double sided chimney (over my cement board) with a 'mystery fire resistant' plaster, which has bubbled and blown on the same day it was applied.
5. The external corners going into door linings are not square. Window reveals are not vertical and differ massively in thickness.
6. They plastered up to and around sockets, rather than removing them. All sockets are now bowed out from the walls.

I am so devastated and angry at all the time and effort lost. I'll have to remove the lot and reboard at huge time and financial cost.

It's just gone midnight. I've taken the morning off work to confront them and chuck them off the job when they get here at 0830ish. Hopefully it won't turn nasty.

 

[Murdochcat]

Don’t pay them

 

[Spuggy]

Don’t pay them

No intention of paying them. Been awake all night fretting over this and how much more time and money it's going to cost to put right and start again.

 

[mrrusty]

popcorn ready.....

seriously, you have a right for work to be done with skill and care - it is a presumption in all contracts where a so called professional delivers a service. Any failure to achieve that means the contractors are liable for your costs to correct. It might be worth comparing the reality to the NHBC standards so you have something objective to measure against. https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/2019/9...ould be adequately flat,wall height over 2.5m.

You are in a much better position if you can say "it is unacceptable because it doesn't meet this standard", rather than just saying "it's c****"

If they are a professional company you have leverage both through the courts (maybe, if you can be bothered) and reputation (reviews etc)

 

[Mottie]

Don’t pay them, obviously, but if you got a different plasterer in, could they go over it correctly, rectifying the bad workmanship to save you the time, cost and aggro of ripping it all out and reboarding?

 

[Murdochcat]

AND never leave any electrical accessories in place (plasterers will NOT remove them from the wall) - you'll never get a decent finish around them

 

[Spuggy]

Don’t pay them, obviously, but if you got a different plasterer in, could they go over it correctly, rectifying the bad workmanship to save you the time, cost and aggro of ripping it all out and reboarding?

I think the boards are going to have come off. The walls are too wavy and the corners too curved and lumpy to straighten out. The 'bellcast' bottoms would be a nightmare too.

 

[Mottie]

I think the boards are going to have come off. The walls are too wavy and the corners too curved and lumpy to straighten out. The 'bellcast' bottoms would be a nightmare too.

That’s a bastard then.

 

[Spuggy]

AND never leave any electrical accessories in place (plasterers will NOT remove them from the wall) - you'll never get a decent finish around them

I offered to loosen them off, but they said they'd do it - I even left a small flathead by the window for them if needed. No radiators fitted either, to make life easier.

 

[mrrusty]

I think the boards are going to have come off.

...And technically the plastering company are liable for ALL your costs to correct. However, that's a big challenge to enforce. It'll depend on how much chance you think you have of going after them. If they are a decent sized company with assets then maybe. But it'll be a mega hassle. Document everything, and then have a punt after the work is done. You DO have to give them an opportunity to correct though before you chuck them off.

 

[blup]

Get another professional plasterer in for an independent view, nothing is ever perfectly straight but its difficult to tell from the pics.

 

[cdbe]

I'm sure it could be plumbed up with a professionally applied coat of bonding and new beading. But I've asked a few "professionals" to dubb out dips and they've just "blended" them in so good luck finding someone! - now I do my own plastering; I'm not great but with a bit of sanding and a few other tricks I'm always happy with it.

 

[ajstoneservices]

I can understand why you are unhappy with a pi55 poor job like that.

 

[kp00110]

The plug sockets just shows a lack of care and respect - for a few minutes each room just shows lack of respect especially when you discussed this with them

 

[Spuggy1uk]

Well they turned up and I've been around with a square, level and straight edge. I explained that they've not reasonably given me anything to work with. A bit of filling and sanding is understandable, but its all so far out that to attempt a better skim over the top would throw the walls out even more. For example, the NHBC tolerance for internal corners is stated as +/- 10mm over 500mm. When I eventually found a bit of a corner not full of snots and curves I measured 15mm at best.

They collected their tools (left the rubbish) and gone.

Going to get another plasterer to come round to confirm the horrific state of the job, then take it all down, hopefully without messing up the timber behind.

Then start the unpleasant legal route to get our money back for the new plasterboard.