Opinions Please

[Auctorel]

I've had some building work done. A fairly straightforward job, basically a supporting wall knocked down and an RSJ fitted. Then the RSJ and the supporting bits of wall have been plastered.

The wall was knocked down on the Wednesday and then as far as I can tell the supporting walls have had concrete applied, and been plastered - job completed within 5/6 hours the next day. The RSJ had plasterboard on it and was then plastered. The job was fully complete on the Thursday so two days in total.

The finish on this has resulted in walls which are almost straight but just not quite there. They are the worst walls in my house with bends in the plaster in more than one place, fairly obvious curves are to be seen where they meet the other walls. There are also lumps in the finish of the plaster with edges that aren't close to right angles at points.

So here's my question, should the supporting walls have been plasterboarded as well or is it reasonable to apply plaster straight to concrete. If so how straight can I expect my walls to be? How good an angle should I expect to see on the corners?

I'm still holding a few hundred quid of the builders money and I'm trying to work out if my expectations are too high or if this guy has done a bit of a crappy job.

I have a few other issues with his work such as webbing left over on another wall that was plastered where the wall meets another, a floorboard fitted (where the wall would have been) that is a different height to the others, and a skirting board which he pulled out to patch a new socket but then has put back and filled so it can't be removed again, even though he knows I'm going to remove all of the skirts for a new floor.

 

[Auctorel]

Thought some photos might help.

I'm not sure if it fully shows up. But I think you can clearly see the bends in the wall. The lump isn't so easy to see. It's on the wall with the sanding, between the sanding and the left edge, the sanding is a raised section from the corner. Also between the top and bottom sanding sections theres a sort of dappled effect in the plastering which I'm wondering if it's the concrete showing through.

Also should you remove wallpaper before plastering next to it?

Hope this helps some more diy experience people than me to give an opinion.

 

[cjard]

A valid message

 

[stevethespreader]

Its a terrible job looks like it was done by an amateur he can't use a straight edge and he can't skim its awful adjoining walls don't need boarding they can be patched in but he's made a pigs ear of it he hasn't got clean beads either u should have nice shiny beads grinning through waves and ripples everywhere

 

[Auctorel]

Thanks Steve. I'd value other people's opinions as well but also would anyone ask him to fix it or get someone else?

 

[roy c]

I think Steve has summed it up. There is nothing worse than having a job done (any job) and it is not what you expected and is of a poor standard. So it is up to you wether you are going to live with it or get it done properly! We all know that it is hassle to sort it out and confront the guys who did the work but at the end of the day you are entitled to job satisfaction. So your choice . And as you have other issues with his (their work) l think you know what must be done. You cant let people get away with work like this.

 

[Auctorel]

I've already started confronting him. He's coming round today so I can discuss the job with him. I just wanted to work out if I was being unreasonable with my expectations before he came.

 

[stevethespreader]

Tell him your going to get someone in to put it right and he's going to pay for it that work would never pass any inspection on any where I've worked and he would never have been paid

 

[Auctorel]

So he turned up and has admitted he hasn't done a very good job but he wanted a chance to put it right.

He's using this stuff


And this is the work so far.

He's now gone out for 40 minutes whilst that sets to run an errand. I've asked him about the durability of this type of filler and he seems to think it will last as long as the plaster.

The way I see it, I should let him have a go at fixing it but I'm not convinced by using filler in areas of this size and I'd be very surprised if filler was as durable as plaster because surely everyone would be using it!

The trouble is I've hired someone to do this job because I don't know how to do it myself and whilst I'm not afraid to argue over it if I don't think it's right I need the information to argue with!

Thanks for all your input so far, it really is appreciated.

 

[stevethespreader]

Its still a pile of cr@p its all over the show

 

[Auctorel]

Well he can have a go... if it's still no good when he's finished then I just won't pay him.

So technical question, should filler be used like this on areas this size? How durable will it be?

 

[stevethespreader]

Never used that particular filler but have known whole walls to be snagged with achmes trouble is what he's doing is no good if he wants to put it right tell him to use a straight edge to straighten it all up and also tell him he's got to paint it for a perfect finish he won't be able to do it he will be there for a month of Sundays because he hasn't the skill to do it

 

[roy c]

The only reason he is using filler on that area is because he has four cupped up. It will show every imperfection on it when it is painted it's obvious he's not a plasterer if he has to resort to filler to finish his work off .It's just not acceptable, filler does what it says ,"It fills. It will all have to be rubbed down and that will cause a lot of fine dust. And like I say I don't think he will have the skill to make it good enough to take paint, If you are getting it papered he will play on that and give you excuses that it will all be hidden. Just tell him you were wanting a better finish so you can paint it,,,, Keep us informed..

 

[stevethespreader]

Look at the beads they are not straight they are slanted and twisted stand back and cast your eye down it yuck

 

[Auctorel]

So he's gone now, he says he's coming back in the morning to give the filler time overnight to dry and set. Plan being to rub it all down tomorrow. Still haven't paid him any of the outstanding money.

To be fair, it's an improvement on what it was. I've gone down the walls with a spirit level and most are now straight.

To be honest I'm not sure whether he'd ever be able to get it right without practically restarting, but at the same time I'm not sure what someone else could do with it either?

I'm going to see what happens tomorrow and what sort of finish it has when he's rubbed it down.

What do you all think to look at it in a pre-rubbed down state?

Also a question, what do you mean by get a straight edge? Are you talking about rebeading it or something else?