is nobody bothered anymore? (trades people / companies)

[Scam]

I'd imagine most here would be shocked we are paying nearly £10k for our painting and decorating But it's the whole house basically from scratch (terrace, 3 bed, 2 bath, dining, kitchen, all hallways) and the loft bedroom/bathroom are newly built, the kitchen is brand new with new walls... and the rest of the house needs all the walls fixed up (sanded, new lining paper), all woodwork sanded, prep'd as it is all in a sorry state. Also new stairs (to loft), old both stair handrails stripped and french polished. Oh, and new doors throughout. So far we've had them in for 6-7 days over the last couple of weeks to do the kitchen/dining which will be done today bar 3 walls are getting wallpaper.

In my mind, I don't know how they're making any money. The amount of graft they've put in over those 6-7 days to prep the kitchen/dining is amazing, but if you say it was £2000 odd so far then he can't be making much buck for having his guys (two guys for 2-3 days, one guy for the rest other 4/5 days).

EDIT: All paint included as well.

The electrician on the other hand seems desperate for extras and is blabbering on about replacing our dining room light wiring for some reason he hasn't fully explained...

 

[glenimp617]

He's not replied with dates yet, yet alone actually turned up with his roller

 

[Demon]

Funny that, our last quote for a painter was hilarious..

3 rooms, all freshly plastered, dried out and already had 2 mist coats applied, no skirting or coving (I would do that later, it just makes cutting in easier for them)
Scope of works was
- Snagging of new plaster (some small imperfections needed dealing with)
- Application of 2-3 coats of supplied paint
We had someone come around, talked the talk, he pointed out the extent of snagging he was going to quote for (very minimal) and he thought 2 coats and agreed the paint choice we'd made was to his satisfaction.
The quote was £2k + we'd supply paint, seemingly it was a 6 day job..

I did it myself in 3 days.. and took my time..

 

[dlockers]

Funny that, our last quote for a painter was hilarious..

3 rooms, all freshly plastered, dried out and already had 2 mist coats applied, no skirting or coving (I would do that later, it just makes cutting in easier for them)
Scope of works was
- Snagging of new plaster (some small imperfections needed dealing with)
- Application of 2-3 coats of supplied paint
We had someone come around, talked the talk, he pointed out the extent of snagging he was going to quote for (very minimal) and he thought 2 coats and agreed the paint choice we'd made was to his satisfaction.
The quote was £2k + we'd supply paint, seemingly it was a 6 day job..

I did it myself in 3 days.. and took my time..

yEaH bUt hE hAs tO tAx aNd iNsUrE hIs vAn*

*van is a Transit Custom @ 50k RRP

 

[Scam]

The quote was £2k

Maybe you took away his profit margins by doing the mist coats, skirting, sanding etc. so he quoted essentially what he would have had you not done those things prior? I'd imagine being a tradesman and having someone do half your job "to make it cheaper" is quite infuriating.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Maybe you took away his profit margins by doing the mist coats, skirting, sanding etc. so he quoted essentially what he would have had you not done those things prior? I'd imagine being a tradesman and having someone do half your job "to make it cheaper" is quite infuriating.

This. Why can't people understand this.

I had a guy approach me to "hook up" a garage installation after he himself had installed the sockets and lights, he just wanted me to connect up the supply cable he had run into his consumer unit.

Aye, right.

 

[unwashed potato!]

At the start of covid we had 1 bedroom, hallway, landing, stairs, bathroom, large lounge, dining room, all replastered including ceilings. Anyone want to guess the cost?

 

[Demon]

Maybe you took away his profit margins by doing the mist coats, skirting, sanding etc. so he quoted essentially what he would have had you not done those things prior? I'd imagine being a tradesman and having someone do half your job "to make it cheaper" is quite infuriating.

That is illogical.
Lets say the room was already painted and I'd just moved in and I wanted to change the colour and got him around to quote, because the walls had already been painted, he'd charge extra because he hadn't done the previous paint job? Not buying it.

We discussed the job when he quoted, he offered the cop out of not painting all the way to the floor to make his life easier, which I agreed since skirting would be fitted later, and he was welcome to cut in between wall/ceiling (to which the scope was the entire room) or not... he asked if coving was going up, I said yes, and he thought about it and said he'd cut in anyway just in case.

This. Why can't people understand this.

I had a guy approach me to "hook up" a garage installation after he himself had installed the sockets and lights, he just wanted me to connect up the supply cable he had run into his consumer unit.

Aye, right.

No, that's a million miles away, in your case, someone is dabbling with electrics and expecting you to then take responsibility for the entire job by connecting the last little bit.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

No, that's a million miles away, in your case, someone is dabbling with electrics and expecting you to then take responsibility for the entire job by connecting the last little bit.

I agree it isn't a direct comparison, but the fact is a tradesman won't expect to trim the price because you did the prep.

 

[Cornubia]

Unfortunately good tradespeople are in very high demand.

Down here in Cornwall the Covid housing boom have resulted in dramatic increases in day rates for trades. Even chancers and glorified mates are commanding good money and passing off shoddy work.

Fortunately I was in the trade until 2017 so still had plenty of contacts and favours to call in for the recent extension project.

 

[Demon]

I agree it isn't a direct comparison, but the fact is a tradesman won't expect to trim the price because you did the prep.

As mentioned, all that was pre done was the mist coats, which is just like any normal situation, where you have a pre-existing painted wall.. It still needed prep with filling/sanding etc as if was a normal pre-painted wall that was being repainted which surely is the vast majority of cases for painters and decorators.

To rationalise it as the painter was punitive because he could have theoretically had even more opportunity to make money just sounds like astonishing greed to me.

Its like when Screwfix started selling LAP outdoor LED lights, they were markedly cheaper than any other at the time, and I popped down to my local to get two for my own property.. As I was being served and getting the order through the till, a guy behind me in the queue heard me order and came up and shouted , “hey, I need those mate, you can’t have them“ , I turned around quizzically and did ask why, thinking he might have some dire immediaite need, but his reply was "I’m flogging those for £250“(screwfix was selling them for £50), so I turned to the till and told them to carry on and started paying.. The guy then comes right up and gets a bit angry saying “your not robbing me of £400” and I honestly think he wanted to intimidate me into not buying. I obviously didn’t, but the daggers he gave me whilst waiting for them was pretty awkward…
The thing is, (and I see this in some greedy trades people) clearly the way he rationalised it and externalised that was as if I was stealing from him, he just saw £400 of profit being removed from his wallet and acted accordingly.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Yea, I think you're off on a tangent there.

 

[-Ad-]

Painters quotes in

£1,897 for all four bedrooms (they supply paint for wood, I provide the paint for walls/ceiling which I already have)

I hope they are huge 40sqm bedrooms at that price.

We paid about £2300 to do the downstairs and the hallway that goes up to the landing. This is in East Midlands/Anglia.

5 rooms, 2 bathrooms and hallway up/downstairs (total room area of 140sqm and 9ft ceilings with picture rails). They supplied all paint apart from the walls.

 

[200sols]

I hope they are huge 40sqm bedrooms at that price.

We paid about £2300 to do the downstairs and the hallway that goes up to the landing. This is in East Midlands/Anglia.

5 rooms, 2 bathrooms and hallway up/downstairs (total room area of 140sqm and 9ft ceilings with picture rails). They supplied all paint apart from the walls.

When and where makes a big difference.

 

[-Ad-]

When and where makes a big difference.

Yeah he doesnt say. Maybe central London or Surrey

Mine was done in Feb, so it's recent data. It was good value as the team were really good, plus they had to contend with the silly F&B paint and some problematic old walls!

In the end we had them do the remaining 3 beds and 2 bathrooms upstairs, total was about £5k.

Plus you can get plenty of aids for a single person..........

Good Aids or bad Aids?

 

[glenimp617]

We're also in the East Mids and they are small bedrooms

 

[-Ad-]

We're also in the East Mids and they are small bedrooms

Ouch, then I'd definitely say it's an expensive quote. Ours were in doing the house for 3+weeks (missing some days here and there)!

If they are simple rooms and the walls/ceiling are in good condition, then I would do it DIY if you can. I would only use painters for complicated and time consuming tasks.

 

[Jono8]

Painters quotes in

£1,897 for all four bedrooms (they supply paint for wood, I provide the paint for walls/ceiling which I already have)

Lol

Madness.

If it is just painting the walls, do it yourself. You will probably make just as good a job of it as a "professional" painter/decorator anyway.

How long did he say it would take him?

 

[glenimp617]

all trades are expensive here. My city seems to have a 'London complex' for some reason, even though we are nothing like London.

Cocktails in a pub are £20, fish and chips nearly £15, a pint is around £7 which I think is about normal these days.

We wanted the front of our house cleaned as it's rendered and that was a grand

 

[Jono8]

he is clearing 50-80k before tax.

Bold of you to assume he is paying tax.