Patio requires "edging?"

No going back now, complained and offered them £800 to leave now. They said not in a million years, we'll finish the job.

So I asked if they were going to relay them properly and they said no. So we're on dispute grounds at the moment. I said I'll pay them every penny if it gets sorted out properly, but the £800 stands if they are unwilling to and I have to hire someone else to re-lay it.
 
Em3bbs said:
Hope you get it sorted, I'm having a driveway done soon and finding someone decent is always worrying! I'm using Checkatrade and have a couple of people with lots/high feedback coming over at the weekend.
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Not from that site, but even as someone not into DIY, I was spotting faults in the person who did the bathroom. Using p
Solus said:
No going back now, complained and offered them £800 to leave now. They said not in a million years, we'll finish the job.

So I asked if they were going to relay them properly and they said no. So we're on dispute grounds at the moment. I said I'll pay them every penny if it gets sorted out properly, but the £800 stands if they are unwilling to and I have to hire someone else to re-lay it.
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So doing a crap job of it, and you're going to have to get it all done again, and they want 100% payment??
 
lookitsjonno said:
I'd say that's more than fair tbh
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Agreed.
Can't believe they said no we'll finish the job, implies to me they're admitting they hadn't done it properly in the first place.
Perhaps get some decent evidence as to what the job should look like, best practice docs would be a good start (look at paving manufacturers), would be good if you could get some detail drawings (close up cross sections of the hardcore, geotextile, sand and slab layers. This sort of thing: http://lcpaver.com/detail-drawings/) and present them saying this is what it should look like, as it is it's nothing like it. I'm not happy with it, take your £800 and naff off.
 
hornetstinger said:
Not from that site, but even as someone not into DIY, I was spotting faults in the person who did the bathroom. Using p


So doing a crap job of it, and you're going to have to get it all done again, and they want 100% payment??
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100% payment was 1700.

They offered for me to pay £1400, I laughed it off. He called me cheeky for suggesting £800.
 
Solus said:
100% payment was 1700.

They offered for me to pay £1400, I laughed it off. He called me cheeky for suggesting £800.
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£800 is more than fair. [More than] half payment for less than half a job.

Going rate for a groundworker is £200 per day at the absolute best. Top end maximum would be £250 and that's expensive even if it were in London. 2 guys 2 days plus materials at the very worst is going to be £1200 and thats a massive over estimation. Its probably closer £7/800 plus 20% profit thats still less than 1k.
Maccapacca is a QS, he'd almost certainly be able to give you more accurate figures (not that that really helps here, more for reference)
 
Sorry by materials I meant their materials i.e. sand and cement. Bags of those are well, you probably know, they're a fiver or something.
I appreciate the slabs you bought were several hundred but you wouldn't factor that in to the cost of the work which was what I was doing.

e: I should say I assumed 2 days work by the timeline of your posts. Given the area it could take longer than that, maybe 3.
 
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I seriously doubt these polish are even on £100 a day.

£400 for 2 days for 2 poles.
£400 materials (raised manhole cover, hard-core, sand, cement).
 
There you are then, I reckon £800 is pretty reasonable. You would normally add a bit more for profit, my figure of 20% was obviously on the high side but not unheard of. Still you're well in the realms of sub 1k.
 
They were quite clever today I have to say, the son came round to speak to me so I went and got my father in law as a witness as I wasn't having a repeat of last time. The "boss" big daddy called the son and spoke to me through his phone so I couldn't record.

Went from 1700 to 1400, then to 1300 to 1250.

I still wasn't happy and they were insistent that the joints being tight was better and stronger. They knew they were talking out of their ass but refused to admit fault.

After much conversation he lowered again to 1200 and advised I take it as I really wouldn't like to make an enemy of him apparantly.

I did take it as I have children, otherwise I would have taken it all the way. My mum and dad offered the 400 difference in price so we weren't so out of pocket.

Lesson well learned, line drawn in the dry cement!

Time to get my reputable driveway guy to put it right
 
Blimey, best they're gone by the sounds of it:
advised I take it as I really wouldn't like to make an enemy of him
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Like you say lesson learned, not ideally but hey you can move on which is a good thing. Put up some pics when it's done right.
 
Good riddance. I did have a shifty around their www and so called feedback via some generic site but nothing can beat asking for addresses of folk they've worked for a calling round in person to take a look. If they get antsy about that then are they the sort of people you want round your gaff and family? No so kick them to the kerb and find another.
Read up on paving expert before all the guys come round so you know what to ask about the patio and insist on a full mortar bed. Will also be worth lifting/cheching you slabs before the mortar dries and cleaning them before some competent fits them.

I spent a lot of time learning this before having a large patio and drive done at home and found someone who was willing to do as i asked. The FIL said there was no need and builders know what they're doing. He had a builder lay a large very expensive granite patio for him which was spot bedded and now leeches and it looks terrible. We've never discussed it but I know that he knows.....
 
Issue now is, the slabs are at the correct level (with the aco drains). If I remove them then use sand and cement again they will raise above this level.

I have seen a product called "Slab layer", it's a dry ready mixed powder you pour on to the area, then wet. If this was used in conjunction with PVA on the back of the slabs and tapped down, do you think this would do the job without adding too much more height?
 
Pva has no place anywhere near this. PVA disolves in water and is a bodge to help presumably temporarily with stiction. The correct way to achieve this is to mix SBR with powder cement to create a slurry which is painted onto the back of the slab just before laying it onto your fresh mortar bed.

You can try whatever approach but if you go this route they will be wobbly and uneven and up in no time. Just my 2 pence.
 
Or lift all the slabs, breakup whatever mortar there is there and do it again. This is of course assuming you have a reasonable sub base...

Ever heard the saying throwing good money after bad? Well sometimes its better to accept and chalk it upto experience. Apologies.
 
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