Am I Being Too Picky?

[tandh]

i paid £600 to have the hallway, landing and stairs of my three bed semi plastered last week. There are a few bits that will need filling and sanding, but i am happy with the end result. What i am not happy about is the state my door frames and new wood floor were left in. There is basically plaster all over the frames, my pvc door frame is the worst as it's over the entire perimeter and about 1 inch in depth. I have spent nearly two hours cleaning my wood floor which had dried on plaster and plaster residue all over it, and the majority on the downstairs hall way still has a very thin coat of plaster on it. I did text the guy who done it saying i wasn't happy with how things were left and he is saying he will come back to clean my floor (mainly because he doesn't want me to leave him a bad review on the website he advertises on) but i can tell he is not happy about it. My question is do you think i am being too picky - would you expect to have to spend ages cleaning up after you have work done? and should i ask him to get all the plaster off the door frames when he comes to do the floor?

and before anyone says anything he said he would cover my floors when he came to quote and i wasn't there when it was being done. They also swamped my floor in water just before i came back which made it look like it was clean and just wet

[Mamyalynne]

Not picky at all, it should have been left clean and plaster free.

[Cloverjo]

You're definitely not being picky. I can only reiterate what Mamya said.

[tandh]

thank you lynne

[trt]

You have every right to complain Tandh, and I wouldn't have paid him till he had left it as it was, before he started.

And definitely a YES for him to get all the plaster off the door frames when he comes to do the floor, its not your job?

[tandh]

thank you - if i'm honest i didn't really check the door frames, i only really noticed after they went and the floor was covered in water which made it look clean. I think they did this on purpose as they knew what a mess it was.... i think they thought i wouldn't say anything, but i'm feed up with being walked all over

[tandh]

and sorry jo, i don't think your answer came up when i replied to lynne

[jno]

no, not picky. Ideally it would be in any contract you drew up (words like "make good" or something) but even if it's nto, it's a perfectly reasonable requirement.

Take a few photos of it so you can add them to any bad review you may write.

[waterboatman]

Not at all picky. He should have covered the floor windows and doors as a matter of course. elementary good practice. You could get professional cleaners in and send him the bill. I would state on his website what had happened, even after he has come back and done ALL the cleaning necessary.

[murraymints]

I agree ..not on..your property should have been left clean..insist it is cleaned to your satisfaction ...and still leave a review that reflects your experience !

[ummmm]

No...not picky at all.

I had my hall, landing, stairs and ceiling plastered a few years back. The plasterer was doing it as a side job but still cleaned up at the end of each day.

Same when I had my kitchen plastered. What he couldn't cover he cleaned.

[Zacs-Master]

Have you paid them in full? If not, insist they compensate you by way of a reduction and/ or in case your floor starts to 'cup' (boards bending due to excess water) which is possible.

[ummmm]

Saying that ^^ I was warned that they'll be dust; and that's all I had to clean.

[Zacs-Master]

We'll all be dust, eventually.

[ummmm]

Just not plaster dust :-)

[Maydup]

Sounds like you might have paid already? But at least the threat of a poor review is motivation enough for him to act.

Be firm about him coming back to clean the plaster of the doors. Don't let him loose on you floor again if you have cleaned it now, just in case he soaks it again, but stick to you guns on the doors.

[tandh]

thank you so much for your answers, it gave me the confidence to confront him about it. He did come back and two of them spent two hours cleaning! then he had the audacity to say i should of done it myself as it was easy.

[Jackdaw33]

Easy? And it took two of them two hours? I think a review on his website is overdue.

[tandh]

really jack? i feel bad though as he has two young children. But saying that he wanted to go after a hour and when i pointed out the mess the door frames were in he said that's just what happens, but then decided to clean them up after i said i'll take a photo and put it on the website to show potential customers the finish they will be getting

[Cloverjo]

Oh, jeez, tandh. You won't be recommending him to your friends then? That's terrible.

[Jackdaw33]

He's in business. He has to take the rough with the smooth.