Issues with tiler quote, and materials used. Looking for advice on how to handle the situation.

I

InOverMyHead

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Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice on how to handle a situation I have stupidly found myself in, Apologies if this is not the right thread.

A handyman, used before and reasonable, was called to replace tiles around a bath. He sent a quote for tiles, adhesive and a couple more bits which I paid for. After stripping tiles, he noticed there were big gaps between the bath and walls, so would have to "build-out" the walls around the bath before tiling. It was becoming a bigger job, so we decided then to replace the bath with a shower tray and door. He sent a quote for shower tray and door which I again paid.

Materials were dropped to my house today, and I just noticed a delivery sticker on the shower tray with the name of a different plumbing centre than the one the quote was from. This piqued my interest so I started looking closer.

The shower tray is a different brand than the one quoted.

The tiling quote has tiles quoted to cover 20 square yards, I measured the area myself and it looks to be around 9. There are 3 bags of 20kg bostik (premium brand from what I can tell) adhesive, this looks to be enough to do the job 3 times over. 1 20kg bag of a different adhesive arrived.

The shower door hasn't arrived yet but I'm afraid it will be the same.

As I have used this man before and trusted him, the job was pretty much paid for before starting, and I don't know how/when or if to pull him on this until the job is completed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
I'm afraid to ask him about it now in case he asks for more money. I feel like the job has been paid for, if I pull him on it now he could walk and leave the bathroom a mess.

Thanks though, I'll just ask him and hope he's a decent man!
 
I should have said that more money has been given than just the quotes for materials. He's also received money for bringing materials to the dump and extra for labour.
Quoted materials came to 1450, he's received 2100 to cover labour, extra materials and another run to the dump. If materials were severely over-quoted, I'd say the job has been overpaid already.
 
InOverMyHead said:
The tiling quote has tiles quoted to cover 20 square yards, I measured the area myself and it looks to be around 9.
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Stating the obvious but do you know how to measure properly? Have you just measured the floor and forgotten the walls of the shower itself? That would add 6sq yards easily for a standard shower tray

Allowing for scrap and the tile size you've chosen, it wouldn't be unreasonable to order 20sq yards to cover 15 sq yards. And pretty much every reputable tile shop will happily take back and refund unopened boxes

InOverMyHead said:
I just noticed a delivery sticker on the shower tray with the name of a different plumbing centre than the one the quote was from. This piqued my interest so I started looking closer.

The shower tray is a different brand than the one quoted.
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I wouldn't have a problem with materials sourced from a different supplier but you should be getting what you were quoted for. If the alternative shower tray is of equivalent cost, then I wouldn't be too bothered.

However if he has purchased a much cheaper brand than what you chose then it would be an issue.

InOverMyHead said:
I'm afraid to ask him about it now in case he asks for more money.
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You are probably over thinking it, just ask him to walk you through the measurements and the quotations with you.
 
_OkGo_ said:
Stating the obvious but do you know how to measure properly?
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I believe so, there's a 2 metre drop from ceiling to bath, and 3.7 metres around. I'll have to double check with him, but I believe there will be less tiles needed with the shower option: 2.5m drop and about the same around. The remaining 1.2m will be painted with materials already there.
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I'll see if I can get prices for the materials actually delivered, but everything including tiles has been different so far.

Sarah Ryan said:
Just take pictures of everything and tell him that you want a detailed invoice for your records.
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Good idea, I'll do that now.
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Too late for you now but for anyone doing similar work; I ask for quotes for labour only & I supply finishing materials such as tiles, flooring etc. Same for kitchens & sanitary ware.

Plumbers & electrics I tend to leave at it - there's not much skimming to be done there & a few questions on their quote will highlight any discrepancies.
 
@T McGibney it would be more to cross reference where the differences are between the quote and the products acquired and then to be able to open up a discussion to go, 'I thought we agreed to go with x-place and I just noticed that you've gotten it other stuff from this place etc'

If there is a difference in price with the shower trays and she's not getting what she thought she was getting, that does need to be explained to the customer.
 
The customer may get a verbal explanation, probably just an affirmation that the product brands are comparable, or that the preferred brand was unavailable when it was ordered (as is commonplace.)

There is a world of difference between this and demanding and obtaining micro-itemisation on an invoice. The builder will argue that he's a builder, not a quantity surveyor.

The customer could of course had circumvented all this by opening an account in a local builders providers and authorising them to accept orders from and collections by the builder for specified materials or their equivalents. While this would have entailed a minor additional vat cost, the peace of mind might be worth it.
 
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