funny,i was only having this conversation today with a friend of mine ,how noboby we knew(both of us in the construction trade)would miss a monday nowadays,and that nobody tunrs up hungover anymore, and we were both saying what a great thing it was.
Well he appeared yesterday, initially with no apology, until later in the day and we sat down and had a chat. He had no real excuse for his absence (well he attempted several). However we have come to an agreement now on how to proceed. He knows if he goes missing again the amount I owe him will decrease. It feels silly to have to do this tbh but hopefully I will get the job done in the next few days.
Interestingly when I phoned another tiler he said he would drop in over the weekend to have a look and give a quote for finishing the job but I haven't heard from him since. I don't think this is a reflection on ALL tradespeople by the way but for some old habits die hard eh?
Thanks for the advice re the smell by the way. The clingfilm idea helped a lot!