Remember to pay the Builder.

Trouble with that guy it is the EMPLOYER who didn't pay the loon driving the digger, not the customer :)

Better make sure your PAYE is up to date :D
 
Did not get payed for last heating job as at last moment they said my work was crap, what they ment was they just found out they could get a free gas fitting and assulted me when i went for moneys, police were called by me but its going pos to court,or well best not say, £800 lost.
 
when i was fitting out a stamp museum , i was told ,out of the blue , that a percentage of my money would be held back until my work was checked . at this point they owed me about 200 quid . i immediately started packing my tools . when they asked what i thought i was doing , i said ''effing off home''
the opening night, a glitzy do involving all the city's dignitaries, had to be cancelled and put off for months . seems that when a tradesman is asked to price finishing an uncompleted job , he might wonder what went on ,and not bother .
well worth the money
 
Just once had a job which Dave did for a well heeled bloke who left payment for nearly four months. Dave had paid for all the materials and it was two months work. We were living close to the breadline at the time and it was getting impossible. Sent several reminders then I took our three young kids and knocked on his door. His wife paid immediately!
 
In 25 years of self employment, we only had one bad debt...£250 .
My solicitor was a client.
He advised that the punter knew that that figure was not worth Pursuing , and probably made a habit of it.
I contacted Leeds Trade Protection Association, via Yellow pages
Paid the 10% fee up front.
I'll never know what they did , but a cheque arrived from them, ( not the punter ), a week later for £ 275.
 
I had one for £200, a job i did for a blacksmith who as it turned out had a love for powder up his nose. I was working at another site and the guy who was running the job told me the blacksmith had been thrown out of his yard for rent arrears and he had moved raillings that he made for another job and had stored them at the builders yard .
I was good friends with the owner of the building firm so called him that night telling him that i had been bumped for the work that i had done so he offered me the keys for the yard. My sister recieved a new set of raillings and gates for her birthday. I was also offered all the work he used to give to the blacksmith. Things dont always go better with coke.
 
on the other hand , i overheard a bloke in a bar on the Algarve moaning to his mate that the best quote he could get for converting one of his hotel rooms to a self-contained office was 6 grand . i leaned over and said i'd do it for 4 grand sight unseen
. he had to go back to Sweden the next day and handed me the 4 grand in 100 kroner notes an said he'd see me around . i can remember well ,a few days later, Mrs B and the kids sitting in the camper ,,engine running , while i final coated the front door . threw the brush in the bin and drove straight down to Fez .
i heard he was well happy ,and thought how nice if all jobs went like that
 
I have a mate who is a self employed bricklayer/paver. A local job to him was to lay a curved path from pavement to house porch.
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This entailed footings ect ect, the path was on a slope hence curved. Much like a hairpin bend in the road, Job done client did not pay for whatever reason I forget.
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Nick tried to get paid to no avail, Nick being Nick then took matters into his own hands, He awaited until the weather was terrible, rain/hail ect ect. Took the dumper to the property drove up to house and with help lifted the paving as well as the brickwork starting at the house end.
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You can imagine the scene, client not wanting items removed, Nick just said pay me now or it all goes as its all my property, Will call police said client, Please do said Nick continuing to remove his slabs and bricks.
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By now 50% of work demolished and in dumper, Plod turns up, its still very wet, they are not to interested, client promises cheques cash the next day, Nick still removes his stuff , its getting very muddy now, the grass is boggy the path all but gone, Police suggest a truce, Nick works out the amount of path left is just about what the initial payment paid for. So did as suggested and demolished no more.
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Moral to the story is. Always pay the builder, especially when living on a slope with only a path to get to the roadside, NICE ONE NICK.
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You want the other side if these stories?
1998 we bought mother-in-laws house after she died. Somewhat naive about major refurbs paid builder some upfront for materials etc. So far so good. However whilst empty house flooded. Still ok. Work progressing. Work rolling in nationally for builders. Builder sees other opportunities. Work finish worse and worse. Radiators left covered in plaster, kitchen left half constructed with large units unfinished (his best skill was actually wood). Had to be totally ripped out andcreplaced after he left. Smashed up stone hearth he'd agreed to build fireplace on. Left hole in ensuite where fan should go. One morning walked in to discover he'd walked off with all the traditional skirting boards for downstairs. We had paid this man throughout the job no question. We were left in debt which took years to sort. I would have pursued him but the stress would possibly have finished my already ill husband and I loved himm more than vengeance. Subsequently I learnt his house had caught fire. Thankfully his wife and children werre ok. My thoughts about him were less than Christian and would sully the page!
Ooh it was good to have git that off my chest
 
You want the other side if these stories?
1998 we bought mother-in-laws house after she died. Somewhat naive about major refurbs paid builder some upfront for materials etc. So far so good. However whilst empty house flooded. Still ok. Work progressing. Work rolling in nationally for builders. Builder sees other opportunities. Work finish worse and worse. Radiators left covered in plaster, kitchen left half constructed with large units unfinished (his best skill was actually wood). Had to be totally ripped out andcreplaced after he left. Smashed up stone hearth he'd agreed to build fireplace on. Left hole in ensuite where fan should go. One morning walked in to discover he'd walked off with all the traditional skirting boards for downstairs. We had paid this man throughout the job no question. We were left in debt which took years to sort. I would have pursued him but the stress would possibly have finished my already ill husband and I loved himm more than vengeance. Subsequently I learnt his house had caught fire. Thankfully his wife and children werre ok. My thoughts about him were less than Christian and would sully the page!
Ooh it was good to have git that off my chest
Always two sides! Dave has had to do remedial works after cowboy builders have ripped people off. Worst time was after the 1987 hurricane when anyone with a ladder was "repairing" for highly inflated insurance claims. He was actually offered £50 per sheet of his headed notepaper ( those were the days before they would just print their own!) Some terrible work he came across made damage worse.
 
Probably 1 in 10 jobs we see or do are fixing other peoples f ups I feel sorry for some old people who get ripped of by cowboys that makes my blood boil. But there seems to be a trend of younger people being ripped of sometimes there own fault for going down the cheap route to save a couple of quid and not using due diligence. I will always say never employ a builder if he lives more than 10 miles from you check he has a business address and always look at his most recent work and never ever pay anything upfront if he needs money up front then he shouldn’t be in business that’s probably the biggest warning sign. Problem nowadays there are hardly any time served tradesmen not enough good apprentices coming through the trades.
 
Christina headed up to a flat we have on Thursday to meet the gas engineer as the boiler had bypassed leaving a black mark on the external wall which a neighbour had picked up on.
In came the lad had a look and said it needs a power flush as the system is clogged up and the bypass valve is shot and the boiler is out of balance ill send you a quote and here is my bill for £49.50 ex vat. I asked her what the ***k is a power flush did you pay him behind the front door? Sent a friend in who used to be corgie registered but let it lapse. Checked the system everything ok the house is less than three years old, turns out Ruaidhri had bled the radiators and the pressure dropped so applied a little too much pressure to the system when adjusting hence the black mark down the wall. £2 bend put on the overflow to keep any future overflow off the wall. Still waiting on the quote and will keep you updated.
 
Agree with lack of apprenticeship opportunities nowadays its getting harder to find good tradesmen. At a property we have in East Lothian Christina had a local painter paint the outside of the house two years ago, i was down there two weeks ago and the paint is coming off the sill already, no prep work or prepped incorrectly how difficult can painting be?
 
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to be fair ,i've got a lot of respect for a decent painter. trouble is it's a trade that any body thinks they can do ,so there's more chancers trying it on . when i was in Portugal ,they reckoned you'd get on the plane in England as a labourer and land in Faro fully skilled in any trade .
the guy i used most would spend 2-3 days just prepping a room ,and finished walls were flat as billiard tables ,not a mark . and he was magic with car body filler
 
Prep? Ha!
Still all is not lost. My home is my castle and in these times I know how lucky I am and have put aside all thoughts of castration of builders who think just because you are a women with grey hair you are a soft touch
(Whats that on the floor? MDF. The cupboard you are replacing was good quality pine. You won't know the difference when it's painted. My response is not fit for polite company!)
Ill stop reminiscing now and go sand a cupboard then use my brand new Makita drill. So chuffed
 

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