What would you have done please?

[Kingfisher101]

I'm needing my sub floor reboarding as the ply has seperated from the floorboards( old floor 1960). So the local flooring place recommeded their joiner who looked at the job then gave a quote etc. All good. He never got back in touch despite me sending a message so the shop had to get back in touch with him and after a wait he gave me a date the 27th Feb. So by last week he hadnt said what time he was coming etc so I rang and asked and he said he wasnt coming now and that he would send someone else instead to do the job!!. I initially said yes but then sent him a text cancelling as I've had work botched in my house before and dont want it happening again. Plus I need to check that the person is a proper joiner etc and is able to do the job. I dont want someone starting a job then walking off it because they cant do it etc. The arrangement was that the original joiner would do the work full stop.
The flooring place were not very pleased as they were coming in the fit the flooring etc the next day. I said that I would get another joiner to do the floor who I have chosen then they could come and fit the flooring.
Would you have just let the mate of the joiner come and take the floor up/reboard when you hadnt even met them and establish if they could do it o.k? Just on the say so of the joiner who has been a total flake?

 

[richardfm]

I would have done it myself

 

[I like Skol]

I would strip back to the joists and put new floor in. Proper job!

 

[notmyrealnamebutclose]

should've got his number and had a chat with him before dismissing him, doubt he will bother now

 

[steveindenmark]

I would have cancelled him well before you did. You either want the work or you dont. Unless it was an emergency situation I would be happy to shop around and wait.

 

[Slick]

Getting good tradesmen right now is really difficult, especially if you don't have any connections. There's too much work out there right now, and they can cherry pick what jobs they want or don't want, or even shuffle their schedule when a more lucrative job comes in. It's not totally unusual for someone to pass work on to someone else if they have bitten off more than they can chew, but he should have been able to give you a degree of comfort on that score, and if he couldn't, I would have done the same as you. Good luck getting your job completed, it really shouldn't be this difficult, should it?

 

[Kingfisher101]

If I could then I would do but I'm not confident enough to lay a floor myself.

should've got his number and had a chat with him before dismissing him, doubt he will bother now

Dont want him anyway so thats not an issue.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Thank You Everyone, I've got someone else coming tomorrow for a quote with good local recommendations and their work looks very good as well. Its not an emergency so at least theres no worry about the floor caving in etc.
I wish trades would just say from the start the job is not for me, I'm too busy or its too small etc. I've had people say this before and thats totally fine.

 

[sleuthey]

You say the ply has separated from the floor boards. Can't you just nail/screw it back down? Or do you mean the ply it's self is de-laminating?

If I was having a loft conversion done I would employ a qualified joiner. But with a sub-floor as long as the prime contractor is willing to take responsibility for their subbies then I wouldn't care.

 

[Kingfisher101]

You say the ply has separated from the floor boards. Can't you just nail/screw it back down? Or do you mean the ply it's self is de-laminating?

If I was having a loft conversion done I would employ a qualified joiner. But with a sub-floor as long as the prime contractor is willing to take responsibility for their subbies then I wouldn't care.

No because its very old, It needs replacing really for strength. Until the part thats causing a problem is taken up we wont know the full picture either, so a more extensive repair may be needed. My fear was that if the job was just passed on to someone else and it was more difficult etc,then they could just walk off the job and leave me with no floor. People will do things like this as well, I've had very bad experiences with some tradespeople. Also I need the work to be done well, not leaving the floor like a ski slope etc. Thats why I want to ensure as far as thats possible it doesnt happen again.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

There's no strength in plywood?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I would have done the same as you @Kingfisher101

The world of building tradesmen is heavily polarised ime and imo.

On the one hand you have excellent professionals who provide a great service and charge commensurate with their skill level.

And the other you have chancers with a modicum of skill who couldn't give a fig about the end result (or at least the last few % of detail) and who simply want to maximise their income from the job using every trick under the sun.

Without talking to the person who is likely to do the job it is hard to get a fix on the individual - and even then their is a risk.

You did right imo and tough on the flooring outfit too - they recommended someone who was unreliable.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Well Its been o.k for 63 years upto now, screwed onto the floorboards. So all in all thats not too bad.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I would have done the same as you @Kingfisher101

The world of building tradesmen is heavily polarised ime and imo.

On the one hand you have excellent professionals who provide a great service and charge commensurate with their skill level.

And the other you have chancers with a modicum of skill who couldn't give a fig about the end result (or at least the last few % of detail) and who simply want to maximise their income from the job using every trick under the sun.

Without talking to the person who is likely to do the job it is hard to get a fix on the individual - and even then their is a risk.

You did right imo and tough on the flooring outfit too - they recommended someone who was unreliable.

Thank You and thats what I said to them. I said the joiner is very unreliable and I've been bitten badly before etc and its not happening again. I said I will have the flooring off them but they will have to wait until I find someone who I think is suitable to do the job.

 

[CXRAndy]

There is nothing better than doing it yourself if you have the basic skills.

You know it was done properly.