DIY Home Decor

Week 20 – the floor layers

The floor layers have walked out on us. It turned out that the boss is a relative of the plasterer who had previously walked out on me because I dared to complain about the quality of his work. At the time I refused to pay him the full amount because he did not complete the job. The guy got pissed off and walked out without taking the cheque I was writing out.  Later I realised that he’d done an even worse job than I’d initially thought which I had to correct or re-do as best I could – so I was quite glad that he didn’t take the money.. 

But now he wants his dosh. Of course he doesn’t have the decency to call me or come over to discuss the matter – he’s asked his relative (the floor-layer) to get it for him. I told the floor layer, that this matter is between the plasterer and me and he should not get involved. He said he was already involved, because he recommended the guy to us and felt responsible. I said I’m happy to pay the guy if he comes back and finishes the job as per my specification. The plasterer would not do that. The floor-layer then told me that sometimes in life we just have to accept things. I am never going to accept people trying to rip me off. NEVER. Why should I? It’s time for them to accept that there are people who will not be ripped off. I have photographs to prove the "quality" of the plastering. Shameful. And the plasterer was going to charge £50/hour. Mad… mad… mad…  and totally unacceptable.

The next day the floor-layers kept going on about me paying for the plastering. They started to blackmail us – either we pay or they leave. I do not respond to blackmail. I repeated that I was happy to discuss the matter with the plasterer – but not with them. So they packed up and left. They told us to find someone else to finish the job. It’s a shame because the floor is almost laid and they are themselves nice guys and they’ve been doing a good job.

We wrote an email to him later that evening:
"I’m emailing you because, as you put it, "We’re just going round in circles" when we’ve tried talking about it. Obviously we were very unhappy and surprised that you decided to pull out this afternoon. As we stressed, we have both been pleased with the quality and precision of your work so far and were looking forward to enjoying its completion.
As it is, the floor makes our main living area more like a war zone with no peace in sight.
As you’ll agree, the reason for your sudden departure was entirely related to XXX’s plastering work – nothing at all to do with the floor or any personal differences between you and us. We still feel strongly that this is a matter that can be (with good faith on both sides) resolved between XXX and ourselves. We accept that he came on your recommendation but he independently discussed with us the extent and standard of plastering needed and quoted accordingly. So surely any misunderstandings/disagreements should be dealt with between XXX and us? We can’t really understand why you took over the responsibility for paying him on our behalf and then made us feel obliged to reimburse you. Unfortunately we don’t know how to contact XXX directly, so would you please let him know that we would still like to resolve this with him.
To return to our floor, we could of course do as you suggested and try to find someone else to finish it. But, as I said earlier when trying to persuade you to stay, it just seems silly. We were so looking forward to being out of this purgatory in a matter of days. You know what needs to be done and have it scheduled. Surely it would be to our mutual benefit, giving both you and us real pleasure if this potentially beautiful work could only be finished soon.
I am sure that you are a man of integrity but would respectfully suggest that your application of principal on this occasion is unjustified. Please reconsider your decision to abandon this project
Looking forward to hearing from you"

We got no reply – so we started to look for other floor-layers. It’s never easy to find people to finish other’s work – we we’ve been were extremely lucky to find a guy who could start the work next Monday. Till then we have to live in total chaos. Here are some pictures of the reclaimed parquet floor.