Pub Toilets

[WHPES]

Narrowly missed out on getting a job to refurbish some pub toilets - got beaten on price by a small margin. Anyway 6 months on and I happened to be at the pub and thought I'd go and have a look. The old wall was supposed to be covered in multipanel with the pipework behind, and basins to be wall mounted with mixer taps.

When I saw it I had to chuckle - instead of proper multipanel, the installers had used that cheap UPVC stuff you use on caravans. The mitred corners didn't meet up in a lot of places. It was split at the bottom where someon had booted the wall and the basins were fitted with unsuitable mixer taps - cold water spews over the top of the basin so the floor is permanently wet and because of the unbalanced pressures, the water is cold. They had charged almost as much as I was going to (but I had priced for a proper commercial grade job with proper materials) and my guess is the pub is going to want it doing again within the next couple of years.

 

[oldplumber]

dont forget to slip up on the wet floor and sue for injuries sustained!

 

[BluePlumber]

When will people learn, if you want a job doing cheep you're gonna get ****

 

[oldplumber]

When will people learn, if you want a job doing cheep you're gonna get ****

does **** = sued?

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

The problem here is though the cowboy won

It seems the pub did not recognise you when you went in as as your quote was higher you can be sure it was discarded by the landlord and when he comes to want it done again and properly you will have to rely on a nit of luck for him to find your details again.

The cowboy got paid and wont be working at this pub again sure but you lost out for being undercut

Did you speak to the land lord when you went and had a look?

 

[WHPES]

No I went anonymously. The thing is my quote was for the multipanel and the contractor only did it in that cheap PVC cladding. They were only slightly cheaper than me so must have made masses of profit on it compared to what I would have done if I had got the job.

 

[redmohican]

As someone who uses professionals to do work (although I am not so sure when you read my main thread), all of what is written in this thread annoys me so much.
I live in Islington, and the council decided that all properties needed re-wiring, as the wiring was 10 years old, and that the copper pipes to the radiators needed replacing as they were 9 years old !. Ok, so I have fought and won the case for my property, but the properties who didn't bother to fight have been left with cowboy work that even John Wayne wouldn't acknowledge!
The problem here is that the job was given to a contractor, and there are a total of 8 sub contractors doing the work, with all of them being from Poland (no disrespect to Poland), but not one of them speaks English, and their standards are not what we expect.

I'm not having a go at foreign workers, just saying that standards need to be kept. I realise that there are as many cowboy British workers. It seems that one day someone is a DIY-er, the next day they are a professional with a company. This has been proved with the BBC series Cowboy Builders, and I feel really sorry for all of you professionals out there whose reputation is tarnished by people such as these, as it gives you a bad name too.

 

[migoplumber]

there are some good polish plumbers out there. shouldnt brand every one the same. same as fast trackers vs time served. its the person who makes the professional !

 

[stevetheplumber]

ive had much the same price for a vaillant or worcester 30kw cos they want a good quality boiler went back a year later for something else to find they had a biasi 24

 

[redmohican]

there are some good polish plumbers out there. shouldnt brand every one the same. same as fast trackers vs time served. its the person who makes the professional !

Sorry I wasn't trying to have a go at a nationality, I was just saying what is happening within Islington Council repairs

 

[WHPES]

The cowboy I mentioned in my other post is actually fully time served, just couldn't give a ****. I have also come across some very neat and high quality work done by a fast tracker.