Bathroom Fitting

Is this a reasonable standard of work?

Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.13 PM

I just hired a handyman (carpenter by trade) to do a small amount of boxing-in of pipes in my bathroom, but he also agreed to lay lino flooring (I'd already removed the old lino, but left the old ply underneath which he agreed to replace as it was water-damaged), fit a heated towel radiator and bath sides, and put up a cabinet. His rate was £150 for a day's labour and then materials on top. Total was £230. We provided the lino, bath sides and cabinet, the rest he was going to bring. He came round at 11am today and did the boxing in then laid the lino (took him until about 6pm) and he hadn't replaced the ply because he said that it didn't need replacing as 'it can take a lot of water'. He has left big gaps around the lino by the skirting boards, which are really ragged around the sink and toilet. He's partially filled them with sealant but it's not stuck down well. There's also a big gap between the bath side when it abuts the wall. He took the radiator off the wall but said that actually he can't fit the towel rail as he's not a plumber. He never got round to putting up the cabinet. We were unhappy to as soon as he was done, but it has just got a lot worse as the bathroom has just partially flooded, as he seems to have completely drained the central heating system when he removed the radiator, and then not closed it off, so as we put it back on, water flooded out. We've now had to turn off the water. We told him initially when we left that we didn't think the finish was very good and he offered us £50 off. Now the radiator saga has happened and we've called him, but he just suggested going outside to get the old radiator back and to put it back on. What is reasonable recourse? I have no idea how to put right the lino (short of ripping it all up and starting again), and the kitchen fitter who is simultaneously fitting our kitchen has said he'll put the towel radiator up tomorrow for us (which will obviously cost us extra labour). Edit : he actually seems like a nice guy, so I didn't want to pay him nothing as I feel bad, but don't know if paying £100 or something for fairly shoddy work is ridiculous? Update: I sent him a message to say that I was unhappy with his work and listed why, and that I thought a fair compromise would be just to pay for materials (£75). He replied that he understood and that we shouldn't pay him anything. We're still out of pocket for the lino/bathsides but could be worse. I actually feel a bit bad for him, as I think he's a good guy just out of his depth. Hopefully it'll make him reconsider what sort of jobs he takes on...