What hours should I expect?

Perhaps the issue here is the guy is a "general builder", he obviously has his fingers in many pies and is putting off the decorating, perhaps the price he is charging you isn't enough an incentive for him to get on with it? Whatever the reasons in my opinion it is unacceptable, you need to perhaps consider getting a price off a couple decorators to finish the job and ask him to either get it finished of you will deduct the charge of a decorator off his final payment. I would always make an effort to work around a customers timescales and expectations, even if that involved some long days or weekends. Good luck in your negotiations.

Hi. Its really up to you what you are prepared to put up with. But this is far from acceptable. The reality is that the time a job takes in a domestic situation is geared towards ( in ideality) the minimum possible. The homeowner wants the lesser disruption to normal routine, the tradesman wants the job completed (well) and paid. So this isnt symbiotic or ideal. Find someone else?

As above this is totally unacceptable behaviour really, not so much the hours he works (although this is quite unprofessional), but the fact that he seems to have taken the attitude that he doesn't need to consider your circumstances at all and on top of that is refusing to commit to any kind of deadline when asked. Even if he is very busy, which seems an unlikely case or he would be turning up a little earlier and trying his best to finish the job as soon as possible, he should still be making far more of an effort to work to / around your schedule. My advice would be to pay him what he's owed for the work he's done to date, and then find someone else to pick up where he left off, although you may find this difficult as most tradesmen don't like finishing others work, especially if it is not up to scratch. There are cowboys in every trade unfortunately and it seems you have been unlucky enough to hire one. Make sure you leave a negative feedback / review if possible to warn others of this company.

Could be a bit late now, but I’d hold out on paying any more money until he pulls his finger out. Get an answer of a finish date, and also insist he works on your job until it’s finished. Say you didn’t hire him to fill up his free times during the week, but to complete the job in hand. Once you stop paying, It will only go one of two ways. He won’t turn up at all, or he’ll be there cracking on.

Hi I've been a decorator for 25 years and have worked the same since day one, i start work at 8am and finish around 4.30 having a cuppa tea at 10 am for 15 minutes and lunch at 12.30 pm for around half an hour. This is a standard day, sometimes i finish early if i have finished what I've needed to do for the day or there is nothing else to do, for example you have pinned a room and its 2pm, you can't cork or paint as the paper is wet so i find this exceptable. The painter should of set some sort of a timescale for your project and it should be finished around that time frame give or take, unless there are loads of extra's. On bigger jobs i take a deposit for materials and weekly payments as the customer can see what has been done each week, i also write down an extra's and give a copy to my client with a break down of the cost so we both AGREE. It sounds like your decorator has taken to much on and is splitting himself between jobs. The best way to deal with this is to tell him your concerns and don't pay any more money to you are happy with progress. Good luck hope this helps lee