help with a job

[LM Ceramics]

right i just quoted for a job in liverpool which is quite far away from preston it would cost me nearly £10 in fuel a day i went to the job which was a old council house. i walked through the door this girl answered the door must have been about 16 i walked through the kitchen there must have been about 5 lads drinkin (11 o clock in the morning aswell) was abit intemadating

anyway the kitchen wanted tiles around the unit which is roughly 4-5 sq m2 but the walls look quite rough though it would be hard to plaster with all of the wires and sockets bein in the way the customer only wants tiled to the units which i reckon would be 4 tiles high.

also they want all the walls skimming which is currently artex and it is quite thick artex aswell and the wall isnt straight it curves in (it was a typical council house) it looks a nightmare of a job

i have worked on council houses before on refurbs but the firm wasnt bothered about the quality of the tiling they were 6x6 white tiles butt jointed.

but this is my own job so i would want it too look good obviously. I wanted your opinions on how much you would charge or would you just not do the job.

[dean39]

Hello mate,i see what you mean......do you need the work?.....price job by working out how much to prep and skim walls?.....then to tile....prob put customer off,lol........down to what you think is worth your while,good luck in what you choose..........

[LM Ceramics]

yes i need the work but im worried about not gettin paid it just seems a bit dodgy to me at first i was told they have already contacted a plaster who was going to skim the walls i think he must have walked off

[dean39]

Its your call mate,seems very dodgy by your own admission so would say give it wide berth,see your near me mate,have you found it hard to get work local?...........

[LM Ceramics]

i have only just set up on my own sick of working for tiling firms so im only getting a job a week roughly i might do the tiling but leave the plastering its quite a hard plastering job by the look of it so many wires and sockets in the way it will probably be more hassle than its worth

[dean39]

If you can make some cash out of a bad situation,then its still a result mate......best of luck in what you do............

[Fekin]

I walked into estimate a job which sounds very similar to yours LM, very young people in the house, in quite a state, drinking, the smell of weed strong in the room, and I asked who the home owner was and a young lad, 18 maybe 20 years said it was his.

I measured up, was only 2 days work max, maybe day and a half, asked for a landline number and they didn't have one, only mobiles, priced up as normal, total bil would have been around £400.
Told them there and then it would be £400 all in, they said great brilliant, when can you start, I told them first thing the week coming, they said brilliant, so I then said I'll pencil you in then for next monday but you need to pay a £250 deposit before next week and the balance once Im done.

We'll get back to you they said once we have the money...... never got a call back, and I wonder why

[Webbie]

Its a tough one m8 can you trust them tell them to get it replasted and you'll come back and tile but like fekin said doggy customer get a deposit even if is just for the mat's you don't what to be out of pocket.

[bigdaz]

if it looks dodgy thenI think I'd ask for a deposit too like fekin says. seems strange they're calling a tiler who lives so far away, I think they're counting on not paying and you not bothering to travel so far to hound them for the cash.
I could live with not getting the job but would never rest if someone had me over.
At the end of the day, if they don't pay, what can you do....

[Fekin]

Originally Posted by bigdaz

I could live with not getting the job but would never rest if someone had me over.

That is so, so true

[Raja]

i do alot of kitchen splash backs and the way u have described the work and sorrounding i would ask for some money up front before u lift a trowel

[robbo]

Agree with all the other posts mate, ask for a deposit, if you don't get it walk away as you know the client hasn't got the money!!!