I've been a carpenter for 25 years, I've seen about everything in the industry. I was asked to refinish a floor to match an existing floor, and even with my experience I was honest enough to say I'm not confident, but I did it anyway. I had to sand and recoat a couple of times with different finish, but eventually got it pretty close. In the process, I filled every crack and nick. That was the first thing I noticed they didn't even bother with. So even my very first flooring job looked better than that
@@John-lp5xh You are quite CLEARLY connected to the contractor either by family or friend and may actually be the contractor himself. Nobody would want to pay for that botched job and the customer out of good will offered to pay half whilst knowing he would have to have it ripped up and be massively out of pocket. It would be nice to see if the contractor was willing to be shown how to correctly and expertly lay this type of floor as it seems to me there is just a gap in what each considers an “acceptable” standard of work as they did take it all the way through court proceedings so must believe that the standard was acceptable when it clearly wasn’t. I don’t think the contractor is a cowboy but I do think he doesn’t have the relevant level of skill for this specific job.
In US business law they had a tool called a “mechanics lien”. Easily applied, the mere mention of it could get you paid as it could mess up their title. Comments are welcome as it has been 45 years since I have used it.
I’m in business. There’s two sides to every story. The contractor didn’t want to take money up front sounds more than reasonable. Some customers are DEFINITELY the problem. I want to hear from the contractor.
There is usually two sides two sides to every story. In this case its either he didn't have the ability to sand out the scratches or couldn't be bothered.
And both sides of the story were listened to by a fricking judge and the contractor was told he was being ridiculous. The quality of the work speaks for itself on the video. Stop trying to defend rubbish work, cowboy builders need to be called out, it drags the rest of the quality tradesman reputation down
@John-lp5xh what does that mean? The customer looks asian, are you saying that he kicked up a fuss because he is asian? If the case went through court and the judge sided with the customer, I'm assuming the customer was in the right?
British high standard 🤣👌🏻 Well done for the judge. It's good to know that we still have good judges left and fair play for home owner that he offered to pay 50%. Jesus this contractors are total mess.
I'm a 30 year flooring installer and refinisher and yes from what I can see what a terrible job, and I mean TERRIBLE. I've come to really enjoy this channel
@@PickleThePig He didn’t say that! He said they could certainly remove the floor and materials with a relevant supervisor so they did not do any more damage. That is perfectly reasonable. The person at fault here is the contractor for claiming he had the required skills to complete this job, he did not and was not even close.
A great video showing what went wrong (also the rectification video fills in the full picture brilliantly). A word to the wise for any tradesman who thinks he can remove anything affixed to the property, even if you contractually agreed a retention of title to the goods, once affixed to the land, you cannot lawfully remove it as it forms part of the property. The tradesman in this case (and I use that term loosely) brought what could easily be considered to be a hopeless case. The customer in this video should have counterclaimed and not just refused pay the balance, but for the entirety of the correction fees. There was a contractual breach and the customer should have been placed in the postion had the contract been performed correctly. He should not have been down financially as a result. No tradesman should ever consider starting a doorstep confrontation with the customer, it may have little to do with the rights and wrongs of the dispute but it only serves to make them look totally unprofessional and would sway a judge against them even if the work is pretty good.
I did about a hundred of these floors in hong kong when it was a British colony, nearly every apartment had these they were a nightmare as they had been passed down over the years. The more you sanded them they became loose with using that powerful sander. This contractor never filled the cracks and gaps, once you apply anything and its not prepared properly you have to start all over again.😮The gaps get filled with the contents of the vacum bag and clear glue . 2 coats of epoxy resin and then lacquer buffing in between coats keeping a lookout for air bubbles. Before applying last coat use masking tape to seal windows patio doors air- conditions. Close the main door behind you and put no entry sign up. Dont forget to wear proper masks the lacquer is lethal. 😊
I’d hate to be in this position. You know the work is trash but you’ve gotta have the confrontation. Shows the workman wasn’t honest when the guy even offered to pay him the full amount, he said no!
@@HowToSandAFloorwhat video course? My whole 2800 square food house is wood floors, I know I’m going to have to do this eventually, honestly some spaces could use it now.
I feel for Hilal, that was a terrible job. As a general rule if someone can start your job tomorrow it's be cause they are not in demand, go with the guy who can come in for months.
Not always, but 10000% if they show up for like 1 hour here 3 hours there day in between BS fire them. Even better have contracts stating your expectations clearly and explicitly have a time table for completion.
Their biggest screw up was laying down a finish before they were done sanding. Now all the cracks and holes are filled with finish, which filler will not adhere to. Also, when they sand again, they have to sand through the finish they had just applied.
Owners right to get the labourer to leave comes first 1. You ask/tell them to leave 2. You warn that if they don't leave you'll call the police and if you have to you'll remove them by force 3. Call the police 4. If they don't know, inform them that you've called the police 5. If they're still not leaving, remove them by force
You can confirm that person is real pro if he has a long queue for jobs. All pro's who can come right away or next week doesn't have much job to do. I have run my own construction business almost 20 year and usually i have 6 month to year that i can take more work.
Make sure you change your locks, if he had the key he might have cloned it. You certainly don't want a 'break-in' after you move all your possessions in.
My engineered oak flooring needs doing once I've finished up painting the last of the downstairs. It was laid in the house from new along with underfloor heating and wasn't put in right. For example, I have beading along every edge, despite the skirting being on top of it, so all that has to come out as it's been battered and is now a different colour and then because the previous owners had animals and seemingly never cleaned the wood the dirt is embedded in the grain and we have black urea stains in places and bleached patches from what I assume is either cat puke or overzealous spot cleaning. I got a quote for around £2.1k last year from a reputable guy do a top sanding and Bona coating after the previous owners tried to DIY a top up oiling that sealed in the damage, but while I had a decorator in doing my ceilings they casually mentioned that their other half could do this for £1800 but could only do it at weekends around his full time job. Why would you ever save £300 for someone who does it part time?! If flooring isn't someone's primary source of income, just walk away.
Quite often as a contractor I would have no business ripping up the floor because of non payment. This is because I have the client pay for the material beforehand. Just seems so brutal (and illegal) to go tear out your work on someone else’s property just for that.
I can see how a trade would want to remove their work for non payment, and I'm sure the customer would have been happy for them to do that in this instance. Yes remove your poor finishing, and all the gouges and sanding marks from your work!! He hadn't laid the floor, so there was no reason to rip it up, other than spite. Maybe he should have let him do it, and then pressed criminal damage charges?
@@kevinshort3943 Think he said they did some of the bordering work. Also I wouldn't have trusted that guy not to rip up more than his work because he started saying something about the lacquer as well. Some things money cant buy and that old floor is probably one of them.
Boy, I’ve learned my lesson the hard way many times many times. I hired a nurse and this amazing nurse shows up on my doorstep and I questioned why she’s retired at such a young age. Well, turns out she was a nurse anesthesiologist who was fired for drug divers, she would go onto drug me, unconscious and rob the house, including taking my pain medication which I had just been in a car accident. She didn’t leave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and glass of milk for compensation and of course the foam because I was completely helpless and blind , and this happened on Friday even though I got a police report I couldn’t refill my pain medication for days. I was an absolute fucking agony. I don’t even know what to say. Somehow she ended up admitting it after round of questioning, but yet she somehow was never taken to court. Don’t ask me how that happened and no, I never got any of my valuables back Mistake number two I thought mistake number one I would really think out this process and hired a preacher to help me move right because there’s no way a preacher is gonna rob you. I thought boy was wrong. Should’ve realized the guy didn’t know what the fuck he was doing when he destroyed my dollhouse and Valuables from my mother he will go onto not only 50% of what he was moving, but was actually caught by the neighbors robbing the house three days later and then he tried to get extra money out of me. Are you freaking kidding me? I later tried to get some painting done I couldn’t afford real painters, so I hired some people off of craigslist however, I’m blind for the most part. I have some vision, but not enough to realize they had actually painted over part of the ceiling the floor and apparently left all the tape up which I was told. I’m so freaked out at the possibility of being robbed and taking advantage of that I don’t have any people working for me I was even robbed by a best friend who got involved in drugs so no I don’t let anybody in my house except for two people that I absolutely trust this is led to problems last year. I was basically half paralyzed and couldn’t really do anything, but was still reluctantly did not want to hire anybody because I no longer trust anyone it really sucks
I have the feeling that Hilal could have done himself a better job than the first company had done - only if he rented the sanders and bought the laquer then followed some instructions from google...
I usually support contractors taking back their stuff when people don’t pay. This case is completely something else though. 1) we sanded our boards down and did them ourselves. That finish is about the same as we got having never done it before. 2) he’s been aggressive pushing into his house and the money was not paid for a good reason and 3) usually they are taking back the materials they bought because it belongs to them. It’s crazy that he thinks he can take up the flooring that was already there. The guy was offered 50% for that job which is far more than it’s worth.
The pattern of the original floor is the first issue. There is no way to sand this pattern correctly. Sanding with the grain is the proper way to sand all wood. That is impossible here. Carpet over hardwood does cause damage to the wood. All the chips and dents would be difficult to "repair." A master carpenter would have been able to provide some repair, but it would not be perfect. The work by the contractor did poor work. He should not have accepted this job. It was too complicated for him. In the end, this floor should have been totally replaced.
Had a very similar experience with a painter a few months ago. Ended up having to fire him and pay him 50% to leave. Had an excellent painter finally come and fix the terrible job from the first guy. Although the good one took months to be available. At least I know for next time.
@PickleThePig he was 100% an " employee ". When someone hires me to do a job and I'm receiving payment from them, that makes me pretty much an employee and they have the right to fire me from that job.
I hope you paid him for the time he spent there. He has a family to feed. Yet, still feel it's right to expect them to work for free because his standard didn't meet your own.
the problem is there are lots of videos out there of "professionals" ripping stuff out after a pay dispute with people commenting and egging it all on.
I’m very surprised the contract to try to enter your home I’m a contractor myself here in the states and I don’t know if I would let anyone walk into my house if I had a dispute with them here in the states we deal with things a little differently but if somebody walked into my house and pushed past me I don’t think it would be resolved civilly that day here your property is considered a special place and you have the right to defend it with biased it is a beautiful floor and you were right about one thing that Floor does make a statement I’m really happy to see that you were able to identify that and I’m sure your house came out gorgeous best of luck
So guys with contractors if they are only there for an hour or two for a big job - fire them on the spot. You should also have this built into the contract. I had this damn electrcian for TEN months to wire in a basement reno (at frame), add lights/rewire kitchen (at frame on back walls) and then there were two fish runs upstairs and he was doing that song and dance, he'd come for 2 hours 30 minutes setup/trying to figure out where he left off 3 days ago and then 15 min to have a smoke like an hour of work over and over.
@@HowToSandAFloor people settle instead of fighting. Like to fight my electrician in Canada it was going to cost around $20,000. There was no way to recoup court costs either.
@@husher5142 what I mean is, didn’t you agree to a price or were you paying day rate? Also, the judicial system in the US is completely broken. It cost me £25 to take this twerp to court and I got that 25 back.
@@HowToSandAFloor I had a contracted price for the whole job. I also had a very detailed list of what was to be completed which was itemized and what materials would be provided by myself. I ended up settling for $2500. For a lot of reasons mostly tho covid hit and then everyone's like just cut your losses - but its my biggest regret. I was like 20 days from trial and I already had expert witnesses out. AHH annoying ;/ If I could reopen the case and go back I would. They literally took out a 100 amp panel with 60 amp break 32 slots and installed the same thing too lol. Gong show, at least his work was on point, they just didnt show up and then it carried on for so long they made a lot of mistakes imo because they forgot what they were supposed to do. Also the time he was onsite, was a lot of dicking around. If it was civil maybe, lawyer was hourly rates ~$300 p/h. Trial would have been $3k a day for minimum 2 days, and I had about ~$7k in
Sounds familiar. We went to court (and won) for a bathroom renovation that took 2 months and still was not finished after they left the job. So difficult to know who is good and who cowboys. Took so much time.
It’s hard to find an “ expert “ sometimes people buy throw pillows for a friends couch and all of a sudden they’re interior designer’s or people put a screen on your back door and now they’re a carpenter…. Good luck out there
I just dealt with a contractor that was really mad that we weren't blind and could see the bad job he did...I don't get it, fix it and learn from your mistakes...
Wow u were right to stop the job when u did. I bet you wished you did it yourself🎉to bad you didn't get a good company, it's so luck of the draw sometimes. Good thing your a smart guy, he probly gets aggressive w people to shut the customer up. Good for you sticking up for yourself🎉
I know plenty of "qualified" people who can make as big a hash of it as any one. I've never been overly impressed with certifications and qualifications. It really all depends on who is providing the cert or qual. I think the lesson here is that you should have canceled the contract as soon as you saw that they could not do the work.
If you want to get a job done right, make sure you have a contract with the guy doing the work, read the terms carefully. Too many people want a job done cheap/not pay VAT. Always get a reputable guy to do the work, ask him where he has done work previously, contact previous clients.
I am currently on the other side of the coin, I have a customer refusing to pay for work we have done, \I have sent a final demand, and will have no choice but to take it further, I hear so many people say destroy their property, go round with the boys, a truly professional gardener (in my case) will be confident in his work and know he has done the work properly, and will go through legal channels. Trouble is, the whole situation knocks you for six, makes you ill doubt yourself, wondering if you DID do everything right. Wondering, did they want something different, The time and hassle to get paid.
I have a flooring issue but nothing as bad as this. But stuck in the middle of the flooring people vs the cleaning people as well as the manufacturer of the cleaning agent the clean crew used: Murphy's soap oil
Alot of folks here saying to go with someone who is booked up for months and not to take on someone who is available, what if there a new company or sole trader getting there legs in the game? I have had people who haven't been in business long do a great job for me. All got to start somewhere or you may aswel say right no more new business owners ever. Guess with that attitude once all the old boys retire we have no more trades?
Even though the work might not be the best "quality", who the hell decides what is "quality" and what "isn't quality". When youre working to the customers preference, its a never ending game of delaying payment until they are "satisfied". Yes, the contractor did a terrible job but they still deserve to be paid for the time they spent at the property. They kept returning due to panicking and trying to amend the job. That is outside of the contract so yes, not the customers fault but they do owe them money within the timeframe that was quoted. The job wasn't priced on the basis of how it looks, it's for the overall service, the time, attention, travel, wages, expenses. I am on the side of the contractor here but can see both points of view. The contractor should have been more honest but again we dont know the full story. Ultimately the contractors are still owed money. You cant just take groceries out of a supermarket just because the vegetables dont look the best. You still need to pay for them. Sorry, pay your bills!! So you're not paying, so are they have supposed to have worked for free? A decent human being would have explained you were not happy and give them a chance to rectify the issue. Regardless, they are still owed for their time.
How about you do one where customer does not pay the trader ? We did 2 jobs for a customer in Central London, all fine .. job was lovely.. in fact we saved the floor because he had a go at doing it by himself ... when it came to payment he went missing and then he was sending messages that we have the wrong number. ( I have a full video for you if you want to view it). Again another old lady- Job was lovely, I paid extra attention not to scratch her marble border ( against the skirting there was a plank of parquet than a marble strip and then parquet again) imagine bow dificult it was sanding that without scratching it... sent her bank details 2 months ago not heard from her despite over 100 calls ( she doesent live there).
It's a shame but they are way to many bad contractors then they are good contractors - You really got to do your research get everything in writing with as much detail as possible. I have learned that when working with contractors I would rather buy the materials as I have caught them using sub standard materials ie. Old warped wood for framing, wrong nails, dented scratched doors. Also, do not be shy or call them out when you see them doing something wrong and tell them to fix it immediately and if they don't stop the work. Also, never pay them up front as that is a given and in the contract I always like to have a time clause as if you don't you might be waiting a month or two for them to finish a simple bathroom.
I have been a contractor 30 years. It works both ways. I don’t accept a contract without 50% down . Unless it’s financed . There’s a lot of people that screw us over . Never had an issue getting the deposit. But im very thorough. I cover every possible thing that can arise. I have recorded the contract portion with their permission. And email a copy if they request. Nobody requested. The recording takes away any doubt that we’ll do what I say. Every one has had issues with - u said this, no I didn’t. Usually it’s a miscommunication. Even with my experience I have been screwed by contractors. Not large amounts. I’m too trusting because I’m trustworthy I guess
Two sides to every story , the 7 quotes who can’t start immediately, they are busy for a reason!!!obviously went with lowest quote who could start straight away # alarm bells 🔔
I can’t stand people who find fault just to rip people off. It’s going to get like Uber where you have to pay up front so that builders can support their families.
Everyone under 20 should look at these kind of video's. They think that if you need something done you just download an app. Or there must be some machine or robot that can do it for you. No people. Craftsmanship is not something you can download or pull a switch to achieve 😂 Some of these kids are completely hopeless in the real world.
@@Dani-it5sy ah sorry then i misunderstood, english is my 3th language. I get what you mean now, at first i tought you meant the young man from the video had to do more research 😅
To all the "two sides to every story" merchants commenting here - what possible explanation (short of intentional sabotage by the customer, which never came up) would explain away the work which is visibly not of a minimal professional standard?
I advise people to make sure contractors have current licenses and permits. And tell them to stop half of the work, not happy, and my best mate next time read the contract forms.
Not that it matters anymore, but I think the wood is not teak but kambala/iroko (some people here call it european teak). Good that the client took action and didn't pay anything! And yes, it is an art ;-)
It's easy to say in hindsight, but perhaps the real moral of the story here is to plan ahead to avoid the surprise of good workmen having a long lead time to shcedule the work.
Why was he trying to take the floor up with a hammer saying it is his floor when the floor was already yours 🤔 if he paid for the lacquer then i think the coats of lacquer would be all he is entitled to remove as long as it doesn't make further damage to your floor🤔
Bills not valid until the contract has been completed. If the service provided is not to the contract then there is no bill due until the suppliers part of the contract is fulfilled. In the first 6 months the responsibility is on the suppliers side to prove it is up to the requirement of the contract. As the customer you should give the supplier the opportunity to rectify the problems, but if you have no confidence they can complete the job correctly then you can get a report from an expert and then issue court proceedings, get someone else to do the job and charge the original supplier the costs and any consequential loss you incur. The contractor invading his house is trespass and once they have been asked to leave it becomes aggravated trespass which is a criminal offence and the police should attend. They have no right to damage your property to remove the work. It becomes criminal damage at that point.
A bill to pay ? Are you joking ? Imagine you going out for groceries, putting them in your trolley then passing to pay on the way out and they give you empty bags for the price of the groceries. Would you pay ?
The floor is an existing old parquet floor. It doesn’t make sense to rip up the floor just because he did a terrible job sanding it. Hilal offered to pay in full just to be rid of him but he wanted more than the full invoice 😬 just watch the video and you’d know that 😂
I've come across many a client who's fine with everything, until payday comes 🙄 and sadly sometimes ripping up your work is the only comeback you have. Often neighbours come up and tell you you're far from the first to do it, the people have the money, they just refuse to pay up to any contractors This young lad is not one of those guys though, you can just tell from listening to him :)
And lol just heard the last 5 seconds of the video, and yea about half of the non payers are lawyers/solicitors or even higher legal jobs, something about that line of work makes them think they can get away with it
GOTTA WATCH THEM OL WHAM BAMMERS. I SANDED AND INSTALLED HW FOR 30 YRS IVE SEEN HOME OWNERS DO BETTER JOB THAN THESES GUYS. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETED IN ONE WEEK 2 DAYS FOR REPAIRS 3 DAYS FOR SANDING AN 2 MAYBE 3 DAYS FINISH UNLESS YOU GO WATERBASE. A PERCENT FINISH COMES FROM PERFECT SANDING. THIS GUY WAS A BUTCHER. GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!!!!!
imagine living in a country where you cant even get a person with a weapon to leave your house for fear of getting yourself arrested.....oh wait...I live in Canada so i guess i dont have to imagine it
Not being funny but when i was in the building buisness,i encountered customers who ,when the work was completed refused to pay,,these people we African,,so ,i would lift flooring, dismantle kitchen units,and even remove complete bathroom suits,,all other customers from all other countries,,whom were migrants,never gave the same problems the Africans did,,our country had a great reputation,,
I always get same situation.. hire someone that apears to know what they are doing. Some certifications are worthless. I have even called a manufacture to get local trained certified company. When I called the company, they had no idea of that manufacture. To many diyers turn into a buisness and roll the dice.
Why? I’m usually booked up for several weeks but there are odd times, finished a job early, a job has cancelled or postponed, plenty of reasons why I can squeeze a job in.
