Builders and tradespeople making decisions you wanted to make yourself

You know what this reminds me of? When people will throw fifteen hundred quid at the iPhone 27 Pro Ultra Extreme Special Edition, then baulk when an app costs 79p.

No drawn plan, project manager, or architect.

When I found myself in that sort of situation I got some Bright Yellow Frog Tape and a Sharpie and went round the room writing “Double Socket Here” and “<—- Sink —–>” and “Light Switch for A” etc.  We taped the floor with the position of the kitchen units etc.  This was quicker to do than producing drawings etc.  And enabled the real customer (the wife!) to visually review the layout.

All the tradespeople needed to do was ask, but I see why they might not want to if it might interrupt the job. Still, they could have said – sometime in the next week we’ll be doing that job, you need to decide this and that.

I’m a little surprised they didn’t do that.  But then I picked my contractors for being the sort of people who were going to work with an amateur and keep me right in the process.  If I’d have been picking on price or availability first and foremost then it might well be that those guys are cheaper or available because they aren’t as good at the “customer service” stuff.  Never exclude the possibility that they did ask someone else who said “wherever you think is best” or “just what you normally do” either…

went round the room writing “Double Socket Here”

I did that once – wrote “heating manifold here” and drew a big arrow to the outline I’d drawn while holding said manifold against the wall. Got back that evening to find the manifold installed right over the word “here” on the wall.

Yeah, the customer should have provided more direction.

But most tradespeople I know would absolutely ask about some of the stuff mentioned in the OP.

What we don’t know is how easy/difficult the customer was to contact.

I did that once – wrote “heating manifold here” and drew a big arrow to the outline I’d drawn while holding said manifold against the wall. Got back that evening to find the manifold installed right over the word “here” on the wall.

I’d assume you were kidding if I hadn’t experienced similar.

When I had my bathroom fitted there was one floorboard that needed replacing.

I’d already had the broken one out, made a perfect replacement (it had a complicated cut at one end where part of the board needed to allow a pipe through), and stained the top a perfect match to the rest of the floorboards.

The plumber installed it upside down and back to front “because I hadn’t marked which side was the top”.

You clearly hadn’t left them biscuits, teabags and a kettle…

Even the cowboyist of cowboy tradesmen don’t turn up to a room stripped out for a new kitchen and decide where the oven, sink and electrical points are going to go. There will have been some guidance from somebody at some point. This scenario has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

I’ve been fitting kitchens and bathrooms for nigh on 30 years and can count on the fingers of one foot the times I’ve fitted with no plan and freestyled it.  It just doesn’t happen.  I’ve been given crap plans and plans lacking in detail, but we’ve always got it written out and agreed.   There’s no point in even starting if the electrical 1st fix plan isn’t there with the kitchen as nothing will be correctly rated or in the right place.