Needing to plaster the kitchen so had 2 quotes, one from a guy that was recommended by a friend (…he’s quoted me £340), and the other a Polish guy who advertised on gumtree (… he quoted me £280).

4 walls, ceiling and cornice need done, quite a bit of filling with a bonding coat then a skim to finish.

The Polish guy can do it on Tuesday, the other guy can’t fit me in till a week on Thursday.

On paper the Polish plaster seems a good choice due to price and when he can do it, but should I pay the extra in money and time and go for the recommended guy.

So basically is the Pole worth a punt?

Sod the trained British professional builder, who has a tangible interest in our country, who contributes, has contributed so much more in taxes.

People always say that Poles have a good attitude. I have no doubt about this. Think of pitching up somewhere else in Europe for a few years to earn 5 times what you did back home? Easy!

Why are we so ready to undermine our own people?

I wonder how many people on here are out of work, or on reduced pay because of migrant workers being allowed to flood in here unchecked!

Protectionism works, stuff the EU bureacrats and the idiots that let this lot in!

get the recommended guy down to £300. Nowt to do with where the other guy comes from but going with a recommendation is always best.

British professional builder,

Where did he say the recommended guy was British? Do the BNP not have a forum you can spout your crap on?

who is to say he’s a professional?

but it is true. prices for jobs took a big hit around 24 months ago due to the influx of eastern europeans. why pay us 180-200quid/day when a guy from lithuania will do a days work for 80quid and work from sunrise till sunset. many prices quoted were around 15-20% less this time last year than two years previous.
for my friends back in the UK it’s worse. if they don’t take on a days work at 100quid then some EE will happily do it for less.

worked for several contractors that started off with a policy of not hiring EE but sadly money talks, or lack of it, and they eventually took them on as they would work for less than the brits.

i agree with spongebob. don’t blame the EE guys. you’d be a dick for not taking the opportunity to earn in a week what you’d usually be getting paid in five weeks at home.

funny how there is no great influx of brtis going off to work in belarus or lithuania…..

blame the politicians.

British professional builder,
Where did he say the recommended guy was British?

Or ‘trained’ or ‘professional’ for that matter?

People always say that Poles have a good attitude. I have no doubt about this. Think of pitching up somewhere else in Europe for a few years to earn 5 times what you did back home? Easy!

What’s so easy about it? Takes guts, enterprise, gumption.

Why are we so ready to undermine our own people?

Because so many of them are ready to talk crap at the first opportunity they get?

burnsyboy

FWIW for the sake of £60 I’d go with the guy with the personal recommendation. Though maybe the Polish guy can put you in touch with people he’s worked for?

£60 isn’t a lot of cash *if* you can trust your friends recommendation.I personally would not recommend anyone unless I could be 100% sure that they would deliver the goods.

FWIW I would probably go with the recommendation.

why is there an assumption that the british guy is somehow beter?

he could just be trying to con you out of £60 as he kows your likely to go with the recomendation.

Spongebob, i’ve got a degree and a job, however i have friends who did the same degree (and did better than me) but havent found work, should i blame that fact on the large number of international employees at our company?

The polish guy offered references if I wanted, and also brought along photo’s of his work.

Just also to add when arranging a time to come round to give me a quote, the guy that was recommended was over an hour late and the Polish plasterer was bang on time.

I totally understand the recommendation is always a good option. I was impressed with both guys, both young, smart. I offered to provide the materials as I kinda work in the buidling trade and could source it cheaper than them but both weren’t too keen.

why is there an assumption that the british guy is somehow beter?

The thing is the op didn’t even say the recommended guy was British anyway. Spongebob in his infinite wisdom just decided he was to give him the opportunity to have ‘keep the foreigners out’ style rant.

I love stiring it up. Sorry, yes, you are all right. I will shut up!

Idiot.

Why wouldn’t you go with the Pole? He can start sooner, has proven his work and will give you references to check out (so do so), he’s cheaper. The other guy is busy anyway, can’t see what the problem is.

The answer to your question thisisnotaspoon is yes!

‘munches popcorn’

This winds me right up. My brother in law is Polish. Qualified in the trade in Poland. Works here, pays his national insurance, council tax, spends all his money in this country, pays his rent, taxes his car, buys fuel, food and clothing just like the rest of us. Charges less than many uk tradesmen, doesn’t sit around drinking tea all day, works longer hours, does a fantastic job and is the cleanest worker I have seen. The place is spotless at the end of each day. I work in property maintenance for myself as a second job and have worked with many uk workers in the past. Some excellent and a lot were average to say the least. I have also seen a lot of his work that was done not working for me, so it’s not like he had been making a special effort working for me due to family ties. I hope that all the uk ex-pats abroad don’t have to put up with the same amount of judgemental pathetic tabloid crap as this when the set up in another country. How do you know the non-polish plasterer isn’t claiming illegal benefits, dodging tax and basically working the system? Guess what – some eu workers are dodgy just as many uk workers are, so this is a pointless argument. If the bloke wasn’t Polish you most people would probably go with the cheapest quote, so I fail to see what the problem is that certain people on this thread seem to have. Get over it.

what is so good about the standard of construction and building in poland that makes people want to employ them over here? or is it just because they will work for peanuts?

Ok, so what is so good about the standard of construction and building in Britain that makes people want to employ them other than the fact they live here? I hope you can see what a stupid question this was.

If the other guy is busy ,surely that is a good sign along with the recommendation.i would wait for him to do it.£340 is a good price,i would charge more for that much work

Go with a recommendation every time.

Ask yourself, do you want the cheapest or the best job? It’s a bit like wanting a BMW but you only want to pay for a Fiat.

The Pole maybe fine, but you don’t actually know, what if his work is shoddy, do you then ask the first guy to come & fix it?
He would probably then charge you more or tell you to **** off.

Just pay the extra £60 & have peace of mind.

U.K. building regs are very strict. if you remove something it often has to be replaced with something better. for example complying with part E noise regulations for flooring.
builders aren’t allowed to touch electrics unless they have the relevant certificate.
i’m not a builder but i know people who have come up against these issues when using EU migrant labour that wasn’t trained in this country and had little or no knowledge of current regulations (that change quite often).
so is the standard of building/construction superior in east european countries and fully compliant with U.K. regs?

Polish tradesmen come with a good reputation. Reliable, high standard of work and work neatly….(not saying that other nationalities don’t.)

My thread wasn’t so much to do with nationality as to do with taking a chance on a plasterer over someone that was recommended.

Both quotes are fairly reasonable as a lot of work needs done before the finish. It isn’t the biggest kitchen in the world. So by no means is it peanuts for what needs done.

The bloke is just plastering a room ffs! I give up.

ask yourself, do you want the cheapest or the best job? The most expensive isn’t necessarily the best.

Burnsy – sorry if I went on a bit of a rant. Wasn’t aimed at you. Being in the trade myself, I would go for the recommended guy every time unless you need it done in a hurry and that you are running to a tight budget. Although 60 quid may not be much to some, if you saved that amount on a few jobs around the house it can soon add up. In my experience I have found the poles to be very good. Fast work, thorough job and keen to do well. Probably the same attributes as your recommended guy.