Messy Tradesmen – WWSTD?

I’ve heard he is picking up nicely…

That joke sucks

i find the threat of not paying them is the best way to deal with poor workmen.

I think being Ton sized helps with that proposition.

I might be wrong but strictly speaking shouldn’t trades have a waste transfer licence for removing any crap from site? Could well be the reason for leaving it if they’ve been caught out before.

If they use a skip then the responsibility passes to the skip hire company

I don’t think you need a waste license for removing waste that is the product of your own work/demolision? I’m an installer for a large company and none of us need a waste license.

The company should have one and you should have a copy with you. If you’re sub-contracting then as far as I’m aware it’s your responsibility. The penalties are massive so I’d suggest looking into it

DIY private individuals don’t need one and the council tip should be free (but often isn’t for building waste)

cloudnine +1

Don’t confuse a “builder’s clean” with cleaning.  One is fill the skip and sweep up and the other involves vacuum cleaners and stuff. One contractor near me employs a cleaning company for big jobs as part of the contract

Timba is spot on.   I always have a skip or wait and load on site as I don’t have a licence, that way I don’t end up with customers waste in my vehicle and spending my evening and weekends driving to the waste transfer station.

ALL trades should have a licence to move waste off site.  A surprising amount of small trades don’t even know they exist, which means they can be cheaper, but they’re risking a big fine.

Re the build clean – we used to do organise this on kitchen and bathroom jobs for the customer but just couldn’t get the timing to work as, understandably, the customer was always keen to use their new stuff before the cleaner could get there.  We give everything a good vacuum as we pull up dust protection etc, but expect to do a bit of dusting!

You will require:

Frozen sausages

Bombers

A full bladder

You know what you need to do.

Most trades people are 1 man band independents with more work than they know what to do with.

In our experience, you can’t expect John Lewis levels of customer service.

The standard of ‘service’ that you have experienced is sadly not uncommon, but part of the joy of having work done on your house. It’s just hassle from beginning to end.

Check A Trade is meant to provide you with some opportunity for feedback, and to vet people prior to them starting work, but the reality is that it is littered with fake reviews and poor reviews are often met with a response from the tradesperson that it was all the fault of the ‘picky customer’.

We have had some very rare good experiences and they really stand out for all of the right reasons. Sadly they are extremely rare.

We always wipe down, hoover and remove rubbish etc at the end of each day. Dust sheets down the whole time. We’ve worked on a few sites and can’t understand how other traders happily just leave their mess knocking about and trapse mud everywhere. Then complain about lack of space to work. Tidy your sh*te up mate, you’ll have loads of room!

Does my head in!

If your not prepared to clean up after yourself you’re not a trades person just someone with a van who knows how do things.
If any of my staff leave a mess after a days work they are gone. I drum it into them being clean and tidy is part of their trade.
The Standard of people coming into construction have dropped so low over the past few years it’s hard to find people who care.
It saddens me that trades are viewed so poorly on this and plenty of other sites, I do understand the frustrations and unfortunately have to agree, lots of so called trades people leave a dreadful mess.
The chap I did my 4 year apprenticeship with used to turn up to work in a suit and tie get changed and get cracking, sweeping up at the end of the day was part of his job.
Waste transfer is a PITA, lots of contractors have it written into quotes they won’t remove rubbish due to the waste transfer licences. Still no excuse for leaving a mess. At the very least expect them to bag all rubbish and leave it for you to dispose of. A larger job should always have a skip. Just check before hand.

Just bumping this thread to praise a fantastic team of tradies we’ve had in at work doing the groundwork for our new building.
Blimmin hardworking, tidy, helpful, considerate, nothing is too much trouble, great quality. If anyone in the West Mids needs groundwork/drainage/surfacing/general building then give Dave the Pave (junior) a shout. Yes company name sounds a bit dodge but they are far from it, top lads.

Once i found some roofers had laid all their equipment and supplies right in front of my garage door ready to build and fit a new roof to the neighbours conservatory

Said sorry mate you are going to have to move that lot now as i need to get the car out the garage to go to work, you should of knocked first if you needed use the space (shared access road) and i would of got the car out before you started (neighbour knows the car is kept in the garage so god knows why he didnt tell them!) they were not very happy!!

Got home and even before i turned into the shared access road i thought id better check in front of the garage in case they missed anything when they cleared up, yep littered with screws and nails along with felt trimmings, food wrappers etc..

Swept them up and passed them to the neighbour and said if i get a puncture ill be billing you for a new tyre!

don’t pay them till they’ve finished the job. In my books finishing the job includes leaving the site as you found it. I always tell anyone that does work for me that so they have the choice of whether they want the work or not……