Poor workmanship - am i right? - Badly laid indian sandstone

[Whatamuppet66]

Hi all

I feel like such an idiot and would appreciate any helpful comments. We are in the process of having our patio laid.
We dug out the area (40m2) which would mean the slabs finish 150mm below the DPC. It allowed for 100mm mot1, 50mm full mortar bed, 35mm slab. We also laid proper drainage that would connect to channel drains with a fall of 1:50.

I paid for all the materials. A company calculated how many tonnes of mot, sand etc that I would need.

The first red light should have been when the drain position looked a bit high against my wooden retaining wall as following our levels it should have finished at the base of my wall. The patio looked ok and then 3 days later the next red flag was when my partner asked me to order him 4 more tonnes of mot. I questioned it and he said it was for an area around our kitchen. I told him there should have been plenty and asked him to check the levels. The end product would have been half a brick lower than the dpc! He cheked the other side of the house and it was a brick and a half so still not ideal. Apparently the reason was due to the drain position which is not true. He said that he would have lowe're doing it but it had been fill in (with gravel). I'm annoyed he didn't ask us before he made the decision to continue.

The resolution to the was to put in a split level and I thought I could live with it but I wasn't happy as wanted one level.

Anyway the job is not finished as the chap is away for a week. This has given us the opportunity to do a thorough inspection as we were asked not to stand on it for 3 days and it has uncovered a lot of horrors and I now believe the only solution is to take the whole thing up and start again.

We found: uneven slabs; gaps varying from 1mm to 50mm, a mortar bed of 100mm, incorrect fall in places going back towards the house; poor cuts. It's just awful.

We have used this man before as have several people in the street so we had no reason to doubt his ability. He is also an incredibly nice person. Im so cross with myself that we paid him £1000 without checking thoroughly (we have been a bit distracted as it's the first anniversary of my father in laws passng). He is back Monday and we are going to have to tell him we don't want him to finish the job and ideally that we want our money back. We will be out of pocket for all the sand and cement he has used , the extra mot and for any slabs he has cut and those that might not come up without breaking. I'm not too sure how to handle this. I'd appreciate any constructive advice please.

Oh dear, can't workout how to add photos!! - taken an hour but think this link works if you paste it...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/189481270@N08/shares/215fx1

[Tony McC]

Another horror show!

You know, in your heart of hearts, what needs to happen. This clown needs his red nose tweaking and to be thrown off the site. If he won't reimburse your costs because he believes his work is satisfactory, ask him to go 50/50 on an independent assessment with both parties agreeing to abide by its findings. If he doesn't fancy that (and I somehow ndoubt he would!) mention Trading Standards, or threaten to get all legal on his spinning bow tie and oversize floppy shoes.

[DNgroundworks]

That looks remarkably similar to a job i rescued a few years back, the only difference is at least your contractor has laid the flags the right way up!

As Tony says, start again

[Whatamuppet66]

I guess we have to put our big girls pants on!!

[mo-uk]

In terms of how to handle it
You will probably find he will say that it is not finished and that you should give him a chance to remedy any problems before passing judgment - you will probably find he will try and downplay any defects as 'all will be ok when its finished'.
That will put you in a difficult position of course of whether to potentially lose more money/time

[Whatamuppet66]

THanks all. Can any explain why there are drying marks on the tiles, you know like its salt drying? Just been out there this morning and some now look like picture frames ie. with a white border line about an inch from the edge?

[Whatamuppet66]

In terms of how to handle it
You will probably find he will say that it is not finished and that you should give him a chance to remedy any problems before passing judgment - you will probably find he will try and downplay any defects as 'all will be ok when its finished'.
That will put you in a difficult position of course of whether to potentially lose more money/time

I defo don't want him doing anything else that's for sure!

[Whatamuppet66]

I've put more pics on showing where I've lifted a couple of flags.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/189481270@N08/74dAKz

[dig dug dan]

Another horror show!

You know, in your heart of hearts, what needs to happen. This clown needs his red nose tweaking and to be thrown off the site. If he won't reimburse your costs because he believes his work is satisfactory, ask him to go 50/50 on an independent assessment with both parties agreeing to abide by its findings. If he doesn't fancy that (and I somehow ndoubt he would!) mention Trading Standards, or threaten to get all legal on his spinning bow tie and oversize floppy shoes.

Tony, you never fail to make me laugh with these witty comments! Keep them coming

[Tony McC]

Glad I'm entertaing you still, after all these years, Dan!

Jo - your images just reinforce what has already been said. This clown has no genuine skills.

I have your email and I'll be in touch regarding an assessment later today.....

[Samsy]

THanks all. Can any explain why there are drying marks on the tiles, you know like its salt drying? Just been out there this morning and some now look like picture frames ie. with a white border line about an inch from the edge?

May i ask what the conclusion of the salt marks? I have a similar issue with a newly laid kandla grey patio.

I am hoping it's only Efflorescence salt, which looks unsightly but will vanish over time!

[Tony McC]

I don't think Jo pursued it, so there's nothing more I can tell you at this stage.

If you upload images of ytour problem, I can take a look.....