"Chris Bacon" wrote in message
...
John wrote:
I do many things DIY but joinery isn't one of them so I got a joiner in
to
fit two sets of bi-fold doors for us, which he fitted by hinging (sp?)
the
doors on the side just as you would do with any other door.

I have to admit that I didn't realize that this was "wrong"

Wrong? Why is it wrong?


as we've never
had bi-fold doors before but when I went into a neighbour's house
recently,
their bi-fold doors ran in a track along the top of the opening and a
sort
of pivot at the top and bottom of the door at the "fixed" side (iyswim).
My
wife then rang a friend and found out that hers also ran in a track.

Some are hung like that - some are not.


I went to a local timber place to look at the doors they had on display
and
they were all in tracks too and the guy said that that was the correct
way
to fit them - any joiner should know that, he said - and it should only
take
about 20-30 minutes to fit. So, I bought the track and diplomatically
suggested to the joiner [1] that perhaps he may have done it wrong and
would he please fit the doors on the track.

Next thing, he's ringing us saying that it took him *3 hours* to fit (at
£10/hour, mind you), the track needed "opening out a bit and oiling"
before it would work smoothly. And, of course, the doors now have
"cut-outs" where he located the hinges, that he shouldn't have fitted in
the first place, and has now removed.

A tenner an hour? You're trolling.

Why do you think I'm trolling? As I said before, I've worked with (and been
friends with) his dad (and so, by association, with him) for about 25 years
(joiner is 26) and he's doing this as a foreigner, not self-employed rates.
He is a time served joiner and he's fitted a new kitchen for us which is
absolutely brilliant. I have no qualms about his kitchen fitting skills at
all, which is why we then asked him to do the other jobs.

However, when he attempted the skirting (replace as and where necessary),
everything seemed to go to ****. One wall of the back bedroom never had a
skirting but a pipe box. When that (and the redundant pipes) were ripped
out, he only needed to provide a skirting to match the existing three walls.
However, for some strange reason he decided to "box in" (the perfectly
alright) skirting on the wall opposite (as per photos 1071, 1067, 1064 and
1074).

The wall that used to have a pipe box was given a 5"x1" (or whatever)
"plank" - not even proper skirting such as Taurus or Lamb's Tongue - as per
photo 1069. And photo 1070 is replacing a section of skirting in the front
bedroom.

Hence my apprehension regarding the bi-fold doors. My dillema is as much a
moral one as a physical one - I don't want to upset my mate of 26 years but
neither do I want crappy work like this.

Would you pay £10 per hour for that?

Photo's here http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/john846729/my_photos

John.