On Thu, 6 Aug 2020 17:10:12 +0100, "tim..."
wrote:


"T i m" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 5 Aug 2020 15:58:02 +0100, GB
wrote:

I've just fitted a new tap to our kitchen sink. It took me nearly 4
hours. That did include altering the pipework. Plus puzzling over the
instructions on the rather complicated Bristan Easyfit tap. Great taps,
awful instructions.

But 4 hours! I'd expect to pay a plumber no more than £100-150, and that
might well include coming to quote first.

The bigger question is how often would they do as good a job as you
might (assuming a reasonable level of physical competency that is)?

my plasterer did a crap job (I wish I'd spotted some of the crapness before
he left)

Oh, the guys that did the plastering here were messy buggers but I'm
not sure you could be anything else at that workrate!

But it's still a million times better than I could have done

And that's the thing. Ok, I've done a fireplace where I've removed a
surround and hearth and re-rendered then plastered the chimney breast
etc but not a whole wall and certainly not a ceiling.

Unlike the physical bit of wiring, plumbing, tiling, carpentry and
small bits of brickwork where you can generally read up and then do a
reasonable job, plastering really is an art.

Like I've only ever worked on a couple of mobility scooters but
yesterday, the one I got for Mum couldn't really complete a small trip
with the motor getting very hot, it cutting out (overcurrent trip) and
got back with pretty low batteries. After working on it last night and
this morning, it did the same trip with ease, Mum said it was 'much
smoother' and it come back with what looks like a full battery (and
the lights working). And so it should because all the parts I worked
on are things I have done many times on different things in the past
(RC models, EV's and the electric motorbike I designed, built and
raced around 35 years ago). ;-)

Ok, you can get lucky with many things, and have it work early on, but
few do with plastering. ;-(

Cheers, T i m