Can anyone offer me their opinion on this problem with my electrician please?

[Electricuted]

I've had new sockets installed in my living room which the electrician has installed by chasing out the wall to put the cable. All was good until after he'd left and I went into the adjoining 2 rooms to discover that he had knocked huge chunks of plaster off the wall presumably by being overly aggressive in the living room.

Is this a common problem or is it quite rare? And what happens now? Do I have to fork out for having the rooms replastered or should this be rectified by the electrician as afterall it was his mistake?

I asked on here because I assume some of you must have come across similar problems in the past.

Thankyou in advance.

ps. He didn't mention there being any risk of this happening at any point.

 

[cagedanimal2010]

what was put in the contract? i have a bit saying " all tho every effort it taken not to disturb any plaster or decoration, if this happens it will be the responsibility of the client to put this right" unless of course i have said i will make good!
hope this helps
danny

 

[Electricuted]

There is no written contract. He quoted a price and I accepted and told him to do the job. How does that change things?

 

[cagedanimal2010]

have you spoke to him about it, asked what he thinks?
danny

 

[Electricuted]

Not yet, he only left the house about half an hour ago and I haven't been able to get in touch with him yet. I was just wondering what the norm was really.

He used a chisel drill to chase out the walls. Not sure if that is relevent at all.

 

[cagedanimal2010]

different sparks do things different ways, i'm assuming by him using that, the wall was "hard" red brick etc. 1st thing i would do is contact him.
sometimes it happens and we cant really stop it, but do our best to limit it.

danny

 

[cagedanimal2010]

also imo it should of been made clear before works started as to who was doing any making good, to limit any confusion.
danny

 

[Electricuted]

Thanks Danny that is very helpful.

 

[Paul.M]

Is it just small chunks of plaster at the bottom of the wall? Or does the whole wall need filling and skimming? Once I put my knee thru the ceiling whilst in a loft. My stupid mistake, so I paid for the repair but in this case, is the plaster quite old?

 

[Electricuted]

The plaster is somewhere between 5 and 10 years old I think as we've had the walls replastered since we've moved in.

It is pretty much wherever he has chased the wall out the plaster has come off the other side as well. Chunks about 8 inches wide starting from the bottom of the wall going to the top there are about on average between 5 and 8 chunks missing in each of the areas he's chased and he's fitted 4 sockets on 3 walls.

 

[Paul.M]

You really need to talk to the sparky and ask him to come back to look at this. He will probably know a plaster or repair it himself, if not your then going down the insurance claim route. If he's a good electrician this will be sorted out in no time. Keep us updated on whichever way this goes. We are all happy to help, good luck.

 

[Electricuted]

Thanks paul I'll do as you suggest and ask him to come look at it.

Out of interest how often do electricians (and other tradesmen) have claims against their insurance made? I know you al need to have insurance for your work but I've always wondered how often claims are made against it.

 

[sparky1690]

it happened to me also but as the installer & the client was very understanding, as quoted the older the house the harder the walls, normally.

 

[sliemasteve]

What is the house type and its age for example semi detached post Second World War or something built in the last ten years

Is it a half brick wall that is about 110 mm ( about 4.5 inch) thick. Has the chiseling of the wall tended to punch the brick through the wall?

Is it an old house where the bricks/blocks/stone are set in a weak lime mortar?

Is the plaster or material covering the rear side of the wall old plaster for example with horse hair in it or a modern plaster or a modern plaster such as gypsum eg Carlight Browning with a finish.

The point is there are many issues here and in fairness to the electrician it may be more to do with the condition of your home than his manner of working.

If the walling material brick, block or stone is set in reasonable quality mortar and the brick stone etc has moved or split due to the chiseling and the wall plaster is of recent vintage and generally sound it may be reasonable to presume that the fallen plaster is a direct consequence of the aggresive action of the chisel.

Mostly making good should extend to the damage caused in installing the socket when working with modern materials and sound construction. If wall plaster is old and falling off and has lost its adhesion to the background surface and the electrician works in a careful manner it is much less reasonable to assume a repair responsibility falls on the electrician.

If the electrician lives around the corner and the patching is of a modest amount I would think that coming back and sorting out your problem would be something he would do anyway irrespective of where the responsibility lays.

A nice, friendly approach without apportioning blame, mentioning the problem and asking his opinion and what to do is a good first response.

 

[Wiredspark]

What is the house type and its age for example semi detached post Second World War or something built in the last ten years

Is it a half brick wall that is about 110 mm ( about 4.5 inch) thick. Has the chiseling of the wall tended to punch the brick through the wall?

Is it an old house where the bricks/blocks/stone are set in a weak lime mortar?

Is the plaster or material covering the rear side of the wall old plaster for example with horse hair in it or a modern plaster or a modern plaster such as gypsum eg Carlight Browning with a finish.

The point is there are many issues here and in fairness to the electrician it may be more to do with the condition of your home than his manner of working.

If the walling material brick, block or stone is set in reasonable quality mortar and the brick stone etc has moved or split due to the chiseling and the wall plaster is of recent vintage and generally sound it may be reasonable to presume that the fallen plaster is a direct consequence of the aggresive action of the chisel.

Mostly making good should extend to the damage caused in installing the socket when working with modern materials and sound construction. If wall plaster is old and falling off and has lost its adhesion to the background surface and the electrician works in a careful manner it is much less reasonable to assume a repair responsibility falls on the electrician.

If the electrician lives around the corner and the patching is of a modest amount I would think that coming back and sorting out your problem would be something he would do anyway irrespective of where the responsibility lays.

A nice, friendly approach without apportioning blame, mentioning the problem and asking his opinion and what to do is a good first response.

I think this is the best advice. It's not how I'd do chases, but as was said previously differing people have differing (and equally as suitable) solutions to the same problem.