[Mike Mahoney]

Hi Guys

we have just completed our second builders clean, the quarry tiles in the toilets were thick with cement paint and sealant, we managed to remove all this, but where the paint was on the tiles even though it has gone you can still see a small faint  outline of where it was.

the client has also asked us to go back and clean inside the toilets where the builders for six weeks have been using them without flushing, they are apauling, he also wants us to polish all the mirrors in the premises, 26 along the bar front, 15 behind the bar and another 12 in the restaurant. I never quoted for a sparkle clean. does this extra work come under the remit of a builders clean, comments appreciated please and will thinners remove the paint stain.

All help gladly appreciated.

[sherco]

I wouldnt use thinners...Try Aqua Mix sealer & Coating remover...you can get it on Ebay.

[Mike Mahoney]

thanks for that will give it a go.

[Griffus]

does this extra work come under the remit of a builders clean, comments appreciated please and will thinners remove the paint stain.

All help gladly appreciated.

Depends on the spec you agreed to prior to starting the job. If a one off then you are usually expected to clean to 'sparkle' standard so always quote accordingly, approx. 1.5 regular charge should cover it.

Thinners should remove the remainder of the paint (I'm guessing it's Gloss or Undercoat). Worst case you could try paint stripper such as Nitromorse.

It's worth asking your builder if you can charge extra for the mirrors, especially if they were not in the drawings / original spec.

Toilets on builders cleans are often like this as they are used well before there is any water. This seems to happen more with smaller firms. To be honest you should have cleaned these when you were there. I'd apologise to the site manager / builder and get these done ASAP.

[Mike Mahoney]

Thanks Ian

the trouble with the job was that after we agred the price and schedule for the work to be done, the owner of the pub moved the goalposts, he called us to say the site was ready to be cleaned, he is managing the build himself, we turned up myself + 4, to find not one single area was yet complete and there was still atleast two weeks to be done. second fix electrics was not done so plug sockets hanging off walls, wires coming down from cieling, plastering still to be done etc,, I informed the client that it was pointless us doing anything as we would only have to repeat it in two weeks time, he informed us that he had the bank coming down so needed it clean. I agreed to do some remedial cleaning to make the place look better. we also cleaned the kitchen area as we were informed this was complete, when we returned 10 days later the client informed us that all the kitchen area needed doing again, they had knocked down two walls and re-plastered the whole kitchen.

The job is for a major pub company and I get the work through there FM company, who are having foot the bill for the clean because of a paperwork error on there side, therefore I am under pressure to keep the price down. They have re-laid the old carpets that were down in the restaurant and today my carpet cleaning guy was booked for the second time to clean them, he has just phoned me to say he is on site, 90 mile round trip and that the carpets are still not laid.

This is one I wish I could walk away from, do you understand why I am reluctant to put in any more work, we have done over 40 jobs for this client without one single issue up until now, but because the relationship has soured between the pub tennant and the client, the tennant now views everybody as the enemy. Its a no win situation.