A single mother claims a ‘cheeky’ painter left her home unfinished posting selfies from her sofa saying he was ‘sitting down on the job’.
Jessica Burton, 37, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, booked painter Paul Trythall to carry out work on the home she shares with her two children.
She claims Paul worked two, five-and-a-half hour days then made excuses about being unable to come and finish the job, despite sharing social media posts about ‘doing absolutely f**k all all day today’.
Unable to get hold of Paul, Jessica paid another handyman who came and continued the work.
When Paul returned to Jessica’s he was annoyed to find his tools had been used by the other handyman. Jessica claims he then left the job unfinished.
Paul claims he ‘works quick’ so is ‘entitled to sit down whenever’ he feels – and claims he’d have had the work done in two or three days but had been ‘hit off balance’ when Jessica said she didn’t feel comfortable leaving him in her house alone.
The painter also claims he wasn’t ‘paid fully’ for the job.
Jessica Burton, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, claims a ‘cheeky’ painter left her home unfinished – but had the audacity to post selfies bragging about ‘sitting down on the job’ and ‘doing f**k all all day’
She hired painter Paul Trythall, but says he turned up to work for just two days before leaving the job ‘unfinished’
Jessica said: ‘It’s horrendous and so upsetting. It’s been really stressful for me and it’s costing me more money now to try and put it right…
‘I saved really hard for this work. I haven’t done my house out for a while now.
‘The photos I have of the work are absolutely shocking. You would never leave someone’s home like that even if you weren’t a professional.’
Jessica, a mother-of-four, booked Paul to start work on Wednesday April 27. She claims on the Wednesday and Thursday he started work at 10.30am and finished at 4pm.
‘It wasn’t a full day’s work,’ she said. ‘While he was there, he was uploading selfies while I was in the next room saying “sitting down on the job”. He was sat on my sofa covered in paint. I thought it was really cheeky.
Paul even uploaded selfies while relaxing on her black leather sofa and boasting he was ‘sitting down on the job ffs’ while covered in splatters of paint
Jessica spotted he’d posted a picture from his bed on Facebook claiming he’d done ‘absolutely f**k all all day today’ – after failing to return her calls or texts
‘He was one of those guys who didn’t give a monkeys. He had that attitude of “I do what I want”. He was a very cocky ‘I’ll do as I please” sort of guy.
‘I saved really hard for it and I just thought I’d be done like he said in those couple of days. Over a week later, me and my children couldn’t sit down. It was a mess.’
Jessica claims Paul didn’t turn up for work on the Friday and Saturday, making excuses about why he couldn’t finish the job.
Jessica said: ‘Friday came, no sign of him. I gave it a while then rang and text but no answer. He wasn’t professional at all.
‘I spoke to him then and he said “so sorry about today, I’ll be there 8am. I’ll explain then”.
Jessica took pictures of his paint work-showing unfinished skirting boards and ‘messy’ plug sockets
Jessica took some snaps of the unfinished paintwork in her landing showing patches all over her walls and ceiling
The painter also never finished off around the radiator, leaving many areas unfinished before leaving the job
She shared snaps of the untidy workmanship after Paul left saying he had completed the job at her home
Jessica said the doors were still ‘yellow’ and a completely different colour to the walls next to them
‘On the Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn. I eventually got hold of him and he said “something’s come up with [a family member] but I’ll be there this afternoon”.
‘We sat and waited. There was no sign of him. He then promised he’d be there on the Sunday.
‘I got up Sunday, waited, rang and text. I couldn’t get anything out of him but he had the cheek to put a post on Facebook of him in bed saying “I’ve done f**k all all day”.’
The mum saved really hard as she hadn’t got the house redecorated in a long time however she was left disappointed
Desperate for the work to be finished, Jessica broke down when her carpet fitter came with samples.
‘I said “come in, take a look. This painter has left me and the children in this state”.
‘He felt sorry for me and got in touch with a mate of his. Fair play to this guy, he only had one day off and came on Bank Holiday Monday and did quite a bit of work in the house.’
The following day, Paul returned to the house. He was annoyed another tradesman had used his equipment. Jessica claims he left before the job was finished.
‘All of a sudden he started wrapping his trays up. I said “you’re going now, are you?” He said “yeah, the job’s finished”,’ she recalled.
‘It wasn’t. The doors were still yellow. I went to check the ceiling upstairs and I said “you can’t leave it looking like that?”
‘He hadn’t painted any of the ceilings up the stairs like we agreed, my banister was half painted. The photos are shocking.
‘He sanded the ceiling over a freshly glossed bannister so there was all bits stuck to it. He told me I needed three tins of paint, he only used one. He’d barely given it a coat.
‘There were parts of the walls that had the old colour on. There wasn’t a single wall there that was finished – nothing. I said “you can’t leave my home looking like this”.’
When approached for comment, Paul bemoaned he was made to ‘feel terrible’ after Jessica refused to leave him alone in the house.
The banisters were left with chunky paint splatters all over them and were also left unfinished
Oops! He left the job with out finishing off the painting along the boarders in the landing ceiling
He also claims he was only paid £200 and after finishing the job, waited around outside Jessica’s home for 15 minutes before leaving, realising he wouldn’t be paid the rest of the money.
Paul said: ‘She didn’t [fully] pay me for the job. She paid £200 of it the week before even after paying what she was happy with as she checked the standard of work up to that point. If she wasn’t happy she wouldn’t have paid half.
‘I then said I’d work the Friday or the Saturday I think it was, but I genuinely couldn’t make that day if I wanted to as something came up.
‘With that she had someone else to paint the rest (even using all my own tools and materials without confirming it with me first). Then she wants me back as that other person only did so much for her because of the price.
‘I then went back and noticed the other person, which she even agreed wasn’t a trained painter, had left all run on the bottom bannister which I had to sort.
Jessica claims Paul hadn’t finished what he started and she has since had to pay another tradesman to finish up the work
‘I completed the work. The only reason she wasn’t happy [was because] she thought the parts I filled and sanded on the ceiling were still noticeable but they weren’t. It was that the paint was still wet and I can assure you when it dried it would have been pure brilliant white like the rest of the ceilings.
‘I have pictures of the finished job from me. I know she didn’t have the money, this is what all this is over.’
Paul said he was made to feel like he was ‘untrustworthy’ because she wouldn’t leave him alone in her home.
‘On my first hour of the very beginning of this job I was made to feel really uncomfortable after me saying “what’s your plans today are you going anywhere” for her to reply saying “no I won’t dare let you alone in my house”.
‘It made me feel terrible if I’m honest as [if] I was untrustworthy. Maybe she worded it wrong, I don’t know.
Paul claims she didn’t fully pay him for the job as he was only paid £200 of it the week before he finished
‘On my last day there she was great. I did say in the morning that I wasn’t happy with the other person using my materials but five minutes after that everything was great.
‘She even came back, we were speaking as you do and she was making coffee etc. and was happy as far as I thought.
‘It was when I finished and said “I’m done” then she walked to the bottom of the stairs, looked up at the wet parts I mentioned earlier and said it weren’t done.
‘I replied to say when it dries she will see it’s complete and she then started acting different.
‘I’m good at my job, I work quick, so I’m entitled to sit down whenever I feel. Anyone else would have taken about six or seven days to do that work.
‘I would have completed in two to three days but when she said about not leaving me in hers alone it hit me right off balance.’