I needed a new patio made and didn't have the time for DIY ( or the inclination when the weather is this cold ).
I got a load of quotes, checked references etc and selected a contractor who's price and specification seemed realistic.
Now the work has been done, I'm not very happy with some aspects of it.
When the work was being done, I had to get them to take some of it up and lay it on the correct alignment. At the time I also pointed out that the level didn't look like it fell away in the correct manner.
As the paving stones are of a heavily textured finish, a simple spirit level can give differing results depending on where you place it, but I reckoned that a tight line stretched over a number of stones showed that it was sloping wrongly.
The contractor insisted that it was correct and that my way of measuring slope was inaccurate.
The job's now finished, but large puddles form in exactly the area where I said that the fall was wrong.
There's also mortar blobs on the surface of some paving stones and some brickwork and some messy pointing in many of the joints between the paving stones.
As I haven't paid him ( Appx =A34,000 ), I'm proposing to withhold a proportion of the money until he corrects the problems.
What proportion would seem reasonable to withhold ?