Help to fix schoolboy joinery rubbish by kitchen fitters

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bitzNbytz

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Hi

My tiny kitchen in a 1 bed flat is in its 5th week of installation - (supposed to be 2 weeks) and while there's just flooring, touching up and an external vent to go in...

they promised me an "excellent finish "and showed me pictures of their previous jobs that looked nice... this was the site manager for the housing association (not the builders/joiners doing the work) - after a while, I noticed the colors did not match at all or anywhere near what was on the selection sheet, that was returned back 4-5 months ago and the job was initiated 2 years ago...

now the electrical, plumbing, tiling, and plastering were SPOT ON... brilliant work.

but look at the state of this "light switch"(bad cuts, gloss used as a filler, runs on frames which are also on the door - which no longer closes) - when previously it was screwed into the wood frames itself and filled with grout at top and bottom in-between the frames, painted the same color as the wall.
had I had the offcuts I could have fixed it myself by restoring the frame, back in with sawdust and glue, sanding the frame, re-painting, and fixing the plate into the wood, but I don't have them...

surrounding plates I've looked at don't have enough room (side bits too wide on them) , so I'm wondering if any "real joinery experts" can please tell me the best way to fix this 'schoolboy error" ?look - cuts like dog's back legs, uses gloss paint as filler..

I have many years of building trade experience and have installed a kitchen before. and know of a way to fix it, but would like to hear from the experts...

edit: I reiterate: the rest of the kitchen is of a high standard. THIS is the only issue (so far) but its almost finished

advice from anyone would be appreciated..

thanks in advance
 

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If you have had many years of building experience and that picture of the light switch is the standard of the rest of the build then the whole lot needs ripping out and starting again. I'm no expert but even I can tell that the installation of that switch has been done by a road sweeper and he probably doesn't sweep roads that well either.
 
rest is spot on mate, its just that switch. i put it in so you can see how carp the joiner is... rest of install is spot on

note: "now the electrical, plumbing, tiling, and plastering were SPOT ON... brilliant work."
its all fine apart from that, otherwise i would of showed you the rest if it were crap
 
Perhaps it might have been neater to fit one of those thinner light switches in between the architraves, and not butchered them.

Like this

Must admit, I thought I was looking at the 'before' image, not the after. :(
 
agreed, but this is what I'm left with so far... I can't see them doing anything else to it other than sorting the 'runs' out..(even if they do that). the builders that are doing the removal of the entire kitchen and woodwork/joinery are complete cowboys - the kitchen fitter, sparkies, tiler, plumbers all top of their game...

but this... my god - it was better BEFORE.. and you can tell it was rushed too from the dog end cuts...
might just have to file/taper the edges to make them as straight as I can, and/or refill it with grout properly to try and hide the mess as much as possible

- or bring the switch's back level to the frames, fixed in, and just fill it all in, all around nice and straight, leveled off, then re-paint...

Any other ideas are welcome
 
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To have a light switch there is really a poor architectural detail, so to make the best of it it would probably have been better to make-up a single part architrave for both door openings then install a pattress light switch in rhe middle as suggested above (bearing in mind this would require a sparky). Failing that, maybe take the light switch off, install the architraves then add a timber patress between them where the switch is and reinstall the switch on top of the patress (which also requires a sparky).

Cutting round like that suggests that they were either under pressure to get the job done (often the case), or they simply didn't have the required knowledge or experience to come up with a better looking solution. Maybe both. The cut quality is awful either way

Maybe take the switch out, install a timber filler, neatly, with a hole in it with the wiring, fill and sand, then fit a pattress switch?
 
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Oversize switch?

Spectrum White Light Switch (1 Gang/White Switch)

A Spectrum White Light Switch (1 Gang/White Switch) available to buy online now at Socket Store
socketstore.co.uk

Maybe a spacer to bring the switch out would hide the bodgery to a degree
www.screwfix.com

Schneider Electric Lisse 1-Gang Spacer White

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Make an mdf square plate with a chamfered edge.

paint it and fix across the architraves then bring switch through.

you could fit a thin batten to cover the recess full height, stopping at the new plate.


Dont bother filling, that’ll look a mess. If going down that route I’d rip off architraves and fit new.
 
Did they fit the architraves in your photo after the plastering?

Where the architrave meets the door frame, it very much looks like the decorator (theirs or an earlier one) didn't bother sanding the excess plaster off. Often, in time it blows and results in jagged cracks.

I am confused though, neither the switch nor the screws look new. The painting is pants but was the switch already there? If yes, did it previously have a plastic surface mount back box? If it did, then they might not have been the ones that cut the architrave
 
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