It turns out that the chap we finally asked to finish the work on the house has been doing it without telling us. We knew he'd started but we understood that he had gone on to do another job. In fact I emailed him last night to check that he would still be able to get the work finished with sufficient margin to give a painter friend time to re-do the exterior before we arrived back.
Today we got a phone call from our neighbour to say that the work appeared to be finished but that, in her opinion, it left a lot to be desired. When I opened my email this evening the builder had come back, happy to give us the good news and probably even happier to ask for payment.
Getting work done, at a distance, continues to have nightmarish qualities!
