If you hire someone to do labor in your house and they do a terrible job, do you pay them the agreed upon price?

Were they licensed?

Did you tell them you didn’t like the work they did? Maybe if you told them that you were not satisfied with their work, they would have lowered the price.

Yes I told them while they were doing it, and the dude made the comment that I could give him more money if I wanted to later that day! Not sure if they were licensed or not.

I would not have paid till the job was done correctly. Nor would I pay more than the agreed upon price.

Technically you have a contract with the person you hired and you are contractually obligated to pay them considering they completed their end of the contract. (grouting your brick pavers) If they had failed to complete the job you required of them you could have refused to pay them, as their would be a breach of contract due to their partial performance. In your situation though, the most you could do legally is pay them for the job.

If you wanted to though, you could write them a check for how well you thought they did, (i.e. pay them a lower amount) and write on the check “payment in full”. If the men you hired cash that check, it signifies that they accepted that amount you paid them for the job, and that they can not ask or legally get any more money out of you for the job. If they tear up the check then they can still get the full amount that you initially agreed upon with them. This is basically a sneaky way to pay someone less if you thought their performance was inadequate because most people know very little about contract law.

Next time ask around and see what others think of who you’re hiring.

Depends on the contract you had with them.
If it was a verbal contract you might have a chance of not paying them the full agreed upon amount if they don’t fight back.
If it was a written contract and all it said was that they would do the grouting for a specific price then you must pay them that price if they did the work.
However, if you had a written contract that specified the quality of work in a measurable way, you will be able to pay them less if their work was not up to the specified standard. In your case, your contract might have said, ”.... Complete grouting to match and blend with previous grouted area”.

Yes but a deal’s a deal. I would certainly not hire the same person again though, nor would I hide my disappointment. But it’s basically my fault for not choosing wisely.

After you tell them you are not satisfied with the job, take pictures of the work and pay the full amount, but pay in protest to the job. And document everything, you now can take legal action if you choose

In California, If they don’t have a contractors license you don’t “legally” have to pay them more than $500.00 regardless of the contracted amount. Your moral obligation is a trickier dilemma

Don’t ever hire a worker without checking their license and ask for references. It is very dangerous to hire unlicensed workers. You have no recourse if they do shoddy work, and if they receive an injury on your property, such as a bad cut, you can be sued.

I agree with @YARNLADY. I had a painter fall off a ladder at my house and injure his back when he landed on a railroad tie that edged a flower bed. Thank goodness he was bonded and had insurance. My neighbor had a similar experience, and was sued for $100,000.