ultramods Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) Would like some opinions on this please. Once our house was built we parted ways with our builder as he didn't turn up as scheduled (and wouldn't tell us when he would turn up) to complete the landscaping, paving and driveway. We found a new builder who included quantities in his quote. Now that the work has been completed he is saying that he had to use a depth of 250mm hardcore instead of 150mm underneath the paving (paving is around the perimeter of the house at door level), which is an additional cost of £750. Also an additional £750 for a surface/channel drain on the tarmac drive as it's 30% longer than he thought it would need to be. Should I pay this extra when he was able to see the ground conditions, level of completed house etc, between him quoting to do the work and him starting the work, nothing changed on the site. Edited January 22, 2020 by ultramods
Vijay Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 That would really get my back up. If there was such a huge "extra", they should agree it with you not do it and then tell you at the end. Me personally, I would never rip off a trade, but I wouldn't be paying that. He gave you a price and should stick to it! 1
Mr Punter Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 The costs to distribute the hardcore should be similar as he already had the machine and driver, so it is extra material. Do you know the square area? Ask him for invoices for the hardcore.
PeterW Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Quote or Estimate ..?? 250mm up from 150mm isn’t that much - it’s about 7sqm/tonne of MoT1, which at £35 a bag would be that he laid an additional 75 or square metres (inc labour) then it is probably about right otherwise it seems steep.
ultramods Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 1 minute ago, Mr Punter said: The costs to distribute the hardcore should be similar as he already had the machine and driver, so it is extra material. Do you know the square area? Ask him for invoices for the hardcore. Yes' it's just an extra material cost for the hardcore, yes I have the area. But if I ask for invoices and they needed more materials, do I then need to pay. What irritates me is that he could have quoted lower and then added the "extras" when he knew that the extra quantities would be needed all along. However I suspect for the drain it's time and materials.
ultramods Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, PeterW said: Quote or Estimate ..?? 250mm up from 150mm isn’t that much - it’s about 7sqm/tonne of MoT1, which at £35 a bag would be that he laid an additional 75 or square metres (inc labour) then it is probably about right otherwise it seems steep. Quote. It's 103 m2 of paving
PeterW Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 That’s £7/m for supply and lay additional hardcore which isn’t unreasonable
Vijay Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 isn't the issue not telling the customer there's an extra cost until it's done though. £75 would be "just do it" but surely not £750!
ultramods Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, Vijay said: isn't the issue not telling the customer there's an extra cost until it's done though. £75 would be "just do it" but surely not £750! yip
Vijay Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Just reading your OP, so are they asking for an extra £1500 in total after the job is done????
nod Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I’m with Peter here it’s not an unreasonable amount Especially if you are happy with the job It’s very difficult to calculate exactly
willbish Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 The extra £1500 how much is that as a % of the total bill? Anything over 10% extra, I'd want to be notified prior to the work being done.
ultramods Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 1 minute ago, willbish said: The extra £1500 how much is that as a % of the total bill? Anything over 10% extra, I'd want to be notified prior to the work being done. it's 9% additional
joe90 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 When I gave a quote for work I always said if any additional materials or work was required a price would be agreed before work progressed, yes it’s only 9% but it’s still £1500 ? I would be miffed.
ToughButterCup Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 You are more annoyed about the lack of communication than the price I feel. Bad or non-existant communication is par for the course in this sector. How about this...... Pay what you agreed straight away. Pay the rest in stages ... it's easy to find a rationale for the delayed payment. He might think twice about not telling a customer next time. Yeah, right ....
Cpd Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Tricky one.....when I used to quote For work on a regular basis it was for the full job, everything was itemised and it was very clear what was included. If I got it wrong then I would have to just suck it up and cover the extra costs. However if there was an anomaly on the job that could not be seen During the survey (I was building a road once and there was a hidden cave bellow the road...) then after a meeting that extra work would be carried out at the agreed (at the start of the contract) day / hourly rate and any additional materials would also be covered by the client. Once your quote was in and it had been accepted there was no going back and revising it...... this was all government contracts so slightly different.
newhome Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Not incredibly helpful I know but I found our groundworker the absolute worst for prices going off piste during the job and unexpected costs being added on without any real discussion. We did pay them but were very careful to manage things differently after that as we had more work for them to do. Not much help if it's at the end of your job but TBH I would probably just pay and write it off as a poor experience. If you're happy with the work other than that, and you've actually managed to get someone in to do it then there are some positives. A bad job would be much harder to swallow than a good job that cost a bit more in my opinion.
Roundtuit Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) I'd be pi$$ed off too, but you need to decide if it's worth falling out over. If you're happy with the job, I think I'd pay up promptly for the agreed bit and smile and ask nicely if you can come to some agreement about the extra as it wasn't in the budget. Anything you can claw back is a bonus, and as @newhome said, at least he hasn't cut corners and done a poor job... Edited January 22, 2020 by Roundtuit
scottishjohn Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 11 hours ago, newhome said: A bad job would be much harder to swallow than a good job that cost a bit more in my opinion. the old saying "the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten" 1
joe90 Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 Whenever I got someone to quote I made sure I was in tatty working clothes and mentioned my budget was very tight, this usually made sure they didn’t rip me off and talked if extra was foreseen ?
Cpd Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, joe90 said: Whenever I got someone to quote I made sure I was in tatty working clothes and mentioned my budget was very tight, this usually made sure they didn’t rip me off and talked if extra was foreseen ? While standing outside your 2.5 million dollar property......... only kidding, good strategy if it’s in context. 1
Andrew Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, joe90 said: Whenever I got someone to quote I made sure I was in tatty working clothes and mentioned my budget was very tight, this usually made sure they didn’t rip me off and talked if extra was foreseen ? I use a similar strategy, I'm pretty good at scruffy anyway but I make sure I take my wife's 5 year old permanently filthy car when meeting someone for a quote. 1
Ed Davies Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 Had scrappies knocking on the door the other day to ask if I wanted to get rid of my van. Is that about right? 2
Cpd Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Ed Davies said: Had scrappies knocking on the door the other day to ask if I wanted to get rid of my van. Is that about right? Yup.... they leave there business cards on my landrover window all the time........ 1
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