Cookie Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Hello - I've had a GRP company in to do 2x flat roofs and 2x other areas on a self build. Quote was approx £11,000 for full job including warm roof/timber work etc. Company is now asking for £3,000 more as the job was trickier/took longer than they thought. We put up with delays from them, not turning up etc and just powered through to get it done. Final colour coat still has pinholes in one area (done twice now) but we have been told to live with it as won't affect performance. Ugh. We understand a quote is a final agreement and this is ridiculous to expect more. But others have said we could consider paying them. Any opinions out there? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Yup, in my eyes a quote is a firm quote (when I was self employed I inserted a caveat to say any further work/payment to be agreed before continuing), they are treating it like an estimate and I would not pay them the extra 27%. Get a second opinion on the pinholes ( @SteamyTea ?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 Thank you, Joe90. Hard to get another opinion - seems no one knows GRP, even our project manager or site manager say they are no experts. I might ask the tilers if they have ever done GRP, they seem an excellent crew. Thanks again, will hold firm and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 22 minutes ago, Cookie said: Final colour coat still has pinholes in one area (done twice now) but we have been told to live with it as won't affect performance. It will. The sad thing is it an easy, but messy, fix. I suspect that they did not put enough resin into the first layer of mat. I hope they put a second one on, but may have not. Water will get in, will be absorbed by the unsaturated mat, freezing will happen, then it is just a matter of time before it fails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Pretty straightforward A quote is a quote Had they got it finished quicker than expected Do you think the would have cut you a discount? I agree will the above But I would try a more straightforward approach Tell him to bugger off 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 2 hours ago, SteamyTea said: The sad thing is it an easy, but messy, fix. And that fix is……… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 26 minutes ago, nod said: Tell him to bugger off Especially as an expert in these matters (@steamytea) has said the pinholes WILL cause trouble if not fixed and you have to find someone (not them) to fix it and pay them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 Oh I don't know why I cannot seem to reply to actual comments. SteamyTea said: "The sad thing is it an easy, but messy, fix. I suspect that they did not put enough resin into the first layer of mat. I hope they put a second one on, but may have not. Water will get in, will be absorbed by the unsaturated mat, freezing will happen, then it is just a matter of time before it fails." Oh wow, this is not great obviously. There is one layer of mat only. What is the fix? The company have already once sanded back the top coat, and redone that top coat. I have a 'lifetime guarantee' against it failing. What should they be doing to fix it please and where can I find the info - because they insist it's not a problem, and I cannot find anything online about pinholes in the top coat. Help! Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 15 minutes ago, Cookie said: don't know why I cannot seem to reply to actual comments. Highlight the bit you want answers too and press “quote” or use the “quote” icon under the piece in question. (I asked steamy earlier and await his reply.) having done GRP myself his reply makes sense but not sure what the “cure” is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 5 hours ago, joe90 said: not sure what the “cure” is. It was an 80's beat combo headed by Robert Smith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 (edited) 12 hours ago, Cookie said: .... Company is now asking for £3,000 more as the job was trickier/took longer than they thought. ... Did they tell you about the intended charge at the time? Yes: what did you agree at the time? Something? Anything? Nothing? No: - well thats a pity , because it's unfair to pluck a number out of the air AND NOT tell me in at the time. Consider the local politics of not paying. Who - locally - does he know. Because not paying him will pour poop into the local well. Does that matter? Are you are a Domestic Client under CDM 2015 ? If so, fine - if NOT then more care is needed. As a Domestic Client you have no responsibility for estimation errors on his part. If you are a Commercial Client you could be expected to have taken more care to check his estimate - or quote. Edited November 24, 2023 by ToughButterCup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted November 24, 2023 Author Share Posted November 24, 2023 12 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: Did they tell you about the intended charge at the time? Yes: what did you agree at the time? Something? Anything? Nothing? No: - well thats a pity , because it's unfair to pluck a number out of the air AND NOT tell me in at the time. Consider the local politics of not paying. Who - locally - does he know. Because not paying him will pour poop into the local well. Does that matter? Are you are a Domestic Client under CDM 2015 ? If so, fine - if NOT then more care is needed. As a Domestic Client you have no responsibility for estimation errors on his part. If you are a Commercial Client you could be expected to have taken more care to check his estimate - or quote. Edited 8 minutes ago by ToughButterCup I am a domestic client, it's my self build and I asked him to quote for the job. He mentioned on site close to install time that the warm roofs were not included, I said they were, went home and double checked the quote, and warm roof work is mentioned 3x on his own quote. Certainly no extra was agreed at any time until now he is asking for £3,000. His company is nationwide apparently, and no one local knows him. Our project manager/builder says we could consider paying but are under no requirement to. I was surprised the builder said this so hence coming here for info; I thought a quote was a quote and final as no extra work has been done. He just said it was more work than he thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Was it a quote or estimate? Really comes down to the wording of the document. Can you post a copy? Blank out any names and addresses etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 2 minutes ago, Cookie said: I thought a quote was a quote and final I seem to remember that this has been discussed before. There seems to be a few different 'types' of quotes in the building trade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Send some pics of the finished roof please. If they encountered something that was not included in the quote, then that's fair enough. If not, you'll need to come to some sort of agreement. I had this with our builder, he openly said he messed up the floor area in his quote and would be out of pocket. There was a discrepancy on one of the drawings (dims all correct, one annotation on bottom of drawing stated wrong floor area) so we my half way. Sometime need to be pragmatic. Sounds like this guy mis-priced the job and is chancing his arm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted November 24, 2023 Author Share Posted November 24, 2023 5 hours ago, Conor said: If they encountered something that was not included in the quote, then that's fair enough. If not, you'll need to come to some sort of agreement. I had this with our builder, he openly said he messed up the floor area in his quote and would be out of pocket. There was a discrepancy on one of the drawings (dims all correct, one annotation on bottom of drawing stated wrong floor area) so we my half way. Sometime need to be pragmatic. Sounds like this guy mis-priced the job and is chancing his arm. There was nothing new at all, but the work just took longer than he thought it would. He said 4 days and it took over 10 days in total. However, nothing changed about the spec at all, it's crystal clear what we wanted included and that is entirely included on his quote. I agree he is chancing it; spoke to our project manager today and he has decided he agrees we should not pay more. The guy's own crew warned us he would try to get extra. So I think it's something he just tries! I would post pix but would not want the company concerned to see it's obviously me. I never know who might be lurking but probably being paranoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted November 24, 2023 Author Share Posted November 24, 2023 8 hours ago, markc said: Was it a quote or estimate? Really comes down to the wording of the document. Can you post a copy? Blank out any names and addresses etc. It's definitely a solid quote. I'd post it but at 58 pages long it's really just ridiculous. It's absolutely a quote though and clearly itemises all things included, there was nothing new on site added to the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 2 minutes ago, Cookie said: It's definitely a solid quote. As long as there are no caviats in it , case closed m,lud, tell him to sue you 🖕I am sure those of us that have been self employed have underestimated a job or two and had to learn from our mistake by sucking it up, he’s just chancing his luck. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Just in case anyone look at this in the future for a 'case closed'! The GRP guy gave up immediately and has invoiced for the correct quoted figure. So thanks for all the advice to back me up! Much appreciated to all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 On 23/11/2023 at 22:14, nod said: A quote is a quote Had they got it finished quicker than expected Do you think the would have cut you a discount? just to add another side to this argument as we've had 2 trades do this. our flat roofer gave us a quote which we accepted and he then fessed up that he mis-measured and wouldn't need as much seedum as he quoted for and charged me less. i would never have known and it shows his integrity (and which is why i have recommended him elsewhere!). and our tiler gave us a quote that we were happy with and accepted and then at the end of the job he said he hadn't used as much material as he initially thought he'd need and gave money off the quote. so, just to counter that there ARE good people out there. 🙂 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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