Kagsy Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 Hi, Hoping someone can give me a bit of reassurance over some recent work I've had done. I have a 1950s/60s, 3-bed semi-detached house, with a pitched slate roof. I hired a roofing company to do a straightforward job of re-pointing the chimney stack, re-setting a few ridge tiles and replacing flashing around waste pipe, and was provided with a reasonable quote. As I work Mon-Fri, I wasn’t home when they came to do the work, but I received a phone call saying that upon investigation, more extensive work was needed, at a considerably higher cost. I was told some of the ridge tiles were split and beyond repair, plus the roof beam was rotten and bowed, and apparently the insulation was soaked. In their defense they sent some videos of the ridge tiles and part of the rotten wood, which I have attached here. In a panic, I accepted their quote without questioning. In hindsight, I feel I may have been duped, as the work was completed in a single day and I received another phone call at 4.30pm asking me to transfer payment before the end of the day as they needed to get to the builders yard to pay for supplies. In my naivety I paid up without having inspected the work. The following morning, in the light of day, I could see that the outside of the chimney stack had not been re-pointed. When I questioned this, he said they had not re-pointed the outside, but had re-pointed the inside of the “bagshot” – I’m unsure what this means though? He has offered to come back in the next few days to re-point the outside but time will tell if this happens! I just wondered if anyone could suggest a reasonable/estimated cost for the following work, which they listed on the final invoice: 1. Taken all old ridge tiles away 2. Supplied and fitted all new ridges and re-pointed them 3. Supported beam in roof 4. Re-felted and battened section of roof (apparently approx. 6mx4m in size) 5. Re-pointed chimney (which wasn’t actually done on the outside of the stack) 6. Capped and re-flaunched the chimney 7. Reset numerous slates I won’t include what I was charged yet, so as not to sway opinion! Thanks 😊 465754978_8448150355295503_6027806411124811366_n.mp4 465803737_9481188765242152_1133415468538100133_n.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 3 minutes ago, Kagsy said: I won’t include what I was charged yet, so as not to sway opinion! Feel for you! Sometimes there is a way of recourse. Let's not focus on the cost to start with. Rather, look at the workmanship, the advice you were given by the builder and what could be reasonably expected by you as a domestic Client when you employ a builder. I often use the same basis of arguement when I do Claims against big builders / the NHBC etc. Roughly under the consumer protection act you are covered as you are domestic Client. The easy way to explain this is that anyone who comes to work on your house has a duty of care. Also if they carry out defective work then this could compromise the structural integrity of the building! Now that may explain why I'm writing.. as my main day job is as an SE. Often it does not take me too long to make a convincing argument and this often circumvents all the aggro about cost ect. OK.. taking this forward a bit. There is a Bristish standard series called.. Now the courts will take the view that you as a domestic customer ( industrial / commerial ones are generally left to fend for themselves) should reasonably expect that any workmanship should comply with the above, caveat... in so far as reasonably practicable. This leaves an avenue open for folk that are doing renovations on historic and old houses as a case in point. Proving that you have been over charge is much more difficult. It sounds like your builder is a chancer and thus won't be affilated with any trade associations for example. Did you pay any of this in cash? Mull this over. But let's just say you didn't for now. To prove you've been heavily over charged will probably entail a bit of professional advice. Here is some for free. If you can find something that the builder has charged you for.. could be work they never did or used thinner lead ( the workmanship is covered above) for example then that is fraud! .. you can use other words but it's the same... a rip off. Often in a dispute with builders I'll lead them down a path where they drop themselves in a hole! I then point out.. never mind you workmanship.. here is where I've caught you thieving from my Client as you have charged them for something you never installed. You then go back and link what should have been installed to comply with the above standards. You catch them both ways. Then if you catch them doing something dangerous SE wise, threaten staturtory breach of the HSE regs and all sorts. A good example here is where the roof can be comromised by additional moisture content that impacts on the structural integrity. The timbers in the roof wil have been designed for a certain level of moisture content.. more moisture causes extra deflection / timber creep and so on.They may have compromised the ventilation to the roof.. as structural issue! Once you go to town.. you see? There may be some milaege in this for you. But make sure you get all you ducks in a row before you level any accusations. A lot of what I say above is an example of how you can put together a case. Don't panic but please monitor your roof for some of the things I mention. This may help you bring them back to the table to fix things. Don't lay it on too thick at the start.. give them enough rope to hang themselves on. At the end of the day they may walk away but at least you'll know you did your best. It's not your fault you are having a hard time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 On a similar theme, a nephew of mine got a roofer to repair a leak but found extensive rot and a quote for £20k for a new cut roof. Said roofer has done good work for my nephew before and he took my nephew up on the scaffold to show him the extensive damage he found. As my nephew knows nothing of building and prices he contacted me. Knowing the size of the roof and lead work etc required I think it was a reasonable quote. On top of this the roofer could do the work immediately (before winter sets in) and has a good reputation locally and with my nephew. It can be a nightmare out there regarding trades people and when I was working ALL my work was from recommendations which IMO is the best way to pick trades people. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 11 minutes ago, joe90 said: I was working ALL my work was from recommendations which IMO is the best way to pick trades people. Agree. I have a list of builders that I am ok.. ish to recommend. None however are perfect.. mind you neither am I! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted November 8 Share Posted November 8 I am not sure why the OP thinks they have been scammed. Other than the chimney pointing - which they have agreed to remedy - it sounds like they did what they said they would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagsy Posted November 8 Author Share Posted November 8 4 hours ago, Mr Punter said: I am not sure why the OP thinks they have been scammed. Other than the chimney pointing - which they have agreed to remedy - it sounds like they did what they said they would. Thanks to all who have responsed, much appreciated. To clarify, I was quoted £550 for them to fix the flashing round the waste pipe, repoint the chimney and re-set a few ridge tiles and slates. After they discovered the ridge tiles and beam were damaged, they re-quoted me £2700, which I paid after they urged me to transfer the money before the close of business that day, without me having inspected the work. When they had finished, they said they had capped and re-flaunched the chimney "for free", although I had not requested this work specifically. That means it was an extra £2150 to support the roof beam and re-felt and batten a 4mx6m section. I wondered if this is a reasonable price? Also, after trying to research them a bit more in-depth, it seems like they may be using the company name and logo of another roofing company, which seems fairly dodgy, and they don't appear to have their own website or anything. I just have a bit of an off feeling about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted November 8 Share Posted November 8 The quote of £550 sounds fair. They probably thought half a day for 2 people. The £2700 really sounds a lot but I am not sure what you can do if you agreed and paid. Scallies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 8 Share Posted November 8 So what is this Bagshot, apart from a place up country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagsy Posted November 9 Author Share Posted November 9 23 hours ago, SteamyTea said: So what is this Bagshot, apart from a place up country. Who knows! Tried googling it with no luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 9 Share Posted November 9 15 minutes ago, Kagsy said: Who knows! Tried googling it with no luck! Tell then it is OK as you have a Ventongimp in place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagsy Posted November 10 Author Share Posted November 10 Well, they promised me they would come and re-point the chimney stack yesterday... I waited in all day and lo and behold, no show! When I messaged asking about it, I was given some spiel about someone being taken ill and rushed to hospital. Maybe it was true, but my gut says this lot may be blagging it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted November 10 Share Posted November 10 If you think it was fraud, it may come under criminal law now, rather than just a civil dispute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now