My mum and dad are in their 80s. They live in a pretty standard 4 bed post war semi in the south east. Dad has just told me they are getting some work done on their roof and it's costing £8k, £4k of which is scaffolding. No VAT (more on that later).
They have not had any other quotes. They found the guy on trustatrader and were impressed by his reviews, but my experience of trustatrader has been that they are overpriced chancers whose reviews don't bear any resemblance to the quality of their work. One lot painted our house in the rain and were surprised when it washed off. Lovely guys, not too bright. But maybe I've just been unlucky.
The guy doesn't charge VAT. He said his accountant is pressuring him to do it soon but if my parents book quickly then they'll get it without VAT. This sounds very suspicious, particularly given the VAT threshold is very low, and if this guy has been trading for a number of years as he claims, he should be easily exceeding the VAT threshold.
Dad is personally affronted at my suggestion he should get another quote, I think because it questions his judgment of character. Basically, my dad is a conman's dream.
He says I don't understand how much this stuff costs as I live in the north, which may be a fair point.
I can't ask how much the roofing work should cost as I don't know the full extent of what is being done, but I know it's not a reroof, more a tidy up, moss washed off, some new tiles and chimney pointing. However, given the description of the house and location, does the scaffolding price sound fair?
It's their money and they can spend it how they want but I'm worried they're going to get a rubbish job or someone who discovers "more problems" when up there and demands more money.