To think a 3k difference in a estimate is huge!

[missingmum]

Posting for traffic as I'm stressed and don't know a lot about "trades" now I've got 2 quotes over £3,000 differences! More confused than ever.

My house needs a partial re wire, 3 bed terrace with a kitchen extension, all sockets and pendants need changing, spotlights in our kitchen and a fuse box for the garden, switches replaced.

Thought I'd get 2 quotes from tradesmen who were recommended.

Both self employed and experienced with the correct qualifications

one came in at £4,165 + VAT

The other £1360 inc VAT

Both given exactly the same breakdown of works, now I'm worried as it's such a huge difference in quotes, any suggestions as I'm not sure what to do!

Not uncommon I'm afraid, just had my roof repaired, cost me a few grand, one wanted to charge me 12 grand😳told them where to shove it

Get a third quote and compare.

Get a 3rd? The cheaper does seem quite cheap for the works listed

Can you ask them to be honest about why that is?? My guess would be one person is very very busy and doesn't really want the work whereas the other isn't so is keen to get anything confirmed?

I'm freelance and have been known to use inflated prices if I don't really want the added stress of a job

Not sure but 4k plus sound a lot .The only way I could quickly work it out would be £700 labour (a weeks wage) and £400 materials but without knowing the spec thats a Very rough guess.

It depends how desperate they are for work, and the opposite. We’ve had crazy high quotes from people who clearly don’t really want the job, but would do it if the profit was high enough.

I agree with the above, get some more quotes before spending too much...

I agree with pp's. It all depends how much they have on, if they're busy or the job might be a stretch, they'll overprice knowing that if they win the job they'll console themselves with the high profit margin.

Thank you all, I'm so glad I posted.

Funny, as the high quote required me to text him twice chasing a quote, took over a week to email me the estimate

Cheaper guy was same day quote / emailed it within a few hours and very responsive to questions.

I'll get a 3rd like you've all suggested, the house needs new everything but until the electrics and plumbing are sorted it's all on hold - the stress of buying a doer upper 😩

Having just had some much smaller electric work done I'd say that quote is very low, that being said he may be very keen for the work.

I would get a 3rd or even 4th quote and compare.

If I accepted the lower quote I would want a thorough breakdown of what would be included to check there weren't going to be any additional costs added during the works.

@RubyFakeLips

Having just had some much smaller electric work done I'd say that quote is very low, that being said he may be very keen for the work.

I would get a 3rd or even 4th quote and compare.

If I accepted the lower quote I would want a thorough breakdown of what would be included to check there weren't going to be any additional costs added during the works.

Yes I've found another guy who I'm going to call tomorrow, both breakdowns are almost identical.

Both said electrical certification would be issued in completion.

It's just such a huge difference!

It is a significant difference. Have been renovating our house, for what now thanks to lockdown is an eternity. Trades people you have to chase are the fucking worst, that alone would put me off the pricier one.

• £700 per week labour? ... most electricians I know charge £250 a day MINIMUM - so £1,250 a week at the very least ... we are in the South East though

Expensive guy is busy and doesn't need or want the work by the sound of it.

Depends on your location as to which is realistic.

I'd assume the larger cost is from someone who doesn't want the work.

I'm Hertfordshire area.

Once I've got 3rd quote I'll let you know, been really helpful advise.

I'm a building surveyor, my husband is a quantity surveyor. The low one is too low, other is about right in my experience, maybe a touch high but there abouts. Always good to get a third quote though.

Just asked an electrician, he says for what you are stating the 1st is very cheap. But it does depend on exactly what they are doing.
Some try to rely on using parts of the old wiring others will replace it all.
If you can get 2 other quotes do that & maybe ask them what would make it cheaper more expensive as you are getting multiple quotes for comparison.
If you ask both the new ones you might get an idea of where one is adding in or cost cutting

@UggyPow @Sanch1 thank you!

I have had almost the same work done recently which was £1250 and he was highly qualified. Actually paid him £300 extra due to the job turning out to be more complicated. He was very pleased.

@gah2teenagers oooh interesting! Did that include a new consumer unit? Great username btw

Got another guy coming on Tuesday for another quote

Get a third quote. We just had our garden done and the first two quotes were £6,250 and £5,000 which was much more than we wanted to pay.

Got another guy round who came with great recommendations and had done a lot of work similar to what we wanted. I was so worried about what he was going to charge because he seemed so knowledgeable and experienced. He came back at £2,500, did it in a third of the time the other guys quoted and has done an amazing job

@Turnedouttoes wow huge price differences!

Can I ask what you said to the ones you didn't use? Do I tell them I've found someone else, why I didn't use them, I'm worried about this too

@missingmum to be honest I didn’t say anything, they both emailed me the quote and then I never heard from them again. It does make me wonder whether they priced it so high because they didn’t really want the job as they never bothered to chase

They give you a quote and you either accept it or ignore it!

We have an electrician who’s retired, likes to earn pocket money as he has a pension and house all paid for etc.

We also have a plumber round the corner who pops in - cash in hand - on his way home from work for a quick job.

There are ways to cut costs.