Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU - not paying the roofer?

151 replies

Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 19:31

I have a leak coming in through the roof. I called a roofer last Thursday to come and have a look. He said it could be some mortar that needs re-doing or it could be due to a small gap that he found.

He decided it was best to start with filling in the small gap to see if that was the issue (using no-nonsense roof silicone, so nothing expensive). We agreed on a price of £100 to be paid via Bank transfer. He sent me his bank details a few hours later, but that same evening, it started raining and the leak was still present.

I didn't pay him but messaged him the following morning to let him know that the leak is still present and if I could get a quote for having the mortar re-done in that area, as that was the other thing that the roofer thought might be causing the leak. He said he can re-do the mortar in March, but won't give me a quote for it (or a definite date) and keeps messaging me asking for the £100 for filling in a gap, which didn't even fix the leak!

AIBU to not pay him the £100?

OP posts:
Original poster
Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:01

All those people telling me to pay him - I called him out to fix a leak, he didn't fix it. I didn't call him out to inspect my roof for the fun of it and fill in random small gaps (that he could just have been making up).

He had no call out charge. Part of me thinks he just made up the small gap, so that he could make some money out of me.

What if I pay him now and he doesn't turn up in March to re-do the mortar? What if I pay him 100's more to re-do the mortar and the leak is still there?

His job was to fix the leak and it was him who said filling in the 'gap' would most likely make the leak stop. If he had told me that the 'gap' is not the issue, its the mortar, I would have told him to leave the gap and just go straight to redoing the mortar.

OP posts:
Notjusta · 18/01/2023 20:02

Imagine your boss says to you "Hey Advice, I've got this problem, can you try to fix it please?" You come up with two possible solutions and agree with your boss which you will try first. You implement the solution but it doesn't work. Your boss then refuses to pay you for the time you spent implementing the solution. Ok or not ok?

Notjusta · 18/01/2023 20:03

Although I do agree his silicone solution was shit. But you still agreed it so you need to pay him.

Snugglemonkey · 18/01/2023 20:04

You know damn well Yabu! That is why you are getting all defensive. Pay the man.

mcterfald · 18/01/2023 20:05

YABU.

NoSquirrels · 18/01/2023 20:05

Ah, FFS, OP.

You agreed £100 for a particular course of action, shit or not, fixing the leak or not.

If you don’t trust him get someone else. But you still owe £100.

Have you never done house maintenance or paid tradesmen before?

Original poster
Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:05

He may have given me two possible solutions, but it was him who said to fill in the 'gap' first as that was the most likely cause!!!! He is the 'professional' so who was I to argue and say 'no, the mortar is the likely cause of the leak'!

OP posts:
Coffeellama · 18/01/2023 20:06

You agreed to the charge, new it wasn’t 100% that causing the leak, he did the job and you owe him the money. Simple.

PorpoiseWithPurpose · 18/01/2023 20:06

Pay the tradesperson you absolute cheapskate.

FamousPrincess · 18/01/2023 20:06

Dear OP
I am no fan of most roofers as most are cowboys around where we live.
However, you agreed a price, he/she did the job, so rather than waste time here, pay him/her.
Job done, well, sort of.
Roofing, paving, a pain for most people

Coffeellama · 18/01/2023 20:06

Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:05

He may have given me two possible solutions, but it was him who said to fill in the 'gap' first as that was the most likely cause!!!! He is the 'professional' so who was I to argue and say 'no, the mortar is the likely cause of the leak'!

It was a cheaper option that he could do sooner and it could have been that so it was totally worth a shot. You are a CF

NoSquirrels · 18/01/2023 20:07

You are the wrongest of all wrong people right now, OP.

If you wanted belt and braces and a 100% guarantee you should have agreed that with him.

silverclock222 · 18/01/2023 20:08

Most likely =not definitely. 90% = 10% not definitely. Did you say no to him trying? If so don't pay but if you allowed him to do the work at the cost he gave you, you agreed to take the chance. Pay him!

TellMeWhere · 18/01/2023 20:10

Presumably he suggested you try the quickest, cheapest solution first. It didn't work, so now you try option two.

If you don't pay him, he won't quote you. I doubt he'll return anyway if you've said any of what you've said here to him. No doubt you'll decide that you should deduct the £100 from any future work he does.

He's a roofer not a genie. Sometimes these things are trial and error.

Coffeellama · 18/01/2023 20:10

Google says that you cannot legally refuse to pay for works done when you agreed to them. Citizens advice doesn’t even have advice for your CF, just pay the man.

OnaBegonia · 18/01/2023 20:12

The £100 is for the job he has done, not the future job, he won't quote you because you're a nightmare and won't pay up.

Smartiepants79 · 18/01/2023 20:12

Pay up.
You made a choice to try the easiest and cheapest solution.
If he’s a well thought of tradesman (as his reviews suggest) then we would presume that he gave his advice in good faith. You then chose to take the risk.
You could got a second opinion.
You owe him money. Pay him.

NeverTooLateToSing · 18/01/2023 20:13

YABVVU - pay for the work he did do. Leaks are a nightmare to locate and fix. He tried a simple and reasonably cheap fix first, and it looks like it might not have worked. That's just how it goes, sometimes. If you don't pay the £100, he's not going to quote you or return, so your call, really.

But you should pay him.

teachingbean · 18/01/2023 20:14

You really need to pay the man for his time, trouble and effort. If you felt £100 unreasonable for this then you should never have agreed to pay it. Shame on you.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 18/01/2023 20:14

Your options are

A: pay the roofer for the work done and get a quote for the mortar
B: don’t pay the roofer and find a new one to give you a quote. Potentially face collections.

C: complain on MN until your house is ruined

He wasn’t going to do a full roof job when he was there, so you should not have had any expectations that it would be fixed that day.

He had a possible low effort/time solution that might have worked that could be done right there and then. You agreed to it.

Your expectations are wildly out of sync with reality.

Original poster
Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:15

I have just sent him the payment. Hopefully he actually does the mortar repair in March, otherwise back to square one.

I'm am new to this home maintenance joy. There was really no need for some of the horrible words I have been called on this thread.

OP posts:
teachingbean · 18/01/2023 20:16

Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:15

I have just sent him the payment. Hopefully he actually does the mortar repair in March, otherwise back to square one.

I'm am new to this home maintenance joy. There was really no need for some of the horrible words I have been called on this thread.

Houses - a never ending money pit.

Ihatepcos · 18/01/2023 20:16

He hasn't got a crystal ball. He offered you a cheap option that he thought would work, with the choice to have something more expensive done afterwards if it didn't. This is the opposite of what someone who is trying to make money out of you would do.

Pay him the £100 and stop expecting him to use more of his time to quote you for more work when you haven't paid for the first lot.

2thumbs · 18/01/2023 20:18

He’s a roofer, not a wizard! Water ingress can be difficult to diagnose as water has this unhelpful tendency to flow sideways. If replacing the mortar doesn’t work then will you also not pay him for that? If you want a guaranteed solution then replace the whole roof, but it’ll cost slightly more than £100

Original poster
Adviceisneeded1 · 18/01/2023 20:19

teachingbean · 18/01/2023 20:16

Houses - a never ending money pit.

Show quote history

They really are - oh how I wish I could be a kid again!

OP posts: