Howwww much for French doors?!?!

[Compash]

AIBU to let out a few salty words when getting a quote for ordinary white uPVC French doors and being told £3,000?! 😱

Is this what they are now (in S Wales)? We were asking around before covid and getting quotes of half that - I suppose it's our own fool fault for not acting then...

I take my hat off to people who renovate lovely old Victorian and Edwardian houses, they must have balls of steel... I thought a 1980ish house wouldn't have so much remedial work, but oh, it do, it do...

And we're not even trying to make a likkle palace of it - this is just fixing things and basic maintenance. My auntie always says darkly: 'A house will rob yew...'. 👵

@Compash it was a big space to fill. Never ever having bi-fold or patio doors again, as a PP said, you need superhuman strength to close the buggers when they start to deteriorate, especially if the handle breaks too. Oh, and not to forget how much it hurts when your lovely other half slides the door too quickly and your fingers get trapped. Such fun!

Ouuuuch, that happened to you?! I bet you had some choice words to say... hope you weren't badly hurt!

Anyway, we got a second quote of £1,800 (though they'd want half up front - is that normal?)

A third company hasn't bothered to get back to us... we'll find one more quote but don't suppose we'll get much lower...

Yours look lovely though, @FloydWasACat ... (I'm also curious to know if Floyd was indeed a cat?) 😻

If it's pay for labour upfront I'd just look for someone else to do the job. Far too risky. Be wary, especially if they are considerably cheaper than all other quotes as this would be red flags for cowboys.

However I think it is not unusual to pay for the materials/goods upfront (ensuring they are delivered to the site). That way if the firm went under or tried to do a runner I'd have everything I'd paid for iyswim.

I've done it this way all throughout our home renovation and it has never been a problem so far with any tradesperson. A lot of smaller sole traders etc may not have the cash flow to pay for all materials out of pocket.

@Compash Thank you. Floyd was indeed a cat!😃

We paid a deposit of around £1500. We'll, I say 'we', I actually mean my Mum, according to her it's my inheritance getting spent, I wasn't going to complain!

And yes, it hurt like hell, bruised and blackened fingers and nails, luckily it was my left hand. As I said, bi-fold/sliding doors - never again!

Your experience is my lesson... thank you for your service... 😄

Ive got a set of wooden bi folds in my kitchen that are starting to rot and will need replacing...I use a local guy who is really reasonable....he is not Fensa registered but i dont care...I used him for my last house and when i sold it i just paid for an indemnity insurance for the windows.

I didn't even think of FENSA registration... will check that out.

We've now had two quotes for £3k and two for £1.5k. I wonder how they can be so different? Am I missing something? They seem to be similar set ups, with little showrooms... Anyway, will check the FENSA thing and choose between the two cheapies...

It’s worth the money. Mine are open right now with the sun shining in.

We’re having our French doors out - the Georgian bars match no other windows in the house. We’ve chosen lift and slide patio doors which are very easy to move. Both doors will slide so various combinations of opening available.
They’re a tad over £6k and we’ve paid a deposit of 1/3

@caramac04 ha, we need French doors with Georgian bars to match all the windows! 😄 The various combo sounds good, and I'd guess you have a bigger space than us. Hope they're lush!

You are all BU for calling them French doors - they're French windows (misses point of thread gets coat)