We recently bought a flat. The homebuyer’s survey picked up penetrating damp in one of the rooms due to the rendering being taken down to the ground level, which is apparently bad practice. We still liked the property and decided to go ahead with the purchase after knocking down the price quite a bit to compensate for sorting out the damp issue.
We’re new to the area and don’t have local recommendations, so we have had to ask for quotes through Trust a Trader and Check a Trade etc. (I’m aware of the pitfalls of these companies, but don’t really have much choice).
The first person to get back to us said that he would need to come round to check the work to give us a quote (fair), but that he would charge £500 for quoting. My problem is, if we were to get 3 quotes from 3 different companies, we would end up shelling out £1,500 on quotes alone, which doesn’t sound right. We said we’d get back to him.
I’ve never actually had to sort out a damp problem before, so this is all new to me. Is it normal to spend £500 for a quote to sort out damp?