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Original poster

Builder dispute

24 replies

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 22:33

I had a leak in my loft and contacted a roofer who came round and quote £1400 to repair the flashing, replace approx 20 broken tiles and repair the broken cement. As the job progressed there were more issues with the roof than anticipated and half the roof has been replaced with new felt and wooden battens. It's a 3 bed terraced house. However there was a misunderstanding between us and I thought the prices he was quoting for each additional job was the new total price and he says it was for each job so the cumulative total is significantly more than I anticipated. The job was initially £1400 and I thought the total came to £7000 whereas he says it is £18000. I could barely afford the £7000, and have already had to borrow for that. I think the £17,000 is ridiculous and would never have agreed to the work if I thought that was the price. £7,000 is my savings for a year and I literally don't have any more. What do I do? Can I refuse to pay more than what I thought it would be? They've basically finished now.

OP posts:

parietal · 11/10/2023 22:38

do either of you have anything in writing with quotes / agreements?

how many days was the work? and how much extra materials? if £1400 was 2 days work, did the £18,000 take 20 days work or need that much more materials?

AnOldCynic · 11/10/2023 22:43

£18k seems an awful lot for half a roof.

Can you get another roofer to quote for what would have been a complete roof replacement and go from there?

Aerin1999 · 11/10/2023 22:43

Does he have a paper trail of you agreeing each new element?

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 22:44

Nothing in writing. £1400 was for 1 day labour, some cement and redoing flashing with approx 20 tiles. they have completed the whole job in 3 days. About £5000 in materials they said (wooden battens, felt lining, redo the gulley's and new tiles).

I think the new quote is unreasonable, but can I just pay £7000? Or can they take me to small claims court?

OP posts:

anon0007 · 11/10/2023 22:44

£18K for 1/2 a roof?! The builders a chancer.

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 22:45

No paper trail, all done on the phone as I am in Dublin for the week with work but live in London

OP posts:

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 22:47

Yes I would never have agreed to £18,000. I thought £7k was on the high side anyway but just wanted it sorted! But have I inadvertently agreed to paying this?

OP posts:

mondaytosunday · 11/10/2023 22:54

Ask to see receipts and breakdown of labour costs. Scaffolding? If he didn't use it then that's a huge red flag right there as I'm sure it's required by health and safely.

NotABeliever · 11/10/2023 23:02

I think he's taking the piss. I wouldn't pay it and if he sues you, you can defend the claim. You need to be confident and unwavering though!

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 23:08

Thanks, that's my feeling. I think the price is mad. I need to make sure they've actually finished the job to a reasonable level. They can't remove the tiles and piss off can they?!

OP posts:

PlipPlopChoo · 11/10/2023 23:10

How did you get their details?
Where has the £18k bill come from?

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 23:16

£1400 initial repairs
£3900 refelting
£6000 replacing wooden battens
£8000 redoing tiles (they knocked this down to £7k)

I thought this was the new total each time, not individual costing as those prices are ridiculous and I would never have agreed to it otherwise

OP posts:

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 23:16

I got their details through checkatrade and google

OP posts:

DaleksAreTinCans · 11/10/2023 23:20

Doesn't sound at all right.

And I'd be worried they'd take materials away from the roof because I've read about some petty builders doing this before.

This is the exact reason I panic about getting anyone out to do work. Because if it isn't the amount in expecting, I won't have more to give them.

NeverWornACropTop · 11/10/2023 23:25

I had a whole new roof on the house (3 bed detached) and garage last year for £11,000.
Can you get a new company out to get them to say what they think it should realistically cost, then go to trading standards?

PlipPlopChoo · 11/10/2023 23:32

I got their details through checkatrade and google

I know this is too late now but get traders from word of mouth every time. Review sites cannot be trusted.

WaxhamSeals · 11/10/2023 23:41

We paid about £15k for our whole house to be reroofed last year. 4 bed large semi.

Scaffolding, all tiles removed and battens, then replaced with a membrane and some new roof/ridge tiles. Some extra insulation added. All gutters and down pipes and barge boards/soffits repainted.
Not London though, and with a proper itemised quote beforehand

KievLoverTwo · 12/10/2023 00:40

AllyPally47 · 11/10/2023 22:44

I think the new quote is unreasonable, but can I just pay £7000? Or can they take me to small claims court?

Of course they can take you to small claims, but the burden of proof will be on them to show you agreed to 18k.

They will have to show written quotes that you acknowledged and agreed to.

They will have to prove the cost of materials plus labour equal 18k.

Once a court sees your savings are only 7k they'll find it hard to believe you ever agreed to it in the first place.

QueenCamilla · 13/10/2023 18:02

You poor thing.
Please don't pay, nor feel like you have to.
They are thieving, scamming criminals and will absolutely have no recourse to take you to court.
Even the initial job should have been no more than a few hundred (and there should be no cement on a Victorian roof if I want to be petty particular but lead).

I had three quarters of my 3 bed Victorian roof completely redone, plus anything broken over the extension part, chimney re-leaded&repointed, all new gutters and downpipes everywhere, some structural timbers strengthened, scaffolding front and back - all of that for 5.7k. The guys were here for best of 2 weeks.

I did have to go through a couple of cowboys and I literally cried a few times before I found someone decent. I feel your pain.

clarrylove · 13/10/2023 18:20

To replace more than 25% of your roof, you need building control involved. Did they do this? This might be a way out of the overcharging.

nc14 · 13/10/2023 19:32

What a horrible situation. Have you paid a deposit? If I were you I’d pay the £7k and wait for them to file a claim at small claims court. I suspect they won’t. The only risk is as you say they decide to dismantle the roof, but I think in this case you could call the police as they’d be causing criminal damage/ trespassing (although I’m no expert in this area). The police won’t be interested in their claims that you owe them money as that’s a civil matter.

Original poster

AllyPally47 · 14/10/2023 07:02

Thanks everyone. I've paid £7k and am not going to pay a penny more. I was really worried it actually was £17k worth of work and I would be screwed but your messages have made me feel a lot better. They've finished the job and I'm going to get my dad's friend who is a retired roofer to come and check all the work. You've all been very helpful and have saved me a shit load of money and stress. So thank you all for taking the time to reply it really has made such a difference for me ♥️♥️♥️

OP posts:

Runninghappy · 14/10/2023 07:21

I can’t say whether this is right or not, but the only thing I would say as someone who has built 3 new builds, prices are very high at the moment and only yesterday was talking to a developer and he said that his builds are costing double what they were last year. I can’t see it with the build I’m currently doing, so wouldn’t compare with posters quoting previous prices. Hope you get it sorted.

Intriguedbythis · 14/10/2023 07:45

I had a builder do this to me. It was even worse as was a family friend. He was building a structure in my garden quoted 3,000£ but when work underway it went up to 5,000 which I was ok with ( very much on the expensive side as I had the materials for it but I was imagining a beautiful job) whilst building he began suggesting a few things he could do. ie, shall I dig a hole there for this, shall I clear that area there ( not big structure jobs relatively small labour type jobs ) he even dug a huge hole with a digger one day to show me I could have a natural lake ( did not ask for this and did not want one at all as have small DC and pets) and then has to waste a day to fill in.

long story short, I was presented with a bill of 15,000£ for unquoted jobs that he causally pointed out in passing ( not needing new materials just labour and tools) I was EXTREMELY unhappy with it and still don’t fully understand how he got to that huge figure or even how he would have thought I just had that lying around.

Ended up paying two thirds purely as old family friend. Very unhappy about it and will not use hIm for our added renovation next year ( actual renovation not a fe
w renovation random jobs in the garden) which would have been a job of at least 150,000£ so more fool him.

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