Feel like I am being taken for a fool by builders

[GianinaC]

Hi,

We hired a family team of builders to do some renovation work on our house, which I am dealing with as I work from home.

It was to renovate the hallway, fit a kitchen and move the boiler.

We agreed a price, I made it clear there should be no surprises.

Today I was told that renovating the stairs took longer than expected so is an extra £350. Yesterday it was £300 for an extra skip.

He also told me that moving the boiler would need to move pipework in the bathroom. He didn't say it would cost more but I know that's coming.

Should I just bin them off? Or is this normal?

I feel quite upset about it.

I don't want them to start moving pipework and then tell me it's another 350.

The electrican felt just as bad. Told me they didn't quote for wired smoke alarms and it's law I have them.

I live in a victorian house and they are wiring the kitchen. Just not true I need wired smoke alarms by law across the entire house.

What is the best way forward?

What does your written quote say…..I would not be paying for any costs unless they were in my quote …..if they haven’t worked their costs out correctly then that’s their tough luck ,….just refer them to the written quote they gave you for each piece of work

I'm going through something similar at the moment. As a customer I feel trapped as I need the works finished but I feel the builders are holding me for ransom.

We sign a contract expecting the quotes to include all costs (labour and materials). However, each trade seems to come back saying something wasn't accounted for, etc. This won't be allowed in other industries.

I really feel your pain....

Thanks. I couldn't sleep thinking about it. I had other more expensive quotes, which this is going to end up being, if not more.

The further you get into it the messier it gets. But I have woken up today thinking it's my house, my money and I need to do this right.

I am just not the best at challenging people, my OH is even more useless. So it's down to me.

He did provide a written quote, I made it clear I couldn't go over and yet here we are.

A quotation is not the same as an estimate, I believe if it's a quotation you are not contractually obliged to pay any more than is quoted for (perhaps if I'm wrong someone legally qualified can jump in to correct me!). So check whether it's a quote or an estimate.

It happens all of the time, I felt totally ripped off by my last builder and now dread having to have work done. It’s happened to everyone I know who has had building work. I don’t know what the answer is, I guess check your quote carefully and see if you can hold them to that.

First of all do you have a quote or an estimate? If it's a quote you have more leg to stand on as they have quoted you for a job no matter if takes a bit longer than stated etc. However, if it's an estimate then it's just that.

That being said if something unexpected does arise such as someone is painting you room and the plaster starts cracking due to the plastering not being correct then it'll cost more as they need to buy filler which also takes a lot time to put on and sand down etc if that makes sense!

You do need to keep your wits about you though, builders can take the piss.

In my experience no-surprise renovations are rare as hens' teeth. But some things are foreseeable. What out of these extras was foreseeable? Why weren't they included in the quote? Eg moving a boiler means moving pipework, always. So what has he discovered that couldn't be foreseen? And if it was foreseeable then why not in the quote?

If it’s a fixed quote you need nerves of steel and to say it’s on them - don’t pay for more than they’ve done at any stage in case they walk.
I ended up paying £1000s more and getting into debt but every problem that arose cost me - at one point the house was cracking along mortar lines after a bean was put in due to the lack of a lintel - did I want them to put one in? Ludicrous really but you need them to know you haven’t got the budget for extras and want the job at the price you agreed.

What did you write in your list of works and responsibilities for the builder to use when he made the quote?

It's normal for unexpected things to come up and sensible to budget a certain amount for contingencies. We allowed 15% contingency and it ended up coming in at 9%.

How much detail was in the quote and how much couldn't be predicted and how much not enough detail provided?

Eg why did renovating the stairs take longer than expected? Did they find something unexpected whilst doing it? We had one room with nightmare wallpaper to remove which took longer than expected.

Told me they didn't quote for wired smoke alarms and it's law I have them.

Why does this property legally need wired smoke detectors? Are you in the UK?

The work is straight forward and I understand some unforseen extras. Such as last time I did work they uncovered all this 1930's dangerous wiring, so it had to come off.

Part of the to do list was to remove a stud wall and make good. Apparently removing the stud wall took them hours longer than they hoped. Extra £400

So in that regard it's taking the pee right? So it's not unexpected extras and they are not on a day rate. I agreed a price for the entire work and to make it clear if there were any extra costs BEFORE they do it.

Now my alarm bells are screaming at me to stop. They wanted to take down an entire ceiling rather than fix as they suddenly realised it was badly damaged (again extra). So today I got a plasterer to take a look and it doesn't need to come down and is easy to patch and skim.

So I feel like they are taking advantage, which is a shame as they seem so nice. But I feel like a complete idiot.

We had work done and the price included taking away old loft insulation. When the work was finished they refused to take the insulation away as they couldn't dispose of it in their normal place. I paid for the materials used but wouldn't pay their labour until the insulation is taken away. Guess what they took it away. I was fortunate in that the work was completed when the dispute arose.

Unless you have agreed a day rate then they are taking the piss charging extra for a job that’s taken longer than they thought such as the stud wall.

not sure what to advise without a written quote but I’d probably be getting everyone to down tools and have a final written quote for what’s left provided before moving forward.

They should be telling you as soon as they encounter a problem - ours then provided options with different costings. Eg with the stud wall they should have said that they'd found it was made out of x or constructed in such a way it would take longer and then asked for further instruction. If you're in the same building as them there's no excuse for them not doing that!