We paid builders £2.3k to ruin our wall, we asked for some back and now they're asking for more. Any companies that can help us please??

[xkr]

Hi, we were quoted £10k for scaffolding, paint removal and 1 coat of primer/2 coats of paint to our house. We paid the first staged payment of £2.3k up front, they scaffolded one side of the house and spent two half days with a machine that has a '0% damage guarantee' but it ruined the wall and lots of render came off - it looked like a child had scribbled over it. When we asked them if they could fix the wall before proceeding, the builder got aggressive and started making threats that unless we paid an additional £2k by the end of the day, the job could overrun by months, and would cost more money - at this point we decided not to go ahead. I asked (very politely!) if they could either repair the wall, or give us some of the £2.3k back towards repairing it and got a firm no.

We then wrote a letter saying that we believed it was reasonable to pay £700 for one side of the house to be scaffolded, and £500 for two half days of machine cleaning, asking for a refund of £1,100 (and still leaving us out of pocket and with the damaged wall) - they responded with a letter saying that upon reviewing their timesheets and transport details, we now owe them an additional £660 to deliver and collect the scaffolding.

What are our best options going forward please? I'm tempted to try the small claims route, but also wondering if there are any companies we should consider contacting to represent us and put the case forward? At this stage I'd much rather increase our chances of getting something back, rather than getting the full amount. I'm also wondering if we should go for the full £2,300 rather than just the £1,100 we put in the letter.

Thank you

I know you're right, but I feel like they're just going to continue and screw people over. Will speak with my partner tomorrow and make your point, but I have an annoyingly strong dislike of what I perceive to be an 'injustice' and this feels like one to me

It kinda feels like rewarding bad behaviour, if that makes sense

Ah! Good to know, thank you. Shame how it turned out but also good that there were some repercussions and you helped prevent it happening again to others :)

I feel your pain- they're all the same. Just paid over £8K to B&Q for a bathroom renovation where they've created more jobs than fixed. They're absolute arseholes with delicate egos and self-esteem. Chalk this down to experience and move on- save your sanity finding someone decent to finish the job to a high standard.

Don't pay them they were going to charge you way over the odds to damage your property

Get cameras instead

Ahh, so sorry to hear this. But also "They're absolute arseholes with delicate egos and self-esteem" makes me wonder if we used the same people 😂I do see your point about saving our sanity, and moving on, I will think about it overnight. Is that your plan? £8k is an awful lot for a bad job! :(

Thank you, but unfortunately we already paid them the £2.3k, but not the full amount thankfully. Good shout on the cameras, we already have 1 but maybe another one or two isn't a bad idea :/

You are still drip feeding. How long ago did all this happen? Have they sent you a formal invoice ? Are they calling you demanding the money?

The amount she paid already is in the OP, no drip feed.

Really hope you get this sorted OP. I wouldn't be able to let it go either and certainly wouldn't be giving in to their demands.

Why are you so unnecessarily hostile and suspicious?

Not really relevant to the problem but if paint was bubbling there’s water or moisture trapped underneath it which would degrade render underneath that would only be visible when paint removed

the original price does sound reasonable as scaffold and a lot of prep time

Because the first post makes it appear this is a live issue or happened last week.
Since then we see that the wall was repaired ( not re-rendered as the OP said was necessary), the scaffolding removed, rest of the house painted.
A phone call from 6 weeks ago asking for another £600 and no contact since is different from an invoice for the extra in the post.
I think both parties should just drop the matter.

There's no mention of a phone call and she never said they hadn't collected the scaffolding, just that they were charging the extra for the delivery and collection of it.

Thank you! Really appreciate it

Thanks but the problem (as confirmed by all six people who saw it afterwards) was that no primer/stabiliser was used originally, nothing to do with the render.

Go to small claims. It's really quite easy to do. I took a large tech company to small claims over defective headphones and won!
You need all the evidence in a nice bundle

• the quote from builder and any supporting documentation around the no damage guarantee
• photos of damage
• emails/evidence from other expert painters showing that this treatment wasn't necessary and confirming the extent of the damage (you need in writing not just "they said")
• emails showing your attempt to resolve amicably and reasonable offer made
• I doubt they've got evidence for the extra 660? Again was your quote to pay costs or a quotation for the price?

It costs to submit but it's not expensive. I would say once it's gone to court then they are unlikely to take any revenge action as it will clearly ppint the finger at them. Good luck

Sorry yes it was a few months ago now, the idea to try to recover some of the money was given to us by the people who decorated our house afterwards who couldn’t believe what they’d done. I didn’t say that a re-render was necessary, I said that 4 of the 6 decorators/builders we contacted said that they wouldn’t touch it unless we re-rendered it, and the other 2 said they would do their best but that it’d look pretty crap. And it does.

Scaffolding is expensive and I wouldn't expect to be charged or be refunded on a daily rate. How do you know they wouldn't have fixed the damage?

Are you a builder or whatever trade these people were? How do you know it's over the odds? It'll depend on location as well.

Scaffolding is expensive. Where I am you can easily pay £1000 a week.

We received other quotes for just scaffolding, including one for £1,100 for the entire house for 2 weeks. I think £700 for just one side, for two days, is pretty expensive when you compare it to that

How on earth do you remove paint from a wall?!

Scaffolding is a wierd pricing structure. Essentially the cost is to put up and take down. It's not a lot extra to put up "more" or even sometimes to leave for longer.
So I'd say those 2 quotes are fairly comparable

That explains why the old paint needed to be steamed off or mechanically removed.

Nope, we had 6 different decorators look at it afterwards and they all said it didn't need to be steamed off or mechanically removed and they had no idea why they went ahead. Also the two render people who came to quote said the same thing

Either using chemicals or a steam cleaner. Sand blasting works too but it damages the render (hah!)