Should I use these roofers?

[JellyLlama]

My roof will need replacing at some stage and the chimney looks cracked, although nothing is leaking. I had a few roofers/builders round to quote for various repairs when I moved in two years ago. None suggested I needed a new roof.

One of my neighbours has had some external work including painting their house and repairing the roof. My next door neighbour then used them for a new roof and painting. Both are happy with the work.

The builders/roofers are currently putting a new roof on the neighbour's house opposite, and I'm paying them to sort out my drive, which is more pressing than the roof. They've done all the work without delay, going from one job to the other (red flag that they're available?) and are extremely hardworking, doing the job for me with far more diligence than I'd expected.

A couple of weeks ago, the boss quoted me £10k to replace the front of my slate roof, all in, and repair the chimney. I said I wouldn't go ahead until next spring. This is partly because it hasn't rained yet and I want to see if my neighbours' roofs withstand the winter.

I spoke to the boss just now and he said if I want the roof done now, he'll do it for £8.5k as they're here and they have the materials. No hard sell. They don't charge anything upfront. I don't know if the company will even be around next year, as they might be travellers and could be somewhere else.

Part of me wants to go for it, as it's such a faff getting tradespeople these days and the prices are so high, which I do understand. My reservation is that I can't see what kind of job they're really doing up there, even if it looks good from the ground (my neighbours' does look good). Even if they give me a guarantee, it's not worth anything if they shut the biz down.

Another consideration is that the neighbour with the new roof said they had terrible trouble making the payment as their bank flat-out refused, saying the company might be dubious, it might be a scam, etc. It took him hours on the phone and a visit to the local branch to convince them, even though the work had already been done. Another red flag.

I'm leaning towards leaving it for now, but I have the money saved and am mindful of rising costs. I'm good at talking myself out of things and then regretting it later, so I'm a bit torn. Thanks for reading! WWYD?

Have you done any other due diligence? Trustpilot, companies house, Google, Facebook etc?

Good call, thanks.

I'd drawn a blank at reviews as there are three companies with online reviews that share the same name, none of which seem to be this one. But a Companies House search shows the reg name is slightly different, and the owner has had three previous roofing companies dissolved in the last nine years, plus there are (good) online reviews for another roofing company where a reviewer referred to him as an owner a couple of years ago.

So I guess all the different companies are a tax dodge and a guarantee is worthless. They appear to do a great job but I don't want the roof falling apart if they're not bothered about longevity.

Having had some trouble with a roofing company we chose because they were A) available and B) had worked on some neighbours houses, I'd say stick to your guns and leave it.

It is a pain getting some roofers to even come out and quote but if you go with this company and end up not being happy with the job you'll be kicking yourself you weren't more patient for the sake of £1.5k.

be Very careful here OP, firstly I’d suggest you do a rough work out of the cost of materials; look at the size of your roof that needs replacing, look at the cost of slates, if the chimney needs repointing factor that in too, then factor in the labour costs per hour, and then double the cost you come up with, and that will give you a slight over estimate of the cost of the job. What you don’t want is to be left with a gaping hole in your roof, to then be informed the roofers need more money, then more money, and then even more money for materials. If it’s an entire roof replacement using cheap slates, and only a couple of squared meters then that quote may be accurate, but I’d say it’s on the cheaper side of things. I’d also be wary of their claim ‘having all the materials’ so they have a skip to put the waste materials? They have a few 100 odd slates just floating around….you get my drift! Ideally you want a written break down of estimated costs including skip hire; unless you intend to bag up and dispose of the waste yourself.

Get other quotes as a comparison but if you and your neighbours are happy with the work in general I wouldn't worry about anything else. I've had amazing builders before who were available asap - it happens and doesn't always mean anything.

Don't worry about your bank - my bank blocked an online transaction I made to a builder and asked me to triple check the work before they released the payment. They need to protect their own backs as the bank now needs to pay out in the event of any issues.

It's a bit odd that a roofer also repairs drives.

"So I guess all the different companies are a tax dodge and a guarantee is worthless."

It also means that if you tried to sue the company that did the work a year ago, or they owed you money, they would no longer exist.

Why is he going through limited companies like that? Most legitimate companies just carry on trading, not closing one and opening another on a frequent basis.