Garage flat roof replacement

NikkiC_3

Last year, I got a few quotes for replacing the corrugated cemented roof over my attached garage on my semi-detatched house. It's 5m x 2.5m. It was explained to them that the garage was going to be used as a dry workshop. One quote was £1500 inc VAT and another £1625 plus VAT.

I asked a third building company to match the lower £1500 inc VAT. They matched the £1500, but I was mislead into believing it included VAT as the written quote made no mention of VAT. This lead to me paying by cash to make it a competitive quote again.

The actual work undertaken by these builders was the installation of joists and OSB decking. One single layer of felt stuck directly to the decking primed with a black paint. The felt upstands were simply stuck to the wall with mastic adhesive and were not tucked into a chase. I was promised that this was the way it's done now. The roof started leaking with 7 days.

What could or should have I got for £1500 plus VAT? Their quote simply says remove old roof, replace joists and install ply and felt roof. They never consulted with me beforehand that they were going to install a roof more appropriate for a shed.

I rang one of the builders who gave me one of the other quotes, £1500 inc VAT, and they said they would have installed the same joists and decking, but placed down three layers of felt and lead flashing all around.

My surveyor says the roof is inadequate for a dry garage workshop. It needs three layers of felt and flashing all around.

Did I get what I paid for or have I been conned?

Thanks in advance!

lincroft1710

For that money 3 layers of felt.

NikkiC_3

lincroft1710 wrote: »

For that money 3 layers of felt.

That answer really provides some relief. I want the same builders to come back to rip off the cap sheet and install 3 layers of felt as prescribed by the surveyor. I don't want to appear unreasonable, because it may end up in court. If 3 layers is reasonable for that money then the builders will know that they won't be able to win in court and will fulfill my demands.

Alias_Omega

I would get them back,and explain your concern to them.

Take some pictures, upload them into photobucket and post them up here, another forum you can use is (www.diynot.com) which has some builders on there etc.

I would get them back to the site, tell them your unsure / unhappy about something on the phone. When they come around, point out that its leaking and you think its not right. See what they have to say. I would not quote "x, y, z yet" but tell them your surveyor was unhappy about it and wondering what they would do about it.

They will probably say, "you never told us about this, you never said you wanted this, it will cost £XXX extra", which in reality is what you may of paid in the first place.

Let us know how you get on, would be interesting to look at the pictures, and show others too.

Regards,

Alias

NikkiC_3

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Take some pictures

Some photos...
http://www.garageprojects.net/Garage/

It's very difficult to get an honest opinion from these builders. They have already told me countless untruths which have been corroborated by my surveyor. My opinion is don't ask them for any suggestions as they will most likely choose the one that entails least work. For example, they said that lead flashing or equavalent is installed very rarely on domestic buildings and it's just not done thse days. I have the whole conversation digitally recorded. It's pure comedy.

They did complete other work, as you can see from the photos. All of that work is also unsatisfactory. The case against them for that work is ironclad. It's just the roof. The issue is that they asked me how much I was being quoted by other roofer/builders. I gave them the best quote. They matched it. I could have given them an arbitrary quote to match, £3000 let's say, and they would have probably given me the same shoddy roof. They matched the quote, but not the value. Of course, they didn't ask what they were matching in detail. I simply presumed a set standard for the type of building.

All qualified roofers I've received a quote from detail the three layers and lead flashing or equavalent. Unfortunately, it's the disreputable builder or roofer that will fully exploit ambiguities in a quote so that they fulfil a legal minimum.

Alias_Omega

The whole lot just isnt right, its just shocking.

I thought the drain pipe was a quality finish though, even a diy attempt would of gone with maybe a flexible join & 2 dubilee clips to keep it in place.

By the quality of the other work, its clear there not very good at the job, and any future work wont be up to the correct standard.

I hope you havent paid them in full, or made any payment towards the work.

Good luck,

Alias