has anyone used peter cox damp/timber specialists before????

bella1985

Hello!

I've found a house I like, had the survey done and its come back with damp problems. The vendors say there is a DPC guarantee in place (done by their friend!) So said this guy will come back to 'fix' it.

Obviously I'm sceptical about this! I want to get someone in to give me their opinion re the damp prob and to inspect the timbers (as rec by the HB report)

I've looked on the internet and found peter cox- a national org. They've said they can come out, have a look re work to be done and do a report for 70 plus VAT. Has anyone had any experience with them???

And does anyone have any suggestions re this friend doing the work. I want to say don't bother cause I'd rather get it done myself so I have a contract with someone I've employed (rather than this friend who I don't think I will have any come back with). Is that unreasonable tho? Obviously my thought with this is to use the quote I get to renegotiate the price.

Thanks in advance

A stressed FTB!

princessamy86

Yes I used them in Preston when we found out off our survey that the wall ties would need replacing. Same situation as you: £70 plus VAT for the survey, which they then reduced the final bill by. They were great, no problems with the work and we got a 25 year guarantee. Obviously that's a bit different to DPC, but I found they were really good to deal with and didn't mind answering my slightly stupid first time buyer type questions.

bella1985

That's great thanks! Did you manage to renegotiate the asking price? Just wondering what to expect- ie. Is It reasonable to ask for the whole cost/how likely that is!!

princessamy86

Yes I re-negotiated the whole cost of the work which was £1500, it's definitely worth asking about. Would you still want the house if they wouldn't drop the price to reflect the work? Could you still afford to get the work done? The bottom line is whether or not you would walk away from the purchase, because I'm assuming you've already paid out for a survey and it's another lost £70 on top of that if you get this report done.

bella1985

I would hope they would drop the price to reflect the work- I'm a ftb and ready to go and I know they are keen to move asap as they want to be cash buyers. They've already said we can come to some arrangement depending what the survey throws up.

i like the house and this is the only thing I'm not happy with so I want to understand the problem/how much it'll cost to fix.for peace of mind I need to get this done, but am just hoping it'll be a good bargaining tool too if work needs doing.

If they don't budge- think it'd have to depend on what the cost was! I guess I just have to hope they don't want to lose the sale!

David_Aldred

Hi Bella,
I think you raised the same damp issues under a different thread.

Peter Cox are a Nationwide company the same as Rentokill and Timberwise so if there are issues later on they, like these other companies are all less likely to have gone bust than joe bloggs builder though this is no guarantee and a few of these nationwide companies have done subtle name changes over the years which can effect chances of a later claim.

You might wish to be very clear in writing about what your instructions to these contractors are, for example are they to look at damp throughout or specifically just failure of a damp proof course. My experience of them is that they do, like any company or self employed contractor sometimes make mistakes with their diagnosis and sometimes their workmanship can be at fault but with a little prompting (sometimes a lot of prompting) they can usually be brought back to put things right given that they often wish to maintain their reputation / avoid being pulled through the courts.

Sometimes due to their overheads the nationals rates can be dearer than the one man band contractor as you might expect but you tend to get what you pay for in terms of service. One thing to be aware of is sometimes the nationals will recommend injection only of a chemical dpc and to have a look at the plaster some time in the future to see if it needs to come off. Often this is a way of reducing costs so the quote appears more competitive to say joe bloggs builder in the first instance but is dearer in the long term. Leaving plaster on an area of a wall suffering true rising damp is nonsence really as the chemical injection system relies upon the plaster to hold back salts and dampness that will continue to rise up through the wall due to inherent limitations of the chemical dpc system.

If the plaster is not contaminated with ground salts so they are saying it did not need to come off then it is unlikely that true rising damp was actually occurring in the first place. Hope this helps kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

littlesnuggy

David_Aldred wrote: »

Hi Bella,
I think you raised the same damp issues under a different thread.

Peter Cox are a Nationwide company the same as Rentokill and Timberwise so if there are issues later on they, like these other companies are all less likely to have gone bust than joe bloggs builder though this is no guarantee and a few of these nationwide companies have done subtle name changes over the years which can effect chances of a later claim.

If you're referring to who I think you are, then the change of name was purely a re-brand for marketing purposes and had no effect whatsoever on the honouring of earlier guarantees.

OP - the fee they're charging sounds pretty standard to me, and I think it's usual practice that they will deduct this from the cost of any subsequent works if found necessary and you go ahead with them.

bella1985

David_Aldred wrote: »

Hi Bella,
I think you raised the same damp issues under a different thread.

Peter Cox are a Nationwide company the same as Rentokill and Timberwise so if there are issues later on they, like these other companies are all less likely to have gone bust than joe bloggs builder though this is no guarantee and a few of these nationwide companies have done subtle name changes over the years which can effect chances of a later claim.

You might wish to be very clear in writing about what your instructions to these contractors are, for example are they to look at damp throughout or specifically just failure of a damp proof course. My experience of them is that they do, like any company or self employed contractor sometimes make mistakes with their diagnosis and sometimes their workmanship can be at fault but with a little prompting (sometimes a lot of prompting) they can usually be brought back to put things right given that they often wish to maintain their reputation / avoid being pulled through the courts.

Sometimes due to their overheads the nationals rates can be dearer than the one man band contractor as you might expect but you tend to get what you pay for in terms of service. One thing to be aware of is sometimes the nationals will recommend injection only of a chemical dpc and to have a look at the plaster some time in the future to see if it needs to come off. Often this is a way of reducing costs so the quote appears more competitive to say joe bloggs builder in the first instance but is dearer in the long term. Leaving plaster on an area of a wall suffering true rising damp is nonsence really as the chemical injection system relies upon the plaster to hold back salts and dampness that will continue to rise up through the wall due to inherent limitations of the chemical dpc system.

If the plaster is not contaminated with ground salts so they are saying it did not need to come off then it is unlikely that true rising damp was actually occurring in the first place. Hope this helps kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

It is me (again!) I tried to ring an independent from the website you suggested but there were none in my area so I asked around and I was told using a national company means you are likely to have more comeback.

Thank you for all your advice - you have been so very helpful.

moneyuser

I had them out 2 years ago, although I didn't pay them £70. I was a bit naive and they came out to sell a DPC and that;s what they did. I still have problems with damp patches now. I was going to get an independent report done to find the cause of my problem but I haven't found one less than £300 so £70 seems a bit cheap for a proper damp report.

If I could go back I would get an independent report done and I would've probably save 100's. Think careully before getting a company in that just wants to sell you a DPC.

bella1985

My thought was to get this report done so I get a quote for what they think needs doing, which I can then when I discuss it with the the vendors. The vendors have also had someone in to give them their opinion on what needs doing (their trusty friend!). I was going to compare the 2 to see how different they are and then (try!) to renegotiate the price based on what work needs to be done.

I am reluctant to pay for a survey to be done at £300 and then if it says I need work doing, then having to pay for a quote on top of that (which seems to be the case with most companies as I am not the homeowner). I'm trying to manage my expenses as i've already racked up a substantial amount already!

I know an independent report would be better but at this stage I am trying to see what level of work they think needs doing and get a quote, rather than actually having the work done.

I feel like I'm going round in circles with this, as you can probably tell!!

David_Aldred

Hi Bella,
The independent report should cost you a lot less than £300 based on the rates that I would deem reasonable for such a service local to me and the independent should be able to provide budget costings sufficient for your mortgage provider and for you to be able to negotiate with the vendor on price on a number of issues other than simple dpc issues because they should look at the house as a whole and therefore the costings are likely to be more wide ranging than a dpc contractor looking to simply sell another dpc that may or may not be justified. Having said that if you cannot afford the independents rates you will have to settle for having a contractor look at the property knowing the limitations of the latter as already discussed. The bottom line is you pay your money and you takes your choice but as moneyuser quite rightly points out be mindful of the long term consequences of which way you jump. Kindest regards, David