£25-£150 quotes to replace a slate

Pandrea

I've had three roofers out to give me a quote - partly because I had left a bunch of answerphone messages and they all got back offering to come out - with wildly varying results to replace a broken slate on a (low-ish) extension roof. One slate has obviously fallen off at some point and the previous owner has tried to patch it up with some random, smaller slabs of slate which leave a gap that rain is getting through. We moved in a couple of months ago and found a spare slate in the garden shed which looked like the same kind.
Anyway, prices quoted:
1) £80 to replace that slate and the one above (this guy said the spare slate wouldn't fit), plus fixing some pointing at the side of the roof that he says will need doing soon.
2) £150 to replace that one slate, again says spare won't fit, no mention of pointing. Says it's a 2-man job etc, which seems unlikely.
3) £40 to replace the slate, using the spare slate. I told this guy to go ahead and he actually ended up taking £25 instead as it was all the cash I had in the house at the time (guess he didn't want to declare a cheque). The spare slate seems to have fitted fine and has been fixed on with silicone, took about four minutes.
So, my question is: were the first two quotes just pushing their luck, have I saved unnecessary expense? Or is the £25 a false economy which may not have been done properly? I figured that in the circumstances it was worth a punt, but never had roofing work done before so not sure.

andyhop

The £25 guy is no tradesman

Silicone should not have been used and will fail

Tom_Jones

Hope you gave the guy's horse an apple :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

jrrowleyws

Have to agree, fixing tiles with silicone? Wow...

Unless the tile is in the bathroom, then maybe it was the best option? lol

Pandrea

Hmm, maybe I misheard him then - I was in another room at the time doing something else, so possibly that's not what he said. What would be the right thing to use? He did give me a written guarantee so if it does fail, I'll certainly try getting him back to fix it, he may be a cowboy but worth a try. Thanks.

iamcornholio

andyhop wrote: »

Silicone should not have been used and will fail

It may fail in about 30 years if he has done it well.

Nothing wrong with £25 cash for a quick 5 minutes work on the way home

Consider ..... the guy who quoted £150 may just as likely used silicone too.

andyhop

iamcornholio wrote: »

It may fail in about 30 years if he has done it well.

Nothing wrong with £25 cash for a quick 5 minutes work on the way home

Consider ..... the guy who quoted £150 may just as likely used silicone too.

Some of us take pride in our work and are not interested in making a quick buck

iamcornholio

andyhop wrote: »

Some of us take pride in our work and are not interested in making a quick buck

That's fine

But from a customers perspective, why should they pay £140 for a job when a £25 job will be just as effective?

And from a builder/roofers perspective, why should they charge £140 when they could charge £25 for a job with the same end result?

In context, this is one slate on a low extension roof. Not a major job.

My view, is that the builder/roofer should explain what he will do (either slate hook, renail or silicone) and then explain the merits of either, then then give a price for one or the other method.

If the £25 guy has explained what the OP will be getting for the [cheap] price then he has provided just as good a service as the other two, and his repair will last a very long time

Giving options, and doing a job cheaper where possible is part of being a good tradesman and having pride in ones work

andyhop

iamcornholio wrote: »

That's fine

But from a customers perspective, why should they pay £140 for a job when a £25 job will be just as effective?

And from a builder/roofers perspective, why should they charge £140 when they could charge £25 for a job with the same end result?

In context, this is one slate on a low extension roof. Not a major job.

My view, is that the builder/roofer should explain what he will do (either slate hook, renail or silicone) and then explain the merits of either, then then give a price for one or the other method.

If the £25 guy has explained what the OP will be getting for the [cheap] price then he has provided just as good a service as the other two, and his repair will last a very long time

Giving options, and doing a job cheaper where possible is part of being a good tradesman and having pride in ones work

I would rather pay a premium to know that the job had been done correctly but a skilled tradesman

Silicone is not designed to stick tiles...Jobs a bodge

iamcornholio

andyhop wrote: »

Silicone is not designed to stick tiles...Jobs a bodge

On the contrary, modern silicone adhesives are more than capable of matching mechanical fixings - and are routinely used to fix large construction panels and glazing. So a single slate is no problem

Just try and pull off a slate or tile stuck down with something from Siroflex or Dow

andyhop

iamcornholio wrote: »

On the contrary, modern silicone adhesives are more than capable of matching mechanical fixings - and are routinely used to fix large construction panels and glazing. So a single slate is no problem

Just try and pull off a slate or tile stuck down with something from Siroflex or Dow

Yes but a £25 cowboy wont use premium grade silicone, Nor have i every seen silicone used to fix glass or panels without the use of mechancal fixings

Have to agree to disagree!!