Peter Cox / Damp Works - how much can I negotiate and is the price fair?

[Deleted User]

julianashcroft wrote: »

Have a look for a local Sovereign approved contractor who will be able to do the work you require, possibly at lower cost than Peter Cox.

Thanks for your reply but it doesn't really answer my question.

I want to know if anyone has negotiated with a national such as Peter Cox, and if so how did you do it and how many % did you get them down by.

I want Peter Cox to do the work - I just want a better price from them.

Thanks

lisa701

Personally I wouldnt touch Peter Cox. They told me my dining room was riddled with damp, they said there was evidence this had been fixed in the past but failed because the skirting and picture rails had been cut and replaced. They provided me with a quote of £2500 to knock off the plaster on a single wall in that 12 x 12 foot room and replace it.

Seemed pretty excessive to me especially as we could find no signs of damp, we had only been asked to get a damp report by our mortgage company due to the age of our house. I went and got three more quotes from different companies but none of them could find any signs of damp in that or any other room in the house.

Turns out the reason why the skirting and picture rail had been cut and replaced was nothing to do with damp, it was because there had been a fireplace in that corner of the room which had since been removed and left a gap in the skirting and picture rail that was then replaced.

[Deleted User]

lisa701 wrote: »

Personally I wouldnt touch Peter Cox. They told me my dining room was riddled with damp, they said there was evidence this had been fixed in the past but failed because the skirting and picture rails had been cut and replaced. They provided me with a quote of £2500 to knock off the plaster on a single wall in that 12 x 12 foot room and replace it.

Seemed pretty excessive to me especially as we could find no signs of damp, we had only been asked to get a damp report by our mortgage company due to the age of our house. I went and got three more quotes from different companies but none of them could find any signs of damp in that or any other room in the house.

Turns out the reason why the skirting and picture rail had been cut and replaced was nothing to do with damp, it was because there had been a fireplace in that corner of the room which had since been removed and left a gap in the skirting and picture rail that was then replaced.

Thanks for your insight.

Before I bought the house, I had an independent surveyor compile a report for me, so I do know that the work Peter Cox have quoted me for is necessary. The only exception to that is that my surveyor said there was no evidence of rising damp, so he questioned whether it was necessary to get a retrospective DPC put in. He did, however, suggest that seeing as I need all the other work done, it might be a sensible precaution. The value of that work is only £950 from Peter Cox, so seeing as it's minute in comparison to the rest, I would like to get it done just to be on the safe side.

If anyone else has any experience with Peter Cox and the quality of their work, I'd like to hear it.

I know it's all pre-sales patter, but they are the only company I feel confident giving the job to - their report was also quite detailed and pretty much matched my surveyors report in terms of what action is required.

Thanks

laptop80

I couldn't tell you how much a lot of this work would or should cost, but is the quote itemised?

The reason I ask is that a lot of the stuff on there, e.g. floorboards, door frames and plastering might not be things that a specialist damp proofing company will give you the best price on. The example of the NHS buying breakfast cereals at £10 a box from a medical supplies company rather than £2 from the supermarket comes to mind.

If you could get some of the work done by ordinary tradesmen and just leave the damp proofing bits to the experts you might be able to save something.

- Replace 6 wooden lintels with concrete Builder
- Rip up all floor boards Joiner (or do it yourself - not a hard job)
- Viqueen/Concrete solum
- Lay new floor boards (cheap ones - chip board?) Joiner
- Spray timbers around house and in loft (Spraying chemicals not exactly rocket science, maybe do it yourself if safe to do so?)
- Remove dry rot and wet rot growth from a few walls
- Replace a few door frames Joiner
- Inject window frames and new back door frame
- Plaster two entire walls (about 15ft by 10ft in total) Plasterer
- Some ceiling plaster repairs Plasterer

£31,000 seems like a ridiculous amount of money to me, but as I say, I'm no expert on damp proofing.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for your reply laptop80 but I have contracted the work now.

For anyone who is reading this in the future and wants to know the answer to my question - Peter Cox Ltd are open to negotiation - I managed to get them to knock 20% off the price quoted - this is much more like the figure I was expecting from them, bearing VAT in mind.

It's a big job and I was happy to give them the gig, but not for the original amount they wanted! I knew they were going to be more expensive, but I really wasn't impressed by any of the other damp proofing companies.

Thanks especially to "tonygold" - you were pretty much spot on in your advice - I was a bit hesitant to ask for 20% off before, but after reading what you wrote, I had a bit more confidence to do it. Thank you.

Hopefully I will remember to update this message with a review on Peter Cox, once they've completed the job.

MabelM

My over-priced damp proof course failed within 18 months, the warranty is not worth the paper it is written on. They are in the mitigation of loss business, not the business of honouring their guarantee.
They charge you to come out and 'assess' the situation and will only refund you that money (£90 + VAT) if you further contract them to carry out further works which are miraculously NOT covered by the warranty.
In my instance, this included replastering and dobbing out. For one small wall this managed to somehow end up costing more than £700 and left my house in a state.
Let me stress, this is the what I ended up paying, under warranty, to get Peter Cox to repair Peter Cox's failing damp course.

If this is what you get for your 'national service' money then I would say find a small local company who will be interested in doing the job properly in the first place.

Oh, and 18 months on, the damp course is failing, yet again. I'm cutting my losses and finding a new company. Any suggestions in London?