Fascias and soffits

Chris0979

I spoke with a solicitor and they agreed in principle with me and said only way to sort it would be to go to court. He said to be honest it would be 50/50.

They have quoted me £450+VAT to replace the wood.

The wood costs £30

On all quotations we have an area marked “possible extras”. This allows for any unforeseen work, i.e. re-cementing gable tiles or replacing rotten gable beams, whilst at the same time making the customer aware of extra costs before commencement of the installation. Although we are very aware that nobody enjoys paying for extras, we feel it is not fair to include these in the original quotation because in a lot of cases they are not required.

The only three extra costs ever needed involve re-cementing gable verge tiles, replacing rotten gable beams or Licensed Asbestos Removal (see Asbestos sheet). We list these separately because it is not possible to view the condition of the gable beam until the existing timber has been removed; and when removing the timber bargeboards, although every care is taken not to disturb the cementing, in some cases it cannot be avoided. At Squaredeal, we believe in doing the job thoroughly and will therefore re-cement the tiles, as explained in our specification, and not “face up” any damaged cement, which is not only bad building practice, but dangerous as well.

The only extra listed on my quote was for re-cementing the gable verge tiles.

Please note, however, that the above is the worst case scenario, and in the majority of installations is not required at all. Should your quotation state “no extras”, then no additional charge will be made to the stated contract amount.

As only one extra was listed and that doesn't need doing then surely this work should be included.

wealdroam

Chris0979 wrote: »

I spoke with a solicitor and they agreed in principle with me and said only way to sort it would be to go to court. He said to be honest it would be 50/50.

Then the choice is yours.

Good luck.

warby68

I just can't see you getting a satisfactory outcome trying to 'force' a company to provide extra work for free. You really don't want very unhappy tradesmen working on your home.

It is clear in their notes that rotten beams would be an 'extra' . It might be a mistake not to have listed it but not sure at what stage a quote becomes a contract.

Can they just walk away from the job?

Tradesman hate coming in to finish/fix other people's work.

Playing fair generally gets better outcomes

pinkshoes

The T&Cs clearly state that if the beam is rotten it will have to be replaced as an extra cost. They may not have listed it at the time, but now it has become apparent, then it needs replacing.

You do NOT however have to get them to replace it. You could get a quote from someone else to do it.

If company 1 have put their own scaffolding up, and are not willing to let someone else use it to replace the beam, then things become tricky...

At the very least, I would be asking for a FULL break down of the labour in stages for that cost!!

We had the exact same thing a couple of years ago, but certainly did not pay anywhere near that amount to have it replaced!!! We just used a local handyman/builder and hired scaffolding to do the job.

Ectophile

Chris0979 wrote: »

Not sure why you have said about the house buyers survey.
The surveyor that I am talking about is the surveyor for the fascias company, the person that is meant to highlight any and all possible extras and to plan the job.
The fascias company wouldn't pay for the roof but any woodwork associated with the fascias should be covered.

You didn't say what kind of surveyor you meant. I just assumed it was a house survey.

However, the fascias company's surveyor would be in the same position. Until any scaffolding or towers are up, they can only go by what they see. The main thing a surveyor will be doing is working what materials will be needed, so they can prepare the quote.