Roof repair

BananaRepublic

The mortar at the end of the roof, between the tiles and brickwork, is falling out. I invited three local companies to quote. Only one gave an itemised quote, it was £450 plus VAT. He said they could start in late January. One turned up unexpectedly, and said “I’ll do it for £400, it’ll be really good”. The other turned up an hour late, and would only give a verbal quote. He said he could start this monday. 

Guess which I chose? Do people really hire a company that gives only a verbal quote? As an aside, the first is on the council approved scheme, not that that proves much. I will find out later if my judgement is correct. 

greatcrested

I'd accept a verbal quote for a small job (up to £100?). How much was the 3rd quote?

They all sound a bit on the high side though it's hard to tell without a photo of the job.

ElephantBoy57

BananaRepublic said:

Guess which I chose? Do people really hire a company that gives only a verbal quote? As an aside, the first is on the council approved scheme, not that that proves much. I will find out later if my judgement is correct. 

You will not find out if your judgement is correct, because the other tradesmen might have done a really good job, u will never know.

akira181

if you got some technical knowledge, I'd ask them to break down exactly what it is they're doing and ask some probing questions.  If the trader knows his stuff, he'll be able to answer confidently and not talk around the question.

Unfortunately, luck plays a larger part than it should when finding tradesmen.  You could always ask a local facebook group for recommendations but a strangers recommendation isn't exactly a guarantee either.

Apjs87

Get three reputable companies in that will provide guarantees for works completed and itemised quotes. Go with the one that makes you feel most at ease and based on reviews. 

Friends and family are a good source to ask about trades. Everyone has had a good job done by someone and comes recommended. 

Asking for revised cash quotes will help drive the price down too.

BananaRepublic

If only it so simple as employ ‘reputable’ trades. CheckATrade has cowboys on its books. One pair screwed my bathroom. CaT took their side. Trading Standards disagreed. Guess whose side CaT et al are on. I asked on a local forum and got lots of names, all different. Useless, some were even from people with the same surname as the trade! 

Yes of course I would have used friends and family if they lived nearby.

All three trades quoted similar amounts ie about £400, £450 + VAT and about £500. It’s most of a days work for two people to lift tiles, replace cement board, check battens, lay mortar and replace tiles along the entire roof end. Without a quote, there’s no proof of what was agreed. A fourth trade was too busy. 

BananaRepublic

ElephantBoy57 said:

BananaRepublic said:

Guess which I chose? Do people really hire a company that gives only a verbal quote? As an aside, the first is on the council approved scheme, not that that proves much. I will find out later if my judgement is correct. 

You will not find out if your judgement is correct, because the other tradesmen might have done a really good job, u will never know.

If they do a good job, my judgement that they were kosher will have been vindicated. I don’t care about the others as they refused to provide a written quote. 

daivid

BananaRepublic said:

ElephantBoy57 said:

You will not find out if your judgement is correct, because the other tradesmen might have done a really good job, u will never know.

If they do a good job, my judgement that they were kosher will have been vindicated. I don’t care about the others as they refused to provide a written quote. 

Both are logically correct. If you've found a tradesperson who does a good job at a price you are happy with BananaRepublic not caring about the others is perfectly reasonable, whilst they could be great £50 saved may not matter (though this is MSE...). As an aside I've so far had the luxury/luck of only needing to employ tradespeople I know/know of well enough to trust from the start so have never insisted with written quotes. They turn up as arranged, do a decent job, charge what *I think* to be reasonable, and I trust them enough to leave a key if I'm not in.