Hi all,
how much would you expect to be quoted to replace the guttering and facias on a 3-bed semi with a single-storey garage?
I know some people who have a couple of 'characters' doing this work and I'm wondering if they're being ripped off and, if so, by how much.
TIA
My neighbour had his 4 bed detached done a couple of years ago by one of the big 'chains' and it cost him over 4 grand. Neighbour across the road had a similar sized house done a few months ago, and paid about the same to a local outfit. I've just had mine done, which is a quite large 5 bed detached, and that cost me 3 grand to a pair of 'characters', but they are ones that we know well, and the standard of work and materials was actually very good. As far as I can tell, they keep their prices down by totally ignoring elfin safety procedures. They are like a pair of monkeys, using only ladders. The people who did the guy across the road's house, had a full set of scaffolding put up, and it took them the better part of a week to do. I would guess that the cost of the scaffolding alone, would be significant.
I have been told that some of the cheapo outfits that are doing this work, only clad the existing boards, or don't replace the soffits. Also, there are different qualities of boards, and of the replacement felting, that goes under the first couple of rows of tiles, and should be fitted as part of the job, so your friends should be aware of all that, and keep an eye on how the job is being done. My neighbour also said that there are different ways that the corner joins are handled, and some are much better looking than others. He is a pedantic bugger and insisted on inspecting how mine had been done. He assured me that they had been done the 'proper' way, whatever that is, and that he approved of the quality of the whole job !
Arfa
Arfa
Thanks for the info. It sounds like they're charging near the going rate then, rather than
10x the real cost, which is what I was worried about.The main problem was these 'characters' claimed they would finish the work before needing any payment (great sales technique!) However, once they'd started they asked for money for materials and started adding 'little extras' which seemed to be way overpriced.
As you say all this being done off one ladder. I'm sure H&S wouldn't approve.
It's sad when older people get like this. I thought they had more sense than to give work to total strangers calling at the front door.
Had mine done in the summer.
Including drainpipe front and back, that stuff they stick under the lowest tiles to go into the guttering, and all facias.
£560 took three hours and they came back last month to see if we had any problems.
Drat! I don't know how this compares with the work the other poster described or the one I'm asking about. However, my rough guess puts the materals alone at £3-400 and took about 2.5 - 3 days to put up. So I hope we're talking about different things!
Thanks for posting.
I paid £1100 and it was finished within 2 days. That included the removal of all the old wood, and the gutters and pipes etc. Looks quite good. That's for the same size house.
snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk used his keyboard to write :
Too be fair, if it only took 3 hours it can't have been much needing to be done. It was extremely quick and extremely cheap.
Relative and I did ours a few weeks ago - 3 bed semi. Cost £155 for materials and took a full weekend (gutters, fall pipes, soffits and facias), starting with nil experience, one double extension and a single (which was only useful to get on the bit of flat roof at the rear).
It is neat and professional (according to a pro) plus looks a better job than has been done on other similar houses around us. We were quoted figures between £1200 to 1700 to do it.
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk used his keyboard to write :
I think the difficulties of the various house styles and sizes can make huge differences in the cost. All of the matial suppliers sell pretty much the same stuff, the same quality, the finished job quality depends mostly on the installer and there are a lot of cowboys in this game.
It was manpower. The firm specialise in this and had people running up and down ladders like mice, with the boss glowering at them.
They collected half a dozen others down the street and were here a couple of days in total. The boss was very happy.
I was happy because my house matches the attached one.
:))
If it's any guide, there were four gable ends to deal with on mine, and it took them 21 lengths of the stuff to complete the job, and a LOT of gutter / downpipe. I would think that is about twice the amount used on my neighbour across the street's house. It took them half a day to strip the old off, and one whole day and a couple of hours of the next day to complete the job. All removed stuff taken away. Most of the time, just two lads working on it. Occasionally three, and once for an hour or so, the lad driving the disposal truck helped for an hour. Also, as someone else said, the boss (one of the 'characters') was back and forth and used our house - with my permission I might add - to sell his services to others in the street, whom he brought up at regular intervals to see the standard of work, and to get me to verify that I had known him and his mate for some time ...
I was happy to oblige in exchange for the price I got on the job. I won't even begin to tell you the resulting price I got on the window replacements, which finished up all being rolled up in the same deal ... :-)
Arfa
In 2001, we paid about 2 Grand to Everest to have this done, and it was a complicated job that needed a scaffolding tower in a neighbours garden because there was no easy access to the soffits above a lean-to with polycarbonate roof.
This was a 3 bed semi. The old soffits and fascias were made from asbestos and they properly bagged and took that away as well. We were well pleased with the job and were expecting it to be a LOT more expensive!
We paid about =A31,000 for a local small company that did this. They rushed it, did it badly and used ladders everywhere instead of scaffolding.
One problem with ladders (apart from the H+S) is that they cut all the parts into managable lengths so they could lift them more safely. That left more joints than there needed to be.
Robert
RobertL used his keyboard to write :
You have to cut the sophits into very short bits to fit them, but not the gutters or facias. I did both sides of our semi full lengths with just one ladder. What I did was bang a nail into the timber at the far end of the run and used yhe nail as hook from which to lift the facia and take the weight while it was fixed. Got all the facia in place, then fitted gutter brackets using a tight string line to get them in line with the correct fall. Once the brackets are in place, you can just drop the gutter in the brackets as full lengths. Sophits are just done in 18" or so wide bits anyway, so there is no problem handling them.
Cutting it unecessarily would indicate someone who has never tackled it before.
Turns out the buggers have done a botched job and missed out some of the work anyway. Luckily the last payment was by cheque, so that's been cancelled. A professional has been round and said the whole job should have been less than £900 and what they've done is crap! (my estimate at materials was way off) Police and Trading Standards have been informed. Hopefully they'll never be seen again.
Anyone know how to persuade OAPs NOT to open their door? I've suggested nailing it shut (bad for H&S) or adding several more chains (but they just undo them before opening the door anyway!)
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