I'll blow and blow....

[CaroleF]

My brother-in-law and his wife had a dreadful experience with a roofing company which came with fantastic reviews, the odd one or two weren't so good. Anyway when he contacted them amazingly, they'd had a cancellation and could come the next week. They came all the way from London, to a Hampshire village, which I suppose should have set alarm bells ringing, Alan, my brother-in-law is a retired builder and knows quite a bit about roofs himself but it was too large a job for him to do on his own. The roofers turned up by which time scaffolding was in place - organised by Alan, not the roofers - and after a couple of hours of work Alan became worried about what they were doing. He queried the two guys doing the work and got them to alter something - don't ask me what. The next day the boss of the group -I don't know if it was his company - to make sure things were ok. As the week went on there were more and more problems and eventually at the end of the week the roofers left, not having completed the whole job. There was then some disagreement as to how much Alan owed them which resulted in a shouting match which I could hear from my garden, they live just round the corner from me but our rear gardens are near so I could hear the shouting. Alan eventually agreed to pay the sum they required, more from wanting the whole incident to finish but also partly because my sister-in-law was worried about what might happen if they didn't pay. I think she had visions of them returning, with bricks through windows, that sort of thing. It was a lesson well learnt. He had already asked around people he knew who might know of a reputable roofer and eventually after the men had left, luckily was told of a guy who was working on a house at the other end of the village. He was able to go and talk to him and discovered that he had done lots of jobs locally and was responsible for work on several cottages owned by someone who we know is incredibly fussy and very demanding about the standard of work done by people who she employs. The first firm was on Check-a-trade and certainly Alan should have left a damming review but again was concerned what might happen if he did. Alan isn't a guy who I would expect to be duped and he's furious with himself for what happened but it was certainly a lesson learnt. The roof is now repaired so all is well.

Carole

[Onelife]

Hi Carol,

Not a nice experience for your BIL but one that is easily replicated. The big problem these days is that cowboys don’t come riding horses when giving out quotes so are hard to spot. One of the big problems is availability of trades persons especially in rural areas such as where we live. I must have made 20 phone calls; none but a couple replied and the one who did was riding an invisible horse.
When emergences are involved, you are fodder for the unscrupulous trader as I nearly found this out to my cost.
The surveyor advised me to avoid such websites a checkatrade because in his opinion they don’t checkatrade and are only there to take subscriptions.

Hopefully the chap who has come by recommendation will come up trumps for us.

Regards
Keith

[oldbluefox]

I think you may be best to go along with insurance recommendations unless you know of somebody trustworthy who has done work locally. As you say, at this time roofers will be at a premium.
I presume for a man of your standing it will be a thatched roof?

[Stephen]

Why don't the powers that be authorise tarpaulin of the roof to keep the weather out until repairs start. Seems daft to me to not stop possible further water damage inside.

[Stephen]

Hi Carol,

Not a nice experience for your BIL but one that is easily replicated. The big problem these days is that cowboys don’t come riding horses when giving out quotes so are hard to spot. One of the big problems is availability of trades persons especially in rural areas such as where we live. I must have made 20 phone calls; none but a couple replied and the one who did was riding an invisible horse.
When emergences are involved, you are fodder for the unscrupulous trader as I nearly found this out to my cost.
The surveyor advised me to avoid such websites a checkatrade because in his opinion they don’t checkatrade and are only there to take subscriptions.

Hopefully the chap who has come by recommendation will come up trumps for us.

Regards
Keith

As I mentioned #26. Any trader worth his salt that says he/she can start a job almost immediately should raise suspicions. Hopefully all goes well from now on Keith

[Onelife]

HI Stephen…if I have interpreted this correctly the surveyor said that once they have done their assessment of the damage the insurance company have no further liability on that particular claim and it is for the home oner to source trades person/s to make good repair before further damage occurs.

The surveyor said his code of practices doesn’t allow him to make personal recommendations for any particular trade’s person.

[Onelife]

.
I presume for a man of your standing it will be a thatched roof?

The locals tell us it was thatched at some time in the past…it was also used as the village shop…..I’m trying to keep up with that tradition by selling keefy eggs at £3 half dozen…. the old biddies who can’t get to the shops think I’m an for selling them so cheap!

[Stephen]

There was probably lead on the roof.......once. Hopefully you don't get a downpour before repairs start.

Perhaps building damage is different to contents with regard to insurance companies. I know when we had to have the bathroom re done because of water damage the insurance company (a well known building society) wanted us to use their recommendation but we opted on our local plumber who we knew and trusted.

[Onelife]

I’ve been in floods of tears this morning, not because the scaffolding is going up either Sunday or Monday, no! it’s because I have just received an email from Meghan saying how much she has apricated my support this past couple of days and as a consequence she wants to help out with the repair bill.

She also said (and I don’t know what the connection is) that she would like to see the reintroduction of ‘Foxy’ hunting

[Stephen]

I’ve been in floods of tears this morning, not because the scaffolding is going up either Sunday or Monday, no! it’s because I have just received an email from Meghan saying how much she has apricated my support this past couple of days and as a consequence she wants to help out with the repair bill.

She also said (and I don’t know what the connection is) that she would like to see the reintroduction of ‘Foxy’ hunting

When you get it back bin it.

[oldbluefox]

I’ve been in floods of tears this morning, not because the scaffolding is going up either Sunday or Monday, no! it’s because I have just received an email from Meghan saying how much she has apricated my support this past couple of days and as a consequence she wants to help out with the repair bill.

She also said (and I don’t know what the connection is) that she would like to see the reintroduction of ‘Foxy’ hunting

[Onelife]

Here we go again…The scaffolders were unable to get the scaffolding up today due to strong winds/ rain for most of the morning. We are probably looking at Wednesday before the builder can start repairs, that’s if they can get the scaffolding up tomorrow, which I doubt?

The forecasters are saying we are in for another hammering with storm Barrel on its way… Tuesday…I’m dreading what is going to happen what with the roof already exposed due to ridge+ tiles missing in two places. They say the winds are coming from a westerly direction which may be our only salvation as most of the damage is on the North facing side of the roof.

We’ve now got more water seeping into the loft space but as yet not into the upstairs rooms. I’m taking the carpet up tomorrow and covering everything up.

My wife is away and the chickens don’t speak to me so its going to be a nightmare few days.

Y’all be nice to me.

[Stephen]

Get your a*se up there with some tarpaulin roped down. If you need any help I’ll send Mrs S.

No need to thank me, it’s the least I can do

[Onelife]

Get your a*se up there with some tarpaulin roped down. If you need any help I’ll send Mrs S.

No need to thank me, it’s the least I can do

Let’s be sensible about this Stephen…let’s wait until my wife gets back and we can send them both up

[towny44]

Get your a*se up there with some tarpaulin roped down. If you need any help I’ll send Mrs S.

No need to thank me, it’s the least I can do

Let’s be sensible about this Stephen…let’s wait until my wife gets back and we can send them both up

I get vertigo on a 3 step ladder, so I would be no use whatsoever.

[Stephen]

Get your a*se up there with some tarpaulin roped down. If you need any help I’ll send Mrs S.

No need to thank me, it’s the least I can do

Let’s be sensible about this Stephen…let’s wait until my wife gets back and we can send them both up

Seems fair, have you got any beers in.

[allatc]

The problem with roof problems often is that you need to get something done in a hurry and unless you can get a recommendation from someone it's a complete lottery.

We had to get a bad leak fixed and although the roofers did a good job I'm not convinced I got a good price.

[Manoverboard]

Roofers are of course specialists but did you know that ' Property Maintenance Companies ' can, in most cases, replace a few tiles / make simple roof repairs ? They can also do all those other jobs that one can no longer do oneself ... important that you get a good en though.

That's what I did recently via a local contact and a very good job for a very reasonable price was the end result. Interestingly the damage was done by the scaffolders when the house was last painted but nobody noticed the tell tale tile peeping out of the gutter.

[towny44]

One of the big benefits of moving into a 1st floor apartment in a 3 story block, is that I no longer have to worry about checking if the roof has been damaged after any gales, and even if it has the management company will sort out any repairs.

[Onelife]

Roofers are of course specialists but did you know that ' Property Maintenance Companies ' can, in most cases, replace a few tiles / make simple roof repairs ? They can also do all those other jobs that one can no longer do oneself ... important that you get a good en though.

That's what I did recently via a local contact and a very good job for a very reasonable price was the end result. Interestingly the damage was done by the scaffolders when the house was last painted but nobody noticed the tell tale tile peeping out of the gutter.

Hi Mob. As mentioned in previous posts we had exusted all avenues trying to find a roofer, bar the one who wanted to charge double what the surveyor has quoted. The chap who hopefully will be doing the job is a local builder so I suppose that comes under the property maintenance category?

As yet no sign of the scaffolders but the rain is expected to ease off this afternoon so there might be a chance later today.

[Stephen]

There's always the Lego option

[oldbluefox]

Please tell me you don't live in a bungalow and you're all a load of southern wusses!!!

[Stephen]

Not me. Mansion on a five hundred acre estate which the butler can vouch for.

[oldbluefox]

I was thinking about Keefy.

[Stephen]

I was thinking about Keefy.

Perv