Chimney building quotes

[defblade]

The house we bought last year has a chimney (on a slate roof) which, it turns out, was repaired some time ago with useless cheap stuff... and is now sodden through the brickwork (damp patches on walls upstairs and downstairs) and letting water past the (plastic) flashing.

We've been advised to have the whole stack off, and a lead tray fitted and new lead flashing, and some repair work to a couple of roof timbers which are wet and rotten (tho not structually worrying appearantly). Which is fine - we'd rather get it sorted properly than take a punt just on new flashing. We've had a couple of quotes for about £1500 which seems fairly reasonable for the amount of work.... but my wife's had a chap round today who reckons it shouldn't cost more than about £600, and anyone who says more is trying it on.

As we haven't a clue, and are a bit nervous given the work was clearly done on the cheap before leading to current problems.... I thought I'd ask for help on a car forum

What do you folks reckon?
TIA

Edited by defblade on Thursday 22 January 13:13

[y2blade]

how did she bring the quote down?

[cornishgirl]

I had to have the chimney on my house replaced about 4 years ago and it cost me £1100. They had to put up scaffolding and a chute and 2 guys were there for 3 days non stop.

[Amused2death]

the actual job or rebuilding may be £600, but scaffolding will bump the overall cost up by some margin.

[mrmaggit]

How much would you want for the job of you were doing it?

That's what I ask people who ask me about quotes they've had for work they want doing.

[defblade]

mrmaggit said:

How much would you want for the job of you were doing it?

If I did it, the job wouldn't be worth tuppence

We felt £1500 wasn't a long way out - scaffold for a few days, brickie to take down the stack and clear the site, roofer to take up surrounding tiles, replace timber, put tiles back, brickie to rebuild (plus bricks), roofer to flash (and lead to pay for) - we'd got to about £1200 on optomistic guesswork.

So why is one talking about £600? Obviously we don't want to pay too much, but are very happy (in fact, we want) to pay properly for a job done properly.

[james_tigerwoods]

I think I'd be concerned about a quote that was too low - if you're unsure, check that the quote is all encompassing, that there will be no hidden extras, it's not a "cash in hand" quote and the builder was reputable - try to get references if needs be.

£1500 to £600 is quite a drop....

As mentioned, I bet there'll be no scaffolding included and at the end of the work there'll be a "well, we had to do x and y extra and, well, pay up or we'll reposess your teeth"....

[mrmaggit]

defblade said:

mrmaggit said:

How much would you want for the job of you were doing it?

If I did it, the job wouldn't be worth tuppence

We felt £1500 wasn't a long way out - scaffold for a few days, brickie to take down the stack and clear the site, roofer to take up surrounding tiles, replace timber, put tiles back, brickie to rebuild (plus bricks), roofer to flash (and lead to pay for) - we'd got to about £1200 on optomistic guesswork.

So why is one talking about £600? Obviously we don't want to pay too much, but are very happy (in fact, we want) to pay properly for a job done properly.

There you are, you see, you're doing exactly as I said, and you reckon £1200, so £1500 not too far out, and wonder where the £600 quote came from.

You'll go far.

[groucho]

Amused2death said:

the actual job or rebuilding may be £600, but scaffolding will bump the overall cost up by some margin.

Don't forget the skip.

[Guffy]

As a guide, a friend has just been quoted £500 to put a chimney stack back on the roof (Existing flue)

[defblade]

Guffy said:

As a guide, a friend has just been quoted £500 to put a chimney stack back on the roof (Existing flue)

Well, to be fair, that's probably most of the workload involved in our job - they'll still have to put up scaffold and pay for materials; another hundred pounds to knock the old one down doesn't sound so unrealistic then.

My other half says he was a very nice chap (and she's MUCH better judge of character than me), very straight forward, says he's done loads like this before, has his own scaffold (brings cost down) etc. Also, he's the one who's been recommended to us (rather than pin-in-yellow-pages) by another workman (who did good work himself).... so it sounds like we're going to take a £600 punt against having to spend £1500 getting it done again (as I've got very little say in the matter anyway )

[Autonotiv]

defblade said:

Guffy said:

As a guide, a friend has just been quoted £500 to put a chimney stack back on the roof (Existing flue)

Well, to be fair, that's probably most of the workload involved in our job - they'll still have to put up scaffold and pay for materials; another hundred pounds to knock the old one down doesn't sound so unrealistic then.

My other half says he was a very nice chap (and she's MUCH better judge of character than me), very straight forward, says he's done loads like this before, has his own scaffold (brings cost down) etc. Also, he's the one who's been recommended to us (rather than pin-in-yellow-pages) by another workman (who did good work himself).... so it sounds like we're going to take a £600 punt against having to spend £1500 getting it done again (as I've got very little say in the matter anyway )

Why not just phone the bloke up and ask him whats included in the price, because £600 ain't going to pay for new bricks, sand, cement, lead, new roof timbers, skips and labour! more like £600 + all of the above.

I would say £1000 - £1500 including all of the above + scaff.

[Mr Fenix]

Having worked on many roofs and seen how expensive poor weather proofing can be, I think 1500 is probably right. The materials alone will be in the region of 400 quid, only way I can see the 600 guy doing it, he's got a lot of spare materials laying around and has his own scaffolding & skip plus really, really cheap labour.

Without photos or investigating it myself I honestly think 600 is way too cheap, mind you if he's desperate for work and has a team of 50 quid a day poles to beast it all out in a day...

[B17NNS]

Ask each company or tradesman to give a detailed written quote showing what is included in the price (labour, materials, disposal of waste, VAT).

Materials are not cheap, bricks, lead, sand, cement, scaffolding - all adds up.

Perhaps your boy is quoting for a re-point and new lead?

Make sure you are comparing like for like.

[Wacky Racer]

Mr Fenix said:

Having worked on many roofs and seen how expensive poor weather proofing can be, I think 1500 is probably right. The materials alone will be in the region of 400 quid, only way I can see the 600 guy doing it, he's got a lot of spare materials laying around and has his own scaffolding & skip plus really, really cheap labour.

Without photos or investigating it myself I honestly think 600 is way too cheap, mind you if he's desperate for work and has a team of 50 quid a day poles to beast it all out in a day...