Soldato
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My brother had a quote of £3000 to clean the roof.
Gutter repair - Am I being mugged?
- Thread starter Marakith
- Start date
My brother had a quote of £3000 to clean the roof.
That’s about average depending on where you live. It’s the classic case of people being too lazy and/ or not wanting to do the job themselves that leads to high prices. There’s also a cost element - good ladders and scaffolding are not cheap nor are the tools required to do the jobs. Householders generally have no interest in purchasing such items (or even hiring them) and don’t have space to store the things anyway.
In short, a good handyman can ask what he wants. There’s plenty of demand for their services. And supply is limited - few people want to work outside with their hands anymore
Soldato
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Doesn't seem expensive at all. One guy or is there two of them? Maybe he is going to hire a tower to do it. If he is doing it off a ladder that is quite a bit work up and down plus climbing around on a roof to fix the tiles...not something id want to do.
Its not just the guy earning a decent wage, you have to factor in all costs and hassle involved in running that kind of business...needs to be some profit there otherwise what's the point? May as well go and work for someone PAYE.
You get what you pay for a lot of the time and seeing as you have already had one bodger attempt it perhaps its better to pay someone a decent amount to do it properly.
There are plenty of people on here who can do many jobs themselves, but if you cant then you have to pay for it. It doesn't help when you have programs like Rogue Traders, the public have a warped view that every tradesman is out to rip them off.
Its not just the guy earning a decent wage, you have to factor in all costs and hassle involved in running that kind of business...needs to be some profit there otherwise what's the point? May as well go and work for someone PAYE.
You get what you pay for a lot of the time and seeing as you have already had one bodger attempt it perhaps its better to pay someone a decent amount to do it properly.
There are plenty of people on here who can do many jobs themselves, but if you cant then you have to pay for it. It doesn't help when you have programs like Rogue Traders, the public have a warped view that every tradesman is out to rip them off.
Just what I was looking for. Had a quote (he came to the property) to repair a damaged soffit along one side of our house and gutter clearing/fixing. He mentioned moss removal so asked to quote that as an optional. Another roofer eyeballed quoted £600 for the soffit fix but was never available.
PVCu FASCIA: SOFFIT: GUTTER: £1,150 (FACE LIFT SPECIFICATION)
• To first access roofline safely.
• Access via boards onto lower roof.
• Remove existing rainwater guttering and soffit.
• Prepare and clean existing timber fascia board.
• Clean, prepare and install new tanalised timber fascia only as required.
• Install preformed GRP eave trays to under eaves.
• Supply and install new BLACK PVCu fascia + white hollow soffit.
• Allow for trims, sealants, and fixings.
• Fit new Black PVCu 112mm (4½²) rainwater guttering.
• Ensure guttering extends minimum 25mm beyond tiles.
• Connect new rainwater guttering to existing downpipes.
MOSS CLEARANCE: £895 (FRONT APEX AND FRONT, ALSO R/HAND SIDE ELEVATION)
• To first access roof safely via scaffold towers with ladder beams.
• Remove moss as best as possible using hand tools.
• Apply anti fungicide treatment to help avoid further ingress.
The soffit seems more than I hoped but moss removal less than I expected. This is in SW London. I've just realised though, no quote for the back slope of the roof, doesn't look too much of a build up though.
PVCu FASCIA: SOFFIT: GUTTER: £1,150 (FACE LIFT SPECIFICATION)
• To first access roofline safely.
• Access via boards onto lower roof.
• Remove existing rainwater guttering and soffit.
• Prepare and clean existing timber fascia board.
• Clean, prepare and install new tanalised timber fascia only as required.
• Install preformed GRP eave trays to under eaves.
• Supply and install new BLACK PVCu fascia + white hollow soffit.
• Allow for trims, sealants, and fixings.
• Fit new Black PVCu 112mm (4½²) rainwater guttering.
• Ensure guttering extends minimum 25mm beyond tiles.
• Connect new rainwater guttering to existing downpipes.
MOSS CLEARANCE: £895 (FRONT APEX AND FRONT, ALSO R/HAND SIDE ELEVATION)
• To first access roof safely via scaffold towers with ladder beams.
• Remove moss as best as possible using hand tools.
• Apply anti fungicide treatment to help avoid further ingress.
The soffit seems more than I hoped but moss removal less than I expected. This is in SW London. I've just realised though, no quote for the back slope of the roof, doesn't look too much of a build up though.
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I agree with others, the qoute you have is decent considering the work invloved.
We just got quoted £135 for cleaning the gutters of leaves and moss, front and back of the house using the hoover method, everything done from ground level.
To get a guy up and down a ladder all day sorting the gutters out for £450 is decent value in my opinion.
Just cause you've received a day light robbery quote for essentially using a brush, doesn't mean the other quote also isn't daylight robbery. Sadly the whole industry is.. Want it done cheap, do it yourself or appreciate that they all put up their prices a stupid amount after covid.
Soldato
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Not sure what covid has to do with it, it's never been cheap if you are getting someone in who knows what they are doing.
Id like to hear your reasons for how the OP quote was daylight robbery.
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Never get the roof pressure cleaned. That’s seriously bad news. However, chemical treatments are fine So long as they’re applied correctly.
Soldato
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How is some anecdote about you fitting soffits, gutters, roofing tiles and windows relevant? You were not paid 450 a day as a lad on a building site? lmao sign me up...id happily be a gopher for that money. People pay trades to do jobs because they have the knowledge and can do it in a quicker timeframe than joe public.
There are some crap so called tradesmen out there that give the industry a bad name, its harsh to criticise the whole of it though.
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I wouldn't say it was anything to do with rogue traders, just the mere fact that people can post pictures of shoddy trade work they've had done online, or leave a review of the work. You can even look at some of the ***** work on these very forums that people have had done.
The problem is there's so many cowboys out there who think they can do a trade. How do you separate out the professionals from the amateurs.
It's all fun and games to get your roof jet-washed, but I think you'll find it ruins the grouting in the long term, especially if its a lime-type grout, which may or may not be the correct type of grout anyway, and if you have any lead flashing you might well find that lifts too...
That for example will lead to leaks and, ultimatley a new roof.. new roofs are expensive.
Have you even considered the domestic disruption of dealing with roofers? not to mention the high cost? They are generally fit guys, and one of them may run away with your wife/daughter, and you'll still be left with a knackered roof.
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Soldato
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That's not outrageous these days, as long as he actually does the job.
There is a real danger that he will just fix a few issues without fully setting the slope, which is the most difficult part of the task.
The problem you have is that there are a lot of sharks in to roofing at the moment. Someone realised that there is considerable money in ripping people off over roofing jobs.. Unnecessary, work, particularly re-felting, cleaning, and guttering.
Ah few years back I had to bite my tongue when my brother told me that some company had cleaned his roof for the very reasonable price of £3000.
Roofing people we had in really picked and chose when they wanted to work, actually did the main work for a fair price which actually involved pretty much redoing the entire roof on one part of the house (makes me laugh similar work on leaseholds, etc. is often costed up at £100K - it was far far less than that) and quality is OK to decent depending a bit on which person was working on which bit - though a few bits could be better IMO - but not shoddily done.
They did come up with some suggestions for additional work at £££ though - kind of the equivalent of when you have the car in for a MOT/service and they suggest things like replacing wipers at silly high prices, etc. as an additional thing. Which was declined.
We had a lot of re-felting done - but it was literally falling apart as soon as they exposed it for real, unfortunately the previous owners had got done over by whoever did the roof originally (it was an extension to the main house originally including a garage). Some real cowboy work resulting in leaks.
They did come up with some suggestions for additional work at £££ though - kind of the equivalent of when you have the car in for a MOT/service and they suggest things like replacing wipers at silly high prices, etc. as an additional thing. Which was declined.
We had a lot of re-felting done - but it was literally falling apart as soon as they exposed it for real, unfortunately the previous owners had got done over by whoever did the roof originally (it was an extension to the main house originally including a garage). Some real cowboy work resulting in leaks.
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Associate
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I've just had 6.5m of deepflow gutter replaced and it cost me £200.
There's no rwp as that's on neighbours side.
Basically, the materials amounted to £50 which means I was charged £75 per hour for the 2 hours he was here.
I am capable of doing it myself but I just couldn't be bothered.
There's no rwp as that's on neighbours side.
Basically, the materials amounted to £50 which means I was charged £75 per hour for the 2 hours he was here.
I am capable of doing it myself but I just couldn't be bothered.