Patio requires "edging?"

Evening, I see you asked your slurry question on the paving expert forum and the lack of response sums it up. I was just looking but from those two options I'd say take out the mortar and start again. You need to dig around on the PE forum to see what depth the finished patio is compared to DPC of your house as there is a minimum threshold that needs to be met.
 
R3X said:
This is why I said few pages back if you got family or want your property or car parked in the front to stay intact and want to sleep at night its just not worth the hassle. What ever you have to do to pay them or resolve the issue and move on is best imo.

I know it leaves a bitter taste to swallow but try to remember everyone's been there before, its happen to myself also and lost thousands also. In fact its probably happen to so many people they just keep their gobs shut, this is the reason why no one is prepared to hand over builders contacts any more no one wants the hassle or risk afterwards, their probably all doing bad jobs just to make a quick buck and do a runner. Trading standards or police only support the cowboys (yes I have tried) so they turned out far worse then the actual bad builders imo.

Only advice I can give is take your time searching for qualified and decent tradesman (if any exist) yes they may cost more but its worth it sometimes, also arm yourself with the law, while its unlikely a cowboy builder will go to prison you do have some legal rights and if you are in a position you can use it and still remain protected somewhat also YT and DIY, yes its a chore and no one has time but nothing beats it when you do the same job and at a fraction of the cost and similar results. I know a guy who did a patio and he told me he did it himself just watched YT video 30 times !
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Few fair points made. Its not worth it especially with family involved, but it does leave a bitter taste which is definitely hard to follow

I don't think I'm capable of laying a patio myself and id rather hire someone else tbh, but I'm taking my time that's for sure. Ive had 2 quotes for £1k labour so far for a 30sqm.
Another quote for everything at £3.5k. Two other companies coming over tonight and tomorrow, so lets see.

Its an absolute nightmare but we shall see. Taking my time now. Mind choosing a patio slab is a nightmare too, prices vary so much, I'm looking at Kandla Grey and also the Natural Paving Graphite, the latter is about £400 more than the former in Sandstone.
 
Kingdom34 said:
Few fair points made. Its not worth it especially with family involved, but it does leave a bitter taste which is definitely hard to follow

I don't think I'm capable of laying a patio myself and id rather hire someone else tbh, but I'm taking my time that's for sure. Ive had 2 quotes for £1k labour so far for a 30sqm.
Another quote for everything at £3.5k. Two other companies coming over tonight and tomorrow, so lets see.

Its an absolute nightmare but we shall see. Taking my time now. Mind choosing a patio slab is a nightmare too, prices vary so much, I'm looking at Kandla Grey and also the Natural Paving Graphite, the latter is about £400 more than the former in Sandstone.
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Yeah get the quotes, check as much as you can do ie researching the company, google them, check reviews even go onto the free company check:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04905417
see if they are registered on any checkatrade or similar approval list. It maybe a case people can still do a bad job though ! But at least you tried your best.

I asked good neighbours and 2-3 family members for their 'Builders' contacts, figured they owe me big time (done lots of free work for them) and not one single person got back to me its like everyone done a runner. But I quickly found out its no doubt its happen to themselves or they don't want the risk something goes bad then you blame them ! So while it leaves a bitter taste, we just have to remember it happens to everyone you just have to resolve it or get a good trader in and move on.

I am happy to report though the cowboy from my poor job, someone had the balls and reported him and left a negative review about him. It appears no one has used his services anymore via the company I went through, no doubt he still works though.
 
R3X said:
Yeah get the quotes, check as much as you can do ie researching the company, google them, check reviews even go onto the free company check:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04905417
see if they are registered on any checkatrade or similar approval list. It maybe a case people can still do a bad job though ! But at least you tried your best.

I asked good neighbours and 2-3 family members for their 'Builders' contacts, figured they owe me big time (done lots of free work for them) and not one single person got back to me its like everyone done a runner. But I quickly found out its no doubt its happen to themselves or they don't want the risk something goes bad then you blame them ! So while it leaves a bitter taste, we just have to remember it happens to everyone you just have to resolve it or get a good trader in and move on.

I am happy to report though the cowboy from my poor job, someone had the balls and reported him and left a negative review about him. It appears no one has used his services anymore via the company I went through, no doubt he still works though.
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Fair point the Fencing company was through facebook and not particularly any cheaper than what I could have got through ratedpeople or checkatrader.

Thanks for the help, I have used these websites before in the past and always been happy, just this time I didn't, the more I type this, the more I think, what an idiot I was on this particular job.

Both companies visiting tonight and tomorrow are on checkatrader.
I'm looking at around £2400-2600 all in for 30sqm of sandstone patio and sleepers down the sides of my house installed (I bought the sleepers) so closer to the 3k mark overall.

I have a builder, plumber and plasterer in my contact list that I usually go to.
Driveway also but hes done his knee in, otherwise he would be the man to install the patio and quoted £2250 with a bradstone slate finish instead of sandstone, so you can see his pedigree.

I also find the workers that are willing to take that extra day to do a better job or a more steady job are the key, its not set in stone for me but usually late 40/s/early 50's. Not the young bucks wanting the big bucks in the quickest time period.

I'm tempted to leave a review about the fencing company but ive just checked out his history, 5 companies in the last 2 years registered. Proper cowboy.
 
Kingdom34 said:
Fair point the Fencing company was through facebook and not particularly any cheaper than what I could have got through ratedpeople or checkatrader.

Thanks for the help, I have used these websites before in the past and always been happy, just this time I didn't, the more I type this, the more I think, what an idiot I was on this particular job.

Both companies visiting tonight and tomorrow are on checkatrader.
I'm looking at around £2400-2600 all in for 30sqm of sandstone patio and sleepers down the sides of my house installed (I bought the sleepers) so closer to the 3k mark overall.

I have a builder, plumber and plasterer in my contact list that I usually go to.
Driveway also but hes done his knee in, otherwise he would be the man to install the patio and quoted £2250 with a bradstone slate finish instead of sandstone, so you can see his pedigree.

I also find the workers that are willing to take that extra day to do a better job or a more steady job are the key, its not set in stone for me but usually late 40/s/early 50's. Not the young bucks wanting the big bucks in the quickest time period.

I'm tempted to leave a review about the fencing company but ive just checked out his history, 5 companies in the last 2 years registered. Proper cowboy.
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Yup that is the dead give away I checked several myself to get my folks drive way done also. I noticed they all had gone through 3-4 company names within years and all they did was changing the company name and director/owner each time(usually relatives since surname matched). No doubt they do bad jobs, don't want to pay 2-3K or labour time to re-do it since its easier to claim the companies gone bust. Courts and police won't do anything if the company has paperwork to say they are officially liquidated since any money reclaimed from bailiffs will go to the Admin team not the actual person they took or stole the money from. You could technically give the solicitor and courts 2-3K to win a case in court and still not get cash back !

Its just one of the loop holes every person does to get money n runner.

Yeah you are right these young bucks rush the job, its in and out and next day move on.....

keep going till its done right good luck
 
This is why I get so frustrated and why I accepted them in the first place.

I don't know what I do to tradesmen but they say they'll do the work and will send the quote then I hear nothing from them.

Got yet someone else coming tomorrow to take a look.
 
It's including removal of the mortar, stone dust, a bit of aco drain for the pipe by the door and some edging.

I had the only other member of checkatrade in my area out to quote and they quoted 1400 (after the £2500 quote from the other guys).

The 1400 mark is what I was expecting.
 
Solus said:
It's including removal of the mortar, stone dust, a bit of aco drain for the pipe by the door and some edging.

I had the only other member of checkatrade in my area out to quote and they quoted 1400 (after the £2500 quote from the other guys).

The 1400 mark is what I was expecting.
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But isn't £1400 the same price you were quoted originally by the cowboys? Are you not concerned that you are going to end up getting what you pay for in terms of quality?

Surely there is just as much work this time around as the first time around and in fact more work as they will be correctly doing the drainage, for the equivalent of less money then the cowboys priced you?

The old saying seems to be ringing true here in that "there is no cheapness in cheap".
 
Guy who did my drive to a pristine standard finally got back to me today.

£1220. I'll happily give him more for his efforts as I know he must be doing me a favour with regards to price there. It's the safest option for me as I know the work will be done to a high standard. I would have paid him 2k if he asked for it just to ensure I knew there was a competent person doing the work.

The botchers were charging 1700 but this price was on the high side for the area. I had previously had quotes of around 2k including supply of the slabs.

I appreciate where you are coming from with regards to price here, but I didn't once get a quote from someone for 2500 start to finish including supply of the slabs. I didn't go with the cowboys because they were cheap, far from it. I went with them because they were getting things done fast and others weren't getting back to me at the time
 
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Yeah its a common ploy really many will give quotes and say were coming round and never turn up, its happen to myself few times also.

I assume the price was too low or they had other 'jobs' on the go be it a good or bad job or probably more money that end !

You ain't done anything wrong at all as frustrating as it is but I think you have done the right thing if you know the guy who has done good work for you before @ 1220 then its worth re-hiring the same chap or team at least as you say you will get it done at this point. I still have drive ways that need doing simply since when I speak to these guys I can small a whole heap or bs more so when they quote 4.7k and then 3.8k afterwards.

Just a word of note to anyone these check a trade or plumbers or builders associations that claim to be 'backed' or 'approved' or endorsed or claiming to reduce poor workmanship on jobs don't always believe them, these guys most of the time are using their logos and stamps and claiming they are good but when you check with the company they have never heard of them !

I would pay an honest and reliable trades person a lot more ££ if they existed and if they do exist keep them always.

Goodluck
 
Looks 1000 times better that mate. Much better consistent spacing which will point up a treat and nice to see a better layout with no crosses. By this I mean 4 slab corners meeting in the same place which looks shoddy. Seeing as this guy is doing you a favour I suggest giving him a healthy tip. Cheers.
 
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