Rip off cavity wall insulation

[inversions]

Hi,

maybe some of you were already aware of this but for those who are not:

I contacted the local council through the website about a grant for more home insulation, that was back in August I think. A chap from a local insulation firm came round and said as we already had 100mm of loft insulation the council wouldnt give a grant for that to be improved. I did argue too much as fibreglass insulation is reasonably cheap. He said the best we could do was stick some cavity wall insulation in. It would be £414.75 and the grant would be £215.75 making a suspicious sounding amount of £199. As he said it would be months before they could do it and I didnt have to sign anything I told them to go ahead and then pretty much forgot about it. I asked a friend of mine and he said it sounded about the right price so I didnt do what I had intended and check the prices.

Got a call from the company last week and they said 'we have people in your area now can we come round and do it?' As I hadnt got round to checking the prices I said no but they asked me to book a day so we arranged for December 1st. This morning I finally got round to checking the prices. B&Q have a special offer on and it would be £1 cheaper for me to have it done by B&Q and then the council, to whom I pay my council tax would not have to pay the company £215.75!

Even worse, before the B&Q special offer started they would have done a property of our size for £368, thats £46.75 less than the total charged to myself and the council by this company.

Thought it worthwhile to let everyone know!

[shezz]

you still have time to cancel it, I would, and i think that sounds way to dear for something from the council i would deffo check that out, tell them that you have found someone else who could do it cheaper (dont tell them who) you may just find that they might come back and offer to price match or better still lower it, if they say how much still knock a few more quid off


it's a buyers market out there dont let them fob you off, i just had a saga with a new front door, quote stated of at over 2 grand for front and back, so i said i would think about it, they phoned back next day and chopped £900 of just like that

[e_nviable]

God knows how much it's costing Kirklees Metropolitan Council then :eek: as the whole area is being offered (for the over 60's) cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and a free (c.£20) carbon monoxide detector ..... all the work being carried out by the same company :eek:

I got my carbon monoxide detector on Tuesday :) but have declined the loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. They wouldn't be able to get into my loft, let alone insulate it (!) and I think the wall cavity is stuffed with rock wool :confused: so I don't need the foam.

Guess that means I've saved Kirklees some money ...... wonder if I can ask for a reduction in my council tax bill as compensation :D As if !!!

e :)

[inversions]

I should have said that I already cancelled it. I had not signed anything so as soon as I saw the B&Q price I was straight on the phone to the company and I said: I can get it done cheaper by B&Q and the woman put me on hold for a minute or so and then came back on saying she had spoken to the manager who had said they would not do it. So its solved from my perspective but I wanted to tell the world!!!!!!

[phanmale]

I should have said that I already cancelled it. I had not signed anything so as soon as I saw the B&Q price I was straight on the phone to the company and I said: I can get it done cheaper by B&Q and the woman put me on hold for a minute or so and then came back on saying she had spoken to the manager who had said they would not do it. So its solved from my perspective but I wanted to tell the world!!!!!!

Inversions, it might be a good idea to inform the council that this company is stinging people like that though - it may be that the council are just letting them do it and without complaints they wont know any different...

Shezz, how did you get on in the end with your door quotes? last I knew you had an independent one who said he wouldnt budge on price?

[inversions]

I will email the council soon! These people are taking our council tax!

[shezz]

I can't have cavity insulation as my wall dont have cavity, but what they have been doing (council) is doing outside cavity then they go over that with i dont know what it is some sort of plaster, but the houses look nice once they have been done,

I enquired to the council about having this done, and they sent someone around about wall cavity, i explained to him what i wanted but they never ever got back to me, i enquired online to see how much this would cost and it is over 4 grand


why if they want to us to conserve as much gas\electrity do they make these things so that people like me just cant afford it why cant it be subsidised by the goverment

[shezz]

Inversions, it might be a good idea to inform the council that this company is stinging people like that though - it may be that the council are just letting them do it and without complaints they wont know any different...

Shezz, how did you get on in the end with your door quotes? last I knew you had an independent one who said he wouldnt budge on price?


hiya phan

well the second indepenent quoted £679.00 for the front door which is a far cry from the original price of £1700.00 (even tho they did knock it down) from the first one, i've been waiting for the first company to ring back (had a missed call on my mobile from them :D ) as i really want them to justfy the price they gave me,

Thinking of going with the second quote, he was straigh with me, and they are a local, they are a small company just the one place, think they could do with my money more then the bigger rip off ones:D am just a tad worried about guarntee although they say 10 years will they be around come to think of it will the other one be around that long, you just done know at the moment

[kengillam]

I insulated my loft 30 years ago, no help from the council. Also had cavity wall foam done, again no subsidy to help, though it was the best £250 I ever spent, made the house much warmer.

[phanmale]

hiya phan

well the second indepenent quoted £679.00 for the front door which is a far cry from the original price of £1700.00 (even tho they did knock it down) from the first one, i've been waiting for the first company to ring back (had a missed call on my mobile from them :D ) as i really want them to justfy the price they gave me,

Thinking of going with the second quote, he was straigh with me, and they are a local, they are a small company just the one place, think they could do with my money more then the bigger rip off ones:D am just a tad worried about guarntee although they say 10 years will they be around come to think of it will the other one be around that long, you just done know at the moment

You have a point with the guarantee. If the other company try and tell you about theirs is 25y etc..... as you say - how do you know that will stand? I bought 2 leather sofas from Courts - built in 10 year guarantee - 2 weeks after they were delivered (8 weeks from sale) the company went into liquidation and the guarantee is null and void. Fortunately 5 years on they are still going. Unfortunately, today is a throw away world - there was a time when you could pay for things that were "built to last". now you have to consider how long you would reasonably expect it to last and divvy that cost up over how many years life expectancy.

Say for example your door - you want it to last 10 years. How many cheap doors would you have to pay for to get that 10 years life and at what cost to you. If the total price is similar or below to what they are charging then go for it, if not consider cheaper!

Saying that, I bought a swimming pool last year to replace our old one - it has a 25y guarantee. 2 years later and we still havent built the base for it to stand on - the pool is still in the shed!!

[Huddylion]

God knows how much it's costing Kirklees Metropolitan Council then :eek: as the whole area is being offered (for the over 60's) cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and a free (c.£20) carbon monoxide detector ..... all the work being carried out by the same company :eek:

I got my carbon monoxide detector on Tuesday :) but have declined the loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. They wouldn't be able to get into my loft, let alone insulate it (!) and I think the wall cavity is stuffed with rock wool :confused: so I don't need the foam.

Guess that means I've saved Kirklees some money ...... wonder if I can ask for a reduction in my council tax bill as compensation :D As if !!!

e :)

Yes they have done us for free as well, it's anyone not just over 60's,we didn't have the walls done just the loft and the carbon monixde alarm.
And all for free good ole Kirlees :)