We have decided to have driveway and our local(London rip off) council granted permission…

Have had a few quotes for the work which have varied in price etc one quote in particular which is the cheapest by £400 came from my builder.com the guy only has 2 feedback I met him today but he won’t give me a written quote until 2 days before he starts work ( I sort of get this as he doesn’t want to write a quote and then I go with someone else,I guess) he says he won’t take any Money till the job is done.

I did some research on the interweb with his mobile number….let’s say he’s one of out travelling cousins I feel really bad to write that and I feel like a racist tbh…. It shouldn’t matter as his work could be top notch …. I’m off to a £2million house tomorrow to look at his work and ask what they thought etc.

Thoughts ? Should I run ? Go with someone else ?

if you have to ask

Too many alarm bells before you even mentioned his google credentials.

What sort of drive are you having (block paving/asphalt)? My advice you’d be whoever you get to do it, get them to provide you with a written specification of what they are proposing to do, ie thicknesses of sub base/ binder course/ surface course, and get them to specify precisely what materials they are going to use. If you get that you then have a stick to beat them with if it all goes wrong.

I gen enquiries to investigate peoples failed drives on a weekly basis, 99% of the time there is no specification at all, this means it is up to judge to determine if what has been laid is fit for purpose.

With regards our travelling friends, I would stick to a contractor who has their business registered at a perminant address, even if this means forking out an extra £400. One good drive is better than two s###t ones.

Block paving

And great advice

Binder course 😆 ❓
There’s your 400 quid saving!

What Tom said, find out what it will entail, depth of hardcore, weed barrier, all that shiz.
I ask my mate, a builder, who he uses, for all my jobs. They normally get specialists in for this sort of thing.
Do you have any mates in the trade?

Is there a chance he may give you a much higher quote 2 days before, then start it whether you want him to or not.

No written quote, no work for him, IMHO. It really is that simple and background doesn’t come into it

£400 for the whole drive or £400 per square yard?

One magically becomes the other when the job is completed, and if you don’t pay up then you know whats going to happen…

I think thats the oldest one in the book!

if he won’t quote ignore him – what are his reasons for not doing so?

If you’re looking online for building work recommendations you’ve already set yourself up for getting a bad job done.
Recommendations are a funny thing because a lot of folk don’t know a bad job from a good one…unless something is really bad of course.
Tell matey to do one too. It should have taken him 10 mins to write you a quote while he was there. Ask him if you can see his waste carriers licence to wind him up.

No income tax ?
No VAT ?
No money back ?
No guarantee ?

😆 @ cranberry , although I now have that tune in my head, you barsteward.

(nothing to add to the chorus of “no”)

London? A group have done at least a dozen drives in my street this summer, block paved, brick walls, superb looking finish. Quotes must be low for so many in the street to go for it. I can see one place they’ve cut costs as several drives are now above damp course 🙄 and I’m half expecting these drives to be lumpy messes in a year…. If they are so cheap they must be saving on out of sight stuff, ie the bases, surely. Maybe not though, only time will tell for my neighbours. Why do I mention? Well they look a professional bunch, branded vans, uniforms, signs up as adverts at all sites, land line telephone. Its tough to tell with a lot of building work. If this 2m quid house drive is recent it could still fail in a year.

To add a dissenting opinion, my dad had his roof done by a guy who massively undercut the competition with very little feedback on a “find a builder” type web site, and he did a great job, stuck to the quote, and got it done ahead of schedule.

However, when giving the quote the bloke explained that he was going round doing any jobs for that particular web site at just above cost in order to get his feedback up to a respectable level. At the time he was making enough money from traditional routes to take a hit while opening up a new revenue stream.

Of course your bloke could just be trying it on, don’t know what this business about not giving a written quote is about…

The best driveway quote I’ve seen was :

“He who has a driveway to his door, shows strangers the path to his heart”

Not sure who said it though, might have been Confucius.

HTH

If it sounds £400 too good to be true…

whats the betting this ‘£2 million’ house has a load of caravans out the back?

I wouldn’t dream of doing work without a written quote to a customer. For my own benefit as much as theirs.

I’d be very, very wary if in your shoes. Racism/prejudice doesn’t come into it, it’s basic common sense.

The problem with driveways is that the good ones and the crap ones all look good when they’re first finished. You’ll only know you’ve got a duff one in about a years time when it’s full of weeds and dips a bit in the spot where you park the car. Common sense approach for me with quotes is to rarely go for the cheapest or the most expensive, especially if the difference is fairly large.

£400 cheaper than what?
£400 cheaper than the other c£1k quotes or £400 cheaper than the other c£10k quotes?

£400 for a driveway? Add a zero to the end of that and I’d start trusting them, other than that, jog on!
£400 won’t even buy the materials.

Where has this £400 come from !
I called him today and asked if he would email me a quote which he did within 10 mins

Also went to see some of his previous work in the morning and knocked on the door , they seemed happy with his work and it looked good was done 6months ago.

As long as he sticks to what he says what can go wrong…. 🙄

Also I have time owing so I can take time off if I use them and watch like a hawk…

£400 for a driveway? Add a zero to the end of that and I’d start trusting them, other than that, jog on!
£400 won’t even buy the materials.

You may need to re read the OP to understand it better 😉

Where has this £400 come from !
I

Third line of your first post.

Have had a few quotes for the work which have varied in price etc one quote in particular which is the cheapest by £400 came from my builder

What’s £400 here or there though, especially if you need to take a day off…

I see you’ve asked on pavingexpert, they’ll keep you right!