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#1
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Ravens and now a Vulture
Our medium sized 3 bed detached house is 19 years old and in fairly good
condition for its year. The exterior rendering has been painted about every 5 years or so. The windows were replaced with aluminium 8 years ago so no work required there. Starting the middle of last year a hole appeared in one of the box ends to a front barge board just behind the gutter. This finally culminated in the occupation of a pair of Starlings which successfully produced a brood of young. Now just this last month the Starlings were evicted by a pair of Ravens or they could be Crows..........black with big beaks and cawing a lot..............they looked very out of place trying to occupy a 200mm square box. So its me, with no head for heights, up a 4 meter ladder to carry out a temporary repair.............which I must add looked very pro when finished. Following this we agreed to get a costing to replace all the box boards, 6 off in total measuring about 200mm square x 10mm thick each. The fascias/soffits are all fine apart from one short length about 2 metres which we thought just might be replaced. To be included in the work was the remove and clean the old boards plus 2 coats of Sadolin. The only difficult access was that to the rear of the house they would have to straddle our 5 metre wide conservatory to reach the roof safely. We estimated approximately £50 to £75 in material costs with the wood and Sadolin but had no idea of the cost for access equipment, so thought £400 to £500 for the work would be a good budget cost after all 19 years it sounds very economical. So we then get in the local Roofing and Gutter company (no names)............stick with a pro company to be sure of a good job and someone to go back to should the need arise.............to provide the estimate. The suit came and went in a flash. The estimate arrived yesterday and this is where the Vultures come in.....................£5000 come back Ravens..............all is forgiven. dj |
#2
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Ravens and now a Vulture
Hi
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:54:00 +0100, "Pongo Potts" wrote: Our medium sized 3 bed detached house is 19 years old and in fairly good condition for its year. The exterior rendering has been painted about every 5 years or so. The windows were replaced with aluminium 8 years ago so no work required there. Starting the middle of last year a hole appeared in one of the box ends to a front barge board just behind the gutter. This finally culminated in the occupation of a pair of Starlings which successfully produced a brood of young. Now just this last month the Starlings were evicted by a pair of Ravens or they could be Crows..........black with big beaks and cawing a lot..............they looked very out of place trying to occupy a 200mm square box. So its me, with no head for heights, up a 4 meter ladder to carry out a temporary repair.............which I must add looked very pro when finished. Following this we agreed to get a costing to replace all the box boards, 6 off in total measuring about 200mm square x 10mm thick each. The fascias/soffits are all fine apart from one short length about 2 metres which we thought just might be replaced. To be included in the work was the remove and clean the old boards plus 2 coats of Sadolin. The only difficult access was that to the rear of the house they would have to straddle our 5 metre wide conservatory to reach the roof safely. We estimated approximately £50 to £75 in material costs with the wood and Sadolin but had no idea of the cost for access equipment, so thought £400 to £500 for the work would be a good budget cost after all 19 years it sounds very economical. So we then get in the local Roofing and Gutter company (no names)............stick with a pro company to be sure of a good job and someone to go back to should the need arise.............to provide the estimate. The suit came and went in a flash. The estimate arrived yesterday and this is where the Vultures come in.....................£5000 come back Ravens..............all is forgiven. dj It's well worthwhile to get several estimates - from general builders as well as 'specialists'. At the last bungalow we wanted the wooden soffits / fascias replaced with UPVC, and four quotes produced a range of quotes - where the cheapest was 1/3 the price of the most expensive. We went for a middle option - and were rewarded by a couple of chimpanzees who made a complete mess of the 'valleys' where two roofs joined - and we had to have an exchange of letters and faxes before we could get the job sorted. It's one of those jobs that doesn't really require all that much skill, and the materials cost next-to-nothing. This allows the les reputable 'specialist' companies to charge whatever they think they can get away with. After you've got the other three quotes, you could always contact the original ompany and tell them that you've had a much lower quote for the same job - and ask them whether they can match it. you might find that there's a 'special offer' on in your area ! g Can you get a recommendation from somebody in the area who's happy with the work they've had done - may be more reliable... By the way - there's lots of good advice to be had over in the UK diy newsgroup...... Regards Adrian |
#3
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Ravens and now a Vulture
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:54:00 +0100, "Pongo Potts" wrote: Following this we agreed to get a costing to replace all the box boards, 6 off in total measuring about 200mm square x 10mm thick each. The fascias/soffits are all fine apart from one short length about 2 metres which we thought just might be replaced. To be included in the work was the remove and clean the old boards plus 2 coats of Sadolin. The only difficult access was that to the rear of the house they would have to straddle our 5 metre wide conservatory to reach the roof safely. We estimated approximately £50 to £75 in material costs with the wood and Sadolin but had no idea of the cost for access equipment, so thought £400 to £500 for the work would be a good budget cost after all 19 years it sounds very economical. So we then get in the local Roofing and Gutter company (no names)............stick with a pro company to be sure of a good job and someone to go back to should the need arise.............to provide the estimate. The suit came and went in a flash. The estimate arrived yesterday and this is where the Vultures come in.....................£5000 come back Ravens..............all is forgiven. I had my grotty fascias and soffits replaced at the last house with woodgrain effect UPVC. The builder recommended overcladding the original wood rather that full replacement as the wood had little rot. The result was unspectacular, in a good way, in that friends commented along the lines of "I thought you were having plastic fascias fitted" We owned that house for another 8 years and when we sold the buyers commented on the "nice new fascias" the only maintenance having been a yearly clean. The material used was designed for overcladding with raised ribs on the back that allow air to flow around the old wood, but prevent wet getting in. The builder replaced odd bits of the old wood, then treated the lot with preservative before fitting the cladding. Mike www.farend.org.uk |
#4
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Ravens and now a Vulture
On Apr 20, 7:54 am, "Pongo Potts" wrote:
The estimate arrived yesterday and this is where the Vultures come in.....................£5000 come back Ravens..............all is forgiven. dj Sounds like one of those "we really don't want this job but if we have to do it then, um, let's see, 5 grand" quotes. At the flats where I used to live it was something like £100 per metre to replace the soffits/fascias and £100 per window to slap a thin coat of paint on. Supply and demand in operation. |
#5
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Ravens and now a Vulture
You beat me to it Malcolm.
They are definately not Ravens! Jackdaws, like Ravens 'etc', are 'crows' (ie. members of the Corvidae family ). They, (Jackdaws) are the only British corvid to nest in holes. Keith "Malcolm" wrote in message ... In article , Pongo Potts writes Our medium sized 3 bed detached house is 19 years old and in fairly good condition for its year. The exterior rendering has been painted about every 5 years or so. The windows were replaced with aluminium 8 years ago so no work required there. Starting the middle of last year a hole appeared in one of the box ends to a front barge board just behind the gutter. This finally culminated in the occupation of a pair of Starlings which successfully produced a brood of young. Now just this last month the Starlings were evicted by a pair of Ravens or they could be Crows..........black with big beaks and cawing a lot..............they looked very out of place trying to occupy a 200mm square box. Most likely to be Jackdaws. Black, except for a grey nape, and, yes, they are noisy birds! Jackdaws always nest in holes (including chimneys, so be warned if you've excluded them from their nice hole!), none of the other members of the crow family do so. Sorry about your vultures, but I believe that a lot of firms are now claiming that H&S regulations mean they have to use scaffolding nowadays instead of ladders (though it does seem to depend on how you interpret the regs), and that can shove the price up quite a bit. -- Malcolm |
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