Builders who left residents £500,000 in debt after ‘trashing’ lofts are NOT ‘bullies’ & will get jobs done ‘eventually’
BUILDERS who left residents £500,000 in debt after “trashing” lofts have insisted they are NOT bullies and say they will get their jobs done eventually. A group of homeowners claim they lost a combined sum of £500,000 to Trelawny Roofing after the company left their homes looking like trashed “bombsites”. They accused the builders of […]
BUILDERS who left residents £500,000 in debt after “trashing” lofts have insisted they are NOT bullies and say they will get their jobs done eventually.
A group of homeowners claim they lost a combined sum of £500,000 to Trelawny Roofing after the company left their homes looking like trashed “bombsites”.
They accused the builders of leaving them with exposed roofs, scaffolding, water damage and rubble.
And in some instances, there are claims scaffolding was erected but workers never returned to continue the job- despite taking payment.
But director of Trelawny Roofing, Colin Brown, and project manager Michael Turner, Colin told LeedsLive the lack of completed construction work was down to incompetence and poor decision making., Leeds Live reports.
They also said they fully intend to finish every job they claim are all about “45 per cent completed”.
Mr Brown said: “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Mr Turner added: “We spent all the money on labour and material through the hard times.
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“The problem was, when we started to run out of money, we started to gasp at other jobs. We had to pick which jobs we could complete to finish. Naivety, yes. But criminal? No.”
Asked if the incomplete work was down to incompetence, Michael said: “Yes, yes, yes.
“The illnesses, the Covid and all the other rubbish, that’s what slowed us down. Some of the lads we paid twice to do the same job and that was our problem.”
The 51-year-old said he “struggled” to get labour and claimed many were dishonest with him about being qualified joiners or roofers.
And Michael said “nearly all of them [the lost conversions] are 45 per cent completed”.
I haven’t done anything wrong.
Colin Brown
The pair denied scaffolding was put up in homes to “pressure” customers into hiring them, and when asked if they left scaffolding on homes never to return, Colin said: “No, never.”
They blamed a sacked member of staff for any incomplete work.
And Colin vehemently denied that he was aggressive and forceful to customers down the phone to extract payment.
“I don’t get involved in that. I never hassle people,” he said.
He added that he records every conversation and can prove he’s never been aggressive to customers down the phone.
Colin and Michael denied they inflated prices after a contract was signed.
Meanwhile, their customer Leanne Harrison from Farsley, Leeds, was so distressed by the company’s work she formed an online group to warn others about her experience – and found 15 more in the same situation as her.
Leanne and husband Adam, who have two small children, hired Trelawny to convert their loft back in September 2021.
They thought it would be a straightforward job and agreed to pay £34,800 for the installation of a dormer, en suite, and a walk-in wardrobe area.
They claim they made the initial upfront payment of £17,400, feeling “pressured” with the scaffolding already in place – but say construction did not go smoothly.
They claim getting in contact with Trelawny proved difficult, with messages, emails and phone calls going ignored.
It’s like a bombsite, it’s full of rubble, electric wires, plumbing and you can see all the floor opened up with all the pipes.
Leanne Harrison
It began on September 27 but they say workers have not been at the house since December 13 last year.
Leanne said: “The only time I ever heard from Colin was when he wanted money from me, it was just over the phone and he was very aggressive.”
According to Leeds Live, the couple claims Trelawny attempted to inflate the price by £5,000 to “strengthen the floors”.
And after they rejected this, they said the work ceased.
Leanne, whose maternity leave with her eight-month-old daughter Phoebe has been disrupted, said: “It’s like a bombsite, it’s full of rubble, electric wires, plumbing and you can see all the floor opened up with all the pipes.”
The couple have reportedly been left with gaps in the roof, bare floorboards with the plumbing exposed, a dormer with a hatch for a window but no panes – there’s a sheet of wood shielding the outside – and no insulation.
‘VIOLATED’
And when Leanne and Adam went to their bank to see if they could request their payments back but were told as soon as scaffolding is up and work has technically commenced, the BACS transaction cannot be returned.
After not hearing back from Trelawny for months, Leanne set up the ‘Trelawny Lofts/Roofing Victim Reviews’ group online to warn others.
Another married couple, Graeme Davies and Rachel Rich, claim to have paid Trelawny an upfront fee of £22,800 for a similar loft conversion in August at their home in Meanwood.
Graeme, 48, told Leeds Live he felt “violated, ripped off and angry” after his experience with Mr Brown and Mr Turner, and finding out other customers had reported problems.
He accused the firm of ‘spinning stories’ during the project and claimed scaffolding was put up before their initial payment, making them feel “a little pressured into the deal”.
They called me on my mobile every day until we handed over the money.
Rachel Rich
Rachel, also 48, added: “They called me on my mobile every day until we handed over the money. ‘Just checking where the money is, just checking’ until they wore me down and we handed over the money. Then they just disappeared for ages.”
Graham, a professor at the University of York and Rachel, a reader in history at Leeds Beckett University, claim the work was ‘disorganised’ with tiles ‘yanked off the roof’, leaving the house exposed.
They say a dormer window was installed but then construction petered out.
The couple had been dealing with Mr Turner, who Rachel claims would laugh off her questions and patronisingly call her a “worrier”.
Scaffolding went up on September 7 and work reportedly stopped at the end of November, with the exception of a man checking on how weatherproof the loft was on December 16.
But when Graeme called up demanding answers and for work to continue, he said he was repeatedly told Covid was causing the disruption.
He said Mr Brown had promised the work would be completed back in October.
The couple covered the gaps in the roof with a tarpaulin but “rain came through and it rained hard”.
Now, every time it rains, they must go up and check no water is coming through the roof.
