Approximate cost of replacing kitchen ceiling

[chriseastlondon]

Hi. I'm based in London. A 2.5 m sq section of my kitchen ceiling collapsed a couple of months ago, thanks to an unattended leak in the flat above me. The whole ceiling is about 8 m sq.

I put in a claim on my buildings insurance, which I'm beginning to regret now. Two months later, nothing has been done. I've had one survey. The building company that is meant to be doing the work is supposed to be sending out another surveyor, but he's missed two appointments (not really his fault - but alongside the fact that this is taking forever, that's frustrating). The insurance company has said they won't be able to recover the cost from the upstairs flat, which is disappointing, so my insurance will go up next year.

I don't know if I can cancel my claim at this stage. But I'd consider just hiring a local builder and paying to have the work done, just to get it done quickly.

Can anyone give me a rough idea of what it would cost to get the ceiling replaced? The remains of the old plasterboard will need to be taken down and replaced, then it'll need replastering. The old ceiling is Artexed, so I don't know if that means the contractors will need to take special precautions over asbestos.

Thanks.

 

[stef99]

Personally, I could have fixed it mayself within a day.
Totally ripped down, re-boardeed and skimmied with plaster.

The materials would have cost, about £60, and I would hve done the whole thing for about £200 (in cash in Newcaslte).

However, thtas because I can plaster myself.

for a builder to do it, just double the price of materials , double the labour costs, and then add 30% for tax and expenses.

so about £550-£600 for london prices.

Bewarnd however, that this is a rough guess and I haven't been to Lonodn for the last 15 years.

If you don;t know anybody who can plaster, then your best bet is to get 3 quotes and choose the one your most comfortable with. and avoid ones that seem too cheap. you get what you pay for sometimes. and then yu get really expensive ones ho do a bad job.


As for the artex forget it. you'd be better off replastering it flat.
Artex is an old thing now, and it will cost extra to have the pattern put in.

As for asbestos, How can you be sure the old artex had asbestos added to it? how old is it?

Oh,, you might want to fix the leak before you add the new ceiling, Which I presume is obvious.

It should be noted aswell, that rippng down the old atrex and ceiling will make you price slightly less.
The more you can do yourself, the less you pay others to do it for you.

bewarnd however, ripping ceilings down makes more mess than you can imadgine!

 

[phatboy]

I would expect the communal buildings insurance to cover this?

 

[KenGMac]

chriseastlondon, hi.

One way of getting something done is to make a CEO Complaint to your Insurer, the CEO [Chief Executive Officer]

Call your insured and DEMAND the e mail address for their CEO, do not be fobbed off, and send him a stiff e mail.

You will be surprised at what reaction you can get.

At this point I must admit an Interest, that is I have worked in the insurance industry for 15 Years, in this industry if I get a CEO Complaint I drop all other work and sort out the problem, I don't want to incur the wrath of my CEO?

You could also chance it and request compensation because of your distress, time of work, awaiting the Surveyor, Etc.

 

[Bosswhite]

I would have thought you could claim off the occupier of the flat above either through their Insurance or take the matter to small claims court

If you claim off your own Insurance you will have to pay the excess so in the end it will not be viable for a small job, plus your next premiums will go up in cost.

 

[Johnmelad]

What reason has your insurance given for not claiming off upstairs flat?

 

[chriseastlondon]

Thanks for your replies. Very helpful.

There's no communal buildings insurance. There are just two flats in the building and it's a quirk of the leases that each flat is responsible for its own buildings insurance.

I put in a claim to my insurer. Initially, they said they thought it was a clear case of negligence on the part of the upstairs flat. (The tenants living in the flat blamed their managing agent for failing to send round a plumber, while the agent blamed the tenants, saying they'd never kept any appointments.) However, when my insurance company tried to reclaim the money from them, the agents lied and said they'd fixed the leak as soon as they were aware of it. I've got no documentary evidence to show that the leak was reported to them any earlier than they're claiming, so my insurance company backed down. Which means I'll lose my no-claims bonus.

The insurance company did send out a surveyor a few weeks ago, who took away a fragment of the ceiling for testing - and it did come back positive for asbestos. I understand the amount of asbestos in Artex is so small the risk is negligible - so I'm not worried about the risk to me - but I wonder if they'll still need to take precautions when they take the old ceiling down.

I'm not planning to get the celing re-Artexed - I've always hated it! Once the ceiling is replaced, I'll have it plastered smooth.

But from your replies, it sounds like it's worth finding out if it's possible to cancel the insurance claim and just pay a local builder to do it. I reckon if it's going to cost anything less than £1500, it's not worth waiting months and months just so I can claim it on insurance.

 

[skenk]

Pretty sure you you won't have to use your insurers approved contractors. If your preferred builder can justify their costs the insurer has an obligation to accept, I think. Or just ask them to come in high and be willing to knock it down a bit if the insurer queries it.

When complaining, say the room (and as such the property?) is uninhabitable and you want them to pay for you to stay in a hotel until the job is done. Damaged asbestos-containing artex would be enough to justify that I expect, never mind the damp, dust, lack of adequate fire protection to the ceiling etc.

That should speed your claim right up!

 

[metsec]

who ever you going to use to replace your ceiling, make sure you get them to include repainting the kitchen at the end.

 

[Bosswhite]

who ever you going to use to replace your ceiling, make sure you get them to include repainting the kitchen at the end.

Most Insurance Companies these days will only allow redecoration to the immediate damaged area and not the complete room.

So at a guess they would only allow the ceiling to be redecorated.