Surrey Lofts Group Ltd Review – List of Problems We Had
UPDATE: We were advised by both the police and Citizen’s Advice to post a review about our experience with Surrey Lofts Group Ltd. After doing so Mark Grimshaw called me and attempted to blackmail me into removing the review. He threatened (a) he would not honour the 10 year guarantee and would never fix any issues unless we removed our review, (b) he would fight to not have to repair the damage his company caused and (c) he would personally post false/damaging information about my wife online so as to harm her professional reputation, and would also get everyone he knows to do the same. We have the recording of this call and it has also been shared with the police along with evidence of the theft from our property.
This is just an overview of the issues we encountered when using Surrey Lofts to convert our loft space. If you want to read the full “diary of a Surrey Lofts conversion from hell” you can see our full Surrey Lofts review here
Here’s what happened during our loft conversion…
Four separate leaks from exposed roof not adequately protected.
Three days without electricity upstairs while ceiling and electrics dried out.
Another day without electricity upstairs after cable accidentally cut.
Downstairs dining room flooded from bad plumbing job (which they didn’t tell us about for a week while they tried to patch it up before we got home from holiday). They tried to deny fault even though plumber admitted to seeing no prior leak and that he didn’t check his work before leaving.
Foam pipe insulation was left directly on top of spotlight bulb below new floor. We heard crackling/fizzing one night and found the insulation melted and charred.
Two of the new windows were cracked by workers needing to be replaced during works.
Two other faulty windows installed and needed to be replaced.
At one point three weeks go by without anyone working on the loft.
One project manager who lied to everyone and then ran off to another country.
New project manager who crashed into a neighbours car and then dodged his calls. Never showed up when he said he would. Promised to be here but turns off his phone when we call. One time he promised to be here and then we later found out he was at a theme park with his kids. We learned that he’s a tiler by trade but is somehow managing loft conversions. Even the roofers who have known him for a while say he doesn’t know what he’s looking for when checking over the project.
We had to change locks after the key wasn’t kept with owner as promised but instead given to labourers. We asked for the key back after returning from holiday and it took them EIGHT days to find it and get it back to us.
Portaloo never ordered as promised.
We work from home and have to take multiple days off work as we’re told we have to be out for the stairs to be installed. Project manager just doesn’t show up time after time so have to keep rescheduling days off.
Labourers take our tools e.g. step ladder and painting equipment. Helped themselves to our food and drink while we’re gone. Didn’t even clean up after themselves.
Poor quality finish that takes almost a week to put right by a different employee who was shocked at how bad it was left.
Snagging list includes things like:
– Bathroom window missing parts of trim
– New loft window that doesn’t close
– Light switch not attached to wall
– New window cracked
– Spindles on stairs are not straight – out by a full inch from top compared to bottom.
– Broke our ceiling light and simply replaced with cheap pendant
– Ceiling left unplastered
– Made a hole in exterior wall and left it unrepaired
– Chunks of skirting board missing in multiple places
– Dormer windows have no trim to keep water from going behind tiles
– Bedroom door doesn’t shut following (one of the four) leaks
– Sections of wall that are just unfinished with big holes or bare plasterboard
– Render missing from chimney stack
– Not a single floor board screwed down in new loft room.
– The plumbing connecting the boiler to the new loft bathroom is not up to regulation.
– New radiator doesn’t heat up.
The contract says plaster will have a “smooth finish ready to decorate” but we have to spend days sanding/filling plaster in just the loft room before painting. We then have to pay to get a decorator in to prepare the loft stairwell as we can’t reach it. Managing director (Mark Grimshaw) then tries to claim it’s meant to be left so that we have to sand it and fill it, despite what the contract says.
Multiple lies – many documented through email/text – from project managers, labourers and even managing director.
Have to pay external carpenter to shave new loft bedroom door so that it will fit with carpet.
Come home from vacation to find £40 missing from our son’s charity jar – he saves some of his pocket money every month to give to charity. It’s clearly marked “charity jar”. Mark thinks we’re making it up so as to delay final payment – even though they haven’t finished the job and we haven’t received final invoice – so we show him proof it was moved while we were away and he never responds.
Mark shows a complete unwillingness to accept that his guys did a poor job, even when confronted with evidence. Instead he tries to make up stories to explain why it’s all meant to be that way. He lies to us, but he’s not very good at it, so he’s easily caught out in his lies with documented emails/texts/photos. Once we present evidence he stops responding.
After final invoice was paid building control came round to inspect their work and it FAILED the inspection. Takes a full month for them to send round an electrician to certify all the electrical works.
When reporting the theft to the police, they recommend leaving a review of our experience online. Within hours of posting a review Mark Grimshaw calls us and tries to blackmail us into removing the review by saying (a) they’ll never honour our 10 year guarantee so long as the review is up, (b) he’ll fight to make sure the damage they caused isn’t fixed by their insurance and (c) he’ll personally post false/negative information about my wife online to damage her professional career and will also get everyone in the world that he knows to do the same. (Yes, we have a recording of this phone call and shared it with the police)
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