'My Builder': Cowboy Roofer-Builder Conman. I hired a 'gift of the gab' 'roofer'…
I hired a 'gift of the gab' 'roofer' through My Builder to re-roof a dormer & a-fix the apex with a UPVC cover, and I had trouble from day 1. It began with finding 2 teenagers - in my judgement, teen school boys - armed with hammers, tools walking all over my roof and throwing down missiles onto the garden below: wood and concrete, smashing the guttering beneath. The fact that one slip and there was nothing to stop their fall seemed immaterial to their boss. The builder was sat in his van while this went ahead. I couldn't understand why sound pine wood, four-foot lengths of wide thick timber had been thrown down (not once did this ''roofer'' warn us of what was to come, any children playing outside, pets, could have been hit in the head - but the builder-roofer couldnt care less: (only now has it been shown to me by another [pro] builder that these internal/side timbers, covered in 10 inch nails were part of the structural integrity of the dormer. I had NOT asked for the dormer sides/internal timber to be removed. It WAS part of the whole of the dormers strength to hold up all those tiles]
This builder-roofer in a word is a fake.
At the time I carried on trusting him, going back was too late, not least the loss of £. When he told me he completed the work and wanted a cheque for X thousand pounds, I went up on the scaffolding to find he hadnt finished the work at all; trowelled mortar only had the foundation later on the ridge tiles; the Roman tiles did not meet/lock together; guttering he put in fell out of the brackets into my hands and were totally a different colour to that which his boys ripped out.
And of course the smashed main guttering [due to his boys] he didnt even mention.
Getting to put anything of a reasonable standard was an uphill struggle - Oh a great blagger, but his attitude stank & he became disrespecable, warning me not to lift the flashing (beneath was tile/s someone, or boy, had crushed); he also botched down lead flashing onto roof tiles with mastic- no true tradesman does that. Needless to say the roof still leaked. Sadly I had given him the majority of the £ by that time; 'Cowboy' refuses to show evidence that he has insurance [for £millions he had claimed, against accident, fire, etc]. Let's see what Trading Standards say. They should have access to that data.
I am now left with bringing in a structural engineer - for peace of mind to find out if this dormer could be in danger of collapse. I have no doubt he has made it weaker, and off course theres now less insulation against head loss & greater noise levels from traffic Those timbers had been in the building since the day the house was built in the late 1940's - not a single sign of rot or depreciation of any kind. His gormless act ripping them out was nothing short of wanton vandalism. Dont expect My Builder to do anything - so far they've done zero - their support is just lip service. Just as the BBC expose of My Builder showed. I have now got months of anxiety & loss of sleep ahead due to trusting ''My Builder'' - an organisation who make NO checks on the tradesmen who they vouch for at all.
But what about this trades mans 'good' reviews? As the BBC pointed out, this can easily be overcome by the con artists swamping the site with bogus 'good' reviews, bad reviews thus minimised
So long as MB gets its promotional money...I take it they take fees?
This con artist - oh yes, often v charming, has not been removed from its lists to my knowledge. This nightmare began in late April-early May 2025 & is on-going.
Date of experience: 02 June 2025
