Timberwise - www.timberwise.co.uk

Overall very pleased with service and work carried out by Timberwise.

The work that had to be done was fully explained in their surveyor's report.

The work was carried out very efficiently with all floor surfaces etc well protected and each day the work areas were cleaned so dust was kept to a minimum.

We have had a really hard and upsetting time with Timberwise Liverpool. I hope this review serves as a warning to others looking to get dry rot / damp treated.

They started a job removing dry rot from our downstairs living room in early 2017. They replaced part of a sash window frame, multiple floorboards, and replastered a quarter of the room. As well as treating the rot. We had problems with them from start to finish. The rot has now been found again in the skirting boards in the same area where they conducted the work. Here are the problems we had with them:

1. They cost a lot of money compared to other companies

2. They took nearly 2 months to complete a job which should've been done in 1 week

3. Days would go by without anyone coming to the house and the job half finished

4. We were rarely kept updated on the progress of the work and we had to call them to find out what was going on / what the delay was

5. One day we came home in the pouring rain and found the window was boarded up, no one had told us this was going to happen

6. After calling up to complain we had someone sent round to complete some demanding manual jobs and they sent someone with a broken arm!

7. We found rot back within 18 months in the same area

8. They were going to charge us £160 just to come out and have a look

9. Their surveyor came out and spent 2 minutes looking at it, he failed to assess the walls, windows and floor boards

10. He said that they had failed to properly finish the job

11. He spoke to a director who then refused to honour our guarantee (which we had paid a substantial amount for) and refused to finish the job

12. Now we are left with an incomplete job, visible dry rot in the room, a guarantee which is worthless, and have already had to pointlessly redecorate the room once which cost us £500

13. After complaining they said they would come and see the work again with the complaints team in 3 weeks time!

14. They then agreed to come sooner, reviewed the work and once again accepted no responsibility for the incomplete job

I am now awaiting an independent surveyor to come and review the work and I’m going to liase with the ombudsman. I would wholeheartedly not recommend this company to anyone.

I sent an online enquiry to Timberwise on the Sunday and received an automated reply, by the end of Monday I had heard nothing back, so chased them and was told that a surveyor was reviewing the images i sent (i only sent 4 images) and they would call back once these had been reviewed.

It is now two days after this initial contact and I am still yet to hear back from the company.

I have no idea just how the surveyor is reviewing 4 images for them to take 3 days, but it seems rather excessive.

Adding to the other negative reviews I have seen of this company I will never be contacting them again and will use a tradesman who I can rely on.

Timberwise fitted a waterproof membrane to our property in 2013. At the time we had huge concerns about the quality of the worksmanship which we raised with the Managing Director. A few years on our concerns have been realised and we now have serious damp problems in places we have never had before. We asked Timberwise to come back which they did and they knocked some exploratory holes in our walls. That was 6 weeks ago and we are yet to hear in writing what the problem is and what they are going to do to rectify it. Please make own decision about whether this is a company you want to work on your home.

I rang to ask about having a survey of some woodworm . The lady I spoke to was very knowledgeable and helpful, explaining the type of beetle and the probable cause, and likely effectiveness of different treatments. In fact she advised me that a survey would not be very useful because the treatment options were very limited, and the problem was unlikely to be serious. It increased my knowledge and peace of mind considerably.

I contacted Timberwise as I was concerned that I had dry rot developing in my loft. Rather than calling for a survey, I was asked instead to email photos of the timbers to establish whether or not this was so. Within 20 minutes(!) she phoned to reassure me that having looked at my photos, I should not be concerned and that it definitely wasn't dry rot. She advised me that what I thought was dry rot were salts coming out of the timber brought about by condensation and a lack of air circulation. I was advised to ensure that there is always plenty of room in the loft for the air to circulate. I would most definitely recommend Timberwise to a friend. Excellent service and thank you!

Prompt attention from start to finish. Receptionist got an inspector to site the same day. He rang me within a few hours! Been and gone and done it!

Such a great help having prompt attention - peace of mind now. Nothing urgent. Builders who looked at the site having me on (am a 70 year old woman, trying to rip me off! No chance now!

Fabulous company and set up - estimates given including VAT (wish they all did this).

Will sleep well tonight - Great Big Thanks to the two people who helped me so much today, xxxxx

After our buyers valuation surveyor requested a damp and timber survey be completed our buyer, without knowledge of the industry, commissioned Timberwise. The property is 250 plus year old cottage, lime plastered with no signs of damp and historic woodworm beetle (as expected on a property of this age).

Timberwise, who are primarily a damp proofing contractor let us remember, with a few readings on the plaster (by damp meter calibrated for timber!) reported back within the day with a report featuring no photographic evidence or meter readings saying the property needed £4500 plus of damp works to remedy rising damp and beetle infestation, including fumigation, removal of the correctly specified and applied lime plaster (which facilitates the natural breathing of the building) a cavity membrane lining to the walls (more suited to cellars and without any mention of drainage) replastering over and paint decoration within 6 weeks (any replastering should be lime based followed by lime wash to match existing not paint).

This has caused no end of stress to us and the very real potential of scaring off a buyer subsequently breaking out chain. I have commissioned an independent surveyor, one of which can be found on the Property Care Association website, who has confirmed my belief that there is no problem with the property. I currently await on whether our buyer and their lender accept this alternative report.

I would highly recommend any seller commission an independent survey by independent company who have no conflict of interest. Timberwise and others of their ilk have a clear interest in diagnosing damp as this generates in house business. 'Yes sir damp is prevelant throughout the property and by the way here's the cost to complete the work, please advance 50% of the cost into our bank. Details as follows'. As the saying goes, turkeys do not vote for Christmas, please bare this in mind.

Your technician who treated our woodworm infestation today was extremely efficient thorough about this job, in fact he found a few more holes with his torch. He was very pleasant and the completed work looked very good indeed.

Timberwise was recommended to me when a builder spotted some rot in our under-floor beams. Timberwise sent a surveyor out to assess the extent of our rot, and he identified 3 separate wet-rot problems that needed timbers replacing and chemical treatment. This was written up in a report and quote which I received promptly through the post. Two were accessible and we agreed to go ahead with these as the first part of the work. The third problem could not be fully assessed unless some floorboards were taken up and a further survey done, and we arranged for the work to go ahead with just a very rough estimate of what the cost might be.

When the second survey took place, I am pleased to say that the wet-rot damage was much less than originally feared, and the work was completed in a third of the time and cost that we had expected. To me this demonstrates Timberwise's honesty and integrity as a company. I also found their people friendly and professional. The surveyor was very personable and I had confidence in his abilities. The technician who did the repairs and treatment was kind and efficient. I was expecting to have to clear up a lot of dust from our surfaces after the work was completed, but in fact I couldn't notice any dust made at all.

I got a 20 year guarantee for the work and really can't find fault with Timberwise. A great experience.