First Stop Home improvements Ltd Reviews 110

Initially I was contacted by a cold call, which I took as an informative call.
I agreed to receive a surveyor to come and asses the loft where I was provided with documents and information about the roof.
I had a chat with my husband and we decided to go ahead and insulate the roof and to make sure that everything was going to go well they didn’t take any money from us until the work has been done and we were happy with everything.
It’s been 6 months and we can see the difference the winter is warmer and our bills are reduced. They gave us a 25 years warranty and they came around to check it 2 weeks ago to make sure the insulation is doing it’s job.

Thank you very much to the whole team and wish you guys a happy new year.

Initially I was contacted by a cold call, and usually I don't agree to anything from a call like that, however I had heard about this warm roof idea, so agreed to have a surveyor come and look at the roof. He was very thorough in taking measurements of temperature and humidity, and explained very clearly what the effect could be in the future as some of the felt was damaged and the rafters were damp. He also took pictures of where the fibre glass insulation was missing and also said the rest was very old. I said I needed to have a think so he left with no hard sell. I had an email from the company 2 days later with a written quote, by then I had decided to go ahead, so when this was followed by a phone call, I agreed to the foam.
On the day they arrived about 8.30am and had the whole roof done by 11am. They put protective dust sheets over the floor and stairs and made very little mess, which they cleared up anyway. As it was only done last week, I don't know yet what heat benefit I'm getting but I'm hopeful.

The only point I would make is that the company make you aware of the noise the compressor makes so you can warn the neighbours beforehand. I didn't realise it would be quite so loud.

I would use this company again.

Fantastic service
They provided me with a fantastic service from the initial phone call to the install

Me and my husband were impressed with the service from start to finish.
I was initially skeptical about how good the foam insulation would be but the results exceeded our expectations. Now we have a much warmer house.

Initial discussions about the project were very good but the installation had problems.
The visit was scheduled for 4 to 5 hours on Friday morning 27th November 2020. Apparently the van broke down at the depot in Southampton & finally we got a phone call to say they would be here about 11am. They actually arrived at 1pm. During the next few hours the spray tube became blocked & they left us about 4pm saying the spray was then broken & they had no spare part. They were only half way through. They were to return at 8.30am on Monday 30th Nov. A different gang arrived at 8am. The noise of the compressor was excessive & the early start upset our neighbours. They did a good job, however, & finished at 11am.

We have used First Stop Home Improvements several times in the last few years and have always had first class service. We would definitely recommend them to anyone.

I agreed to have an assessor visit after a cold call. The assessor was very knowledgeable, made his checks and informed me of potential issues. He then asked if I wanted to go further and get a quote and if I had said no then I think he would have left.

But I said yes and we discussed multiple options and I agreed to have the inside (spray foam insulation) and the outside (repointing, rendering and coating) of the roof done.

First appointment was made and missed, second appointment was made and missed, but they turned up in the afternoon of the second appointment.

The spray foam insulation was done well, quickly and efficiently. They also cleared up after. The appointment for the outside was kept and it took longer to clear the roof then they had originally anticipated and had to come back the next day. After the cleaning the roof looked amazing. Finally they came back and did the coating in one day and after which my roof looked like new.

All the people who attended were very friendly and informative of the process they were undertaking.

I would recommend highly and the only reason this is not 5 stars is for the missed appointments.

Absolutely no problem with ordering, delivery etc. Huge problem with paying the bill. Firstly, paying by bank transfer, My bank refused make the transfer because The Sort Code and A/c number came up with a different company name and advised me to send a cheque. About three weeks after sending it, had E-Mail compaining that I hadn't paid - about a week ago. Today 5/10/20 acknowledged payment....

Installation team turned up on time and worked like demons. They had a problem with the spray gun that they managed to fix in a relatively short time frame. Very clean workers who cleaned up very well after they had finished the installation.

The original cold telephone call from one of their agents was rather "iffy" with some dubious information being given so I telephoned the company to check and spoke to their sales director who apologised, agreed that the rep had given me incorrect details and gave me correct information. He also assured me that he would make sure the agent in question was given further training, I then agreed to a visit from a surveyor.

The surveyor explained the purpose of his visit before inspecting my loft, he pointed out that it was very damp and cold showing me the readings on his equipment, with hardly any difference between internal and external temperatures and told me that the dampness could eventually result in the rafters etc rotting. He recommended that foam be inserted between the rafters and told me that I would definitely notice a difference and would most likely save money on my heating bills which eventually would pay for the cost of the work. I decided to go ahead. He also kindly pointed out several cold spots in the house that I could remedy myself, this had nothing to do with the survey but was just helpful advice. Later that day a friend expressed concerns about my decision telling me of several horror stories which he had heard of. I contacted the company about this and had all of my additional questions answered to my satisfaction

The installers arrived on time and worked without a break, I was a little concerned about the way the carpet protection was put down but it did the job and they cleaned up thoroughly afterwards with no residual dirt or rubbish to be seen.

Unfortunately there was one incident which resulted in a major leak from a water pipe, in my opinion this was certainly not down to carelessness but a simple accident, partly due to the pipe layout in the loft, the company had a plumber out within an hour or two to repair the damaged piping and the installers revisited me a few weeks later and repainted both my ceiling and, although the water staining was only on one wall, repainted all the walls in my kitchen. This was all done to my satisfaction.

A week or so after the insulation was added the outside temperature was 3.2C however in the loft it was 10.0C far higher than previously. Out of interest I have also invested in a humidity/ temperature recorder which I have left in the loft since the date of installation, this is showing a gradual decrease in humidity and the minimum temperature since installation was 9.6C not bad considering the outside temperature has been down to -2.0C. It has now been several months since the work was done and the humidity and loft temperatures have continued to improve. I understand from the surveyor that it will take some time for the rafters to dry out completely but I don’t have the equipment to check those.

The upstairs rooms are far warmer than previously and I have already turned my thermostat down by a degree.

Following the loft insulation I decided to have the roof tiles treated, the chaps who did this also repointed the ridge tiles and chimney, I was already aware that these badly needed doing, obviously they did a good job as a week or so later we had gales and everything remained intact. The tiles were then cleaned, treated and then coated with a material called Renotec which apparently both seals the tiles and prevents dirt or bird droppings from sticking to the roof, I had hoped that it would be too slippery for the pigeons but sadly that was not the case. Although bird droppings can be seen on the roof in dry weather as soon as it rains they wash off.
A week or so later I noticed some patching on the roof and asked the surveyor to revisit, he said that he would arrange for the contractors to revisit the property; about this time the lockdown came into force and everything was put on hold.
I contacted the company a few weeks after the rules allowed outside work to recommence and a rep from the contractors called round, he agreed that a further coating was required, due to the age of the tiles they were quite porous. The contractors then gave the entire roof a further coating and at the time of writing everything is fine.

All in all I am very happy with the company, I did wonder if once they had my money I would have arguments regarding any remedial work but this was certainly not the case. The sales director even phoned me to check that I was happy with the remedial work and explained that customer service was very important to them.