‘I lost £13,000 after rogue builder ripped off my roof and ran away with my cash’

A nurse has claimed she was forced to pay £13,000 to fix her own roof after a cowboy builder pulled it down – leaving her thousands out of pocket.

Sakhile Zimbwa, 59, agreed to pay £4,000 of the £10,000 agreed fee upfront for a builder to fit a new roof and guttering to her three-bed semi-detached house and neighbouring garage in Sheffield.

But after completing half of the roof, he ordered her to pay him the remaining £6,000 of the quote or he would ‘pull it down’, according to Sakhile.

When she refused, the mum-of-three said the builder and several of his workers took down the tiles, smashing several, took other materials, and even damaged her roof.

They then left the property.

The builder claimed he took down the roof as he thought Sakhile was ‘scamming’ him by refusing to pay.

Sakhile – who has since had her roof replaced – said the incident left her feeling ‘unsafe’ in her own home.

She said: ‘I do not understand why someone would act like this.

‘I have never been so stressed in my life, I just felt helpless.

‘They were supposed to be relieving stress, not adding to it.

‘He left my house badly damaged; if it had rained, it would have damaged my ceilings and they could have fallen in. Thank God it didn’t.

‘It also made us susceptible to burglars and they could have just jumped into the house through the garage roof.

‘That night my son and I didn’t sleep at all.’

‘I just felt helpless’

Sakhile initially decided to have the roof replaced after snow sitting on her house during last year’s winter began leaking into her son’s bedroom.

The nurse had saved up for the work for four years after she noticed the roof looking ‘tired’ in 2022.

In February, Sakhile put out a request on the trusted builder directory website Checkatrade and received a response from a builder.

The builder came round to her house on February 23, where he inspected the roof and told her he could start work on February 27, a Friday, and be finished the following Monday (March 2).

Sakhile said the builder was ‘very friendly’ when she first met him, stating he even knocked £1000 off his original quote and also agreed to replace her gutters.

They agreed for Sakhile to pay him £4,000 upfront for the materials and £6,000 upon completion.

Sakhile said he started as soon as the materials arrived on the Friday and she transferred the first £4,000 to his account.

When she asked if she would get a contract to sign, a receipt for her payment, or a quotation detailing the materials, he said he would email it, but Sakhile claims he never did.

She said: ‘At first the work was going well, he was working with a number of his men putting it up.

‘It was great as finally a big stress in my life was being lifted.’

But on the Monday he had only completed half of the work and allegedly became verbally aggressive over text, demanding that she send him the remaining £6,000 so he could finish it.

He disputed the mum’s claim, saying the job was 95% complete and would have finished it that day had she paid.

But the nurse said she would only pay him upon completion.

She then asked if he had organised a builder inspector to assess his work after it was finished, to which he replied he had never used one and said he would ‘pull it down’ at 12 pm if she didn’t pay.

He then said he had a private inspector who was available, but that it would cost an additional £2000.

Sakhile said she was able to get one from the local authority to come out after it was complete for £280.

The builder said he has completed ‘600 roofs’ and ‘never once’ had a building inspector come out for a roof before.

Sakhile said: ‘I had a hospital appointment at the time in the morning.

‘While I was sitting in the waiting room, he texted me demanding money to finish the work.

‘It got worse after I asked about the building inspector; he told me he had never used one in his 15-year career.

‘I reassured him that as soon as he finished, I would pay him and get an inspector in afterwards.

‘He continued to be aggressive and it stressed me out, saying he would pull down the roof.

‘The council told me it was a legal requirement for them to assess the roof.’

Sakhile returned home at 11am. She claimed the builder came to her property at around midday and began pulling down his work – including tiles and wooden support beams – and damaged the structure.

Shocking images show gaping holes which she says the builder caused.

He then packed up the materials into his van and drove off at around 4pm. The mum says he hasn’t returned since.

The builder denied the claims, saying ‘he did not damage’ any part of the roof.

The builder said he took down the roof after he feared Sakhile was going to ‘scam’ him and not pay him the full amount.

She said the builder still has her £4,000, but he has said he will not be paying her back.

A police investigation

Sakhile said she has since contacted the South Yorkshire Police who have since confirmed they are investigating the incident

A spokesperson said: ‘At 10.52am on Monday (2 March) we received a report of threatening behaviour in the Bradway area of Sheffield.

‘It is reported a woman, in her 50s, received multiple threatening calls and text messages.

‘Enquiries are ongoing.’

The mum also reported the builder to Checkatrade.

Sakhile’s son – who doesn’t want to be named – later came across another builder called Graham Nash.

Graham – who runs his own business called Pinnacle builders, calls out cowboys on his social media pages and helps homeowners who have been affected by their work.

Sakhile said he contacted Graham and arranged for roofer David Monaghan, 40, to visit. He has since made the roof water-tight.

David said: ‘I could tell the customer was in the right from what he had left behind.

‘He was laying tiles over the old felt instead of pulling it down and putting new felt on.

‘I knew this was the case because the old expanding insulation foam was still there.

‘A building inspector would never have accepted it.’

The original builder said: ‘She was trying to bump me out of my last payment. I have had customers like her before.

‘I wasn’t going to wait and potentially never be paid. I told her I wouldn’t be leaving until I was paid.

‘I told her if we had organised it (a building inspector) beforehand it wouldn’t have been a problem.

‘I tried to get one on the day she asked, but they were charging £2000.

‘Labour and materials cost me £7000 and I am now £3000 out of pocket.’

Sakhile paid £13,000 for David to fix the damage.

The quote included replacing both her damaged roof and garage roof, gutting, and replacing faucets.

She said: ‘I was desperate to have my roof fixed as the whole situation was a nightmare.

‘I’m now out of pocket, but at least I have my house back.’

A spokesperson for Checkatrade said: ‘Checkatrade’s vetting goes above and beyond other trader recommendation platforms.

‘Every tradesperson must pass up to 12 individual checks, agree to uphold our Checkatrade Standard and maintain positive reviews.

‘We decline over 1,400 tradespeople each year from joining Checkatrade, and continue to monitor those who do make the cut.

‘In this case, the tradesperson sought to circumvent our vetting process by unlawfully using his partner’s identity.

‘Our ongoing monitoring quickly identified the issue, and the tradesperson was removed from our platform.

‘Ms Zimbwa has been encouraged to complete her application for our Checkatrade Guarantee, which could give up to £1,000 towards remedying workmanship.’