What price for an aerial installation?
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV In responses to the guideline I posted about how much having a new aerial fitted should cost, Ian Grice posted: "£40-£50? Every aerial fitter I contacted wants at least £150+VAT considering you can get a class 3 aerial for under £10 and a class 2 for under £15 and cable is 40p a metre why are they charging so much for 30 minutes work?"
OK, for some places putting up a TV aerial is hard work, such as multi-story properties. As many people will simply be exchanging a Group A, B, C/D, E or K aerial for a wideband type, often without changing the supporting pole or cable, a high price cannot be justified.
I am concerned that some companies will exploit vulnerable groups (such as the elderly).
So, I what prices have you been quoted for aerial installations? What price have you paid for installation?
Do you know of any companies to avoid? Do you know of any companies that are good value for money?
Or do you work for a great aerial installation company?
Help with TV/radio stations?
Saturday, 18 June 2011
M
Mazbar6:07 PM
Just a little note went to a customers house the other day to fit some hdmi leads . Over the phone the lady had told me her husband had been to comet and got a 4m long one for £129.99 this made me laugh. First i told her to take it back and get her money back. First reason she needed a 5m cable not 4m ans secondly it was £129.99. This was for a childs play room and she will need 3 making a grand total of £389.97 then she needed me to fit them through a wall and in behind the wall mounted tv i did the whole job for a lot less than just the 3 cables.
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Sunday, 19 June 2011
M
Mazbar7:22 PM
Pamela it could be one of two things either the cap has come off your aerial or your cable is broken. Have a look at your aerial plug if it comes straigth from your aerial if it is rusty or milky white you have water in it get it seen to as quick as possable before it does any damage to your set top box or tv
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I
Ian9:04 PM
Hey mazbar
I had an av customer who said he supplied all of mr beckhams tv cables through out hit house loads of tv's all tv needed god knows how many scart leads (going back some years) he told me he had sold him each scart lead for £150 each
It's hidious what people will pay
All the best
Ian 123 aerials Oxford
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I
Ian9:09 PM
Pamela the break if there is one will be in the loft or somewhere that there is a tv link amp or splitter box,
Be carefull because if water is getting into the amp this will also be plugged into the mains
Find the amplifier splitter box take off the connector and bang the bit of cable against a bit of newspaper if the paper gets wet you will know if there is water in it
If not some loft amplifiers allow you to turn up the gain with a little know on it, if it has one of these turn it up a little bit and retune the tv.
Hope all goes well
Ian 123aerials Oxford
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I
Ian9:16 PM
Ooooo my bad spelling, teach me to use my phone to do updates.
Flippin predictive text
So sorry peeps
All the best Ian
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KB Aerials Sheffield
10:15 PM
10:15 PM
Pamela - what Ian says is right in some way- but Ian is assumong there is an amplifier somewhere maybe in the loft- not all Aerials need an amplifier a lot of aerials are on the chimney the cable comes straight down the roof over the gutter and is tacked down the exterior of the property- what happens with old cable is that it gets brittle because of the suns UV rays - as it becomes brittle it cracks and lets water in - also the cable rubs on the roof and the gutter and slowly over years cuts into the cable - if the aerial is old enough for this to happen then I suggest start from scratch , new Bracket mast and aerial with fresh cable - I may be right - ian may be right - as to where the water is getting to but I would say 90% that its deffinatly water somewhere thats causing the problem
Keith KB Aerials sheffield 01142514389 07946481125
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Saturday, 25 June 2011
I
Ian6:42 AM
Hi All,
I'm an electrical contractor in west mids and can do aerial installations, I have picked up a job that requires an communal system on 11 apartments each apartment has 2no sky cables the building is wired back to a riser cupboard and all it requires is an aerial and satelite.
I thought I will get the materials and pay someone a fair days pay plus fuel costs, after phoning around for quotes it's become apparent that the installers are asking for footballers wages for one days work which they would get done in half a day, quotes I had was £800 £1000 £700 qualified skilled electricians struggle to get £150 a day and they have done 4 yrs at college
Not a 10 week course.
So Question!! Why are these prices so high?
Also we have customers!! Not victims!
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KB Aerials Sheffield
6:10 PM
6:10 PM
Ian I think the reason would be that we can go and install 5 aerials in that amount of time and earn more money so what your asking for is someone to turn down doing 5 domestic jobs which can easily be achieved in a day which is equivelent to the time alloted to complete your job, plus doing commercial work is a pain as you dont get paid on the day (which you would if you was doing domestic) plus at the moment were all busy doing the digital switchover
I know its probably not what you want to hear but your not going to get an aerial installer to work for £150 a day when they can earn that in an hour or 2 and travel 3 miles doing so
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M
Mazbar8:24 PM
Ian if the job is so easy do it yourself . I have been doing the job for over 22 years and i still learn things i also saw my father fall 30ft off a ladder and almost kill himself so that is why the costs can by high and by the way i have yet to find a spark who can fit an areial right i dont know how to re wire a house every man to his own job
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Hi Ian,
There could be many reasons, not least that most of us have been to jobs wired by electricians to find things like aerial & satellite have been wired like a ring main or that the cheapest crap cable has been used (unlike twin & earth cable quality is very important) the same goes for faceplates the quality of some we see is worse than the the stuff seen in diy sheds (unscreened stuff of unknown origin etc.) We work with some local sparks & have taught them how to do it right with the right materials & the partnerships work well, but if a guy is going into a unknown sparks work, you cant blame him for quoting for the worst case senario to protect himself. Im suprised that current economic situation you are not doing this work yourself as you say you have the skills required.
As for a 10 week course if you think that is all the decent installers have undertaken you are very mistaken, yes there are some switchover contractors who have a lot less training than 10 weeks but there are also many professional riggers who have as many if not more years in the trade as many sparks & a hell of a lot more than the 4 years at college that you quote.
Mark Aberfan Aerials
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