Galeproperties Reviews 10

Martin and his team have been renovating our house after a flood. They are extremely professional, always on time and nothing is too much trouble. Thanks for helping us get our home back…..great job!

We employed Gale Properties to build a ground floor extension knocking through the dining room creating a large dining kitchen & converting the old kitchen into a utility room. The plans also included creating a new downstairs toilet.
We had a great relationship with Martin Gale throughout the project. We liked the fact that he managed it on a weekly basis & we paid each week for materials & work done which meant we had good control over the financing of the extension. His original quote was competitive & we kept well to the budget throughout.
His workmen were excellent & we were very pleased with the standard of their work. Our request for any extra work at the time was done without a problem. When the extension was complete we also used his kitchen fitters who did a great job.
Overall, we were very pleased with the standard of work with the project & had an excellent relationship with Martin Gale throughout the experience.

Used Gale Properties about 4 years ago for a variety of jobs:rendering /window replacement/guttering/Bathroom and ensuite replacement.
Quote was fair and the final cost was just below quote. Paid on a weekly basis for works done.No issues with the work.

I couldn't be happier with the results of our recent house renovation! From start to finish, the team were professional, reliable, and incredibly skilled. They took the time to understand our vision and turned it into reality with precision and care. Every detail—from the new flooring and updated kitchen to the fresh paint and lighting —was executed beautifully. Communication was clear throughout the process, and the project was completed on time and within budget. Our home feels brand new, and we’ve received so many compliments from friends and family. Highly recommend to anyone looking for quality workmanship and a smooth renovation experience!

We were recommended Martin Gale properties by our architect who had worked with Martin for a number of years.
We contracted Gale properties to construct a double storey side extension with single storey rear elevation.
All M&E services were to be included with the exception of kitchen and bathrooms.
We made the choice to rent and not live in the property during the works given how extensive the project was.
This clearly increased our costs and as a result Martin agreed to complete the works to a very short timescale to limit the impact of our rental costs.
I would always recommend this especially with a family.

The works went to plan with regards to time, and specification. We had a few unforseen additional costs but this is always to be expected with a project of this size and scale. This was communicated at the time by Martin with an honest and open dialogue.
We were also working on a small site with limited access due to being close to a canal.
Martin was excellent at planning just on time deliveries, keeping us updated with weekly payments to cover (even though this was during COVID)labour and materials and any potential challenges.
He ensured we had no delays when the kitchen fitters (employed directly by ourselves) when booked to start work.
On the whole we got a great home at a very fair price delivered on time to our specification.
I would happily recommend Martin again to any of my friends or family.

We’ve used Gale Properties on 2 separate occasions for two-storey side and rear house extensions. Both experiences were similar, with the build managed week by week and payments made each week for materials, labour and to sub-contractors. All work was inspected and approved by building control, and we were very happy with the trades people on site. The price quoted was very competitive, and some experiences reflect that. Overall we would recommend the firm.

Martin is a great builder.
Precise. Fair. Efficient. Builds exactly what is on the plans. And pricing is correct.
Big side extension and into the roof.
Neat and tidy site.
Good team of lads. Polite. Hard working. Professional.
Efficient deliveries to help alleviate any issues with neighbours.
Will use for future projects and have referred him to friends.

Martin and his team carried out a double storey wrap around extension in 2024.

I was pleased with Martins transparency and communication throughout the extensive works and would highly recommend him and his team.

Martin Gale is not a builder. He takes advantage of people and rips them off. He fitted the wrong tiles on our porch roof, at the wrong angle, as with the other reviewer ignored the plans, and lied through his teeth. Even broke pad stones, and charged for work he did not do.

UPDATE3: Stop playing the victim please ! My family still haven't gotten over the nightmares you gave us.

UPDATE2: Some text messages from Mr. Gale advising me to get rid of contractor 1 for issues he caused:
- "He hasn't a leg to stand on believe me."
- "A deadline for what, he's delusional."
- "Inform his legal advisor that you are taking legal advice and will be chasing Mr xxxxxx for payments made for incorrect works."

UPDATE1: Response to contractor. Called me multiple times only after my review, to "discuss" issues. He's not to be trusted so I asked him to send in writing his offer of remedying issues caused and he refused. Instead threatened in writing to "pay me a visit".

Trafford council have accepted in writing that structural designs were not followed and got him to fix issues. Council cannot be expected to inspect every item in the 5 mins the contractor brings them on site.

Some of the issues like fraudulent extraction of money (collecting £7800 for Windows and doors while actual cost was just £4070 for example; more than £20000 collected in excess like this) cannot be "fixed" unless contractor returns money, which his responses show he's definitely not going to do.

Unfortunately the internet does allow people like these to create fake positive reviews. This guy has 2 accounts on Cylex for example, first one for Sale location, on which he couldn't get Cylex to remove my review after I provided proof to Cylex and another he created afterwards for Prestbury to collect fake positive reviews. Then threatened court action and complaint to FMB in Sept 2024, both of which he knows he cannot do because he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

There was also a very unpleasant experience where he questioned me at length about mine and my children's accents (I am Asian). He has accepted this in writing in an email chain. He was supposedly "just asking me about my accent" in the 10min ordeal I had to go through !

It's funny what he is saying about "reporting this to the FMB". If they are going to take me to court over an honest review so be it.

Beware !

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Would have given 0 stars if possible. Not to be trusted ! Stay away if you value your time, money and sanity. He is after your money, is irresponsible and careless and incompetent too. Had the misfortune of trusting this guy when an earlier builder caused a number of issues on my extension, building rooms the wrong size etc. This guy advised me to get rid of him (I have a series of text messages from him advising me on this) and took on the build but turned out to be way worse. How I regret trusting him ! He took full advantage of my situation and my trust and took a lot of money from me without doing the corresponding work. Did not even show any consideration for my family. And overall construction quality has been pathetic in most areas. I have a number of photographs to prove this.

To start off with, he did not read the architects plan or structural design documents and caused a lot of major issues, way more than the earlier guy. One example was where he completely ignored the structural design document and used undersized joists for the floor of my upstairs bedroom. I am now left with uneven floors even after he charged me further to insert a steel beam in the middle of the span to fix the issue he had caused and also further amounts to supposedly level the floor (it still isn't). I had to contact building control directly and get them to force him to do a lot of stuff (I have a series of emails regarding this, all to do with major structural elements). Also refused to provide past receipts for most materials purchases claiming that these were inaccessible, whereas I know for a fact that it is possible. Extracts almost double actual materials costs in most cases. If you do need to go with him, make sure to also keep track of daily labour attendance and exact expenses on labour and materials each day and get him to sign these each day. Billing for way more than actual labour costs each week is another way he extracts large extra amounts. And make sure to inspect each and every aspect of the build very closely every day !

And I am not alone. Have now heard at-least 3 other accounts of similar and some even more serious issues he caused in nearby areas. In one case, the home owner was advised to move out immediately by his surveyor for fear of the structure collapsing. In another, he caused serious careless issues and then refused to provide insurance coverage.

Is now based in Macclesfield (Prestbury), which is the location advertised on the Federation of Master Builders website as well. Do not trust anything on the website or the corresponding listing on the FMB website. FMB is known to always side with their members only anyways (just read FMB reviews written by customers rather than their members here on Trustpilot).