Great ‘builders/decorators/handymen insider tips’ Hunt

madasarog

I live in the Worthing area of West Sussex and we have a service locally called 'Checkatrade'. It is run by https://www.checkatrade.com on 0871 750 0211. All sorts of services are covered under the heading of 'honest, hard working, professional tradesmen. I have used the service and have not been disappointed. I do not know the extent of the service across the UK. Kind regards. Madasarog.

Househead_2

yonny1 wrote: »

we live in an old property which needs one wall rendered outside as the rain gets in and my wallpaper is ruined !

The original rendering was poorly done,
all the way to the ground enabling rising damp and scoring lines on it which meant it was weaker and the frost could get to it and crack it
so.....
Ive had three tradesmen give me a quote

a) £250 - just re rendering around the window where the worst damp gets in and a few other bits, re masticating the window - but basically a patch job

b) £1800 - chipping off the whole wall, re rendering - but this means getting scaffolding and he wont guarantee the work

c)£780 - chipping off 6 inches along the bottom of all the rendering to stop the damp , chipping and re rendering where needed and painting the whole wall with a sealant - but again not guaranteed!

Help!! Dont want to seem like the thick female who has no idea re builders/quotes etc - but thats what I feel like!
Anyone got any advice? id really appreciate it! Cheers

Hi there...

It would be helpful to know the size of the wall concerned ..... it sounds to me, as if its the window which the main cause of the rain getting in..... because its very rare for so much rain to penetrate through a wall !!! If you were in Kent i would come and have a look and give you a genuine unbiased opinion of the cause and the cure.

Dont put yourself down there are plenty of people who dont have a clue about builders/quotes ....... its just a matter of there being dodgy fly-by-night people out there who try to rip you off that give honest peeps like me a bad rep ... thank god for this forum its invaluable I learn something new all the time from here.

Bridgette_2

I'm in Solihull and the Council have a site at solihull.gov.uk and if you click on Shipshape you can find the appropriate trade person ... apparently they go through a fairly stringent interview/viewing of references to get on the list. If you can't get recommendations this site is better than going to yellow pages and doing 'pin the tail on the donkey'. If you're unhappy with the finished work you can complain to the Council who will review their entry on their site (they may be deleted) - a small consolation I know but better than nothing.

Would add here - I had my flat roof done some years ago by some local roofers (wasn't cheap either), it was shoddy :mad: and when I complained to their 'Association' I was told nothing could be done !!! (what's the point of them having a trade association on their paper other than to hoodwink us, the paying public!) it shouldn't be allowed.

Great forum this ... I'm going to be checking in often, cheers everyone :beer:

bordersbargainhunter

Hi there

We have just bought a new bathroom suite (hubby to install after building the bathroom - v. good DIYer). We priced same suite at Screwfix and B&Q and B&Q came out substantially cheaper. We thought that it would be S/fix or Wickes, but B&Q had a sale on over the Bank Holiday, though it wasn't one in Scotland, and then added/took off another 15% as we spent over £150.

Individually the items were cheaper elsewhere, but because we were buying a suite, the package price was much lower. However, one tiny fly in the ointment - the suite comes with a tap/shower (£139). We only wanted a tap (£109) as we are having a stand-alone shower unit over the bath. Had to BUY the cheaper tap as they can't exchange it...! Anyone want to buy a brand new shower tap, still boxed, and exactly as sold in B&Q?

Guess we will have to make a loss on it selling it on ebay, etc, but still saved over all so guess we can't grumble too much.

yummynanny

Good afternoon Househead

Reference your final comments regarding being ripped off by customers. I assume you mean customers not settling their accounts. We have been in business for a number of years and this has happened to us on a very few occasions. We have found recourse to the Small Claims Court to be very useful and have not lost yet. We have found that the judges that preside in these courts are well aware of people just not paying for no good reason and are more sympathetic towards the tradesperson than you might expect. The secret seems to be to be well prepared and have written records (invoice/
written notes of telephone conversations/instructions etc.) of everything to prove your case. We are also members of Federation for Small Businesses (FSB) who provide a legal advice line which I have found to be invaluable. They do only offer advice over the telephone but the advice is good and readily available.

Hope this helps and good luck with your business.

unnaturalblonde

I've repeatedly used people listed by
Women & Manual Trades
020 7251 9192
http://www.wamt.org/Home
Over the past twenty years I've found carpenters, electricians, plumbers, decorators and general builders through this organisation and the work has always been done compently.

Snazbaz

colmil wrote: »

Some people have a habit of asking for an 'estimate', this is a big mistake because that is exactly what they will get and they are leaving themselves wide open for additional costs.

Always ask for a 'quotation' this is binding, and should be accepted in writing including the amount that has been agreed upon.

Agree that a quote is binding. However, my OH always gives an estimate, because he can't guarantee what he will come up against when he's started the job, and may sometimes find he runs up against an unforeseen problem under all those layers of wallpaper/paint (especially in old buildings). 99% of the time, the estimate is the same as the invoice, but he always communicates with the customer and explains the situation if he needs to add on an extra for something unexpected.

weekendwarrior

One of the best tips I can give is to always buy the best tools that you can afford. I recently tried some cheap and nasty "throw away tools" and they were not even fit for purpose!

I'm pretty good at DIY and have been doing it a long time, if I had been reading from a book and tried to do a simple job with the cheap tools that I bought I would of failed miserably and blamed the book, when really it was the tools.

And before anyone says a good tradesman never blames his tools, well they do and have right to as some are definately not fit for purpose.

Take regular breaks and try to enjoy what you are doing and if you hate it then pay someone else to do it instead!

121legend

Hi, i dont have any codes but know a way you can get 30% off....go on one of their 10% days and ask to speak to the manager ....ask to open a credit card with homebase on the day they are doing 10% off also. You get 20% off usually for opening up a credit card so they should give you 30% in total (this is what i got last weekend)......dont forget to use your spend and save card also for the points when paying...here is the clever bit ....the homebase credit card wont be with you for a week and therefore you cant pay on it but they will still give you the discount on what you buy that day so pay by cash or debit card in the usual way....when the credit card arrives ring up and cancel it or just cut it up and dont spend on it.....you get your items at 30% off and improve your credit rating slightly and homebase lose out on 30% !!! that any good to you??