Use individual tradesmen or one company?

Doozergirl

phill99 wrote: »

What goes on in side your head?

Not cautious optimism, we can be certain! That's the voice of irrational fear.

Cautious_Optimist

phill99 wrote: »

What goes on in side your head?

Perhaps the thought that hiring a builder, to be their own "project manager", could result in problems for the homeowner...?

Cautious_Optimist

Doozergirl wrote: »

Not cautious optimism, we can be certain! That's the voice of irrational fear.

So a fear of dodgy builders is completely irrational..?

Cautious_Optimist

phill99 wrote: »

Rubbish. Thats what builders do all the time. And how can it be risky? It has to be more risky to employ different trades and not know if they will turn up when they are needed to be on site.

And what if the main contractor "goes bust" and the subcontractors don't get paid?
What if the main builder walks off leaving the job half finished?

A half finished job can cost the same to complete as if you were starting from scratch. Because the new tradesman will not trust what has been done so far by the previous guy and will not want to "put his name to" another guy's work.

Obviously I'm talking more about plumbing and electrics here, rather than knocking down a wall...

Once a major project has started, then the main contractor has got the homeowner "over a barrel"...

Doozergirl

Cautious_Optimist wrote: »

So a fear of dodgy builders is completely irrational..?

You've told the OP not to even bother doing the job! The number of 'what if's' you've posted is astounding. It sounds like someone with anxiety than a reasoned view that there is risk in all situations. I could get run over tomorrow - I calculate the risk and leave the house based on the probablity that if I use my green cross code, I will most likely be fine.

You can mitigate risks by doing research and following the good advice that is out there. The OPs job is considerable, not huge. There are plenty of considerate and capable tradesmen out there and I know lots of them. I also know a few idiots, but based on the fact they can barely string a sentence together, people probably know what they're getting. Everyone can have good trades if they don't try to cut corners - almost every post on this board about bad 'builders' could have been avoided if the customer had applied common sense and not been motivated purely by price and the prospect of not paying VAT.

katejo

phill99 wrote: »

Rubbish. Thats what builders do all the time. And how can it be risky? It has to be more risky to employ different trades and not know if they will turn up when they are needed to be on site.

I had Phill99 to do precisely this and coordinate all the work on my kitchen and he did a very good job. I would have got really stressed if I had had to organise all the tasks.

justintime999

Company = less hassle

Individual = cheaper

mrsval

All I need is for the track and runners replaced on my patio doors so I went online and requested tradesperson from all the advertised sites and not one single person has rang, texted or emailed me. To say im disappointed is an understatement.

Doozergirl

mrsval wrote: »

All I need is for the track and runners replaced on my patio doors so I went online and requested tradesperson from all the advertised sites and not one single person has rang, texted or emailed me. To say im disappointed is an understatement.

They have to pay for your lead. And for most people, the job just isn't lucrative, especially if they have to pay £10 for the priveliege of your email address.