Where to find a builder

Londongirl82

Hi all,

We are planning to have a lot of work done on our house but have initially decided to start with having a couple of walls knocked down. My question is as we are relatively new to the area (Romford, Essex) we don't really know anyone to get recommendations from.

I'm pretty new to this whole renovations thing so have no idea where to start looking - can anyone recommend someone for me to get a quote from or let me know whether any of the websites - checkatrade etc. are worth looking into?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read :rotfl:

J

FreddieFrugal

I've used 'mybuilder' website to find builders. You can post the job you want doing, sorted by category (like renovation or conversion work/plastering etc,) give details

Then builders may respond to it or you can invite some yourself. It'll show you registered builders in that trade near your postcode and also show their reviews and feedback from previous jobs.

It's useful for finding them at least. I'm using it at the moment to get quotes for a garage conversion.

Londongirl82

Thanks for your quick response - I'll check it out!

Person_one

Sites like my builder and rated people can be useful, but have you knocked on any neighbour's doors and asked if they know of anybody local? What about work colleagues? The great thing about a recommendation us that you can usually see the finished work!

Londongirl82

Thanks Person_one, unfortunately I still work in the city and nobody at work lives locally - I will definitely pop around to my neighbours tho and ask for suggestions.

SuzieSue

Be careful of all websites like My Builder and Checkatrade. Some of their builders are excellent but others can be rogues even if they have good ratings as it is possible to fiddle these.

Personal recommendation by someone you trust is best but there are also Trusted Trader schemes run by the likes of Which and Trading Standards but you still need to be careful - just because a trader is on the scheme doesn't mean that you don't have to do your own checks:

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jul/19/need-plumber-electrician-roofer-trusted-trader