Renovating home in Brighton - Tradesman needed

icebergx

Hi all,
I really need your help and would appreciate any advice you can give.
I'm about to purchase my first home in Brighton/Hove and am looking for quality local tradesman who can help.
It's a two bedroom Bungalow with decent sized front and back gardens. There's also a fairly large Kitchen, Living room and a small toilet next to a small bathroom.

I would like to have the following work done (if necessary):
1) Removal of current kitchen, bathroom suits and stripping walls etc.
2) A full, or at least partial rewire
3) A new Central Heating system (Boiler and 5-6 radiators installed)

I would also like:
1) Stripping and redecoration throughout (this may include minor skimming of some bits)
2) Installation of Bathroom suite and Kitchen and tiling where requested
3) Removal of wall between Toilet and Bathroom
4) Minor Landscaping of back garden
5) Installing Double glazed French doors.

If anone can help with recommendations, ideas of cost on these element (where possible) or any tips, I would really be graetful.

Thanks in advance.

owls

surely if its your first home you wont have a massive budget? can you not tackle some of the small jobs your self.ie stripping walls or gardening?

get plenty of quotes, no money up front[a reputable tradesman will never ask for money up front,at the very least they will have accounts with suppliers for 28 days.]get recomendations etc.

make sure the boiler engineer/plumber is corgi registered and the electrician is part 'p' registered.

good luck.

EliteHeat

owls wrote: »

no money up front[a reputable tradesman will never ask for money up front,at the very least they will have accounts with suppliers for 28 days.]

What complete and utter nonsense. Any reputable tradesman will ensure that the customer has the ability to pay the bill and will seek to protect him or herself against financial loss from rogue customers. This normally involves signing an order form, taking a deposit for the job and agreeing terms & conditions pertaining to the job in advance of work commencing.

owls

ive been self employed for 14 years and never asked for a deposit up front,and im not a one man band operating out of the back of a van,i run a medium size business.

you wouldnt get work done on your car at a garage, and the garage ask you for money up front.

theres an element of trust involved.fair enough you agree stage payments once an quote has been acepted.but to ask for a lump sum up front before you even start id tell you where to go and so would most other building contractors in my position.

EliteHeat

What a pointless analogy, if you refused to pay your bill for your car repairs you wouldn't get the car back until you did.

If you're in any part of the building trade you will know that it is illegal to remove anything that you've installed if the customer refuses to pay.

If my material cost for a job is several thousand pounds, then there is no way on earth that I am going to risk being knocked by a recalcitrant customer, a complete stranger who I have never met before.

My business runs along more professional lines than that. Not one of my customers is in any doubt about what both parties obligations and responsibilities are. I have never had any problem getting a deposit from anyone and would not agree to work for them under any other circumstances.

owls

Im not talking about specialist contractors im talking about general builders
The amount of people you hear about that
have handed over thousands of pounds to builders before a job has comenced and they disapear into the night, the buiding industry is very much under regulated escpecially the wet trades.

If thats how you opperate good luck to you, all im saying is that my opinion/advice is that i wouldnt ask for a deposit up front and i wouldnt advise anyone to part withany money until the job starts and a payment date has been set.i run contracts that involve tens of thousands being out in materials but i will not ask for money up front until the job is underway,i would like to think that i also run a professional business,that was the only point i was trying to make.

davsidipp

we have had a large double storey extension built and are having the finishing work done if the builder had asked for money up front he would have been shown the door . as for rogue customers how about rogue builders we have had a few who have done some crap work and i would be spitting feathers to think they had our money up front . to the op try to go by recomendation and look at their work then you can judge for yourself.

matski_98

I'm in the process of going through a similar renovation and can give a couple of local recommendations for you

icebergx wrote: »

3) A new Central Heating system (Boiler and 5-6 radiators installed)

LWL Heating did a great job for us - http://www.lwlheating.com/

icebergx wrote: »

5) Installing Double glazed French doors.

Ace Glass have installed new windows and patio doors here and in the flat I used to live at. [SIZE=-1]Ace Glass Ltd Unit 3b Freshfield Industrial Estate Stevenson Road Brighton East Sussex BN2 0DF Location Map Tel: 01273 626999 Fax: 01273 628252.

I found all of the tradespeople though Checkatrade.
[/SIZE]