Consensus re building trades sites

BananaRepublic

These trade list sites are IMO best avoided. They are all to often used by trades who either lack experience and need to build up a customer database (they might be good), or who are not very good and cannot get work by word of mouth. The worst part is that the trade is the client and not you. The trade pays a good amount of money to appear on the list, and you are the product that they are buying.

Generally they say to find someone recommended by others you trust, but make sure they are not recommending a family member. I once asked in a good kitchen shop for the name of a good tiler and he did a decent job. Also look around your area at signs outside houses, if you see the same person time and time again, there may be a good reason for it. Where I live I kept seeing signs for a company called Trojan who do driveways, and goodness knows how many drives have now been done by them. They look good, so I assume they are, and were I to want my drive done, I'd probably choose them and not the builder used by a neighbour two doors down who lived on a travellers site. That neighbour had a history of employing bad trades.

phill99

Risteard wrote: »

No. It definitely wouldn't.

Disagree completely.


I get around 25% of my 'cold' leads via Facebook and I never advertise on it. It's just that there are a couple of local groups where I constantly get recommended, to a point where I have had to ask the 'recommenders' to stop recommending me as I don't have capacity.

naf123

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Well this is the frightening thing about building work. I actually underestimated the cost of some of the work when I first started but in my defence we did uncover additional things that I didn't know needed to be done.

It's frightening that out of 3 good builders. Builder A, Builder B and Builder C they can all give you quotes for exactly the same job and they can be as far apart as say £30k, £40k and £75K all for the exact same job!

So this means that just by choosing the right builder you save all that money or avoid wasting money.

For someone like me who isn't earning very much this thread could help me save more money than I earn in a year! I mean I tried to do it cheaply last year and it ended in disaster, my investment property has been empty and unused for a long time.

So I need kitchen completely plastered with floor tiled and electrics put in
1 x living room plastered to include all walls and ceiling (Plasterboard)
1 x upstairs bathroom which

All the three rooms are stripped back to the bare bones

I need probably 5 days or plumbing work and 5 days of electrical work (Just ball park figures)

I don't know where you live but if it's just 3 rooms , with minimal plumbing works and a rewire of the kitchen , it shouldn't cost more than 20 to 25k.

Can you project manage yourself ? Are you able to buy materials and do heavy lifting? Are you able to gut it yourself ?

naf123

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Hey Na123, yes I am able to do that. Project manage to a point, I'd certainly be their everyday with tea, coffee and yes I've got trade accounts to get what's needed.
Thanks for the price. You don't live in Essex do you? If you know anybody in Essex who wants a building job then let me know

Not Essex - I'm north London . If it's approx 25k in London it should be even cheaper in Essex !

I actually, contrary to popular opinion, pay my tradesmen a daily rate and provide all the material and take away rubble etc . Very very hard work but I feel in complete control of the situation and I tell my tradesmen exactly what I want doing .

It's not always cheaper but at least there is no short cuts and a proper job is done .....and you need to be absolutely devoted and have nerves of steel and know exactly what needs doing .

naf123

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Are you a regular builder then? I think that's a good plan because to my way of thinking if someone is on a fixed rate then they've got an implicit tension because if they can justify taking a cheaper and perhaps inferior way of doing a job they're going to do it. They've no incentive to take the proper amount of time to do the job properly. I've heard many many storeys of corners getting cut for these types of reasons. Plus there's never any argument about cost of the job, you don't have to re asses everything every-time a bit of extra work turns up.

Not a builder. I'm actually university educated and work in office job! But I'm handy and absolutely love DIY

Re- Managing your tradesmen and paying daily rates - you have to absolutely remember they are ultimately human e.g. don't get too annoyed if they keep taking ciggies breaks - just look at the bigger picture.

phill99

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Hey Na123, yes I am able to do that. Project manage to a point, I'd certainly be their everyday with tea, coffee and yes I've got trade accounts to get what's needed.
Thanks for the price. You don't live in Essex do you? If you know anybody in Essex who wants a building job then let me know

Where abouts in Essex? It's a big county.