Finding a reputable builder for property repairs

BelowTheLine

Another vote for myvuilder (it was great in outer London but not enough tradepersons in the north west (Warrington area) unfortunately. So it will depend where you live.

Ratedpeople and checkatrade just led to a flood of phone calls, at least in mybuilder the phone number is shared only after you've selected a traderperson.

need_an_answer

You have potentially 2 options.
You could look for a property maintaninance type company to deal with all the required jobs in one go or you could split it down into a roofing company and general builders,employing the trades to do each element of your works.

A property maintaninance company is likely to be the easiest however they usually cost the job as a whole and because they project manage to an extent they are usually more expensive than piecing each trade together yourself.

Everyone has come up with good suggestions of where to find the trades people and also don't forget a simple google of trades in your area will also give you some choice too.

The one thing you must do is get quotes,do not rely on one quote alone,ask at least 3 trades to come to quote and get engaged with them when you call them,and they visit to see if you feel you understand what is involved in the job...don't be afraid to ask questions.

By all means ask PB if they have recommendations,they most certainly do if they also deal in lettings,but I wouldn't go wholly with 3 recommendations from the same source.

Skiddaw1

I'm with Pink Teapot. Whenever possible go with a personal recommendation either from someone you know or a local/community social media site. I've had more than one friend encounter a bad experience via Checkatrade despite tradespeople concerned having (apparently) good reviews.

jbondo

I'm in similiar situation as yourself. Picking up the keys on Friday and it needs a little work looking to it and I have no contacts etc.

Had a look on CheckATrade and found a few builders to look at plumbing for example and emailed them quotes. I've narrowed it down to 1 builder as they had quite a lot of positive reviews on Check a Trade but also then looked on their Facebook page and also just google'd their name, all reviews seem positive.

G_M

When using any of these commercial sites (My builder, checkatrade, ratd people) please keep an open mind about the reviews: either they may be placed by the contractor, or the website,or the website may only list the positive reviews. Posting the negative ones could result in the contractor failing to renew their subscription........

And then look into the contractor yourself. Find and speak to recent local customers, or do a wider search for reviews outside the website itself. Just bear in mind these stes are there to make money first and foremost whereas the ones I suggested are independant, and inclusion on their listings is based on an assessment, not a subscrption.


I'm not saying al contractors on these sites are bad or unreliable etc, just that the site does not guarantee they are good, and reliable!

disciple432

G_M wrote: »

When using any of these commercial sites (My builder, checkatrade, ratd people) please keep an open mind about the reviews: either they may be placed by the contractor, or the website,or the website may only list the positive reviews. Posting the negative ones could result in the contractor failing to renew their subscription........

Exactly that.

I work for an unnamed media organization that had a what's on style site, events, restaurants etc... We had some sponsorship by local restaurants, of course you can guess what would happen if something negative came in about one of them.

The primary goal of such sites is to make money, it is just the reality of it. A media organization isn't sitting there thinking how they can serve the community, it's more... if we build a site serving the community will it be profitable. And so if margins are thin, well you don't want to lose regular income do you.


It doesn't mean they're all untrustworthy, obviously they want to run a site with good quality accurate content, but bad reviews can be removed meaning you still must take care.

Drawingaline

I have used checkatrade very successfully. However I do always look at there website and FB page too, and also how their communication is. I know I probably paid a little bit over the odds for my roofing repairs, but they were the only ones who actually got back to me, came to quote and sent me a quote.

It's always worthwhile getting a few numbers/emails and seeing what the communication is like, you can gather them from a variety of places.

Skiddaw1

G_M wrote: »

When using any of these commercial sites (My builder, checkatrade, ratd people) please keep an open mind about the reviews: either they may be placed by the contractor, or the website,or the website may only list the positive reviews. Posting the negative ones could result in the contractor failing to renew their subscription........

And then look into the contractor yourself. Find and speak to recent local customers, or do a wider search for reviews outside the website itself. Just bear in mind these stes are there to make money first and foremost whereas the ones I suggested are independant, and inclusion on their listings is based on an assessment, not a subscrption.


I'm not saying al contractors on these sites are bad or unreliable etc, just that the site does not guarantee they are good, and reliable!

Absolutely. Close friends employed a plumber following good Checkatrade reviews for example, and very much lived to regret it. Friends later discovered (long story) that said plumber's many positive reviews were mainly bogus and had been posted by plumber's friends/family members.