Knocking through wall, structural engineer or builder first?

lhg91

Section62 said:

Bendy_House said:

Keep trying for other builders - this is, what?, a 2-day job? This should be squeezable-in between larger jobs, or some will fancy an extra income for a weekend's work, for example.

Use your local Facebook page for recommendations, but carry out due diligence on the recommendations. It's good if a suggested builder gets positive back-ups from other seemingly unconnected FB users.

I'd suggest with the building industry as it currently is, the OP is going to get limited interest from good builders until they have actually purchased the house and moved in.  At this stage a builder might take the view that the OP is only interested in whether they can afford their dream home - and the job (if it ever materialises) isn't going to happen for quite a long time.  (no criticism of the OP is intended, just reflecting what a builder might perceive the situation of any house buyer to be)

Also, just saying, there is no reliable way of telling from FB whether or not two users are unconnected.  It isn't too difficult to set up multiple fake accounts and praise yourself to the skies.

As a general rule I'd only rely on social media to rule people out, rather than as a positive thing.  The last thing I'd want is a builder who spends much of their time messaging mates and customers via SM rather than getting on with knocking through the wall I'm paying them to do.  So maybe someone who was recommended by word of mouth/SM, but not someone who is on SM all the time themselves (obviously excepting the people who regularly use this forum ).

Totally agree with what you say Section62, I think that's our issue. Until we move in, no-one is going to be jumping at the chance of a 'potential' job, when they have others that are ready to go ahead. Hopefully we can get in the house soon and get everything in place, and fingers crossed someone can squeeze us in. I did think it would be a few days worth of work as Bendy_House said, so someone might be able to fit us in!

Bendy_House

Oops - overlooked the fact you hadn't bought the place yet

Good luck with it all, lhg.

ChasingtheWelshdream

If it encourages you, although we had to get plans first (to show commitment I guess) and waited over a year in all (including changing builders), in the end the builder brought our job forward due to a long spell of rubbish weather. We hadn’t expected it to be done this year, so was pleasantly surprised when they contacted us and wondered if we would mind them starting. 

It does happen 🙂. Good luck with the property!