Are there things NOT to do when trying to hire a tradesman?

NSG666

Megaross said:

Not necessarily, though I'd not hire a friend again to do work. I once hired a mate who was a chippy to do a couple of doors for me being they were pricy units so I wanted them in safer hands.

He didn't get them square in the frames, the chisel work was rough as !!!!!!, one of the latch plates was wonky causing a bind on the latch and they weren't planed down to an appropriate height for the flooring. I could've done a better job and I'm by no means a great carpenter.

Didn't feel comfortable bringing up any of this with him so just paid him and fixed the issues myself. Hence why I'd not hire a friend to do work for me again.

Best thing is get recommendations.

Sounds like he either does site work on large housing developments or works for a local council!

twopenny

plumb1_2 said:

twopenny said:

I've tried asking their opinion down to fully drawn and measured plans and its all the same.

Who’s time and money are paying for these plans.

Because the original plumber who spent 18mts, quoted putting me off with 'do you have the items you want' 'do you have a plan' etc I got a lot of items picked, where from (very local), 3 choices of where to purchase I it seemed I had to do that, plans for free from City Plumbing etc. So my time.

Mistral001

This job seems to be something more suited to a furniture restorer than to a joiner.   They would be able to give you an answer directly over the phone on whether they were interested in doing the work or not.  They might be able to refer you to a joiner who would be willing to do the work if it was not something they did themselves.

fenwick458

When Hiring tradesmen I can think of loads of things that you shouldn't do:

• Don't ask them to arrive at a set time to quote, instead give them a window, or even better your availability for the entire next week so they can call in at their convenience.
• don't ask a tradesman to come round and quote for something which you have only just thought of. put a bit of thought into it first, research it online, get a rough idea of what you require and draw pictures of what you want
• don't want to buy all the materials (they may ask you for large value single items and thats fine if they do) but don't attempt to supply it all from screwfix/amazon and think it'll work out fine, it won't
• don't ever tell them that there's no rush and just to do the job whenever you're quiet. that day will never come and you will just be forgotten about
• before work starts don't accept anything less than a written quote detailing exactly what you specified, with prices, and with their company info on there. if you don't do this, you're on your own if things go wrong!
• when getting quotes if you really want to compare prices, ask each one to quote to the same specification, don't just ask each one for their idea. doing that will get you 3 very different quotes and it has no comparison value, just different ways of doing it

TripleH

I find licking the backs of their heads is a big no no when trying to hire tradespeople in 87% of cases.

If you listen to the Project Manager in charge of our snagging, a chicken dentist would be easier to find than a tradie to fix snags (I have my doubts).

[Deleted User]

Bendy_House said:

Doesn't sound as tho' you've done anything wrong. You primed them before they turned up, so should not have been surprised at what the job entailed.

I think there's still a general shortage of handy-and-trades folk, in part due to the self-harm caused by Brexit, but the fellow might still come back to you with a quote.

I recall this was to refurbish what was a self-assembly wardrobe? Maybe the issue is that it sounds, and is, 'bitsy'? Ie, the guy (that's also gend-neut) might be able to build and fit these new from a flatpack quicker than they could 'fix' the existing ones, AND (in theory) they'd have all the parts? If you don't hear back - tho' hopefully you still will - it could be they worked out it's going to cost you a disproportionate sum. Ie, "The customer is going to expect this to be cheap because the unit's are already there, but this is going to take me HOURS!"

Only speculation, of course.

Any chance of some photos to show what the job entails?

My picture wardrobe is at the bottom. Want to change it into something like one of the silos above. 

Mistral001

I see now why you cannot get a quote.  Joiners will go with what they know works and that means what they do when they have to start from scratch.   Basically you are asking them to modify somebody else's design or some manufacturer's design.  They can envisage a hotch potch of a finished job which you as customer will probably not be satisfied with.

[Deleted User]

 Mistral001 said:

I see now why you cannot get a quote.  Joiners will go with what they know works and that means what they do when they have to start from scratch.   Basically you are asking them to modify somebody else's design or some manufacturer's design.  They can envisage a hotch potch of a finished job which you as customer will probably not be satisfied with.

Not too sure that I agree. It's just adding a couple shelves and a drawer rail. Hell, I could do the shelves, just will struggle making drawers that won't ended up looking a little wonky. 

fenwick458

I think you'd be better off buying some fitted bedroom furniture. or else be prepared to agree to day rate job, where you agree an hourly/daily price 

Mistral001

Deleted_User said:

 Mistral001 said:

I see now why you cannot get a quote.  Joiners will go with what they know works and that means what they do when they have to start from scratch.   Basically you are asking them to modify somebody else's design or some manufacturer's design.  They can envisage a hotch potch of a finished job which you as customer will probably not be satisfied with.

Not too sure that I agree. It's just adding a couple shelves and a drawer rail. Hell, I could do the shelves, just will struggle making drawers that won't ended up looking a little wonky. 

I see.  The people who do this sort of thing will be used with using manufactured units of standard module width.  Single drawers of non-standard width?  They will say it can't be done, when in fact they really mean they do not want the hassle and the risk of trying something new to them.  If you were flexible on the width of the drawers you might be able to source them yourself and then it should be well within your abilities to do the work yourself.