To be at the end of my tether with tradies

I'm a tradie. There is nothing wrong with this as a term.

I'm taking someone to small claims court because of a cowboy tradesman...

I’m seriously traumatised by the work we had done when renovating our house. I’m not exaggerating how I feel about it, I get panicked at the thought of dealing with any tradesmen again. We need to get an extension done but can’t face it.

The problem is that all the quotes are similar 😩 I’ve had to go ahead because there are no other options 😣

It's not just you, I honestly get filled with dread everytime I have to get a tradesperson in

Its just so tedious. Just tell me you don't want the job from the outset and stop wasting both our time. Don't give me a massive quote. It's patronising and again a waste of both our time. Also many are disrespectful of others home like shoving rubbish behind units above or do a half arsed job

I've had the odd good tradesperson, but most of the time it's just so much bloody effort to get anything sorted

DS bought a house a few months ago which needed some work doing on it.
Job 1 - get locks changed. Rang locksmith the day of completion. He came the next day and changed front & back door locks. Very reasonable price and good job done. Not someone we'd used before - just local and good reviews online.
Job 2 - replace central heating system. Rang plumber we'd used 20 years ago! Turned up to quote at correct time. Sent quote within 3 days. Said he could do work in approx 1 month but possibly a bit sooner. Rang 3 weeks later to give start date the following week. Job completed on time and to good standard and house left tidy after completion.

Job 3 - plastering. Plasterer said he'd call to look at job when he was in the same town as DS's house. (He is hubby of someone we know through a hobby). Turned up to quote within a week. Gave quote immediately. Said he was busy but would fit it in as soon as he could. DS thought he'd be in for a long wait. A week later got a text as 7pm one evening asking if work could be done the next day. Work completed to excellent standard.

Maybe we're just lucky here but long may it continue.

Don’t be ridiculous. My DP works in trade, as do a large majority of his friends and family. All call themselves tradies or workies.

Yes this. Dh watched YouTube videos and installed a whole new toilet, a shower, and replaced parts in our washer and dishwasher. He said it's not as difficult as it appears. We also do our own decorating. It is only bigger jobs that we absolutely couldn't do, that we would then call on companies.

I had to check behind a vanity unit in my downstairs loo the other day. The plumber who installed it (and I recently noticed is a twat on facebook) had shoved unwanted DIY rubbish and cloths behind it and banged the cupboard in front. Why was it beyond his intelligence to put it in the bin. Knob.

Ugh don't get me started. It took almost a year to find a contractor to do a medium sized job. In the end I found them on Age UK's list of trusted traders. I can't say there were amazing, but they showed up and did an ok job. Though as a project manager myself I found it very hard to watch them project 'manage' - eg install the new wood floors before all the painting was done, and then proceed to get paint all over the new floors...

It's not just you. We've been struggling for 27 years since we bought our house. As a result, we do most things ourselves. OH has the garage and two garden sheds full of tools, materials and equipment. He's even bought a scaffolding tower so that he can get high enough to the gutters, etc. Spent a small fortune over the years, but still a lot cheaper than paying for trades, and far better quality of workmanship as we take our time, etc.

It's not just that tradies are unreliable, don't turn up, etc., but they waste inordinate amounts of time by not bringing the right equipment, materials, etc., so disappear for an hour or two "to go to the builders' merchants" for materials that was blatantly obvious they'd need, so you have to assume they're either incompetent or they're off to do something else on your dime, i.e. quoting for other jobs, doing other small jobs, etc.

We've had a few really good, genuine, tradesmen over the years, but they've all retired now which has left a vacuum behind as decent ones are really hard to find these days. The latest attempt was a reputable local firm to replace our decking on a "like for like" basis - they absolutely botched it and it was so bad, not even level and bounced as we walked on it - we refused to pay, and they came and took the wood away! OH did it in a weekend after buying the wood and an electric mitre saw - and it's absolutely perfect.

£3000 A WEEK?! WTAF?!

That's a fuck off quote - they don't want to do that job.

What are you on about???

I swear if I ever get done for murder it will be a tradesperson.

After years of dealing with them while renovating a house, I have sworn to never EVER deal with one again.

One random example - the plasterer who charged 1700 quid for a 2 day job, made more mess than any human would have thought possible, then several months later we discovered he'd used the wrong sort of plaster and we had to have it all done again.

Also locksmiths…quote for new front door lock…£1800 😱 Why?! Who pays this?? I have an expensive car, so I can only think that they see this on the driveway and think they will have a go overcharging. Infuriating.

@hereismydog I have always done the diy in my house. my dh is useless. the only things I dont touch are plumbing and gas! anything else is fair game. painting, papering, repairing washing machines with new brushes and door seals, repairing cookers with new knobs and interior fans, wall and floor tiling with underfloor heating all perfectly matching!! laminate floors and replacing the skirting boards. I am a dab hand using electric saws and tile saws. my dh was never forgiven by my dad for painting internal doors using white emulsion!! (maybe he did that deliberately)

I know more and more people investing in courses to learn how to do the basics themselves as its simply not viable to spend on trades. We used to pay for painting and have stopped as it got ridiculous what they wanted to charge and its not difficult to do.

"Tradies"? what a vile term - maybe treat the contractors that you are using as people rather than some kind of sub species.

Meanwhile every tradesperson i know refers to themselves and peers as "tradies". Why is it vile? Its just a casual abbreviation of "tradesperson".

We’ve had similar problems with tradespeople. Also quoting ridicule amounts. Painter decorator has just quoted me £3000 a week, for approx 8 weeks work…so £24,000 in total to paint interior of 3 bed semi 🤷‍♀️wtf.

The problem is we stopped training trades (plumbers, electricians, builders, bricklayers etc). So now we simply don't have enough of them, there's very little competition. This means that even if they are poor and provide shit service, we have no choice but to use them.

I live in a pricey part of the country and tradespeople tend to earn good money working short hours as there's such a shortage of them.

Its one factor contributing to rising property prices.

@hereismydog😂 They’re all in Scotland or I could keep them well busy!