Builder or different tradespeople? Confused!

[indiegrrl]

We are buying a house which needs some TLC - bit of plastering, new boiler, sanding floorboards, some double glazing and repairs to a garden wall etc etc. We're lucky enough to have found a local building firm with excellent recommendations from friends and (future) neighbours along the lines of: 'excellent job but not the cheapest - you pay for quality'. We're happy to do this, and they have skilled tradespeople for every job we'd want. Just wondered, though, would it be tons cheaper/better for any other reason to go for different small businesses for each job - e.g. floor sander, double glazing firm etc? Seems like lots of people on MN take this second path, hence why I ask. Thanks for any advice.

Employing different trades yourself will be more work but you should be able to get better deals with each of them. You'll also have the hassle of finding the right people and getting quotes from each of them. Using a builder for all the work will be easier for you.

We organised the different trades ourselves when we had the kitchen refurbished. Fortunately all the timings worked out but I did have nightmares about the electrician over running and still being there when the plasterers were trying to board and plaster the ceiling. That may be less of an issue for you if all of your jobs are independent.

I used a builder for overhauling our house and I think it worked out cheaper as the builder got much better rates from the trades than I would have done. It was also loads easier.

After the bulk of the work was doe the builder was happy for me to hire the trades he had used directly. I think this is unusual though. The builder I used usually does biggish projects so was happy for me to finish up odd bits myself. It also helped that we all got on very well. I always asked permission to use any of the builders contacts.

It is definitely easier to use a single builder. Otherwise you will lend ages an ages try into coordinate everyone.