How easy is it to find good builders in London atm?

[Sandrine1982]

Hello folks.
We're buying a house that needs a bit of work so I'm wondering how easy it is to find good builders at the moment and how long the wait is.

Also I'm not quite sure whether to look for a specialist for each job, or advertise them as one big job?

Basically what needs doing is:

• fix leaks in roof and add some new guttering
• install new bath and bathroom cabinet
• change kitchen unit doors & decor panels, install new worktop, sink and appliances (dishwasher, cooker, hood, washing machine).
• add a few lights and sockets in various rooms
• remove carpets and install new engineered floor

All of the jobs are relative urgent, but we just don't know who to approach and where to start.
We've also been told that builders prefer bigger jobs as otherwise it's not worth their while.
But at the same time I don't want to get someone doing all of the jobs and doing some of them badly because they're not qualified...

How would you go about it?
Where should we look?

TIA X

Ps: it will be in east London

Those are fairly itty bitty jobs, not something one builder would take care of I wouldn't think. The flooring especially would be done by a flooring company, a roofer for that, the shop you buy your appliances could install them or a plumber, worktops are a separate specialty too.
However I did luck out and find two guys who could get their mates in to do various bits. The job was bigger than yours (new kitchen, two and a half new baths, lots of joinery work, total repaint/wallpaper and all lights and switches/sockets changed). They project manage it and get the subs in and then every other week send me an invoice. I'm new to this area (SW London ) so didn't have any contacts other than a friend who recommended these guys as their kids all went to the same school. I only had to wait six weeks, partly as one of the jobs they had lined up was being delayed due to planning permission. They could also do other jobs while a sub was on site doing their bit. It's worked out really well so far, only slight delay when plumber tested positive for Covid! But in all I've had a : plumber, tiler, sealer, brick pointer, decorator, carpenter, work top guy and flooring guy, plus rubbish removal. All through the two main guys (one of whom does the electrics).
What you need is a recommendation! Trades know other trades, and once you get one decent one they can usually recommend another to do a different aspect.

Lovely thank you! @maofteens

Does anyone have a recommendation for a company in east London please? Someone who can project manage and get specialists to do these jobs?

There are good builders around but I have come to the conclusion that the better the builder the longer the wait.

Beware of those advertising in “builder search” websites, of all the ones I found on these all have done a bad job that needed to be redone, refused to provide an invoice, and/or made the issue worse. Also avoid those that can fit you in too quickly as they may be inexperienced or not very good.

What I would suggest is to ask the seller to allow you to take detailed measures of the house so you can start planning the bathroom and kitchen with showrooms and getting in the queue.

Don’t worry about deposits at this time (if you are afraid the sake may fall through) most reputable builders won’t ask for a deposit or ask for it just a few weeks before the job is done.

If you are thinking of getting a project manager/surveyor you may be better off using an architect.

Thanks both. Good point, @GrandmasCat.

So you wouldn't even use websites like Mybuilder.com where you can see people's reviews?

Otherwise I wouldn't even know where to look, other than Google or local groups on Facebook.
We don't have many contacts who can recommend builders .. :(

You could join Which ? For one month only then cancel , and get access to their trusted traders search engine. Not foolproof, I’ve had one dud there, but most tradesmen on there seem competent.

I recognise your name...did you find somewhere...?....I need a roofer and good ones are booked up for ages....I know a really good carpenter and handyman ... send me a message if you need him....
roofers that get good reviews are:

heasemans and sons
cox and sons
greentech
ambassador roofing....

all seem to cover east london...but more e10, e11 , e17.

Good electrician is Adam...inphase electrics...have used many times and friends...polish chap who comes on a cargo bike...gave up his van..

The My builder sites are risky...i had a good experience years ago and so did my sister...neighbour not so lucky...lots of poor quality work and arguements etc...they remove bad reviews and also fake reviews from family etc.

I can recommend salmon building, they recently finished a project on our house and have done a really good job. Also, genuinely nice, we had quite a few come round to quote who were really pushy and made us feel very uncomfortable but Toby is really nice and so is rest of his team. Not sure what their timescales are though, but worth waiting for in my opinion. PM me if you want to see pictures of what they have done in our house.

@earsup

I recognise your name...did you find somewhere...?....I need a roofer and good ones are booked up for ages....I know a really good carpenter and handyman ... send me a message if you need him.... roofers that get good reviews are:

heasemans and sons
cox and sons
greentech
ambassador roofing....

all seem to cover east london...but more e10, e11 , e17.

Oh we used heasman and sons for a new roof 6 months ago. They were good, roof is currently watertight with no snags and quite reasonable pricing. They contract self employed roofers to do the work to their standards I believe but the boss signs off on all the work, understandably.

Ask for recommendations on your local fb and next door.

We got an ok decorator on Mybuilder. I wouldn't recommend them though, as the work was as just about adequate and they were pretty lazy (starting at 8:30am, taking a 30 min coffee break, then an hour for lunch and then clocking off at 2:30pm!!).

The carpenter we got from there was dreadful. Fucked up our doors (which we then spent more repairing) and ruined a brand new carpet (he put the oily hinges on a brand new carpet)!!! He left so quickly whilst I was dealing with the movers and I didn't see the damage till the next day (after we'd paid him) 😭

Thanks all. Yes @earsup we did just a few streets away. I will PM you :)

@PoshWatchShitShoes did your carpenter and decorator have lots of good reviews on mybuilder.com, or did you just chance it?

I've always had a good experience with that website.

Once it was just about OK, but it was our fault for taking someone who had no reviews.

@earsup I had no idea you could delete reviews? I can see that many people have negative reviews also, so I thought the website was quite trustworthy...

But yes I'd try personal recommendations first, of course ...

Most of what you’ve listed could be done by a competent handyman

Register for Nextdoor near the house, and ask for recommendations

The handyman we use is actually a builder for a local firm during the week and does handyman work at weekends and evenings for extra cash, so you might get lucky with someone like that, but it will obviously take longer than having someone zip through all the jobs in one go

That said, it’s all quite bitty work anyway, so it might not make much difference if it’s done slowly because they aren’t leaving you with a building site in between

@Sandrine1982 they both had excellent reviews!! I thought about putting a bad review on for the carpenter, but he was a bit rough. Just thought I'd drop it. My fault for getting someone who wasn't personally recommended!!