Now 3 builders have said they don't want to tender for the job, I am starting to feel paranoid

[KatyMac]

They just don't like me

Maybe you want it done sooner than they can do it.

Maybe you want it done "cheaper" than they can do it...some clients are hideously unrealistic about the cost of materials (which seem to be rising by the day at the moment)

Or if they are really good and busy - they just didnt like you - I know we have decided not to do jobs because we thought the client was going to be a pain.

A lot of "good" builders wont even quote if the job is too small, we had problems even getting someone out to LOOK at ours.

Is it an awkward or time consuming project? - we had this with tilers for the bathroom, they were either quoting ridiculous prices or just not bothering to call back.
It was an awkward room to tile so they put in ridiculous quotes.

It took me 3 years (of on and off calling) to find someone to do my bathroom.

The usual way it went was I'd call a few people, some would turn up to give a quote and others didn't. Then I'd choose one person and they would promise to call me when they could fit it in. After a few weeks of chasing them nothing came of it, they were too busy ot several times they would put off the start date. I'd get fed up and a few months later the whole process would start again.

3 years later, a friend's husband who had recently left his job as an MFI fitter to start up on his own did it all for me.

I think my bathroom was a bit small and in a flat (always difficult to work in and store stuff) amd also had a lot of very old tiles put on with plaster and cement which are really difficult to remove.

It was a nightmare really and now we need a whole new kitchen (including replastering) and I'm really dreading going through the whole process again.

Wisteria if you had a lot of angles and odd corners in your bathroom then a lot of tilers charge per cut so it would cost a lot.

Sometimes if we are a bit quiet and hubby thinks the job or client MIGHT be a pain he will put in a high quote...then if he gets it he is being paid for the hassle

We didn't, there were a few cubby holes and ledges but it wasn't as bad as it looked....can't have been because DP did it in the end and it looks far more professional that his DS's who had the 'pro's' in

I've been renovating houses for years and have noticed of late that many tradesmen are starting to take the piss a bit with these outlandish quotes, it's because there are so few tradesmen and so much work - they can easily make a living just doing the easy jobs.

Luckily our builder is of the 'old school' like me

Always offer tea and biscuits when they quote

KM, you hussy - I certainly hope you were joking......

No its supply and demand lots of work...the prices go up. So many property developers are doing houses up and selling them on for big profits - you cant blame the person who actually doest the WORK for being realistic making as much money as he can too. Would you really work for less money than you COULD earn, ie would you take the well paid job or the lower paid job?

Also fuel costs more

Due to emissions laws they now have to maintain their vans to a higher standard.

Due to high demand here and the fact that Dubai are kidnapping a lot of the materials before they even get to the UK Materials prices have gone through the roof.

Public liability insurance now needs to be taken out and you have to insure yourself for EVERY eventuality.

We dont have a second home in France, Spain, Barbados but a lot of people I have to listen to bitching about how much hubby charges to do a job DO.

I do know a fair amount about it having worked in the construction industry for a long time, renovated 3 houses (never made a pot of money personally, and I now have a few personal clients who are tradesmen and who openly boast about the amounts they are able to charge from people who 'don't know better' their words not mine . You only have to watch rogue traders to see what I mean.

I'm sure your dh is not one of these CC and I appreciate what you are saying but unfortunately there are many others out there - the guys we had out to quote were. They quoted £1700 to tile our bathroom and they reckoned it would take 2 of them 3 days.... it only took dp (never done it before) 2 days on his own and we were providing all the materials....

It's to build the nursery
It's a 180-200K project & maybe 4-5 months work

Gulp

I have 2 builders still are going to quote but I really need another one

We found it quite hard to get quotes for our loft conversion, even from loft conversion companies.
At 30k+, in London, we were considered small fry and not really worth bothering with... (sigh)

It's a bummer isn't it

Still haven't found one