Extension: anyone used the builders who sent letters when you applied for PP?

[Whaleadthesnail]

As in the title, recently submitted our planning application and have received a few letters in the post from contractors advertising their services.

My instinct was I wasn't desperate to use a builder that needed to ask for business.
On the other hand it would help me narrow down a few to ask for quotes from....the more local ones at least.

Anyone used one of these and it's been fine? Any other advice on how to find and choose a builder? Its very basic, no fancy architectural schemes and designs to follow

Thank you!

I wouldn't, as they tend to be more expensive due to spending money on more marketing!

Have you used an architect? Ask them.

Is there any work going on in your area? Take a note of the builders details (we found ours this way)

Have your neighbours had work done? Ask them for a recommendation.

Take a look at local FB groups to see whether there are any names that pop up from a lot of different people.

When you have your recommendations, ask at least 3 for a quote. We had a HUGE variation so asked 5 in the end (all sourced in the ways above).

See if you gel with them as well, and be prepared to wait- that is a good sign, as the good ones generally have a decent pipeline of work from word of mouth. The ones we eventually chose had a long lost of recommendations from people who had done work- weirdly including a school mum who vouched for them straight away and offered to show us what they had done.

As you say… good builders tend to be booked up for a while ahead and don’t need to do this!

Good busy builders are bad enough

Thanks everyone - the 'problem' is that I'm in an area that is FLOODED with trades. So everyone recommends everyone and they're all local! Which doesn't really help to narrow it down 😂 in any case I'll suck it up and message a few, filter out the ones who don't reply and go from there

I advise against working with builders who directly reach out in this way. Only because quite often they can mask their reputation, and I've found it difficult to track down references.

The best way I've found to find local builders is via checkatrade, trust a builder or bark. All of these websites list builders and clients can leave reviews. It's an easier way of doing research. Alternatively, recommendations are ALWAYS best, having someone you already trust who has gone through the process.

I work with builders a lot and it can be very hard to find good reliable trust worthy builders.

Alternatively, if you work with a architect or designer they will have a few builders they work with regularly. It may be worth calling a local architectural studio and seeing if they can put you in touch with anyone. Here's the team we worked with here.