Kitchen/Bathroom 'Project Manager'?

[StripedPillowcase]

I own a 1 bed 2nd floor flat, built mid-90s. Both the kitchen and bathroom are original, now rather worn but still working fine.

I want to get both renovated; due to the small size of both, it would be pretty much a straight strip out and replace with the same items in the same places, so no major building work or rerouting of pipes etc.

My job doesn't permit working from home (as in, you literally can't, not that my employer won't allow it), and I also work elsewhere in the country frequently, sometimes for weeks; so I'm not at home to allow me to oversee the kitchen/bathroom work.

Is there such a job as a 'project manager' who will run the project, deal with tradespeople, facilitate deliveries, hold the keys if I'm away, crack the whip if things are falling behind etc etc? I'm not necessarily looking for an interior designer, more someone to manage the practicalities. What would I search for online to find someone? Would I be better looking for an independent kitchen and bathroom company? It will be a relatively small project (room size), so I'm wondering if independent companies would be interested.

Many thanks

I got mine three separate bathrooms done by a small local company. They had a key and just did them while I was away. The quote was no dearer than if I had used separate plumber, tiler, electrician etc. Absolutely beautiful, so happy. No stress at all just came back to looking like a new home!

Yeh I’d probably just look at getting a smaller building company in, they will have the contacts and just charge for the job as a whole.

My kitchen company ( small, local, run by the same three people who actually do the work) did the whole kitchen; they did the small electrics themselves and have a plumber they work with . They supervised themselves. I bought the appliances and units though.

But, they have been working around her for twenty years, advertise in the parish magazine and are well known; personal recommendation and living locally is what I would look for.

This is what we did.

Search for a design and build company. They will do everything for you. You can also look at Houzz.

Where are you based @StripedPillowcase?

Outer east London / Essex border

I’m with people on the get-someone-trustworthy-and-leave-them-alone tactic. A project manager will add massively to your costs without any impact on quality. I would also try to arrange the work for when you are working away if you can. I managed to get our whole house rewired while we were away and most of a bathroom done a couple of years later. Much less stressful.

When we had our bathroom done I just used a recommended local plumber, gave him the keys, went on holiday for a week and came back to a finished bathroom. They sorted getting a plaster/tiler in etc.

I'm flabbergasted that posters found companies and handed over the keys and left them to it . Was there really no-one keeping an eye out?
There's no way I'd do that - not least the worry of a stranger rifling through your belongings, but also coming home to find the bathroom ripped out and nothing replaced because they've gone off on a bigger/ more lucrative job.

That's why you seek recommendations.

No company is going to throw away years worth of reputation just for a rifle through your knicker drawer.

Same ! Not long finished renovating our whole house. The builder was know to us (also our son’s football coach for many years ) and we used many other recommended people. Not particularly worried about people rifling though my stuff, but questions come up, things go wrong. These people need keeping an eye on.

Have experience of a few renos now and this is something I would be happy to do for someone (I enjoy it) but we live in Herts.

"These people need keeping an eye on."

These people?

I chose and independent kitchen company. They had a showroom but behind the scenes was a family owned construction company so they had their own electricians, plumbers etc and the guy for the kitchen company effectively project managed the job.

i did pay a premium for it to be don’t that way but it made life a lot easier.

i went away for a week whilst it was done. There’s no point employing people you can’t trust to do work in your house. You can’t be there 24/7.