Trusting Tradesmen.

[Tootsiroll]

Is there some skill or knack to this?

We're about to get our first major (for us) work done on our new house and I'm so unsure it's the right thing.

Long story short, water is entering the bedroom, we don't know how so we got someone around to have a look. He said what he thought the problem was, how he would fix it along with the extra work to repair the damage the water ingress had caused over the years (plaster, skirting and floorboards) He gave us a price and left to decide if we wanted to go ahead.

Obviously the work needs to be done, we're only living in half the house at the moment but there's no guarantee it's going to work and there's no refund if he's wrong. We can't afford to throw money away.

We trust the guy as much as we can trust a stranger, he's come recommended from a work colleague and has decent (though few) reviews online.

Is it just a case of crossing fingers and hoping for the best. Are there questions we should ask?

A personal recommendation is a really good start. Smaller jobs are usually paid on completion so you can withhold all or part of the payment if you aren't happy with the job.
They might want a small amount up front for materials.

The other thing is to be realistic about having work done.

If the wall is damp, then they need to repair the leak remove damp gypsum plaster and skirting boards, and repair any damaged floorboards and then leave the wall to dry out before they cover it up. If they don't do this then you wont know if the leak is properly fixed until it leaks through the plaster again. Damp is notoriously hard to sort out.

Walls take a long time to dry out. The estimate is usually 1 month per inch of thickness of wall. So if they are going to do it properly, you will need to have an unplastered wall for at least a couple of months. If you want the plastering to be done immediately then you could get lime plaster instead of gypsum as this can cope with water going into it without it damaging the plaster. However, a lot of plasterers don't work with lime as it is a bit of a specialist job.

A personal recommendation is a good start, but I would disregard online reviews - you can never trust them.

What size job he did for your colleague - is it comparable to what needs to be done in your house?

Also, is he a qualified tradesman e.g. plumber, electrician, carpenter etc., or just a jobbing builder. You could also ask for photos of his work.

The ones to really avoid are the ones that come knocking your door. If he's been recommended that's good, if he's a one man band you could get a second opinion and quote from a bigger local firm that you've seen working around the place (that might give some sort of guarantee), if they will quote, often jobs are too small.

Just thought. Might be worth considering putting some internal wall insulation on once the wall has dried out.

I think the other thing is to get as much knowledge yourself on these things. Youtube is brilliant for people locating leaks or incoming water and filming it. I saw a plumber drill holes into the floorboards upstairs above a water stain so he didn't have to hack into the ceiling of the lounge below and used a camera scope to look inside the floor. He knew where to drill as the skirting board was bulging, a clear sign of water damage. The less damage they do the less there is to fix after.

Have you looked at why you might have water coming in? Is it coming in around the window? Is it the ceiling? The corner of the room? The part where the wall meets the ceiling? Guttering above blocked and failing? Something in the loft, a slipped tile? Is it all the way down the wall? I know you said it has affected the skirting and floorboards, is it just at low level? Do you want to upload a photo? If you are unsure where to start ask ChatGPT or Gemini for suggestions of potential causes.

Personal recommendations are the best and when he is there ask him questions too. Never take business from a door knocker.

Great advice from PPs here.

I was a tradesperson before I retired. Personal recommendation is key. I'd recommend getting two or three people in to look at any job. You'll get a feel for which ones are confident, experienced and know what they're doing and also hear three opinions on the job.

Could you put up some photos of the problem here? There are lots of experienced people on MN who could give you their thoughts. There are also lots of home renovation forums on line....loads of tradespeople and keen DIYers there who will give you a steer.

It's really difficult to get my phone down there but I've posted the best I could get.

Best I can describe it, it's a solid wall, the bricks at the top of the picture are at floor level with the bedroom, the skirting boards would be attached to those. Above those bricks is where the window is That black thing you can see is an oven tray to catch the water, directly below that is a concrete lintel for the front door.

You can see a wet patch on the top bricks, water is dripping from several places.

Not sure if this is of any use.

There's no signs of water above window sill level, there was water getting in under the window frame when we first moved in but we fixed that.

If you don't know exactly what is wrong get some more quotes and see what they say. Whilst online reviews can be unreliable I try to choose traders near where I live, so at least they are 'traceable'!

competent tradespeople do not need to rely on online reviews to get work, they get their customers through personal recommendation (word of mouth)

My major struggle is getting anyone to even look at it, not just this but any issue. I sat in all day Thursday waiting for an electrician who didn't show and is now ghosting me.

I have a fantastic handyman who very kindly looked in the loft and at the rendering after fixing a door and listening to my plight but he admitted he was no expert.

2 Architects staring at your photo here OP and we have no idea whats going on 😮

So the bit of wall below the window is wet? Could you take a few more picturea of the outside and inside please?

I had my partner send over something (I'm at work till late tonight).

Outside pic is obvious, he must have cropped the picture to hide my neighbors house, our two windows butt up against each other, there's just a bricks worth of space between them.

The inside one, when we moved in water was getting in under the window frame itself, the plaster wasn't even stuck to the wall any more and when we took it off you could see water visibly running down the wall and behind the skirting board and onto the stone lintel beneath.

Since we got the window re sealed on the outside that has stopped and the top remains dry. The previous photo is directly under the floorboard to the right of the picture.

So do you think the leak is fixed. What is the new guy planning to do? How recently was the window resealed?

I would take all the plaster off of that wall, and remove the skirting board carefully and see if it is dry now or is getting drier.

If it is dry, then the builder can get on with repairing the plaster and putting the skirting board back on. If it isn't then you might need to take the render off of the front of the house to work out where the water is coming from. There could be a small crack and then water is running down behind the render till it gets to the window.

If the builder suggests tanking or membranes then they are just planning to hide the problem but it will resurface in a few years except it could be a lot worse.

I’d remove all the internal plaster and skirting and dry out the wall. As it’s winter I’d use a dehumidifier to speed that up.
Then once it’s dry ( use a moisture meter about £25 b&q) you can take meter readings over a few months to see if there’s any moisture ingress.

You can do this all yourselves. If it keeps dry and there’s no sign of water ingress and as you’ve sealed externally then you can plaster and I’d recommend lime plaster and fully breathable paint to allow the wall to breath.

As an aside

The roof doesnt overhang your external wall very much. Roofs help to keep external walls drier
Also
There also isn’t much of a window cill overhang and once again cills help to throw rain away from the external wall.

Absolutely agree here with the tanking point
Never do this

No the leak is not fixed, we have fixed "a leak" back in late November before we moved in. At first it appeared to work but we soon realized there was more than one problem that happened to be in a similar place. The guy we got in to look was there to help us find out where the problem was as we couldn't find it ourselves.

It's either the window itself, even though I can't see how, there's more silicone than frame on the outside now. There's a crack somewhere that we just can't see, the window does fully open like a door, we used our phones to look under the external windowsill and visually everything looks tidy but who knows. There's a chance it's migrating across from next door somehow, we asked if she has any issues in her hall or bedroom and she said there is a damp issue.....but it's just as likely it's coming from our house to hers!!

My partner just tonight sent a message asking him to clarify exactly what he thought the problem was, what he was going to do and what materials he would be using. He sent it quite late though so we don't expect a reply tonight.

If it gets completely dark outside try standing outside and looking at the house with the internal lights off but a torch shining closely at the walls.

Suggest doing this after you’ve removed the plaster
and when the neighbours bedroom light is off
mand the street is as dark as possible
When you shine the torch You might see a chink of light through a hairline crack
This is a technique used to check a roof. So it might work

Maybe the cill has a crack

I’d be a trusting a personal recommendation especially from someone you know - they wouldn’t recommend otherwise.

When I’ve used tradespeople in the past, I’ve always met them first for a quote before agreeing to anyone work being completed - I need to know that for one, I have the confidence that the money I am spending is on a reputable professional and secondly I need to know who is working in my property.

I’ve never had issues.

Personal recommendations are always the way to go. I¡ve agreed for people to come round and look at landscaping work I paid £16k for as a personal recommendation

asking for insurance and warranty details are also key for me

If I was you I would phone window firms/replacement window firms and get them round. Get three round and pick their brains like fury.

I reckon it's either -

• the silicone which has been overlayed and overlayed and isn't doing the job right (in which case you need to get as much of it as humanly possible off and do it again). Or
• "There also isn’t much of a window cill overhang and once again cills help to throw rain away from the external wall." Or
• The brick ledge under the window might be too flat for water to run away or leaning back so water is thrown back into the house or cracked and leaking through a crack (that might have been badly repaired/silconed.

Do you ever open the window in that room. I'd be ventilating the bejesus out of it to keep it as dry as possible and avoid condensation.

Get a few quotes.

Ask around neighbours for recommendations.

Look for their online presence and any reviews.

Don't ever pay for the work up front.

Get everything in writing so you know exactly what you're paying for, how long it will take and get a guarantee. Then have them invoice you and get receipt.

Then yes, you do have to put a certain amount of faith in them. Which can be a bit anxiety inducing but it's unavoidable really.