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Finding tradesmen. Need advice.

10 replies

changeofmylife · Today 14:00

Hi all.

We have been renovating our home for a long time now and the next project, that we don't want to do ourselves is the ground floor flooring and stair replacement. This is probably the first of many posts about the project but I need to make a start.

I am struggling finding tradesmen recommendations. I don't have a clue about who is good and not and my friends, family and such either live too far from me or they have no idea who in the area are good.

How do you find your tradesmen when you don't have a clue? I have tried reading reviews on Google but there are so many flooring companies out there and they have a handful of reviews each.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Nitgel · Today 14:01

Local facebook pages are usually good for recommendations

Laiste · Today 14:12

Yeah local FB page ask them.

Plus - do you know any tradesmen? I got a decent electrician through asking our plumber. And i think we got the plumber from the roofer !

Badbadbunny · Today 14:22

I'd not rely on local Facebook pages unless a lot of different people were recommending the same person. Far too many "friends", "family", "spouses" recommending their husbands/brothers/fathers/sons etc so very biased.

Best way, we've found, was to ask a tradesman when you find a good one, i.e. one that turns up on time, one who's tidy, one who does a good job, etc - they'll usually only recommend people like themselves, and certainly not the "bodgers" who they'll know by suffering having to work with them on other jobs!

We got a really good "team" based on a "random" plasterer who we got to do a small job - we were really impressed with him, and asked him if he knew a good joiner to put in a door architrave and skirting boards after plastering - he gave us a name and phone number of a joiner he'd worked with - we got in touch, he came, did the work, and did a brilliant job of it. We then gave both the joiner and plasterer some more work in a different room, which also needed some new electrical sockets and extra lighting fitted - we asked them both (separate days) and they both gave the same name and number of an electrician - again, we got in touch, he came and did the work, and again, brilliant job, so whilst he was here, because "word of mouth" seemed to be working, we asked him if he knew a good plumber (as we knew we needed some plumbing work in a few months time) - he gave us a name and number, who we used a few months later, part of the plumbing job needed some remediation of a plasterer as part of the job and he brought in the original plasterer! Turns out they all knew each other and regularly used each other. A couple of years later, we phoned the joiner asking if he did replacement PVC windows, he didn't, but he gave us name and number of a window fitter, who again, was brilliant and it turned out, he was part of the same loose "team". That lasted several years, but unfortunately, one by one they retired, but at the same time, we'd done our house and didn't need much doing, so by the time we wanted to do more work again, they'd all gone and we had to start from scratch!

Buscobel · Today 14:47

It’s a nightmare and a minefield. We got a carpenter through a recommendation from a neighbour. He’s done well out of the houses in our cul de sac. We have an electrician who we used in our last house and more recently, in the current one.

We want to extend our drive widthways. We’ve had two companies come round to look. Neither have bothered to quote. One of them has done work for neighbours and is due to come back and do another job for them, so I hope he doesn’t let them down too.

HappyInTheSea · Today 15:27

We get all our tradespeople via recommendations from our neighbours who are mostly elderly and have lived here years. What they don't know isn't worth knowing.

Piglet89 · Today 15:36

Our local members only Facebook group. Failing that, our estate whatsapp group.

EndlesslyExhaustedPigeon · Today 15:43

My sister in law has used My Builder to find many of her tradies for her reno project. Not sure what others may make of it but she's only found success from it

Papyrophile · Today 16:09

Like @Badbadbunny , we are connected to an informal group of tradesmen who know each other. I start with the one I know best, and ask who he is using for electrics or whatever's needed.

If you were an unknown customer but said Builder J had suggested calling, they will reverse check you to find out whether you pay promptly or are difficult to work with.

stapletonsguitar · Today 16:15

A lot of people suggest Facebook recommendations - but don’t take them at face value.

Someone I know got a contractor from Facebook with all 5 star reviews. They turned up, started the job, got paid 75% of the fee then left it 50% unfinished and went awol. On checking out the Facebook reviews by clicking on the profiles of the reviewers, it was clear they were all fake profiles (recently set up, very sparse in details, and their only activity was reviewing three companies that all seemed to be run by the same family).

So by all means look on Facebook, but dig a bit deeper!

changeofmylife · Today 17:05

Laiste · Today 14:12

Yeah local FB page ask them.

Plus - do you know any tradesmen? I got a decent electrician through asking our plumber. And i think we got the plumber from the roofer !

We have worked with very few tradesmen in our house renovation, my other half has done it all himself. The builder that we had to do a job is not replying to me at the moment, they were supposed to do the job. We found them via a friend. I am not sure whether they will be willing to give recommendations tbh.

Thanks for the FB recommendation. Will look into doing that.

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