Finding tradesmen. Need advice.

[changeofmylife]

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!

Local facebook pages are usually good for recommendations

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 !

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

Tradies who instantly respond to facebook and can start next week, don't have much work, which would rather suggest they're not very good or reliable. Personal recommendation from a tradie you trust or a friend/neighbour is the way to go. My mum always said to check if had a signwritten van, the quote was itemised on headed paper and he had a business card.

@changeofmylifejust to distinguish between a public random FB profile and a local facebook group (members only, with local people normally with experience of the tradesperson making recommendations). I recommended the latter and the two are completely distinguishable.

I disagree my local facebook group has nearly 19k members, far more than the number of people who live in the area, some post regularly on a range of subjects, every time somebody asks for a recommendation of a tradesman, there's a massive pile on, often from people saying I can do that, who are obviously to busy checking their phones to be working.

My builder recommended the plumber he used building his own house, who brought in his preferred sparkie, who I saw a week later working on the village hall. Competent people try very hard to restrict their circle of recommendations to other equally competent people.

We are planning a big relocation so none of my reliable information will be relevant anymore. It is a huge factor for choosing the next house. I shall want it to be fairly perfect because DH has no wish to live on a building site and I don't want the uncertainty of picking on a person randomly.

But if you have to start from ground zero, the pubs that are hubs for vans at 6:30pm (no earlier, because then they knock off early) are a decent starting point. Even so, you need to be lucky.

Next time you see a signwritten tradesman's van parked, ask that man who he uses in his own property.

They all know who the cowboys are.

Look at your local council recommended 'Trusted Trader' site - they are inspected and have to agree to specified ways of working - proper quotes, cool off periods, provision of guarantees, staged payments - for big jobs I go this route.

@Somersetbakerwell, of course one must discount folk who just “pile on” as you put it, offering their own services. The first rule of using a community FB group to find tradespeople is to heed only the recommendations from people who have actually used the tradesperson and were content with their work. It also depends on the area the FB Group serves and the size of the membership: our area is affluent and our local neighbourhood FB group wouldn’t have 19K people on it I don’t think.

Anyway, have found several excellent tradespeople via personal recommendations from people who’ve used the tradespeople they recommend. I also search previous posts for recommendations: I don’t want to post myself, letting all and sundry know what work I’m having done!

Presumably personal recommendations from people you know, rather than from random people who say Fred is really good (if he can be bothered to turn up)..I've lost count of the number of people who don't say "not for me" don't turn up to look at the job, or don't bother to quote, then even when I've accepted their price, they don't turn up at the time agreed or let me know they are delayed

Well.of course you also do your own research from Facebook recommendations but we've found lots of good people that way. Then check check a trader etc. I think.companies with strong only presence won't want negative reviews either if they're good.

If I asked FB locally for a trade recommendation, it would be swamped by their wives and girlfriends. I've lived here 30 years, so I am solidly grounded in the area.

The best trades I have found is via recommendations from neighbours. Once I know one good trade person I will then ask them for recommendations . The only trade we have and still are struggling to find that we trust is a good roofer!

can you start by asking any neighbours?

No. Not personal recommendations from people I know. From folks on the FB group.

Sounds like you’ve been unlucky.

If you don't get any joy from asking the neighbours, how about if you've been using a builders merchant for supplies (rather than b&q etc) asking the guys on the trade counter if they have any recommendations

Checkatrade.

They guarantee the work up to £1000 (on top of any guarantee or warranty the trader gives).