Owning your own home

Congrats!

Ronnie at https://londonbuildingsurveyors.com/ was recommended by someone on here and was great for me.

I don't know how people do those renovation ig accounts. I was absolutely sick of our reno after 3 months - couldn't imagine having the enthusiasm to try mine it for clout.

You've hit the nail on the head, its for clout.

but it's like... large scale reno jobs are so hard and tiring and dispiriting; really such a slog... how do people then have the energy and enthusiasm to create #content off the back of it ? couldn't be me

* not sure if terrible pun or not*

* prepares to put thread on ignore if so*

Need more builder recommendations for SE/CR area. The one's who started off promising, have gone to shit. Had a crisis call on Tuesday night, was promised a visit yesterday lunchtime to inspect the blown new plaster and a schedule for the remaining works last night. Fuck all. Will maybe get them to fix the shit plaster work and get someone else in.

So far, we've dealt with about 7 different trades. Only good ones are the plumber who only does small jobs (CJ Plumbing), the guys who did our front door refurb (Asashwindows) and @ColinTheBald who's doing the retaining wall in the garden. Everyone else I'd be happy if I never spoke to again.

Need plasterer, carpenter and electrician at the minute. But ideally someone who can just sort shit out and RESPOND TO FUCKING EMAILS OR DO SHIT WHEN THEY SAY THEY WILL!!!!!!11!!!!1!!

I don't care if they say, we're booked up for X weeks or months, but don't say "we'll try to do it next week" then completely fucking ghost me.

#dejavurant

RESPOND TO FUCKING EMAILS OR DO SHIT WHEN THEY SAY THEY WILL!!!!!!11!!!!1!!

Feast / famine workload fucking everything up I think.

Our roof is being done! Great success. I think. Co-ordinating the CH chap to do the new boiler flues at the same time....tiring.

Theres all these new "property developers" who aren't really doing the work so a lot of them are just going in to see it and buying stuff.

I agree having worked on a few now, you get to the point with a full reno that you cannot wait for it to be finished.

My wife has taken to following Stacey Solomon on IG for her DIY projects. She is unbearably positive and willing to just dive head first into stuff she has absolutely no idea about, all whilst having toddlers running around her ankles.

Our roof is being done! Great success.

Winner!

Feast / famine workload fucking everything up I think.

Absolutely. But it is galling getting passed over for other work all the time. Especially when we were front of the queue (whatever that means). I get it, there are very likely more interesting/better paying jobs around at the minute. But have some fucking integrity, or even just basic manners, and either do stuff when you say you will or don't say you'll do it. I'm fucking done with having sympathy for trades who have "too much work".

We're living in this. We are very lucky to have the space that we do, both trying to work from home would be making me even more miserable than I am now, so I know my privilege. But we can't realisitically do anything else until even the two rooms they started are finished as there needs to be some bastard annoying jenga/rubix cube arrangement of our shit from one room to the next to be able to complete/decorate different rooms.

I'm not asking for the moon on the stick. I want to pay decent trades what they are worth to do reasonable work. I don't want unrealistic shit, I don't keep changing my mind or moving the goal posts, I don't even have ridiculous expectations of quality. Just somebody, please come in, let me point at a room and you get it to the stage where I can throw paint at it.

She is unbearably positive and willing to just dive head first into stuff she has absolutely no idea about, all whilst having toddlers running around her ankles.

That is ninja level shit.

Yes that was me. A good chap from leytonstone.

Just out of interest, what is the rationale going from a very nice 2 bed flat, to another 2 bed flat round the corner??

I think I've chipped in with my very unhelpful personal view on this before but in my case I'm a reliable tradesman who solves problems and answers email etc. and I'm not available to any new clients until at least April next year and even then that's not guaranteed yet. If I've never worked for you before there is little to no chance I'm going to discuss working for you next year.

That's just a reality for a lot of honest tradesmen. I can't hire anyone else to do anything either so clients who ask me if I know a roofer etc. etc. unfortunately don't get any joy either.

It seems to me that you can't quite believe that there's no spare quality labour left in the market at the moment but from my perspective that's the case. The problem you have is having no existing relationship with builders, at the moment that or serious disability is the only currency that's worth anything as far as I can see.

April next year, we’re booked about a week in advance maybe 2 weeks. I would be good to be that far in advance but the type of work we do people wouldn’t sit with no heating for 6 months also suits me as I don’t like being pinned down so far in advance

What is it you do?

very unhelpful personal view

On the contrary, I value your input very much. Again, if they were open about their availability and didn't make woolly promises, I'd not be as vexxed as I am right now. It sounds like I am ranting about trades in general, I am not. As I said, 3 out of the many have been golden. Did what they said they would do, when they said they'd do it. he door guys took months, but then they said they would take months. Totally fine with that.

The problem you have is having no existing relationship with builders

This current lot of builders are a new outfit and our initial discussions were that we wanted someone to have a long standing relationship with as a house of this age/size will need regular maintenance. We don't want to keep having to go to Checkatrade for every little thing that comes up while we live here. They were all over that, to my face. Spent ages going round, measuring up, providing quotes. Then as soon as we said "go", it all went to shit. The electrical work for example was supposed to be on a Saturday/Sunday, dates proffered by them. Then they email late on the Thursday night before the work to say the spark is at a wedding all week so they're moving it to the following Tuesday. This wasn't an unforeseen delay, it was an uncommunicated delay.

If all builders just said, "no chance, fuck off". Then at least I'd know and then crack on with fucking stuff up myself. But I'm less inclined to do that with the carrot of "Of course, we'd love to do it, it'll cost you this much" being dangled in front of my risk averse face.

I had my builder, who I've worked with for a few years now, agree to start quite a big job on a certain date, not turn up, and then, a few days later, after extensive chasing confirm he was in fact in Poland and would be for another week.

He is cheap though so I tend to put up with him being a bit of a shyte. I now go and pick him up and drop him off to avoid all this (he doesn't have a van).

I now go and pick him up and drop him off to avoid all this (he doesn't have a van).

dying at this. absolute legend builder who must be protected at all costs

I hear you. It's the communication and I have to say construction/trades seem to operate on parameters that would be totally unacceptable in any other line of work. I get that it involves unforeseen hurdles due to weather say or availability of materials or overrun but why almost everyone experiences the not reply/ignore promises/ignore the phone/schoolboy level excuse as to unavailability, is beyond me. Wheat from chaff and all that and I now have after 6 years a small list of regular and excellent skilled folk but man, some of it is just entry level civility and sense. I guess its a sellers market at the moment but the sun won't always shine

I'm not getting anything else done until space year 2030

Nine months ago, in this thread

Howard: don't buy a fixer upper, there's no labour and everything is expensive
Everyone else: nah mate
Howard: buys a fixer upper

Now:

Everyone: fffuuuckkkkkk

Hard no on buying anything that needs more than paint.

would only ever buy a fixer upper - just need to accept the journey from fixer upper to fixered upped is utter mind-numbing soul-destroying pish

Problem is checkatrade what the trades to pay and they remove bad feedback so it’s pointless and it’s back to hoping you get someone decent