Home DIY

Very neat. And nice recovery!

Did you find anything on this? I need tile my hallway and for it not to look shit.

Totally but people value factor is very warped i think. People think £1800 is expensive for a boiler but will not think twice about going out and spending £200 on a saturday night or £500 a month on a motor.

Its very weird out there right now, but it is what it is and rn im at the stage as is my old man if we get the job great if not who gives a fuck.

There was a good recommendation a page or so back, haven't got round to watching it as I got momentarily obsessed with moving the stupid radiator in our spare bedroom :)

Yeah it's going to be very unpleasant I think. Will cover everything and seal the room when we do it.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/starrett-db2-debris-dust-collector-202mm/606HY

Hole saw and crap collector minimises the mess for smaller holes

It won't catch water or electricity so beware of what maybe hidden.

On the flip side of the tradesperson chat, just been over to see the in-laws. FIL is an ex-cabinetmaker so has some affinity with the trades. He was describing how he basically turned up the office of the firm he wanted to quote for the job doing their bathroom. It’s funded by the council as part of an accessibility grant and they specialise in doing these alterations. So far so good.
It becomes less good when it turns out he rocked up with loads of random bits of paper with product names and codes for things that the firm don’t supply. He wants to fiddle with every aspect of the job, and is now a bit stumped as to why they’ve told him they’re not interested in even quoting, lol.
I feel for the guy, but I just can’t seem to get through to him that people won’t want to do work for you if you constantly tell them how to do their job.

I use an old icecream tub as I couldn't face paying £20 for the Starrett one.

It won't catch water or electricity so beware of what maybe hidden.

Made me lol.

people won’t want to do work for you if you constantly tell them how to do their job.

My mother’s neighbour is like that. She had a plumber and an electrician in and both said they’d never work in the guys house again, having been harassed for two full working days about every detail.

Ha, unreal. I do hate it when someone watches you on a job your doing but cant say well if you know what your doing why aint you doing it.

I think some of this is solved by trades breaking quotes into labour vs parts - I've had some very silly quotes through for different work and it's hard to work out if they're pricing themselves out or if I'm asking for an expensive thing.

Best people I've had in have been up front about their day rate and given an estimate of how long it will take and a ballpark for parts - even if it's verbal only before a written quote which encompasses the whole lot.

The problem is the price doesn’t really include just your day rate for say plus material. It includes say it breakdowns the manufacturer wants you the customer to call the installer first. I’m not going to get paid via the visit, it might be something stupid, it might not be but that’s also built into the price.

Breaking down a full quote is far too much effort and you price the full job as the job when you start going into full quotes it’s. Well I’ve only quoted you for one length of pipe and I’ve ended up using 5 etc etc if that makes sense.

Day rates make more sense when your say on a longer term project instead of a full price I think but even then people can take the piss and lengthen them out. I mean most joiners day rate is start at 10 and finish at 3 with a lunch. That’s no a fuckin day

Thanks!

Shed is almost complete. 6 of 8 bikes hung on steadyracks, door on and lights functional. Still need to sort out shelving, workbench, power etc, but at least I can secure the bikes now. Pretty happy overall with how it has turned out so far. There's certainly been a whole load of learning involved!

3 Attachments

up front about their day rate and given an estimate of how long it will take and a ballpark for parts

This is my preference. But I get that it's not always possible.

My OH is very big on getting a fixed quote. I CBA to go into it, but it's very much a personality thing and part of the way they operate in all things.

My best mate has a building company positioned at the higher end of the market, and I've done a bit of labouring over the years. So while I've only got a rough gauge of this stuff I do get the business angle. When you're in a currently undersupplied market, that is very at risk of economic swings and cash flow sensitive why wouldn't you go for the most profitable jobs?

Dreamy. It looks like you live in an alpine chalet.

That’s not a shed, that’s an extension! Looking good though.

I’m guessing that concrete wall isn’t DIY but go on and dazzle me if so. Very nice ‘shed’ and good work!

DIY with the help of my builder neighbour. Pouring 4 cubic metres of concrete the day after my first vaccine was definitely not one to recommend!

If it was heated then the council would definitely make me call it an extension, but I'm pretty sure I can still class it as a shed. The roof was already in place though, that part wasn't DIY.

DIY […] Pouring 4 cubic metres of concrete

It was pumped in, but yeah, hauling the hose around was enough of a work out with a limp left arm.

Planning to do 3.2 cubic metres of concrete, in 3 zones, with father in law, with a shovel, mixer and a wheelbarrow.

I think it will be about 30h work.

I worked out that it would take 4 of us all day to do an equivalent amount by hand, and that would have been on a good day with four strong people (most of my friends are cyclists). I chose to spend the extra cash and not get that much in goodwill debt with my friends. Father in law sounds like a safe investment of labour though.