How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

I used my 1 man IT Contractor Ltd to open a couple of 'trade' accounts.
Then just bought stuff with my own card.

I imagine that the taxman would frown on you reclaiming the VAT.

More that Howdens view having a company as sufficient to get a trade account.

Accepted proof of trade status
(2 required)
Business cards
Letterheads
Compliment slips
Certificates of incorporation
Your company invoice/order forms
VAT certificates / Tax documents
CSCS cards
Tenancy agreements (landlords)
Tenancy deposit protection certificates
Liability insurance certificates
Company Bank Statement (please do not include sensitive account details such as account number or credit card number)
Check A Trade Reference Alternative Merchant Invoice (not a cash sale)
CITB web log in page (showing picture & details)
Company Website
Mybuilder.com profile
Accountant confirmation letter
Van Signage
Floor Plans and Blue Prints
Payslips (trade company)
Estate Agent’s Correspondence (for landlords)
Official Sub Contractor Job Specification.

I know someone who ran a big budget TV ad round the time had just bought a new place.

They made sure all the fixtures and fittings, curtains, etc were the same dimensions as their new place.

#csb

"We don't really care if you are actually a business but the T&Cs are B2B"

All our current curtains are from various shoots that have used different rooms over the years. McDonalds repainted the living room and Just Dance video game sanded and resealed the floor (after they'd fucked it). Vape shoot the other week left us a tractor lawnmower, though that did eventually get picked up.

Windows went in today

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My girlfriend bought a 1 bed flat earlier in the year and she's booked in someone to do her bathroom up. I think she got fleeced by her decorator so keen to help out more on thus. She fot a couple of quotes and this seemed like the best, and he came recommended.

I'm a bit confused by the quote and trying to help her out. The guy doing it will answer any questions regarding fittings but there's a lot of margin for error for her to order something shit by accident or something not be there in the right timeframe.

Any tips? Any good places to order a suite from? Will be asking the guy to check everything is okay!

I hopefully complete on my flat in the next month or so and I've got bathroom/kitchen and stuff to do so will be keeping my eye on the thread!

Cheers

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arranging disposal of all waste seems like it would be a PitA (plus I thought - at least in scotland - trades had to dispose of their own waste. may be mistaken)

+1 on this point. Disposing of waste will be a nightmare and expensive, I wouldn’t hire a trade who didn’t do that, especially for 5k for labour.

All that waste would be chargeable at my local tip, and you'd need to get it there. IMO if you are responsible for disposal, you might as well do some of teardown yourself.
Copper or hep2o? Plasterboard vs cement backer board?

+500 on waste disposal.
I didn’t factor this in on my kitchen fitting quote and ended up having to make 3 trips to the tip over 3 weeks with my estate to Chuck all the boxes, associated building waste, timber, etc.

Worth having a look at the bathroom fitters groups on Facebook - that should highlight some of the risks with this approach.

When my MIL had her bathroom done recently they managed to get away with a large hippo bag but even then you're probably not going to have anywhere to put one if it's a flat so would still need to arrage a skip permit, etc.

Is the fitter going to just leave the waste in the flat, how easy is it going to be to get it outside?

Will the electrics be signed off and certified?

I'd say it's not cheap, not outrageous if they have a good reputation.

They probably have a bit of lead time if they're decent, enough time to have alook at some bathroom suites, find out what is in stock and get it ordered. There's still plenty of stuff in stock if you're not really picky about exactly what you want.

Also, can't recommend EC1 bathrooms enough, great service and range, plus they do decent discounts.
Crosswater are a good brand for taps etc
Arte From if you want something a bit fancy
Lusso Stone are decent and sit somewhere in the middle.
Bath wise, can't go wrong with Bette steel baths plus they are beautiful.

I'm guessing the waste thing is to save the fitter time and money, I dont think trades are allowed to use tips for free (my local doesnt allow any vans). When I got my bathroom done recently they filled the entire front garden with all the crap they tore out, would have been about 6 trips in a car and then would have still been left with a bath.

Thanks very much all. Will run this advice by her

When I had my bathroom done recently they left the old bath out front while they were sorting waste and it was taken by somebody within about 5 mins.

But yeah I wouldn't want to be sorting waste myself. Although I have had good results with those people who just turn up and load it all into their van (ie no skip required). Could be viable if you have somewhere like a garden to keep it in, in the meantime.

Yeah, they are prob the same people who empty their vans out at the end of my road!

I do worry about that. They did give me assurances but how much you can trust that, I don't know.

On the other hand, the waste sector is so full of fraud that even your nicely sorted council recycling probably ends up dumped in the sea

We're about to have a Wren kitchen installed - lead time was 4x weeks but they were calling me up asking if they could deliver earlier.
They have their own fitters too but we binned those off after they visited us to measure up - let's just say they didn't inspire any confidence.
Wren are premade so DIY fitting should be easier in theory.
They have their critics but our local Howdens were awful and Magnet wasn't quite what we wanted. But YMMV

I bottled out of Howdens and have just ordered from DIY Kitchens. Units and surface arriving W/C 17th Jan.

What next?

Need to gut the room as best I can but in a way I can still cook there over the next few months.
Need to install a new floor (how to do this while leaving a couple of units in place (sink and oven?) Don't really care what the floor is at this stage.
Need to install some downlights and take out the horror show lighting there at the moment (so i need an electrician)
Need to disconnect the gas hob (so i need a gassy boi)
Need to tidy up the walls and paint (need some motivation)
Presume it's not that hard to add piping required for a dishwasher install and can DIY that.

What am I forgetting? Keeping current tiles on window sills because the chances of me finding a plasterer in time to tidy up my hacking off of them (or budget for one) are slim and none.

lololol etc I've got 5 days to change my mind on DIY Kitchens so will give Wren a ring.

There goes my weekend of PUBG.
Cork floor tiles obvs.
(Actually they would be quick, simple and easy).
Also plastering small areas is dead easy.

Shouldn’t be able to open trade accounts when your not a trade.

This is a ‘who is it hurting’ Q though right? As long as there isn’t some sort of VAT evasion that goes with it. It’s up to e.g. Howdens if they choose only to deal with some customers and they interpret that strictly (or not)

Got a call from them this morning and have a trade account.

There were zero fucks given, she just asked for a drivers license.

Won't be using it now in any event as I panicked at dates.