Owning your own home

It REALLY gets on my tits that even when you try to be a responsible homeowner and get the right people in, pay them good money, on time without quibbling over every detail, you still get shafted. So much so that now I get hit with a massive wave of anxiety, verging on panic attack levels, when I'm handing over the money. I'm constantly doubting myself now if I've picked the right person (despite being careful about reviews and experience) or if they've fucked something else up that I couldn't possibly know about. And it feels like the only way to not get shafted, is to learn enough about the job you are paying to have done that you may as well get the cert yourself and DIY it.

ZMG so much this this this I thought it was just me

I think there's a lot of people in the game who are not aware they are incompetent.

100%

I often think that there’s a real missed opportunity to create a scaled home services business across London. Problem is you would need a huge number of trades, have to vet them and keep them. You would charge a premium similar to Pimlico Plumbers but I think for peace of mind most people would be ok with that.

Problem is people always want things cheaper and trades are always tempted to do things on the side or for themselves because getting work isn’t actually hard!

So much so that now I get hit with a massive wave of anxiety, verging on panic attack levels, when I'm handing over the money. I'm constantly doubting myself now if I've picked the right person (despite being careful about reviews and experience) or if they've fucked something else up that I couldn't possibly know about. And it feels like the only way to not get shafted, is to learn enough about the job you are paying to have done that you may as well get the cert yourself and DIY it.

I get this too. I start to feel sick every time a new problem crops up which I know I can't fix. There's this kind of anxious dread which comes with phoning around trying to get someone to even take my call. I feel like a little kid trying to be an adult and failing.

It REALLY gets on my tits that even when you try to be a responsible homeowner and get the right people in, pay them good money, on time without quibbling over every detail, you still get shafted. So much so that now I get hit with a massive wave of anxiety, verging on panic attack levels, when I'm handing over the money.

I feel the same whenever I'm looking for other trades I need to sub work out to. I have a group of people that I know and trust that I use for most things but if they're not available I have to look elsewhere. Recently the decorator that i have used exclusively for the last 10 years retired and I got stung several times trying to find someone decent to replace him, I now have no real choice but to undertake the decorating work myself which stings me in a different way - I'm slower than he was but can't charge extra because of that so I'm losing out on other work as well as paying myself less.

This is how I look at tradespeople that I'm considering working with:

1. What is their appearance like? I Don't expect them to be immaculate but if they make an effort to be presentable (and not wear the same clothes for a week without washing them - major bugbear of mine) then they are likely to take pride in their work.
   
2. Will they take time to explain to me how they will do the work? I am deeply suspicious of anyone who will not tell people how they intend to do a job as it makes me worry that they are not able to plan out their work and prefer to "just get it done". By the way the phrase "just get it done" is in my experience the most dangerous thing to say in construction and fills me with a sense of impending doom as it means all thought is abandoned and people start to rush when this happens people get hurt (or worse) or the work produced is dangerous. There are a number of tradespeople on here (as already mentioned @ColinTheBald), @Airhead, @Mr_Sworld and @Nef and I'm sure that there are others I've forgotten and if so I apologise. The guys I've mentioned are happy to give advice to people based on their area(s) of expertise they know that giving advice to people does not affect their chances of winning work (the opposite in my experience) and it shows that they have a good knowledge of their trade.
   
3. How detailed is the quote? (closely related to point 2) If the quote says labour £XXXXX, Materials £XXXXX then they have, more than likely, pulled a figure out of their arse and are likely to come back to you to say they've underquoted and the final bill will be £XXXX more than the estimate. When I quote I take the time to write out a scope of works figure out the exact amount of materials needed to do the job and cost these out.
   
4. What is there communication like? OK so everyone is busy and can't be expected to respond immediately but if you have to chase them for a reply every time then it becomes a problem.
   
5. Are they a limited company? I have no problem working with sole traders, I am however wary of limited companies as it is an easy way for bad actors to lose personal and financial responsibility for there mistakes or poor workmanship. If I'm going to work with a limited company I always check with companies house to see how long they've been trading. If they haven't been trading long I'll look and see if there have been other companies registered at the address given.
   
6. Where are they from? I know how this sounds but it is not brexit related. In general I find working with Kiwi and Aussie tradies to be a joy bcause in both countries you need qualifications to do your trade so they have a good working knowledge with no gaps and will take time to learn about the appropriate regs here too. I would love to see some kind of licensed builder scheme set up here.
   
   

I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience.

It REALLY gets on my tits that even when you try to be a responsible homeowner and get the right people in, pay them good money, on time without quibbling over every detail, you still get shafted. So much so that now I get hit with a massive wave of anxiety, verging on panic attack levels, when I'm handing over the money.

This is my entire attitude. Old couple two doors down have had a run of about 3 builders who have either all been crooks or the current ones just painfully slow. They've not been in their house for about 9-10 months now. There's shit I need really to sort with our gaff that I keep putting off cos I don't trust anyone not to shaft me.