How get a plumber to plumb my job?

[yartin]

I would strongly advise against this route at all costs.

the most common distress thread posted on this forum is people being ripped off or failed by inept tradesmen and they always lead back to these sites.

try Joining your local Facebook group and asking on there.

if you have a local independent plumbing merchant gomand ask them for some leads.


And, if you see any extensions being built by a building firm in the streets near you - pop your head and ask to speak to the builder running the job or one of their tradesmen - these guys have contact details of good tradesmen in their phones.

Many really good tradesmen don’t advertise because they have too much work - and builders build their contacts via networking: either through seeing guys on site or in the pub.

I always use them and never been let down by the works.

 

[yartin]

I have no idea why you guys are against the sites I listed? Have you used them yourselves or just guessing?
I have used them several times, always got the job done and happy.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I have no idea why you guys are against the sites I listed? Have you used them yourselves or just guessing?
I have used them several times, always got the job done and happy.

Yes I've used them- got a pair of clown builders & had to spend a whole week chasing them to do the job right (eg going to proper depth for foundations, propping bays correctly, even setting the wall angles out properly)- they were good hard workers but would take every short cut going if I turned my back for a minute.
And in complete contrast got an excellent team of decorators- very quick, very tidy, did exactly what I'd asked and did it very well.
So as I said, good and bad

 

[yartin]

Yes I've used them- got a pair of clown builders & had to spend a whole week chasing them to do the job right (eg going to proper depth for foundations, propping bays correctly, even setting the wall angles out properly)- they were good hard workers but would take every short cut going if I turned my back for a minute.
And in complete contrast got an excellent team of decorators- very quick, very tidy, did exactly what I'd asked and did it very well.
So as I said, good and bad

I had a plasterer 2 weeks ago from one of the sites, he did excellent job, very tidy, used sheets to cover everywhere, left spotless. Same for plumber and tiler.
I will keep using them.

 

[muggles]

I have no idea why you guys are against the sites I listed? Have you used them yourselves or just guessing?
I have used them several times, always got the job done and happy.

Yes, I hired a window fitter to supply & fit some bifold doors in my extension. He took an £1800 deposit and fuxxed off never to be seen again. When I tried to sue him to get it back, he folded his company up and started a new one, thereby protecting himself from any action on my part.

The problem with most of these sites is that there's little or no checking done by the site owners to ensure the businesses on there are legitimate and responsible, and they're all too eager to remove a bad review if a trader claims it is malicious.

By contrast, to become Buy With Confidence registered I had to submit all sorts of paperwork proving my identity and qualifications, get a full DBS check (or CRB as it was then) and had an hour long interview & paperwork audit in my office before they would accept me. I've now got well over 100 5 star reviews on there but if you dig through them you'll find the lonely 1 star review left by someone an entire year after I'd worked for him and after he'd had other plumbers in, claiming without evidence that my work had caused a leak through his ceiling. The point being that all reviews are left on there even if you don't agree with them

 

[MetalGnu]

Well another fortnight has gone. Still no luck in getting anyone to take on my plumbing job. I’m at a loss as to what to do. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[opps]

I always use them and never been let down by the works.

My GF used mybuilder(dot)con. £2800 pounds later and T.oby S.mith of Harefield had done absolutely no work, which on reflection is a blessing. I have since seen some of his work.

https://homeowneruk.wordpress.com/

 

[MetalGnu]

There’re loads of horror stories floating about. Maybe I should keep the money and do it myself.

 

[ianmcd]

just say where the job is and someone on here might be able to recommend someone, hardly rocket science