Finding workmen

I think tradespeople pay to be on CheckaTrade. So it's not exactly independent. I've heard that Age UK offer have a local list, and the tradespeople are vetted.

I also find it very difficult to get a good tradesman. When you do find someone recommended by a friend they are usually booked up for a very long time.

I normally ask my neighbours first, and have also found the Rated People (or Traders, I can't remember which) site, which is very good. I have found an excellent plumber on there and also a good fence man. In fact my neighbours have been so impressed with them that they have used them as well!

To be fair some of the people on my builder have hundreds of good reviews, they can't all be from their friends. I've used mybuilder, checkatrade and ratedpeople without any problems. Obviously you do still ask for references etc and follow them up. I've also used people I've found online without any issues so maybe I'm just better at sussing out the competent from the incompetent as I've previously done most jobs in the house myself so know what I'm talking about. Just because I can no longer hump hefty worktops about doesn't mean I don't know how to do the job, so Billy Bullshiters generally don't get past me.

Thanks Happychops, looked at Trusted Trader, no-one very near, guess would pay extra for travel time/expense.
Mybuilder.com looked promising janeainsworth until I read the comment from phoenix!
Didn't know about AgeConcern info, thanks andycameron69, will investigate.

My worst experience was via check a trade.

Lots of great reviewed. Showed up on time, seemed professional.

Unfortunately we were unable to supervise the work at the time, but the end result looked good

Then..... he asked me to write a review (fine). Said he would come back and do a free touch up and discounted future jobs if I did one then and there and pretty much stood over me while I did it, promising all kinds of freebees if I did.

So I submitted a glowing review.
Fast forward a few weeks and the finish fell apart. It became apparent that he hadnt done any of the underlying prep work (which is why we hired a pro rather than DIY) and had not used half of the supplies we had been charged for.

Tried to contact him (as per his promises of great follow up and snagging) HE HAD ALREADY BLOCKED US in anticipation of us noticing the problems as they came through

As far as check a trade were concerned our original review stood. We weren't allowed to write a new one unless we booked another job with him

He remains one of the highest ranking workmen on my local trade review sites (not just that one)

I’ve had excellent recommendations from the Nextdoor site.

PS. The person booked to do the sitting room is a local handyman, advertises in the village magazine and is in high demand.

He has done a couple of jobs for us, very reasonable price, good work and very tidy!

Hello, happy new year.
I have been into my local Age concern office and they have many tradespeople they recommend.
Might be worth a try

I used the "mybuilder" site for a decorating job (hall, stairs & landing)

The person I got had a couple of good reviews, but was an absolute nightmare! Didn't remove door furniture, painted round it (with lots of paint ending up on the handles etc) the amount of paint he advised me to get was about 3 times more than needed, swore blind everywhere had 2 coats ( well, he must have managed to miss the same bit TWICE!)

The amount of mess he managed to make was incredible, blobs of paint on the floor that had to be removed with a scraper.

Looking back, I think the good reviews were possibly from a person with a house divided into bedside who just wanted the job done quickly, and others from friends or family.

I left a VERY honest review!

Ours didn't have anything like that.
Its so frustrating!
We have a small magazine which comes monthly in our area, and there is a handyman advertising in there £15 an hour.
I've cut his ad out and kept it.

We have found reliable people through this website.
www.mybuilder.com
NB I’m an established poster and not advertising

Try your local council website. Ours has a trusted trader page. I have found reliable good workmen from this site who are all vetted. All work completed was good ,a fair price,and the workmen turned up. I love using this site.

Fingers firmly crossed, our recent experience hasn't been too bad apart from one carpenter who measured up and went off to price timber. I accepted his quote but not heard a peep since. That began in August.

I find my yarn group are the best source of recommendations.
I'm slightly wary of recommending tradesmen to friends in case they get a bad service.
I know what you mean though about people not wanting the jobs. There must be easier money elsewhere.

I found good and bad reviews, decided to carry on with registering but then gave up because I had to choose one of my neighbours from all the email addresses on my email account. My actual neighbours are not on my email list. Nextdoor will then contact them to ask them to join. I selected my partners email so as not to involve anyone else. Then they wanted emergency contact info. I gave up at this point - hopefully can delete partially completed account lol.

Nextdoor took over from another site; street something, I think.
A lot of people, myself included, were unhappy that you were required to give your address.

Thanks starbird, I had never heard of Nextdoor. Started a login but they seem to need access to email account including emails etc etc. Am a bit wary so will see if I can find any reviews online before I go any further.

If you have a local neighbourhood next door group you can ask on there ( google next door to see if there is one for your area). I have not used it myself yet to find a tradesman but see that others do - as you can post a report on there I am sure they would be reliable.

I feel your pain Watermeadow. Last May small extension being built at work, looked good, clean, tidy, workers. Asked if they knew a chippy - yes, his brother. Made contact. Didnt turn up for appointment, rang, got apology. Eventually came, quoted, accepted, handshake, to come in Sept. Didn't happen, nor October by which time he stopped answering texts and calls. Decided to use partners phone (thinking this number would not be in guys phone). Sure enough he answers, full of apologies, can't now do it himself but will send one of his employees round to look at job and also asked if we would mind if he worked over the Christmas /New Year period when builders traditionally closed. Said that would be fine. Chap arrives, looks, measures, makes notes and says he'll send quote. Nothing happens. Christmas/New Year now over, roll on Monday morning when I will be calling yet again!!
I don't really know how to find tradesmen when you're new to an area but have seen some people asking for recommendations via Facebook so may give that a go.

The best firm for replacement windows is Safestyle. My daughter used the firm last year and they did an excellent job.
Also a new Victorian fireplace setting, more excellent workmanship.

Both companies cleared/cleaned up after themselves and removed all rubbish/rubble.

Daughter's had no trouble finding genuine workmen, word of mouth usually.

Yes, we've had this problem too. We need some work doing and it's my NY resolution to find someone - or 3 as there are 3 jobs that are becoming quite urgent. Our council has a book of 'approved' people so hopefully one will come up trumps.

I can't say I've ever had a problem, yes it takes time to find someone you're happy with and you think has the required skills but never had a problem getting call backs or employing someone. Where are you looking for these people?

My daughter and I had the same problem trying to get a fair bit of work done in hers.
Its all so long winded.
One man sounded great, then wanted us to email pictures of every job that needed doing, others didn't phone back, or didn't turn up.