My friend Tony is a builder who opts for the challenge of the “little jobs” in people’s homes rather than the complexity and sometimes hum drum of the large construction sites.
“The biggest frustration can come when someone else has had a go at the job and messed up, and you’ve been asked to fix it up,” he says.
But it’s hard to find people to do the small jobs and the well-established R&M tradespeople can be a local community’s treasure – especially when they have good contacts with their counterparts in other trades.
“If you can’t do something, for example plumbing or electrical, it’s important to have the contacts,” Tony says.
“Because of the relationships established, in most cases they will come to the party. I have never had trouble getting hold of a busy plumber.”
So what’s the best way to avoid the cowboys and find one of these R&M treasures? Tony opts for word of mouth.
“Talk to someone they have done work for,” he says. “If the person you have contacted is a total stranger, ask them about other jobs they have done. It puts them on the back foot and if they don’t want to tell you they probably won’t come back.”
Tony describes it as “a bit of a lottery”, which is why it pays to keep local and use someone who is already working in the neighbourhood. “You’ll get a fair idea if a neighbour or a couple of people down the street have had some work done. Talk to them. Ask them did they get a good deal, did the person do a good job and did they clean up afterwards?”
Another strategy is to ask to look at the work a neighbour has had done. “Any lay person can soon see whether a job is tidy or rough.”
Once you have found your treasure, don’t be surprised if the estimate is higher than expected. “The biggest unrealistic expectation is the cost. Generally a job will cost more than people think it is going to – a combination of wishful thinking and an unrealistic idea of what materials and labour cost.”
Pruning back the cost by doing part of the job is fine, he says, as long as the building is left in a sound condition, such as being waterproof.
