Can anyone recommend a decent builder in the Prestwich/Manchester area able to quote for extending dining room and opening up between lounge & dining room, not one has bothered to reply or even turn up to look so far.......
They're down Wetherspoons.
I cannot answer for Manchester area but I work in the Chilterns area of Bucks
1st thing have you plans, details etc of what you would like If not I would suggest that builders would be more likely to quote if you have accurate details of what you want. It would also be beneficial to you as then you can get competitive quotes on the same details. Most good builders are very very busy and booked up well in advance so preplanning is helpfull and not getting phone calls such as can you come and give me a quote for some work? I need someone who can start very quickley. I then reply that I am booked until well into 2004 so the client then asks if I can recommend another builder who can do the job tomorrow, is good and is cheap. I leave that to your imagination as to what sort of person that client may well end up withPlans are available, you say that you are booked up well into 2004, that appears to be the same for the majority of approved builders, hence the question. If the work is there why aren't there enough builders about to carry out the work ?. I'm not expecting the job to be done next week but a good start would be to actually find a builder with the interest in doing the job to at least reply to my requests. Why do builders advertise for work then not reply to requests ?. NB my priority is that the job is quoted for so I can decide if it's worth investing in and the time scale is a secondary concern.
The construction industry as a whole is suffering from lack of new entrants and suitably trained operatives.
Building has a transient nature and suffers from the peak and troughs of the economy. In the good times they will pick their work selectively. In the bad times, will take almost anything just to tick over.
The problems are rooted in lack of investment in the construction industry, and the nature of the economy. It's not really the fault of the builders.
If you do get a quote now, make sure it will still be homoured next summer when they begin the work.
dg
If it's like round here (Oxfirdshire) it's probably too small for them. I have just had a two storey extension done - my builder (his own small company) told me he had 10 jobs on the go and another 20 waiting to be priced.
All new build, even if it's an extension, (the bigger the better) is easier and therefore has a bigger potential profit margin - if the local builders have more work than they can possibly manage they will discard anything that's not the best for them - you can't blame them for that, they have to get rid of jobs somehow.
Round here you can blame the house prices. The cost of moving house to one with another bedroom (say) is several times the cost (about times 5 in my case) of building an extension, so no one moves house and the builders can't cope with the work (and all the housing stock gets over-extended). The horror stories mount as people are pushed to the dodgy end of the market either because they can't get a builder or because builders who don't want the work give silly quotes. For my build, I had three quotes, all for the same work (the main build exclusing windows etc):
£18000+vat £30000+vat £45000+vatFortunately the £18000 was the only one that had been recommended, I used him and he was very good :-)
The provisional extimates for plumbing ranged from £500 to £1500 as well. I'm afraid it is NOT a buyer's market at present.
I will mention you to the young builder who is currrently working on my house. He's taking a wall out, putting in French doors, a new window, installing new electrical circuits, plumbing etc, and fitting our new kitchen. We're very pleased with his work, and the speed that its progressing. He's in Oldham.
In message , Mike Taylor writes
Ditto here.
In message , Pete Cross writes
Speaking personally (although I know for a fact this applies to most other builder's) you tend to avoid anyone who is looking for an accurate quote for work that they may not carry out. I know it sounds strange but there is absolutely no shortage of people who will definitely be *doing* the work as long as they are happy with the quote. People looking to see 'how much' before deciding to do the work can safely be pushed to the back of the queue. One tends to get fairly efficient at filtering them out. Most evenings get used up quoting for work that will be carried out next year so at the moment anyone wanting a quote before Christmas is going to be every lucky indeed to see one. Most builders just aren't big enough to have a separate pricing department so being able to decide
*who* to quote for can save a lot of unproductive work.I agree it's extremely bad manners not to respond at all though. I do my very best to let enquirers know one way or the other.
Brother in law is booked until January and was last seen working in Birmingham (he lives in Bromley, Kent).
I'll give you his number if you want a quote ;-)
Richard
I guess you're not interested, just like your builders..
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