Practical Advice To Help You Profit From Rental Property
Tips On Working With Your Carpenter
There are a number of likely jobs for which you will need to employ a carpenter or joiner. These include: building internal stud partition frameworks, putting on new doors and fitting locks, installing skylights and new window frames, fitting new skirting boards and installing kitchen units.
Find a good carpenter. Since anyone can put themselves forward as a carpenter you will have to avoid the inevitable 'cowboys'. As with any other type of tradesman, the best way of finding a good carpenter is by word of mouth. Ask your friends and relatives or other tradesmen who have done a good job for you in the past for any personal recommendations.
Another way to find a good carpenter (or any other tradesman), is to look around your area to see carpenters at work. Make a note of their numbers from advertising boards or vans. Also approach the householder where the work is being done, if possible have a look at the work, and see if they would recommend the carpenter they have used.
Look in Yellow Pages under Carpenters and Joiners or Builders. If you contact a carpenter this way ask for details of some recent customers whom you can approach to find out about the standard of work. Avoid those who only advertise in local newspapers or free sheets. This is where you are more likely to find the 'cowboys' looking for some money to top up their unemployment benefit. Advertising in Yellow Pages has a long lead time and would need to be arranged months in advance - and display ads are quite expensive.
Contact relevant trade associations and ask them for lists of carpenters in your area: The Guild of Master Craftsmen Tel. 01273 478 449 The Federation of Master Builders Tel. 02072 427583 The Building Employers' Confederation Tel. 02920 810 661These organisations provide codes of practice and a conciliation and arbitration service. It is wise to check with the relevant association any carpenter who claims membership of that organisation.
Get tenders.
Ensure that you are aware of all the carpentry work that needs to be done and then select at least three likely carpenters who are prepared to take on your work. Ask them to produce tenders for the work you want done with the tender broken down into its main parts e.g. fitting skylight, repairing living room floor, fitting new skirting boards.
Discuss the important details.
For example, for the above items this would include: the brand, size and positioning of a skylight, the materials (chip board or wooden boards) to be used in repairing the floor, the depth and style of the skirting board.
Draw up a schedule.
Make sure the carpenter you select has the time to do the job. Get a starting date and an estimate of the length of time that will be necessary to complete the work.