LisaSam

Snags after a rennovation - do they ever end? Our latest was a downpipe at the back of the house that managed to acquire a couple of holes in it, resulting in not one, but two waterfall displays in heavy rain. This may be related to where a condensate pipe is, popping out of the wall right behind the downpipe in question. But who knows, could have been a stray, umm.. arrow? No idea. The main thing is that I found a good drainage company to fix it, which was a big relief. Because drains are kind of confusing. There are those companies that like charging a lot of money for fancy reports about the state of your drains having stuck cameras down them. But in my experience those companies are then unresponsive if you only have a small job that needs doing following their report. If the drain is near the roof, you think, is this for a roofer? Or maybe I should ask a plumber, but will they have a tall enough ladder? What about those guttering companies that have gutters and fascia boards in five different materials and 20 colours? (Yes, that's a thing too.) Luckily, I found Charlie and Michael of CM Drainage Ltd. I contacted them over Checkatrade and Charlie messaged me back, arranging a time to come and look at the issue. We discussed a couple of solutions and he emailed over a quote for the preferred option. Scheduled in the work not long thereafter, and there was good communication about arrival time on the day. Charlie and Michael are friendly and professional, wore masks consistently, and were mindful coming through the house not to ding the walls (not an easy job with a big ladder and long sections of downpipe). They got on with the work, did a good job and offered to clean up. It wasn't a particularly easy spot to get access to with a ladder, with a planter near the base that is drilled into our deck. And they had to drill when up the ladder. They just managed it somehow, without complaint. They also very kindly helped with a couple other bits that were off-spec, which I *really* appreciated. There was a gaping hole in a bit of fascia board close to the top of the section of downpipe they were replacing. I asked if they might be able to close it, somehow, to decrease any risk of water damage. They did some troubleshooting and came up with a solution involving some bubble wrap and silicone over it, which looks good. Having seen that they had silicone, I was a bit cheeky and asked if they might also use that to seal around the top of the kitchen sink (a job that has long needed doing but I've foolishly never gotten around to). Charlie very kindly helped me out with that one too, while Michael packed up. Offered to pay for the extra time they spent on the two odd jobs, but they wouldn't hear of it. All around, the section of downpipe replaced looks great, and I'm grateful for the help with the odd jobs too. I'll be asking Charlie and Michael back when we have scaffolding up to deal with another issue (related to the loft conversion), so that we can improve a couple parts of the guttering/drains higher up while the access is easy. My understanding is that they do all sorts with drainage, sewerage, clearing blockages, other bits of plumbing, including new connections from a property to water main, etc. [email protected] Charlie's number 07399 144384 (and he's on WhatsApp) https://cmdrainageltd.com/ Reviews - https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/CmDrainage P.S. Just remembered something else I wanted to mention. We had to reschedule the initial visit for Charlie to look at the issue. Received a message from Charlie on the day: "Sorry for the inconvenience, we?ve been held up on a job and doesn?t look like we will be able to make it to you today. Are you available I?m the morning tomorrow? I could get out to you then. Again sorry for any inconvenience caused." It wasn't a problem at all for us. Later it turned out that they were dealing with burst pipes for another client. Found it kinda reassuring that they are willing to prioritise accordingly and stick with the more urgent job to get it sorted. I know I'd appreciate it if we had a burst pipe issue!!

Darren has installed three bathrooms for us now. One in our previous flat, and two in the new house. When he installed the bathroom in our last flat, he bailed us out of a disaster of an install with a person who turned out to be quite the cowboy. I was out of the country for work and my partner was having to manage a refurb and a new job. The person we originally hired left the bathroom in a right state (we'd asked him not to come back about a quarter of the way through). Darren was working weekends at the time to get another bathroom install done when he said it would be, despite some unexpected obstacles. But as he happened to be a couple roads over doing this, and we were in such a pickle, he said he'd come round to have a quick look. I think he did it in part cause it offended him, what the other (supposed) tradesperson did, and Darren is just awfully kind. Indeed he put in a couple of quick fixes to get the loo installed properly and agreed to do the minimum we needed so that the other work could continue. He also finished the remainder of the install as soon as he could fit us in. After that, he installed a new bathroom/wetroom for our neighbour, who was also delighted with his work, and friends of ours. Then, when we moved, he installed two new bathrooms in our new house, including all the tiling work. As I've written in another recommendation here (in response to a query, rather than a standalone recommendation like this one), both installs had some interesting challenges for Darren, which he handled with his usual resolve to make sure everything is to a high standard. He?s very particular any making everything look good. As other rennovations were ongoing during one of the installs, Darren pretty near flat out refused to install the new loo (leaving the old one in place instead), because he was worried that the nice new loo might get dirty or damaged if he installed at that point. He did do the tiling and when he finished, he covered it with cardboard, taped that down and put a sign on the bathroom door asking other tradespeople to keep everything clean please in the nice new bathroom (photo attached). I was thinking bleach will clear up anything. But no. Do not mess with Darren?s new install. The new loo was installed later on. Those two installs were in the Spring 2020 (photos attached) and I wanted to write this post now because we recently asked Darren if he could come by sometime if he was in the neighbourhood to look at a few small issues we'd been having, as sometimes happens with new installs. There was a small drip from behind one of the sinks sometimes, which it turns out is because the actual basin isn't totally level (a manufacturing issue) so the seal around the main tap wasn't proving to be completely watertight. Darren talked me through approaches to solving it and fixed it. There was also a bit of leakage around a component of one of the showers (again, more an issue I'd place with the manufacturer), which Darren promptly fixed. And he adjusted some of the settings one of the loos to make it flush more forcefully. When coming over to sort the above, Darren was very professional and conscientious, as ever. We hadn't expected that he'd be over anytime soon, just when he happened to be around sometime, but he was over within the week. He arrived with a facemask on (much appreciated). We talked over the issues and he sorted it all. To be honest, I wasn't sure if he was going to charge a call-out fee, given that the issues we more with the manufacturers than his install. But nope. Just making sure people are happy with his work. No fee. With the flat install, it was exactly the same, only with that case there was an install issue with a radiator (he'd let someone else do it under his supervision as he was teaching them) and some water had subsequently leaked into the flat below. Once alerted, Darren was over super quick, immediately recognised that the install was at fault, said so, apologised profusely and then went over and above to keep everyone happy. Even arranged for a new bathroom ceiling to be installed in the flat below us (where the water had leaked), and then made sure it was freshly painted. This was a significant upgrade for the tenants in that flat whose landlord barely looked after the place. Wow, I've written loads... but hey, it's worth it. As is waiting for Darren, in our experience. We planned a fair amount of the rest of the house rennovation around his availability if I'm honest about it. Knowing more about the house then I did at the start, I'm particularly grateful for some decisions he guided us towards for the loft bathroom, e.g. concerning the installation of waterproof panelling. It can be unnerving having so much work done to your home, and it's less tense when you have confidence that a tradesperson working on it takes what they do so much to heart and wants their customers to be happy with the end result. [email protected] 07939 051017

I highly recommend Andrew Karoly, who kept me sane during a couple of particularly fun party wall adventures (one I instigated, one that by my neighbour at the time). Andrew Karoly MCIOB, MFPWS t: 020 7733 7105 m: 07989 419820 www.partywalls-london.co.uk He's helpful, professional, reliable, practical... could list many more positives. I think he has some other recommendations on the forum over the years. I recently had a query about whether I had a party wall issue in my new home and he took the time to understand the situation, then told me that I didn't have an issue without charging me for his time. I would absolutely go straight to him if I did have any party wall issues in the future. He was very patient with my questions each time I've gone to him, and you absolutely get the feeling that he'll actively look after your interests.

Fernando came around today to for Part 2 (see previous review for Part 1 of winter garden ops and bark/mulch replacement). As ever, he arrived promptly, with great communication in advance and professional work when here. Also he is very conscientious about wearing a facemask and shoe covers when necessary, even for just walking through the house to the garden. With Part 2, it was particularly helpful that Fernando is willing to tackle so many different tasks and do them all well. As well as some weeding and putting membrane and new bark down, he installed some grass protector, mowed the lawn and tidied a planter and some potted plants. Fernando also did a fantastic job with the lawn edging - not easy with log roll curving around the flower beds. He kindly tidied the deck area too, which was much appreciated. The garden looks so much better now and, as ever, Fernando completed the work very efficiently. I would highly recommend his services to anyone who'd like some help with their garden.

I highly recommend Art with Glass in Crystal Palace. There's a thread on them here: /forum/read.php?30,2117181,2117202#msg-2117202 I've also attached the internal window James did for us. It felt very collaborative, the design process, and it was great value. It makes such a huge difference to the feel and look of the space. I could go on about it for a long time... I only regret that if we ever move, we won't be able to take this glass with us! I feel like some of the images they have on their gallery are some of the louder designs. They do a huge range and work with you to come up with a design, without being nearly as expensive as you might imagine. Best wishes with your project.

Over six years ago, I wrote recommendations for Fernando in this same thread after he helped me sort out my small garden in Peckham Rye. Today I had the pleasure of seeing him again as he helped sort out the garden in my new place in South Norwood. Just as was the case back in 2014, Fernando was communicative, friendly, professional, incredibly hardworking and effective at the job. He arrived on time, wore a face mask to walk through the house to the garden, and put shoe covers on when going through the house just to be sure no mud got on the floor. We talked over the work and he made some suggestions. He did a lot weeding, took up some old bark, tidied the flower beds, put down weed membrane, put new bark down, and tidied the work area. This was all the more impressive given the conditions - continuous light rain and damp soil, and having to put weed membrane down when the beds already had flowers, trees and shrubs. Not easy. At one point, after about three hours or so, Fernando stopped working at a sensible point because he was concerned that his efficiency at weeding was being hampered by how damp the soil is, with all the rain, making it harder to properly get the weeds out. At the rate he could go while still doing the job properly, he was worried I'd feel overcharged so should he come back a different day? We came to an agreement on how much more to try to do, then come back to do the remainder. I am just as amazed as I was back in 2014 just how much Fernando gets done in a given space of time. I'm looking forward to seeing Fernando again and am delighted with how the garden looks now. Thank you, Fernando!

So, torrential rain for weeks, it's a great way to figure out if your house is watertight. Turns out ours wasn't. Water was coming in around the bathroom window and we were fairly sure it was something to do with how the dormer (loft extension was done), i.e. something with the lead flashing not being sealed properly. Small repair job, at least to get to the point where more water doesn't come in. But try finding a roofer to do the work after that much rain... especially when it's only a small job. One well-recommended roofer kindly looked at the issue via WhatsApp, booked to come around in a week, but then cancelled because he already had too much work. Booked until February. Fair enough, but obviously a bit disheartening. Another roofer came round cause of a job cancellation, he had time, but then ghosted me rather than provide a quote. Yay. After hearing about this, a friend of mine recommended Gary, who'd done work on the roofs at two places he'd lived and was very satisfied. He'd heard about Gary through a recommendation himself. Gary doesn't have much of any info online about the services he provides, but it seems to me he gets enough work through word of mouth that he doesn't need it. Gary looked at the issue over messaging, said "leave it with me", got in touch a few days later to propose and date and time to come by, and provided the issue is as expected, fix it same day. All very friendly and professional, discussed call out rate and rough costs if issue was what we thought it was. Gary showed up on time and already wearing a good face mask, even as he just came up to ring the door bell (much appreciated). We talked about the job and him and his colleague got on with it very efficiently. Talked through what a long term fix might look like, and about some other issues I'd want to fix at the same time if we had scaffolding up. Overall very happy and would certainly recommend Gary. His mobile is 07831 863715. I've attached a photo of his card.

Just wanted to add to my above review as Liam just completed some work on a different property for me. Again, really impressed with everything. Liam and a colleague did some work to the pointing and flaunching of several chimneystacks, as well as some other remedial work on a flat roof. He was also was very friendly and helpful about it when I requested evidence of public liability insurance. Once again, it was a one day job (something it can be tricky to find a roofer to do, in my personal experience). Before and after photos were provided without a request having to be made, and they showed the work done very clearly. Good communication throughout, including an update when traffic was a bit heavier than expected so running a little behind schedule on the day (I'd already made clear my schedule was flexible, however, so wasn't an issue). It's a relief to finally know of a responsive, communicative tradesperson for roof works.

Art with Glass are amazing. They have a workshop in Crystal Palace. James and Lucy have been wonderful to deal with. They worked with us to design a internal circular window that would be sympathetic to the stained glass on the front door of our 1930s terrace. Also working with them now to do a more straightforward repair to some hammered glass in a window. Also felt that the pricing was fair. Very good communication too. https://artwithglass.co.uk/

LSK Building Services was recommended to me by Lynlea West, an interior designer I worked with who is based in East Dulwich (I've written a recommendation for her too on the forum). Lynlea has worked with Lionel, who runs LSK, on many projects for her clients and it's easy to understand why. Lionel and his team are incredibly professional and reliable, as well as doing top notch work without any complaints when presented with difficult issues. For context, my partner and I bought a house, gutted it and did a complete refurb. I project managed myself and had different trades in rather than going with an all-in-one building service. I called Lionel on Lynlea's recommendation when I was having trouble getting good advice about what would be possible in terms of kitchen design, and how to manage some issues around it (e.g. when the floor install should happen and where some pipes should run). We were 'designing' the kitchen ourselves, going with DIY Kitchens rather than Wren, Howdens, Magnet, etc (all of which did nothing but annoy us and didn't seem good value for money, not enough size options for the space and so on). Other kitchen fitters seemed ill-equipped to give sound advice on our issues, and didn't think we'd manage to fit in certain units we wanted. Well, turns out they were all wrong. Lionel's team came in and just got on with it, managing a difficult fit for a L-shaped wall unit, troubleshooting plumbing issues, dealing with an uneven floor and all sorts. If only everything ran this smoothly! Asides from the fantastic job on the kitchen fit, there are a couple more points that warrant special mentions. Some of the work occurred just into the lockdown period, but was able to continue because the property was unoccupied, i.e. a building site. Nonetheless, Jay, who led the install for us, arrived with a huge bottle of hand sanitiser and gloves, with strict instructions from Lionel on using both throughout. It was incredibly reassuring to see tradespeople taking the issue seriously. Secondly, today... a Sunday. We've been in the house only since Wednesday and used the washer dryer for the first time last night. This morning we awoke to water damage to the floor in the dining area adjacent to the washer dryer. Some investigation later it turns out the hose connecting the water supply to the unit is leaking at a join (we had to use an extension to reach the unit as it's in a peninsula). I message Lionel to say there has been a snag expecting to receive a call tomorrow (Monday) about when they are next in the neighbourhood so they can come have a look. None of that. Lionel calls me within 15-20min, as soon as he saw my message, to say he'll be over with Jay in 45min. I assumed that meant they were in the neighbourhood anyway. Nope. They dropped everything on their day off to head straight over from home. When investigating the issue, it turns out it wasn't their fault. Jay had tested the water supply to every unit and it was fine. Then the floor fitter had to pull the unit out to fit the floor, and another person pushed it back into place. At one of those points, a washer in the connection bent, which loosened the seal on the extension for the water supply. I offered to pay a call-out fee because it wasn't their fault that it was broken (and they fixed it on the spot and tested it before leaving), but nope, Lionel wouldn't have any of it. No charge. For something that wasn't their fault at all. Just to keep their client happy. So, lastly, to note: Lionel and his team do full build services, extensions, installs, entire refurbs, all sorts. I saw some lovely photos of their work on quite grand houses. But they also were willing to do our kitchen in a modest 1930s terrace over about a week and charge an amount that I thought was great value for money given the standard of work and professional approach. I will be recommending Lionel and his team to any of my friends looking to do building work. It strikes me as a bit crazy that LSK doesn't already have a long list of recommendations on this forum. I guess they are a secret people want to keep! Their website: https://www.lskbuildingservices.co.uk/ Lionel's mobile is 07958412788. Best to call him or send an SMS and he'll call you back. Expect to interact more over the phone and not much by email, except for invoices. It is worth it to talk to him on the phone. I've attached a photo of our kitchen. Having trouble posting more due to the file size limits. Happy to answer DMs if anyone has questions.

I?d highly recommend Darren Roberts (Castle Plumbing). About five years ago, he saved our bathroom install after we made a bad decision with the first plumber/installer we?d hired. He?s since installed, tiled and refitted bathrooms for neighbours and friends. He recently finished two full bathroom installs for us, with a lot of tile work, in our new house. Both installs had some interesting challenges for Darren, which he handled with his usual resolve to make sure everything is to a high standard. Very confident he?d address any issues in the unlikely event we had any. Attached a few photos of his recent work for us. He?s very particular any making everything look good. At the moment we still have the old loo installed in one of our bathrooms at the house because renovations are still ongoing and Darren is worried that the nice new loo might get dirty or damaged if he installed it now. When he finished the tiling, covered it with cardboard, taped it down and put a sign on the bathroom door asking other tradespeople to keep everything clean please in the nice new bathroom. I?m just thinking bleach will clear up anything. But no. Do not mess with Darren?s new install. [email protected] 07939 051017

I want to second the above review. There are a 2-3 firm favourites in terms of roofers here on the forum. It's been difficult to get anyone around to look at the issues we wanted addressing. I guess it doesn't help that it was only a day's work. First, it was difficult because all the roofers were busy after the heavy rain. Now, it's hit and miss who's working and who isn't (fair enough). But the communication, nevermind the work, has been awful whenever I have reached someone, e.g. one person came around but two hours early (unannounced) when I wasn't there and emailing back and forth for ages to try to arrange another time. Enough about everyone else though. I read the above review and looked up a bit more about Liam. Reviews from happy customers elsewhere too. Contacted Liam - really clear, prompt communication. He went to look at the work, provided photos, an itemised quote, we spoke over the phone, gave further explanations over WhatsApp when I had some questions. Speaking to him on the phone, communicating over WhatsApp and email - all very clear, friendly, professional. I had a quote from another roofer for the same work, who wanted to charge more, wouldn't address an issue that I wanted fixed (they didn't think anything could be done, but Liam fixed it), and added thing or two that I didn't think really needed doing. Liam went and did the work today - before and after photos provided, call to discuss the work (I wasn't at the property at the time), prompt and clear invoice received shortly thereafter. There was an issue with a cable that turned out to be a neighbour's cable, that was accidentally cut, and Liam sorted that same day too. Really wish I'd found Liam earlier. Could have saved myself a lot of time chasing other roofers and not feeling at all confident that I was getting anywhere.

Here to concur with the above reviews about John. Read this thread, contacted him - very friendly, professional, and honest about the work, i.e. the time and effort given tasks take to end up with the right result. He did extensive work throughout the terraced house we've been renovating. We've had multiple tradespeople in and received comments about how hardworking John is. We'll definitely be contacting him if we ever need additional plastering work done.

I just wanted to add to my prior review above. Since Gary fixed the issues in our flat that I mentioned, we've had him working on a much bigger project doing a lot of work to a house we are renovating. This has involved putting in a lot of new sockets, switches, ethernet cabling everywhere, new wiring for a new kitchen, etc. It's been a huge job and as ever, there are plenty of issues you run into with a big project, not least as we've been project managing ourselves with independent tradespeople. Gary has been reliable throughout, always willing to work cooperatively (and proactively) with other trades, and even when things have gone wrong (through my doing / lack of experience) Gary has taken a positive, 'don't worry, we'll fix it approach'. I greatly appreciate his flexibility in managing issues as they arise and being willing to fit bits of work in when it would otherwise hold someone else up. More recently, I find it very highly commendable that Gary actively takes measures to keep himself, his family and those around him safe. He wears a face mask, uses disposable gloves and respects social distancing.

For context, a few months ago, my partner and I purchased a terraced house and proceeded to rip everything out of it in order to renovate. What a journey it?s been, and telling you about that would be more of a dissertation than a recommendation? This house is the first time it ever crossed my mind to ask an interior designer for help. On the one hand, money? I assumed that an interior designer would be an all-in thing where you?d have to pay a percentage of the project costs. Which in any case would be impossible as we?re project managing ourselves and have independent tradespeople working on different aspects. On the other hand, we couldn?t face the magnitude of decisions we had to make - particularly with respect to paint colours, lights and tiles - while also project managing and with busy jobs on top. I also considered an online-only service, but I wanted to be able to explain things in person and have more interaction generally. I gave My Bespoke Room a spin, and didn?t really find it useful at all. Enter? Lynlea West. An amazing interior designer who is willing to work on an hourly rate and focus on the specific aspects you?d like assistance with. Lynlea is wonderful at striking the balance between staying within spec while politely saving you from yourself when something you haven?t asked for help with is about to turn into a disaster. There were a number of occasions where we happened to be meeting at the house (which is basically a building site) and she asked just the right questions of tradespeople. Things it never would have occurred to me to ask. Also, the time-saving of it is just outstanding. I probably could have spent half a lifetime ordering tile samples and becoming progressively frustrated by it. Lynlea found floor tiles we liked within a short space of time, fitting to other furniture we?d already decided on. As well as taking on all the decisions that would have taken us ages and caused us a lot of stress, through Lynlea we?ve benefitted from a number of trade discounts. In effect, she subsidises the cost for her services by obtaining these helpful discounts for her clients. I had no idea this was a thing before we engaged Lynlea. Speaking of suppliers, I?ve been amazed what a difference it can make to have someone helping you who knows which suppliers to consider, for example for lighting and even things as seemingly simple as door knobs. Yes, door knobs. I would never have come across these suppliers through Google search (I spent plenty of my own time looking and didn?t come across them). I also appreciate Lynlea?s willingness to understand our preferences and get a real sense of what we like, even when it isn?t at all trendy! And then there are the ?oh *hit? moments, where a tradesperson is asking you how you want thing x done, like now, because they are in your house and you?re in the middle of your morning jog before work wondering what the hell was decided for that? Did you even decide? What?s the right answer? You need to know like right now??! Yes, they do. And thank goodness Lynlea is willing to help when it?s urgent. I am so grateful we found Lynlea, via recommendations on this forum. I would have a lot less hair right now if we hadn?t emailed her. Thank you, Lynlea!