hendricks

Another shout out for Rob. Definitely a keeper in anyone's tradesmen address book. Sorted out my inefficient radiators & also sorted a plumbing issue. Top bloke, will definitely use again.

Another shout out for Tina (T: 07882 316436, E:[email protected]). She has just made me a door curtain and 2 sets of roman blinds. As previous posts have noted, Tina's workmanship is excellent, the blinds and curtain were beautifully made at an extremely reasonable price. She is very accommodating, she came and measured and collected the material then dropped off the finished items. It took just a week - she is indeed a real find and I can't recommend her highly enough!

Another appreciative shout out for Aston. I called this morning about a troublesome lock and front door. Luckily he was able to come out this afternoon and resolved both promptly and efficiently. Would happily recommend and use Aston again. Another great find on the EDF.

Another big shout out for Rob Payne of Stone Rejuvenation (www.stonerejuvenation.co.uk). I found Rob on the EDF and having read the various reviews got him to quote on repointing and cleaning the brickwork on the front of my house. He has done a brilliant job of transforming my Victorian terrace back to its former London yellow brick glory. I am now quite the envy of my neighbours! I can't recommend Rob highly enough. It's been a pleasure to deal with a tradesman who is so conscientious and reliable. I cannot fault his time keeping, communication and consideration for minimising the disruption that scaffolding and brick repair can bring. The cost of the work which included painting the masonry was very reasonable. Needless to say he gets booked up but he is definitely worth the wait.

I used Kevin at the weekend to collect and deliver an item of furniture. Both Kevin and Pat were both very helpful, turning up on time and delivering for a reasonable price. I'm happy to recommend him to anyone needing help from a man with a van!

The good folk at GOODjumble are running another pre-loved and vintage clothing sale this Friday evening at the Antenna Studios in Crystal Palace (see attached flyer for details). There will be live music and a bar so come along from 7pm and treat yourself to some great bargains!

Another big thumbs up for Fernando who has spent the last couple of days helping to transform my very over grown garden into a great blank canvas ready for replanting. Fernando works extremely hard and is extremely conscientious and polite. He worked tirelessly in scorching weather this week. He was a pleasure to have working with me on my garden. His rates are very competitive and am very happy to recommend him to anyone looking for help with their garden.

John Powers is brilliant. Run a search on him and you'll find loads of great recommendations for him and his team. John put in a new boiler for me 18 months ago and did a great job at a very fair price. 07977909339

Having read the recommendations for Paul at Nunhead Aerials, I asked him to quote for some new cabling and the installation of some aerial sockets in a couple of rooms. He was happy to come on a Sunday and did a very good job at a competitive price. I am very happy to recommend him.

I have previously recommended Derek at Finishing Point. I've had him and his team back to sand the floors in my through lounge, hall and a small bedroom. I'd used him last September to do 2 other bedroom floors. I was really pleased with the work. I was quite particular about the paint finish I wanted in the bedrooms and I've been really impressed with the time and care he took to achieve the desired finish on all my floors. The downstairs floors look amazing, too. Danny and Bo worked their magic with their machines! The cost was very competitive and Derek even touched up the floors in another room free of charge. He and his team were punctual, kept me informed of everything and left the house spotless. They were a pleasure to work with. Derek's number is 07956 545215.

I have recommended David Mitchell on the Forum before. His shop is at 28 Loampit Hill (on the way to Lewisham from New Cross). They are a family run business and fantastic value. I've had lots of stuff framed there at extremely good prices and far cheaper than anywhere else I have tried (and I've been to several around framers east, south and west London). I've had some large pieces framed and they've been done incredibly cheaply but with some great frames. They work with some big clients like Ralph Lauren and because they buy materials in bulk can pass on some great prices to their other customers.

Having just finished several months of house refurbishment work, I wanted to give a belated shout out for Joe Kidd who did some building work for me. Having been frustrated by some EDF recommended builders who promised to quote but never fulfilled their promises, I was lucky to get a gap in Joe's schedule back in the spring. He installed a new bathroom for me as well as raising a ceiling and fitting a velux window in a bedroom. Joe's very easy going and does all the work himself. He came up with some good solutions to a few tricky problems and his quality of work is excellent. I am very happy to recommend him.

Weilan, I have been following your thread as I am in exactly the same position - deliberating on what type of carpet to put on my stairs. As I have cats I am somewhat limited and need to avoid wool loop carpets. In my previous house I had a great flat weave wool carpet but am having difficulty in finding something similar. I have been researching sisal and have looked at several companies (i.e. Crucial, Alternative, Fibre, Kersaint). My challenge is finding a fitter who will fit it. Jim Cox (recommended on the forum) is booked up solid for weeks. I went to EJ Carpets and also Nunhead Carpets and both won't touch sisal. I'm in 2 minds about opting for sisal because of its potential for staining. If you do find a good fitter at a reasonable price who will fit sisal, I'd been keen to know how you get on.

I concur with Sue's advice. I have used several excellent tradesmen that I found on the forum this year whilst refurbishing my house. I was fortunate that the majority were excellent, however, one was not. I did not post a negative review for fear of an unpleasant backlash (either online or in person). Having read about Fuschia's experience, it is understandable why people don't want to post bad feedback. I checked all the recommendations for all the tradesmen I used and looked through members' prior postings to see if they seemed trustworthy and genuine. I pm'd some for further feedback. Ironically, I didn't do as a thorough a check on the one who was rude, unreliable and dishonest. I later discovered he had some dubious recommendations from first time posters. If you are engaging a tradesman, do your homework and as Sue says, if it involves a lot of money, ask to see their work. I have had members contact me and visit to see my builder's work which i was happy to oblige.

I don't think so. David is an independent specialist who works for himself but contracts tried and tested trades people to resolve the appropriate issues. I found a recommendation on the Forum for him and gave him a call. As I mentioned in my previous posting, he was brilliant. Really knew his stuff and didn't try to fob me off with an expensive or unnecessary solution I did not need. As the other forum member said in his original post about David, he tries to identify the cause first and then find a suitable solution rather than just sell you a chemical treatment which won't necessarily resolve the root cause. This is what the previous owners of my house had done and the problem had not gone away.