DOTE

Des has just done some more work for us which means he's now painted our entire house inside and out over the course of a couple of years. We think he's brilliant - he's an absolute perfectionist and isn't happy until the finish is of the highest quality. He can also tackle all the little odd jobs that come up with an old East Dulwich house, he sorted out a couple of window sill leaks for us, got a friend in to do some roof patching, and did a great repair himself on a completely rotten window sill. The work he did on the outside 18 months ago still looks great but I have no doubt he would pop back and sort out anything that went wrong under his guarantee as every time he comes back to do another job he's sorted out stuff that I've messed up free of charge eg. When I've scuffed a wall by accident Des has just touched it up while he's there. It's testament to how good he is that if you chat to Des you find out that the vast majority of his work is repeat business. On that note like most good people in East Dulwich Des is kept pretty busy so get in early if you need him. Really nice guy to have around and highly recommended by us.

Greg has just done another job for us and we're really pleased with the results - this time it was a fitted wardrobe in an alcove to the side of a fireplace chimney. It looks great and provides us with some much needed storage space in the corner of the room, and looks much better than a standalone bit of furniture. As ever Greg came up with a very reasonable quote, was a pleasure to have round the house and left no mess at all. We are so taken with the results that we're going to get him back to do some more cupboards in the kitchen so if you want to get hold of him get in quick!

Thanks for the help - got them in Homebase in the end, ?7 a bag so quite pricey but 4 for price of 3. They do burn very well and much easier to light which was what I was after. Cheers

Been reading about Eco logs for the fire - reconstituted wood logs that supposedly burn really well - just wondering if anybody has bought these in east Dulwich or knows of any shops that sell them. I see tesco do but wondering if any of any of our local shops do. While I'm here be interested if people think they're any good/better than burning normal logs. Cheers!

We also found Nick on the forum and found him to be excellent. Really friendly, cheerfully fixed some guttering for us that was leaking and was a nightmare for him to access, also fixed some cement that was crumbling away. Full of helpful advice and really easy to chat to - and doesn't do work where it isn't needed, for example I was worried about our flat roof and Nick checked it out and said it was fine - he's an honest bloke! He's always pretty busy (a good sign I would say!) so bear with him if your job isn't urgent but when we needed him quickly he made time to pop in the next morning. Recommend if you have any roofing or guttering problems. Tel. 07966285679

For those interested - planning permission for flats and a house on this site granted last week

Another recommendation for Alan from 123 Chimney Sweeps. We've just had him around again - such a nice chap and great at his job. Now's a great time to get him booked him in before his busy winter period starts and then you're ready for winter when it comes. Telephone is 020 8668 9914

Had Des back last month to do the last few inside rooms and also some external work on some windows. Really happy with the work, as others have said the best thing about Des is the high quality finish he gets, as well as being a thoroughly nice guy to have around. As I've said before him and Greg Bramwell (carpenter with lots of recommendations on here), work really well together - Greg built us some TV shelves in an alcove which look great and then Des painted them up and sealed them so they blend in to the wall. They are good friends which is helpful as it means Des can coordinate things between them so they happen in the right order regarding building shelves, painting etc. and then you dont have to worry about it. One of Des's team also did some wallpapering this time which we're also v happy with. It was also nice that Des is happy to carry out the numerous odd jobs that come up when decorating an old house - during his last time with us he fixed 2 roof leaks, re sealed a leaky bath and repaired some pointing on an external wall, none of which he charged extra for, despite it all taking a fair amount of time. Highly recommended if looking for a quality decorator. Telephone for Des is 07971299009

Another recommendation for John Powers and his colleague Dan - removed several radiators for us (draining and refilling central heating system to do this), fitted the replacement radiators and also changed old radiator valves for TRVs throughout the house. Very happy with the work, charge a fair price and both very nice chaps to have around. Highly recommend for any heating/plumbing work.

It's not a done deal yet - I imagine any developer probably tries to get planning permission for more than they think the council will go for in order to maximise profits, so perhaps these plans will be rejected or toned down. I imagine there will be a great deal of opposition from neighbours on Lordship Lane due to the size of the site and the lack of parking, and from a large number of houses on Beauval Road who won't want a house and flats at the bottom of their gardens! Whether it fits in with the street is another point. And as for the remaining bungalow, hopefully the council will make sure any development does not have an adverse effect on him. You can comment on the planning application either by following the link below and scrolling to the bottom of the page: http://planningonline.southwarksites.com/planningonline2/AcolNetCGI.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeResultDetail&TheSystemkey=9549466 Or by emailing [email protected] (you must quote the application number which is 13/AP/1283 and you must give a postal address for your opinion to be taken into account, there's plenty of details on how to comment on the council website). Whatever your views on the development very much worth commenting while the window is open for the next week or so.

Thanks for the info - very helpful and glad you got yours sorted. I've already spoken to their tech department but they need me to try a few things before I get an engineer so hopefully something will get sorted. Cheers!

Thanks for the reply - unfortunately we can't get BT infinity, just the normal broadband. So I'm really looking to see how people get on with either Virgins or BTs normal broadband down the phone line, and specifically how much the speed drops in the evenings - as at the moment our virgin broadband is great during the day, and like clockwork every day becomes almost unsuably slow in the evenings. Cheers!

We have Virgin Media broadband, not cable but down the phone line. (we're not on a cable road). It's been great for the last year (around 14mb/sec) but in the last few weeks its become unusably slow in the evenings. (Down to around 150kb/sec or so). As its always fine at off peak times I can only guess that Virgin Media have signed up too many customers and just struggle when everybody logs on, rather than it being a problem with our equipment. Just wondering if anybody else had found this, and if anybody with BT broadband could tell me how they find it - do you get the same drop off in the evening? (Not infinity, just the bog standard down the phone line service). Be very grateful to hear anybody's experience, especially if you then switched to BT. Thanks

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why is it listed as 236 and 240 Lordship Lane? > > Presumably the other bungalow is 238? So there is > something being built either side of it? > > Reminds me of the scenes from Up. That's pretty much it - if you look at the plans you'll see the flats go to the left of the remaining bungalow (as you look at it from lordship lane), then the house is behind the bungalow (and accessed from the lane you can see to the right of the bungalow).

For those interested the new owner of the site has applied for planning permission on the site for 2 sets of flats, each set containing 2 three bedroom flats, 2 two bedroom flats, and 2 single bedroom flats. And a house! All while keeping the remaining bungalow thats privately owned (the one with the lovely garden). Seems like quite a lot to squeeze into the space. Details on Southwark's planning register online, including artists impressions of what the site will look like, opportunity to comment etc. link below: http://planningonline.southwarksites.com/planningonline2/AcolNetCGI.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeResultDetail&TheSystemkey=9549466

Have been meaning to add our recommendation for Greg for ages - Greg has helped us out several times over the last few months - making shelves to match some existing ones, solving a sticky wooden door, and creating an access hatch in some patio decking. He's reasonably priced, very reliable and does a great job, and he's a very friendly chap too. He's good friends with an excellent decorator we've been using (Des who I've recommended on a separate thread) so the two of them work really well together if you need any woodwork that Greg does painting. Greg's mobile is 07949640999

Des painted 2 rooms for us before Christmas (we found him through this thread), we were so impressed with him and the quality of the finish that we've currently got him painting our kitchen, hall and stairs. As previous posters have said he really has an eye for detail and is completely straightforward to deal with, solving problems as he goes along, happy working on his own or around us in the house and a pleasure to chat too. Highly recommended, we'll be using him again later in the summer for some exterior work and to finish the interior of the house. Worth mentioning that he is close friends with Greg Bramwell who is also highly recommended as a carpenter on this forum - so if you have shelving that needs doing or any carpentry/removal of radiators etc. then Greg and Des work really well together with Greg doing the carpentry and Des then doing the painting. Des can be reached on 07971299009

Another recommendation for Alan at 123chimneysweeps - we've just moved to east dulwich and got his details from here - friendly, professional, tidy, full of good advice. This forum is great!