Marjoram

I can confirm that David and his team are very much still working! They were at my place today carrying out extensive works to the roof of my first floor bay window and guttering to make it all water tight (water had started pouring into my sitting room each time it rained). I have used David on many occasions in the past to fix problems in various different parts of my main roof and he has always resolved them for me, so I had no hesitation in asking him to sort out the bay this time. He is experienced and knowledgeable and I know he will always do a thorough job. Highly recommended.

Brian and Mal have just completed redecoration of 5 rooms in my home which were in an extremely poor state. The results they have achieved are little short of miraculous, well exceeding my expectations! Really top quality, careful work by a very experienced team, who absolutely know what they are doing. They are also very kind. I am not young and have some mobility issues at the moment, and they did everything possible to make life easy for me throughout. I am so impressed that I have already booked them to do another quite complex job which I am confident they will be able to tackle. Thank you Brian and Mal, I am really grateful.

I have recently had 3 skylights replaced by a company that works in a number of London boroughs, it was a painless process, although pricey. If you private message me, I can pass you their details

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Mark Newlove (New Gas Boilers) - tel: 07971824567 . Mark has today sorted out a problem with my central heating, quickly and efficiently as always. I have been using him for 5 years now for everything to do with central heating and plumbing at my place (including a very complex replacement shower installation), and he is brilliant. He’s extremely knowledgeable and experienced, a very kind man, and, as other reviewers have commented, he responds quickly to messages, which is rare these days. Highly recommended.

I have used David and his team several times (I got his name from this Forum originally) for roof repairs over the last few years, so when there was some severe water penetration recently through a part of my roof he had not worked on before, I didn’t hesitate to contact him. He always responds quickly, is very reliable, and gives 10 year guarantees for his work, but the main thing is that I know I can trust him not to over-quote ie that he will only recommend doing works which are necessary to solve whatever the problem is. This is very important to me as it’s not as if I know anything about roofing, nor am I ever going to be climbing up there myself ! The scaffolders he uses are efficient and polite too. Long may David continue to work in the East Dulwich area!

Today I received the oldest of the items I have been waiting for - posted to me on 27th November, and on Monday I got two others posted in early December. Seems therefore that little by little the very old backlog is being cleared, although not chronologically. More recently ordered things (where the seller will only post via Royal Mail) are taking about 10 days to reach me from the date of despatch. I am now so wary of ordering anything which would be sent to me via Royal Mail now, though, that I will try to find it from a different seller who uses a courier if I can.

4 small packages despatched to me in November arrived this morning. This is good except that for 2 of them I have had either a replacement or a refund, which is going to take some unravelling now. I am still waiting for 2 items also despatched in November. Plus awaiting a lot of letter post (unless, as another message says, I suddenly have no friends who want to send me Christmas cards!)

Not stolen in my case - there is always somebody at home where I live to take in post that can?t fit through our very large letterbox. But certainly a possibility elsewhere.

Completely agree, Sue. And as an update, that replacement item, despatched by the seller on 9 December, arrived at lunchtime today - but that was all that arrived. That confirmed that the most recent mail is getting through, but who knows when or if the older items will turn up. So I?m now trying to decide what to do to ensure that friends and family do somehow get presents from me. Buying everything twice is not really an option!

I shopped early for Christmas online, but I have not yet received 6 items which were posted to me in the last week of November, 2 of which were sent tracked. These items will be small packages, not parcels. The only packages received since then were posted to me within the last 7 days. Letters, however, seem to be coming through normally. One company has sent me out a replacement for an item as it didn?t arrive, but that hasn?t arrived yet either. We have a very hard working postie in our area, and I did manage to speak to him briefly on Thursday. He said there were piles of undelivered mail in the sorting office and that therefore it would be impossible to search through them to find my items, but that he hoped they would be delivered eventually. However, he couldn?t say when. He said that Covid absences were badly affecting staffing levels. He always does his best, so I didn?t press him any further, but things at the sorting office are clearly very bad right now.

Me too - in East Dulwich Grove. I am expecting 4 items which were posted first class well over a week ago, not signed for, all of which are of a size to be put through my letter box and are no heavier than a large letter. I have had one or two ordinary letters in the last 10 days, but most days I don?t even get them. I am going to have to stop ordering anything that will be posted only by Royal Mail.

Another recommendation for Fernando?s hedge-cutting skills! The front hedge here was a mess and very overgrown, and Fernando has cut it into a very neat shape, but without ?scalping? it too much, which I am very pleased indeed with. He is polite and he cleaned up thoroughly afterwards. He does not carry a ladder with him, so it would be worth asking him in advance if you need to lend him one (as I did, and it was no problem). As other people have mentioned, he also cannot take garden waste away, so he will use your existing brown bin. I would definitely use his services again.

Mark Newlove and his colleague from NewGas Boilers have just completed the replacement of my 11 year old central heating boiler which had been regularly breaking down. I am very pleased indeed with what they have done. Mark really seems to know his stuff, and managed to solve a range of problems which a certain well-known big gas supplier has been unable to do, despite countless visits in the past. For example, all my radiators now give out more heat than they have for years, except one which gave out far too much in a tiny room, and Mark solved that too. His quote turned out to be accurate, and was less then the big gas supplier?s, even though Mark specified (with my agreement) a higher performance boiler which has a longer life. Having got to know Mark, I have no doubt that he will provide excellent after-care and that he will give me prompt help if there are any problems with the new system. Highly recommended. Mark Newlove: 07971824567

Following other recommendations on the Forum, I employed Greg to redecorate a large bedroom which had been badly damaged by water which had leaked through from a faulty roof. The lining paper on the walls was stained, and was also mismatching in places, there were patches of mould growth, and the woodwork was in a dreadful state. As a result of Greg's work, the room now looks excellent, as if there had never been any problems, and I am delighted. Greg's price was competitive, he completed the job within the time he had estimated, he was punctual and very tidy, and he took careful precautions to avoid dust and debris spreading to other parts of my property, which I very much appreciated. He is also very kind-hearted, and helped me with a few things in other rooms. I will use him again without hesitation.

Mark came round this morning and decommissioned and removed one double socket, and moved another along the wall. He worked quickly, he clearly knows what he is doing, he is very good to deal with, and his prices are competitive. He also gave me excellent advice on how to sort out some bulbs which had blown in a chandelier-style ceiling light. This has saved me from having to buy a completely new light fitting which would have cost me at least ?100 to get something comparable. Thank you, Mark!

I am very pleased to have found the recommendations for David and Patrick on the East Dulwich Forum. My roof had leaked into my bedroom causing a lot of damage to the decorations, so much so that I had had to move temporarily into my spare room. They were vey clear about what was causing the problems, and took photos beforehand which showed me exactly where the roof defects were, and then took photos when the job was complete to show the works they had done. This, and the fact that they give a 10 year guarantee, made me feel confident that they know what they are doing, and the main thing is that the leaks have now stopped. They are very nice to deal with, including their scaffolding team, they turn up when they say they are going to and their initial estimate of how long the job was likely to take was spot on. Their prices were competetive. I would not hesitate to recommend them. Their contact details are: [email protected] tel-07412000214.

Aston was able to dismantle 2 huge fitted wardrobes with built in shelves yesterday for me, and he managed this without destroying the walls in the process - a miracle! It all looks much better than I ever thought it would, and, as usual, he cleaned up thoroughly after himself and took away all the wood etc for disposal. He also mended the catches on a cupboard door in my bathroom. I have always been very pleased with Aston?s work in the past, and yesterday was no exception!

Today Aston worked for me again, this time to remove two very unsightly external gas meter covers which were at least 15 years old and which were hanging off the wall, and to fit new ones (which I had bought online). Due to the condition of the wall, he had to do a lot of adaptations to make them fit, and it turned out to be a very challenging job, but he persevered, stayed cheerful, and came up with solutions. The result is that the new boxes look really good in place, and I am delighted. He also replaced yet more light bulbs in my high ceilings. The versatility in what he can do never ceases to amaze me. I will of course be booking Aston for any future help I need.

I agree 100% with Tessmo's recommendation for Marcus as a great tiler who is a great plumber, who can also do carpentry and electrics to a very high standard. He has recently completed a four and half days' job for me partially retiling my bathroom, which was particularly complicated because all the walls are out of true by as much as 8 inches, and because the floorboards underneath the old tiles needed significant repair before the new ones could be laid. He also fitted new bath panels, plus new sink and loo, boxed in some pipework and smartened up some existing finishes. The room now looks great, everything works, and I am delighted. He is also very well organised - I asked him to do all the ordering, and everything turned up on time and in the right sequence which I regard as something of a miracle nowadays, and he arranged the rubbish collection which worked very smoothly. He works quickly, has a cheerful, positive and helpful attitude and is very easy to get along with. As the icing on the cake, he gives a 12 month guarantee on his work.

I booked Aston as a result of all the recommendations on the EDF, he worked at my home today and he was fantastic. He is very versatile in what he can do - this morning he put together an IKEA flat pack three drawer unit, and disposed of my old one, refixed a door knob, went out to buy then replaced a variety of bulbs in central lights in very high ceilings, loosened a tap which had become stuck, and did many other things, all for a good price, and quickly. He was also very clear about which jobs he thought I would need to get in specialist help for, and I greatly appreciated that he did not just carry on regardless on those items. He has a very nice attitude, never making me feel stupid for being unable to do the jobs myself. He also cleaned up after afterwards without being asked. I will definitely be using him again, and consider myself lucky to have "found" him.

I booked Stephen Young on the strength of MightyMouse's recommendation which I found on the Forum, he has just finished the work and I am really delighted with what he has done. I asked him to remove and fill in a large and stagnant pond, to remove some rotten decking and build a substantial stone step in its place, and to tidy up the garden generally, including adding extra gravel. The stone step in particular is excellent as he cleverly reused old materials and as a result it looks like it has been there forever. He is very good to deal with and he works in an orderly and tidy way. I therefore would highly recommend him for any landscaping work.

Thank you, Pugwash, I will try Southwark Carera and Social Services tomorrow.

I am looking for recommendations for private carer agencies which cover the East Dulwich area. My elderly relative, for whom I am the sole carer, has advanced cancer and delirium, and now cannot be left alone for more than a few minutes. I therefore need a qualified person to sit with my relative and keep them safe, whom I could book for a couple of hours from time to time, so that I could eg go to the bank etc. We are receiving some carer support from the NHS and a hospice, for which I am very grateful, but that support needs organising well in advance, and it would help me a lot to also have access to a more flexible arrangement. I do not want to employ someone directly myself, which is why I would like to use an agency.

Slightly Ballroom is still going and I can highly recommend it. The teacher, Helen, is very nice and welcoming.

The travellers left the site this morning. I understand that security has already been put in place at the Jarvis Road entrance, which is where the travellers gained access. However, the piles of rubbish remain. I will post again when the rubbish has gone.