Tom1964

Andy came and fitted some much-needed draught excluders around our front door this week. The problem was partly him fitting us in, he was so busy! But once here he was incredibly diligent, and his attention to detail was great. Andy made sure the job was done with precision and his pricing was a fair reflection of the work done. It’s already made a huge difference to our hallway and we would have no hesitation in recommending Andy’s handyman services to others.

Another vote for Critter Solutions and Roger. I found their details and recommendations on the Forum last night and called this morning to ask about sorting out a rapidly growing wasps' nest in our loft. They were with us within a few hours and at a more competitive price than the local council's service. Roger and his son were quick, tidy and good company and I'd use them again in a heartbeat. Great service.

Another recommendation for Andy, albeit late to the party after last using his services a few months ago. We've used Andy a number of times over the past few years to variously sort dripping taps, replace mastic in shower units and around sinks, and other minor repairs. He's quick to respond, reliable, very fair in his pricing and always cheery company. Highly recommended.

Just wanted to add a glowing endorsement of Colin's superb handyman services here. We had a number of small-ish jobs needing doing and were looking for someone who could fill the void when a great man we'd used over many years sadly passed away. After searching the forum, we messaged two or three handymen we'd found recommended on here: only Colin replied promptly with his rates and offering times he could do. We needed some flat-pack furniture assembling, a glass bathroom shelf re-fixing and a couple of loose skirting boards made good. Colin did it all within an hour for a very reasonable fee. He was reliable, punctual and very easy to deal with: texting him is the best approach given how busy he is 07754 691 541.

I second this endorsement completely. Rang Andy a few weeks ago after reading his glowing reviews here. We needed to sort out a dripping wall-mounted tap in our bathroom. Instead of coming round and charging an easy call-out fee, Andy spent time on the phone to find out more about the model before identifying and recommending the part we needed to buy to save money (which we then did online). Hugely helpful, gave good advice and then came round to fit the new ceramic valves that were needed at a reasonable price. Sod's law that within 24 hours another minor bathroom issue needed sorting. Andy came out within a couple of hours and was good enough not to charge us a penny. We'll be using him again and I'm only too happy to add another recommendation for his services. Andy - 07983 688451

I'm afraid this is a rather comprehensive review: I can only speak from our perspective and I'd simply provide the caveat that our experience might have just been an unlucky one-off. However, I thought it might be a useful primer for anyone thinking of using Kate Eyre themselves. We first approached Kate Eyre in August 2014 with a view to soft-landscaping our small-ish 60ft London back garden. If I'm being honest, we'd seen her brightly-coloured vans (a genuine triumph of marketing) around South East London and the few reviews we could find online didn't set alarm bells ringing. The hard landscaping had already been done some time ago and the ground double-dug by us in preparation. It was really a question of designing the new garden and fulfilling that design as promised. It was clear from the off that Kate was incredibly busy. Meetings were continually interrupted by phone calls, which gave the impression of a successful business. We found Kate quite an eccentric character from the beginning ('I don't do yellow flowers'), but again this wasn't a problem and we were happy to press ahead. A word of warning though: others might not warm to a designer making rather direct comments about their home on a first visit! Kate took various pictures of the plot and then left to draw up a design, with my wife making clear certain types of plants she would like to see in the finished garden. This plan, with no commitment to any future work, cost circa ?200. In September 2014, the first design draft was sent to us on email by a junior Kate Eyre employee. There were a few misunderstandings on both sides, and we asked for the plan to be clarified. By early October, the second draft was received. Unfortunately a number of plants my wife had specifically requested did not feature again and we asked for them to be included. We made some specific requests for other plants and awaited a third draft. We also asked for a quote for the entire work and for the cost to be clearly broken down into labour and plants. A couple of weeks passed, and a third draft was received. Again, there were a number of errors, which struck us as a little inefficient, but nothing serious enough to raise great doubts. We asked if the cost of the turf was included in the price (by now stretching into several thousands of pounds) and were told it was extra. My wife, heavily pregnant at this stage, then phoned Kate Eyre to see if there was any room for negotiation on price. By now the total was at the very top of our budget, but we remained keen to go ahead - not least with the arrival of a baby meaning an almost certain freeze on anything getting done for months afterwards. There is a genuine dispute over the content of that call, but my wife emerged with a clear idea that we had agreed a marginally lower flat fee for the whole job (this time crucially including the turfing) inclusive of VAT. However, it was really after we agreed to go ahead with the work that problems began in earnest. We had signed off on a final list of plants to be planted and a 2D plan for the garden and waited for a call or email to let us know a date when work could start. Then, with no warning at all, and at 7.45am on Saturday November 10, two labourers rang our doorbell and told us they were here to start on our garden. When we said, a little bemusedly, that we knew nothing about it, they told us there was huge articulated lorry coming up the road in ten minutes with all of our plants on board. A call to Kate Eyre herself followed, and it transpired that we had been booked in for that day, but no one had thought to phone, text, or email us to let us know. Unfortunately, we were going to see friends in Manchester that weekend and, rightly or wrongly, weren't prepared to allow the work to go ahead in our absence. We asked them to reschedule. Interestingly, one of the two labourers told us this was not the first time this had happened to clients. An apology followed, but the chaos ensued for another week as the company desperately tried to rearrange other clients to fit us in before the plants (already bought by the firm) gave up the ghost. Fortunately, a new date was fixed for that Friday, November 14. We hoped all would be well. The Friday came, and with it terrible weather. The team arrived promptly at 8am-ish - but then the plants did not. Eventually, they arrived, at around lunchtime, meaning the small team of labourers had around four hours to plant the garden before the light disappeared. On top of this, one worker let slip that the turf would not be arriving with the plants - and would have to be laid the following week. We were, perhaps unsurprisingly, far from happy at the theme emerging of chaotic organisation and an overwhelming lack of communication with us. More labourers arrived to try and finish the job, and they did the best they could in the conditions. Our patio was left awash with mud, plastic and other detritus for the weekend as the team left without clearing up. The next day I asked the firm to clarify when they intended to come and lay the turf (so one of us could be there to let them in) and clear up properly. In the meantime, we'd also noticed a rather large discrepancy between the planting plan we'd signed off on (and paid for), and the list of ordered plants left with us the previous day. We'd been told we were missing two varieties as they were unable to be ordered, but on closer inspection we found a total of 22 missing plants. I raised this discrepancy in the same email. A reply followed from a more senior member of Kate's team, assuring me that we would 'never' be billed for plants that hadn't arrived and that any missing ones could be replanted the following year. Again, the lack of communication was striking: we'd signed off on - and paid for - a plan that it transpired now couldn't be fulfilled for several months at least. In the same reply, an apology was made for the state of the paths and patio. I was told, 'We always leave the garden looking fabulous' and a clean-up would follow quickly. The lawn was finally laid successfully a few days later, and the clean-up went ahead. However, we arrived home to find roll after roll of spare turf stacked next to our neighbour's bins, alongside several large containers full of debris and a soil bag half full of earth. When we rang, we were told it was because a labourer had been forced to leave to pick his kids up from school early: again something we weren't told about in advance. It was all a bit unprofessional for the significant cost we were paying. The final straw came at 11pm that night when we heard water running down our side passageway and out into the road. I went out in darkness into our back garden and found that, to our horror, the workers had left a hose heaped up and turned on. Debris including mud, plant labels and cable ties had washed into our main drain, blocking it completely, and the side of our house was now knee-deep in water. I spent 30 minutes unblocking it armed with a torch and my bare hands, and fired off another testy email to Kate Eyre's team. Another apology arrived, this time saying sorry for 'causing so much chaos' and, almost unbelievably, describing the drains incident as, 'I think an oversight but nonetheless inconvenient'. A further clean-up was organised, and in fairness, was this time carried out properly. By now we were just glad that the garden had been finished - and were ready to pay the previously agreed price and just move on. But then the final invoice arrived... This billed us separately for turf, on top - I should emphasise we believed - of the flat fee we thought we'd agreed. Perhaps we were wrong, perhaps there had been a genuine misunderstanding on price at the negotiation phase: perhaps Kate Eyre was wrong and we were right - but ultimately I didn't care. My wife's tears at what was supposed to be her dream garden were frankly not worth the hassle in the end. I realise there will be many here who wouldn't countenance paying for a garden designer in the first place, and I of course understand that. This review is simply meant to be a bit of a health warning to those who might be tempted to use Kate Eyre in the future. Others, of course might have used her and be enthralled. Or then again, they might not. Our garden - minus the 22 plants we thought we'd signed off on - looks lovely, but our experience in getting there was so grim and disappointing that I would warn (and have already warned) anyone away from getting involved with Kate Eyre Garden Design. Unless of course, you are prepared to micro-manage everything and keep a constant watch on their work. A willingness and energy to go to the small claims court if necessary might also be handy. Otherwise, they were great to work with. Hope that helps.

I'd recommend an entirely unoriginal choice for this forum: Malcolm Weir of Weir Woodwork (http://weirwoodwork.com/) We asked Malcolm to create some bespoke storage and floating shelves for us before Christmas, having read his rave reviews on the forum beforehand. He didn't disappoint. We were delighted with his work and he was fantastic to have around the house during the day: unobtrusive, reliable and the results are superb. We will hire him like a shot in future for other work. The only downside is that he does get booked up and is very busy, but definitely worth getting him round for a quote. Hope that helps.

Jonathan Lewis is a fantastic 'gentleman' tree surgeon, based in Tooting but covers right across London. Hugely experienced, knows his stuff inside out and genuinely cares about the quality of his work. Interesting guy too. We've used him for several years and can't recommend him highly enough. He's on 07740 618988

Hi all, New-ish to the area and very new to the Forum. We moved into, ahem, West Norwood recently, but were quickly alerted to the Forum as a great way of tracking down recommendations for people to do renovation/cosmetic work locally. Given we were about to spend 12 months gutting, refurbishing and decking out a house, it's been an invaluable resource. So thank you everyone. We're now in and have pretty much finished everything, so armed with that experience I thought it was probably time to be a bit less passive and actually join in! We've generally had a very good run with everyone we've worked with, with a couple of exceptions - but I don't want to incur the wrath of other posters by being negative in my first post! So to kick off, I wanted to add yet another recommendation for Elly Allen, who has been the most recent person we've worked with. She has worked tirelessly to make and fit curtains and blinds for our entire house and we're delighted with the results. It was a big job for a reasonable price, and whilst I suspect there were cheaper options, the communication and customer service throughout has been excellent, not to mention the quality of work. There were a few delays along the way, which happens, but rather than these becoming a major issue, Elly kept in touch constantly with updates: it makes a huge difference. We liked her practical, and cost-saving, advice on fabric choices - and Steve the fitter, who was great and utterly reliable. So a big tick for Elly and I'll try and add a few other recommendations soon if people would find that helpful.