clive

If you are still looking then I would highly recommend Jafar from Portrait plumbing, a local plumber, He's my go to plumber and could definitely help you. 07401 262071 [email protected]

Again, if you are still looking we use Stephen Butt or Lendel Stephens for our planning permission [email protected]; 07825 698749

Fured up toilet cisterns whose flushes then overrran, led me to get a water softener installed. Jafar from Portrait plumbing, a local plumber (07401 262071), did an excellent job under difficult circumstances. We didn't have much space in which to install the softener but Jafar managed to find a softener that fitted and adapted our kitchen cabinets to do so whilst retaining as much of our previous storage capacity as possible. We had called on his services before and found that he is always polite, easy to contact, extremely knowledgable, works to a high standard, cleans up afterwards and is also a nice guy to have around. He provides invoices rather than working cash in hand which is essential if you are making an insurance claim. He is now our go to plumber.

My go to plumber is Jafar from Portrait plumbers (07401 262071). He is very polite, responsive, extremely knowledgeable, does high quality work and is a very nice guy to boot!

Whilst bleeding a rdiator after my air source heat pump service by another plumber the bleed valve started leaking. I knew that if I recalled that plumber it would be a few days before they would attend so I rang Jafar first thing in the morning. He picked up straightaway and despite a packed schedule managed to fit me in at 7 pm that evening when he fixed the radiator and another fault on my system. Yet another example of Jafar's fast response and willingness to go the extra mile.

Thanks to everyone for recommending Jafar - he's a star! My central heating packed up completely - Jafar came out within the hour and quickly diagnised the fault. It required a replacement part that turned out to be a rare breed. Jafar spent ages googling for it (he doesn't give up!) and eventually tracked it down. He helped me get next day delivery and changed his schedule to fix the fault and reboot my system. This took a couple of goes as my system is powered by an air source heat pump that eventualy required a complete reset. Although Jafar hadn't worked with an ASHP before he stayed with it and finaly cracked the code. Result lovely warm house again!. Not only is he brilliant in fixing stuff he is also a lovely person to have around who really cares about fixing things for you. Now my go to plumber.

Hiya I have a Daikin air source heat pump and need to have it serviced as a condition of receiving the Renewable Heat Initiative grant. I wouild welcome any details of reliable contractors and roughly what will they charge. Clive

In the end we found a really good firm to do the work: A & H Pest Control - https://www.aandhpestcontrol.co.uk/; 020 8295 3402 They used ladders, rather than expensive scaffolding, and, after clearing away all of the nests,,cleaning the panels and guttering and disinfecting, fitted really strong mesh to the panels via metal clips and wire ties (does not damage the PV cells or invalid cells' warranty). We now have a 15 year pigeon proof guarantee. Mark and his team were very easy to deal with. They also provided helpful advice about what and what not to do and, on the day, kept us informed on progress and checked out the finished work with us. Finally they hosed down our patio, and bagged up and took away the pigeon debris. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone else.

Thank you

With 20/20 hindsight we should have had anti-pigeon mesh fitted when our solar panels were installed. Too late now, we have many pigeons roosting, fouling our panels and clogging up our gutter with their waste. Could anyone recommend a reliable firm to both remove our pigeons and install a mesh around the solar panels. How much do they charge?

Hiya Brilliant idea, thanks for getting things going. Whilst both my partner and I are over 70 and hence make get caught up in the new move to longer term self isolation we can still help out with any stuff that we can do to help others either on line or by phone. Whilst not being religious ourselves we do know through friends that lots of religious organisations are already gearing up to help. Does anyone have local contacts? Foodbanks are an essential lifeline for low income households but with dropping footfall to supermarkets their donations are falling. Does anyone know what help we could provide to our local foodbanks and how to get in touch? Schools are also an essential source of meals for children in low income households. Does anyone know what plans, if any, are in place to keep meals provision going should we get to the stage of school closures? Apologies, more questions than answers but I realise there are lots of people on the forum who already have the knowledge and contacts we all will need so would love us all to be able to tap into them. Clive

Another recommendation for Stephen Butt of Lendel Stephens. Stephen lives in Nunhead and has an office in Peckham Levels. We are just coming to the end of a complete renovation, ground floor and loft extension and garden redesign of what was a very delipidated an end of terrace 1930?s house that we had bought close to Peckham Rye park. Stephen has supported us right from the beginning through design, tendering and the project management of all of the works. Stephen is very easy to work with, punctual and a good communicator who combines design flair with meticulous attention to detail and cost control. He is as happy helping us realise our own ideas as he is providing his own. He also has a lovely way of gently steering us clear when we come up with interesting but impractical propositions. Having never employed an architect before it was also a great relief to be provided with all the details of Stephen?s fees up front. Stephen came up with a very interestingly shaped rear and side extension that has provided us with a spacious, light flooded, kitchen lounge, a utility room and a ground floor bathroom. He also found ways of greatly expanding and increasing the use we could make of our loft space incorporating a large bedroom, bathroom, extra storage space in the eaves and fold out balconies with views across Peckham Rye park to the Shard. Given its dilapidated state the house needed new everything. Stephen guided us in upgrading the existing building to modern standards, externally insulating the solid brick exterior walls, insulating under ground floor wooden floors and switching from a gas boiler to a green energy efficient electric Air Source Heat Pump backed up by roof mounted PV solar cells. Whilst, in the past, we had ourselves renovated our own house we realised that the complexity of our new project was a step change. So, we also employed Stephen to project manage everything from beginning to end. This has been invaluable. Keeping track of what has and has not been done, checking on the quality, clarifying and challenging builder?s invoices and redesigning and re-specifying as our ideas changed or new structural problems were unearthed has turned out to be a major undertaking. Stephen?s calm, meticulous attention to detail meant we always knew what was happening, what need to be done and that Stephen would ensure any problems that arose would be sorted. He always goes the extra mile. Given our experience we would thoroughly recommend Stephen to anyone.

Thanks to everyone who recommended Pavel and AndMove (www.andmove.co.uk, 07877 720526) as a removals service. They have just completed the third leg of our removals. The first leg involved moving part of our stuff to our new house and part to store. The second leg moved all our stuff into store to let the builders renovate our new place. The final leg involved moving all of our stuff back into our partially renovated house. Each move was complicated and it was very difficult to give Pavel fixed dates. His patience, unflapability and ability to be flexible greatly reduced the stress of the whole moving process. We used their packing service for part of the initial move resulting in zero breakages. They were also very careful with all of our furniture ensuring it was well wrapped and avoided any bumps and scrapes. We used the storage facility that they recommended which was by far the cheapest available and provided us with easy access to our stuff throughout. Moving back in Pavel and his crew made sure that everything went to the right rooms and moved stuff around when we had got it wrong. They also ensured all of our beds were reassembled. Not only were Pavel and his crew unfailingly polite and easy to work with, they also provided us with the most competitive quote. A final bonus was that they used two smaller rather than one large van making it much easier to park a boon in East Dulwich streets.

Sorry this probably a bit too late but am posting just in case is still of use. On the recommendation of forum members we have been using the services of Stephen Butt of lendelstephens architects. He has just finished the whole process of helping us plan and tender for the redesign, extension and renovation of our very dilapidated house on a corner plot in East Dulwich. As many of you have said before he is very easy to work with, comes up with great ideas but always makes sure you are the one who has the final say. His previous experience of dealing with Southwark council was invaluable in enabling us to negotiate planning permission as was his support in dealing with some tricky party wall agreement negotiations. His eye for detail and previous experience in managing large scale contracts was essential in managing the tendering process and finding us a builder who we feel we can trust and at a price that we can afford. Living in Nunhead with an office in Peckham Levels has also made keeping in touch very easy. Stephen?s contact details are: [email protected], 07825 698749 ? website www.lendelstephens.com

Thanks to everybody who recommended Steve. I rang him when after following the manufacturers instructions about an error message my machine still would not work. Steve's first reaction was, at no charge, to talk me through what to do. This enabled me to get my machine going again. Unfortunately my machine later developed another fault. This time Steve came out and fixed it straightaway, since then no further problems. So I'd have no hesitation about contacting Steve should I have other problems in the future.