Rubik

I got mine yesterday too.

Hi, Brian and team recently completed work on our house, which included both interior (living room, hallways) and external (anything wooden on the front and back of the house, including front door, window frames, etc, garden walls, metal railings etc.) a reasonably big job (taking just around 1.5 weeks in total). Overall, we're very happy with the experience and I would recommend Advanced Painters - possibly not for people looking for the cheapest option, but for someone looking for: convenience, professionalism, piece of mind, an all in one service, and a very high quality finish. My chief comments are: 1. Ease and convenience. Brian came for a quote and sized up the list of requirements, giving me a fixed price upfront quote there and then. No messing around and the final price was what he said at the start. Maybe I could have shopped around and found a cheaper quote (I certainly had the option if I wanted it), but for me the convenience was worth it. They set up a very neat camp in the back garden and at the end of each day everything was tidied and returned to their proper places, minimizing the impact on us. Each day they timed their arrivals to be just as we left for the day, and they wrapped up just as we got home, therefore there was enough overlap to pass messages back and forth, but no one was tripping over each other. Whilst Brian didn?t do the majority of the work himself, he was around a lot, giving instructions, checking on things and generally making sure everything went smoothly. 2. Timeliness and the ability to work around us. We have two small children, so it can be a bit difficult to lose rooms and get things organised in advance. The team absolutely worked around us, starting in areas that we didn't need, and when rain unexpectedly set in and we had to turn to the indoors painting they took care of moving all of "the stuff" for us. Speaking of which, they were generally very happy to unburden us of as much of the work as possible. Brian even took care to remember the exact ordering of coats when replacing them back into our hallway storage - I don't think many decorators would go to that level. 3. Prep and finish. I was very impressed with how much care was taken protecting the carpets and fittings before painting started. They made sure to put down protective covering on the floor, furniture etc. There isn't a drop of paint anywhere it shouldn't be. Also, without being asked they repaired parts of the plaster work that had been damaged over time. They also noticed some water ingress near the front door and repaired the outside wall (the recent heavy rain showed that they successfully fixed the problem). The outside walls that were heavily weathered were all stripped down and made good before being repatined. I would describe the results as near flawless. I got exactly what I asked for, plus a bit more. 4. Other things About halfway through the work we had a (unrelated) boiler issue and lost hot water. I mentioned this to Brian and he was able to find a plumber for us who came to fix the issue on the same day and charged us a minimal amount. In summary, friendly, professional, hassle free service. I fully intend to use Brian / Advanced Painters in the future.

JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Rubik Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > The thing is lower prices are good - less fees, > > Not if you've got an inherited house to sell in > Swansea with two sisters involved LOL :) Ha, fair point.

Ours has been up since the start of the year, without much interest, and we knocked a fair amount of the price not too long ago to no real effect. The thing is lower prices are good - less fees, less tax; but it has to be that everyone follows suit. I still see new properties coming in that are very over valued (in my opinion), it makes the market look more expensive than it actually is and therefore more people cling on to the higher prices, creating stagnation. I expect as interest rates start to finally go up, we'll see a sharper decline in prices.

Hello all One of the smashed cars (the one that was towed the next day) belonged to me and someone mentioned there was a thread on here. There aren't a huge amount of details to give, but for those interested: On Friday night last a car lost control just past the lights and hit our car, a neighbour's car from a few doors down, and pushed that car into a third car. I was fighting off jetlag and half asleep on my sofa when it happened so it was a bit of a shock to hear a loud noise and see the car pushed onto the pavement. The driver stopped out of the way down the next side road (outside the lordship). I believe the landlord called the police and the guy came back up to us to leave his insurance details and contact information. It wasn't a hit and run, and his car was towed that night because frankly it was a bit of a mess and in the way. Everything all very polite and gentlemanly. The police came about an hour later and took details and what not, we've got a replacement courtesy car and are waiting to find out if the car is a write off (I suspect it is). I believe the car still there is getting taken away soon. I'm not sure who is meant to sort out the bumper that came off the first car?? Apparently it's the second time cars have been hit on that stretch, which is a little surprising given it's meant to be 20 mph and a straight bit of road but there you go. I expect our premiums to go up a bit, though I will say the insurance company (Admiral) have been pretty good so far, having a tow truck and courtesy car delivered straight away (and a similar small SUV not just a tiny hatchback either). No one was hurt which is the main thing, and thanks to those above who expressed concern.