General Chat

LOL Zoe! Yeah wait till he's laid the floor. See what kind of a job he does. You might want to bite more than his hand off! lol Jeanette x

ROTFLMAO Jeanette - should I wait until after he's laid the floor before biting it off?

Wow bite his hand off Zoe! £130 sounds prety damn good. Jeanette x

I've just got a referral for a floor fitter from the firm that are supplying the floor and he's quoted me approx £6 a sq m - which works out at about 130 altogether. so if i can find someone that fits a worktop for less than £220 and buy the one I want fom b and q then I'm saving money. or - its 10% day at homebase on Friday so I might get it cheaper there. okay - deep breaths have worked - thanks for talking me down off my laminated edge guys Zoe

Robert After watching several watchdog programmes recently (yes, I'm that sad), I think it's fair to say that there's a lot of mistrust in the building trade - thats not a slight on you, I'm sure a top bloke, but I'm sure you must agree that there are cowboys out there - and surely not every trade is regulated as well as electrical/gas engineers ? Thats why I suggested references (or referals) Paul

Hi Robert Are you working in Britain or America? Jeanette x

Well you learn something every day don't you Robert - I stand corrected - What I was trying to say was that these licences are a good idea, and that they sort the John Wayne's which there are quite a few from the professsionals. Lin

Sorry Lin your wrong I have a licence to do my work, in actual fact I have to have three. My work is inspected every three months and one of them I have to renew every year, the second is every five years. This applies to both gas and electric as well as other trades.

If they are self-employed then they would not have references, normally recommodations. In the USA tradesmen have a licence which they have to apply for, but to receive it their previous work is vetted so to speak. When the licenceers are a 100% convinced that the trademans work is satisfactory he receives his licence to work - work without one is against the law. Lin

You can try it this way, you may find it cheaper. Get a floor layer to do the floor. A kitchen fitter who will fit the worktop and plumb the sink for you. Just a thought.

Lin.. what you mean is, they don't declare more than 35k to that taxman ;) Zoe.. what I'd suggest is to get at least three quotes.. and ask for references too, you don't want to employ someone who is going to do a bad job.

okay - I'm a bit more reassured now. I'm hitting that bit where everythings needing to happen at once and I'm worried about getting conned if I take my eye iff the ball for a minute. I have another man coming tomorrow to give me a quote too. Out of the eight I left messages for they're the only two who botherd to call back

Yep just asked my other half - not a bad price depending on the room size. A lot of tradesmen work for themselves, so therefore do not charge VAT. As they are a small company and probably do not exceed the £35,000 per year earning limit, anything above 35k it is a necessity to be VAT registered. Get more than one quote three will do it from self-employed plus company carpenters. Lin

I agree Zoe but there are so few quality tradesmen out there. Has he said he can do it in one day? Will he be working alone or will he have someone with him who needs paying out of the profit? Is he self employed - he may have to pay VAT. Have you asked him if he'll do a better price for cash? (Hope no tax inspectors are reading this! lol) If you still think he's expensive, get another couple of quotes in. Jeanette

Jeanette, sheesh. Thats nuts. even after the cost of the worktop thats 350 quid for a days work. I'm retraining as a plumber/joiner/cushion fluffer. Zoe

LOL Zoe! Just asked my other half and he reckons it's a good price. About the going rate Jeanette x

I should have known when I heard his spurs rattling as he came up the stairs

a gey dear do doll

Had a joiner up last night to do me a quote for laying laminate flooring (20 sq metres) and supplying/fitting 6 metres of laminated kitchen worktop. he told me £470 - and I'd need to get a plumber to reinstall the sink and an electrician for the cooker at my own cost. Is this about right or not because it seems a lot to me? Zoe