No, not the title of my new album but a request to see if any forumites know of any tradesmen (particularly brickies and plumbers) that would travel to the South East to work on a job. I’m fairly sure that I could get the job done and put each of them up in a 5-star hotel cheaper than the thieving feckers round here.
Good tradesmen are on decent money, even up here, and would want even more for staying away from home for days or weeks at a time because it’s less convenient than working locally.
The average price down here for fitting a bathroom suite is 4 grand (time only, no materials). I reckon a bloke from Wombwell could beat it.
Are you talking from the viewpoint of a customer, or a builder looking to employ tradesmen on a sub contract basis? How many quotes have you had, and how many days have they estimated to carry out the work?
Customer. Taking the plumbing as an example, I need 4 bathrooms plumbing in and an oil boiler moving. On a no materials basis, the cheapest quote I’ve had is 22 grand to the most expensive of 33 grand. I don’t believe any quote has dealt in “days work” almost everything down here is a pseudo-fixed price - “It’s 4 grand a bathroom, mate”
Hmm. I’m a self employed decorator, and for most jobs I quote for the job as a whole, including labour, sundries and materials. If it’s a big job, or potentially awkward, then I will give an estimate of labour and materials. The job we’ve just finished today was a big staircase and I estimated 24 days, but did it sooner so will adjust my invoice accordingly. I think you’ll struggle to get a good plumber much cheaper up here to be honest mate. I’ve a mate who’s based in Guildford (reds fan, originally from Hemsworth). Could give you his details if you’re in that area??
Is there any of it you could do yourself? Watch some YouTube videos and give it a crack. I’ll try anything that’s not gas related or if it’s something I really think is beyond me then I accept the price is probably fair as the fact they’ve had to learn and perfect a skill needs to be factored in, not just the time it will take them to do this particular job.
