Broadback wrote:
I need someone to refurbish my patio and paths, I've become too old
for all the bending. How on earth does one find a reliable tradesman?
I know no one who has had similar work done, so recommendations are
out. I picked 4 out of the telephone book/internet. One came, gave an
estimate, well and good, but I would like to be able to make a
comparison. I have had no reply from 2, another said he would visit
last night to give a quote, you've guessed it he has not turned up.
Why do tradesmen do this, if they don't want the job why not just day
so!

Why does it need to be a 'tradesman'? - you would have tackled it yourself
had you been up to it and you aren't a tradesman.
Just ask someone who does a bit of gardening to renovate the paths etc,
chances are there's only a few that need re-laying and the rest just need
de-weeding and pointing.

If you want to go the whole hog and take the lot up, apply a weed membrane
then re-lay them all on mortar, then it's obviously not a gardener's job and
you'll need someone with a bit more nouse.

This is my main line of work BTW....on a related note, my front garden is
paved, yep there's weeds around every flag, and I need to do the latter,
using cross-bonded weed membrane (2 layers), trouble is, there's 148 2X2
flags and I'm not gonna get paid for it, so it can stay as it is for the
time being.

On 13/07/2013 14:50, Phil L wrote:
Broadback wrote:
I need someone to refurbish my patio and paths, I've become too old
for all the bending. How on earth does one find a reliable tradesman?
I know no one who has had similar work done, so recommendations are
out. I picked 4 out of the telephone book/internet. One came, gave an
estimate, well and good, but I would like to be able to make a
comparison. I have had no reply from 2, another said he would visit
last night to give a quote, you've guessed it he has not turned up.
Why do tradesmen do this, if they don't want the job why not just day
so!

Why does it need to be a 'tradesman'? - you would have tackled it yourself
had you been up to it and you aren't a tradesman.
Just ask someone who does a bit of gardening to renovate the paths etc,
chances are there's only a few that need re-laying and the rest just need
de-weeding and pointing.

If you want to go the whole hog and take the lot up, apply a weed membrane
then re-lay them all on mortar, then it's obviously not a gardener's job and
you'll need someone with a bit more nouse.

This is my main line of work BTW....on a related note, my front garden is
paved, yep there's weeds around every flag, and I need to do the latter,
using cross-bonded weed membrane (2 layers), trouble is, there's 148 2X2
flags and I'm not gonna get paid for it, so it can stay as it is for the
time being.


I think some of you are being very jaundiced. I have no idea what the
cost should be, so a few estimates should point that up. Also I work on
the premise that I want the person to make a profit so that he remains
in business and I can use him again. When I have had anyone in the past
that asks if I have had other estimates, and what they were I refuse to
answer, as I want an honest estimate not a cut price one. Also I would
not have thought that it was practical for tradesmen to only rely on
recommendations.

In article ,
Broadback wrote:

[Snip]

I think some of you are being very jaundiced. I have no idea what the
cost should be, so a few estimates should point that up. Also I work on
the premise that I want the person to make a profit so that he remains
in business and I can use him again. When I have had anyone in the past
that asks if I have had other estimates, and what they were I refuse to
answer, as I want an honest estimate not a cut price one. Also I would
not have thought that it was practical for tradesmen to only rely on
recommendations.

Following a burglary some years ago, I needed my patio doors replaced. I
picked a local firm from Yellow Pages and someone came round and gave me
price "and we'll do the job tomorrow". I said that my insuarnce company
wanted two quotes. "We can do that" and on the next one envelope arrived
with two diffferent quotes on two different letterheads. So, I found
another firm - who turned out to be much cheaper and I've recommended to
others.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

Broadback wrote:
On 13/07/2013 14:50, Phil L wrote:

Why does it need to be a 'tradesman'? - you would have tackled it
yourself had you been up to it and you aren't a tradesman.
Just ask someone who does a bit of gardening to renovate the paths
etc, chances are there's only a few that need re-laying and the rest
just need de-weeding and pointing.

If you want to go the whole hog and take the lot up, apply a weed
membrane then re-lay them all on mortar, then it's obviously not a
gardener's job and you'll need someone with a bit more nouse.

This is my main line of work BTW....on a related note, my front
garden is paved, yep there's weeds around every flag, and I need to
do the latter, using cross-bonded weed membrane (2 layers), trouble
is, there's 148 2X2 flags and I'm not gonna get paid for it, so it
can stay as it is for the time being.


I think some of you are being very jaundiced. I have no idea what the
cost should be, so a few estimates should point that up. Also I work
on the premise that I want the person to make a profit so that he
remains in business and I can use him again. When I have had anyone
in the past that asks if I have had other estimates, and what they
were I refuse to answer, as I want an honest estimate not a cut price
one. Also I would not have thought that it was practical for
tradesmen to only rely on recommendations.

If you are asking tradesmnen to come and price for 'renovating a path' it's
hardly surprising that no one turns up.
You wouldn't get 3 or 4 estimates to have your windows cleaned - the first
bloke who turns up with a ladder gets the job! - what I'm saying is that
it's hardly worth doing, which is why I said ask a local gardener to
titivate the path and patio, dependant on the size of the patio, it's
probably a day's labour and less than twenty quid's worth of sand and
cement.
I know it seems a daunting task, IE a *big* job to you, but it's not, and
anyone in the trade will be busy laying large new driveways or block-paving
new patios, they're not going to leave those jobs for a day or two to make a
hundred quid pointing someone's path.

On Saturday, 13 July 2013 14:50:10 UTC+1, Phil L wrote:

Why does it need to be a 'tradesman'? - you would have tackled it yourself

had you been up to it and you aren't a tradesman.

Just ask someone who does a bit of gardening to renovate the paths etc,

chances are there's only a few that need re-laying and the rest just need

de-weeding and pointing.



If you want to go the whole hog and take the lot up, apply a weed membrane
then re-lay them all on mortar, then it's obviously not a gardener's job and
you'll need someone with a bit more nouse.

This is my main line of work BTW....on a related note, my front garden is
paved, yep there's weeds around every flag, and I need to do the latter,
using cross-bonded weed membrane (2 layers), trouble is, there's 148 2X2
flags and I'm not gonna get paid for it, so it can stay as it is for the
time being.

Sounds good - tho anyone with half a clue will know that (weed) seeds will happily germinate & grow in 1-2" soil/paving cracks. 2 layers of "cross bonded weed membrane"??? will not necessarily stop that happening....

Jim K

Jim K wrote:

Sounds good - tho anyone with half a clue will know that (weed) seeds
will happily germinate & grow in 1-2" soil/paving cracks. 2 layers
of "cross bonded weed membrane"??? will not necessarily stop that
happening....

It definately won't stop it happening, but it stops deep rooted weeds like
dandelions and thistles from getting established - these things grow back if
any little piece of root is left behind, and if they can't get roots below
50mm, they're easiy removed, likewise any other flimsy weeds like chickweed
or, around here, Oxalis tetraphyll, which for some reason has infested both
my front and back gardens, but it only grows a few inches high