Turn the clock back 50 years, and it’s surprising that a large number of properties and property extensions built during that time, haven’t fallen down. Or perhaps they have. It was the boom time for cowboy builders – and building inspectors who weren’t averse to the odd free package holiday.
Although things have improved to a point, as far as jerry-building is concerned, it is still alive and well. Almost 2.5 million disputes between home owners and incompetent ‘tradesmen’ reached the UK courts in just three years between 2008 and 2011.
Many of these disputes involved what we would call ‘small works’, single storey property extensions and loft conversions. Internal property improvements such as kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom refits, adding additional electrical points and light fittings, and general home redecoration work, have all seen homeowners and property landlords in dispute with builders over shoddy, and in some cases, downright dangerous workmanship.
Add to that the DIY enthusiast who takes on more than his experience allows, and long established Coventry property maintenance firms specialising in handyman services, are regularly called in to correct the work of inexperienced DIY hobbyists, and rogue tradesmen.
If you are looking for a reliable handyman, the jobless guy you meet in the pub is probably not the best person in the world to get a price off, unless you know him personally as a competent and reliable tradesman. There are a number of long established, reliable, professional companies that offer general property maintenance in Coventry. If you are a homeowner or tenant, they will happily provide a simple, easy to understand quote for the job, no matter how small.
If you are a buy-to-let landlord with one, or any number of properties in your portfolio, property maintenance companies can supply a range of maintenance and refurbishment options for your properties. From property surveys to as-and-when call outs, to annual or bi-annual external and internal property checks, annual appliance checks, to general decoration and repairs between tenant changeovers.
Even as a keen and competent DIY enthusiast, knowing your limitations is a must. While doing-it-yourself, or offering the work to the guy who comes knocking on the door, may seem a cheaper way of getting the work done, it is often a false economy. A few weeks or months down the line, and the cracks begin to show, the pipe-work starts leaking, or the wallpaper begins to peel from the walls. The cost of engaging a handyman to re-do the job properly, will often be more expensive than getting them to carry out the work in the first place.
Sources
Wild West workmen! 2.5m disputes triggered by cowboy builders and decorators in three years, dailymail.co.uk
Cowboy builders bodging British homes!, urban.co.uk Rental Property Maintenance Myths, realpropertymgt.com
