Diary of a Madman (or how to build a house extension - without necessarily staying sane)

The search for Lord Lucan and Shergar. Otherwise known as -
Finding a builder.

We’ve all seen the programmes on television, “Builders From Hell”, “Cowboy Builders”, “Builders Who Are Actually The Spawn Of Satan And Will Eat Your First Born Child”, etc, etc. However, what we also have to remember is that these programmes are made to attract viewers and they tend to focus on extreme cases. The vast majority of builders are honest, hard working people who do actually care about what they’re doing. Most of them don’t have a choice, they have to, since their reputation is only as good as the last job they did but there are some basic rules you should try to remember ;

1. Always ask for references and check previous work. Yes, it might be a pain driving round looking for the addresses you’ve been supplied but it’s essential to find out if you agree with the satisfied references. Don’t just take someone’s word for it.

2. Do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

3. Never hand over cash up front. Any decent builder will have accounts with local builders merchants and there is no need for you to part with cash until something has been done on site.

4. Do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

5. Agree with your chosen builder how payments will be made, frequency of invoicing, payment dates etc, so that there is no confusion once work is underway.

6. Do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

7. A written contract is generally a good idea…..but not always. (Oooo.....controversial !) In my experience, it is very easy for differing interpretations of what is written down to lead to breakdowns in communications/relations. I have seen many unfinished projects, caused by stalemate over a minute detail in a contract clause. However, there may be requirements from your lender/finance method, so check these out too before agreeing anything, written or unwritten. Use your intuition, your common sense and above all, talk to your builder/contractor, preferably on a daily basis first thing in the morning before work starts on site, then everyone knows what is expected each day. It also gives a chance for problems to be sorted out before they hold up work and for any issues arising from the previous day’s work to be raised.

8. Do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

9. Trust your gut feeling. Can you get on with this person ? Can you have a laugh and a joke as well as deal with business ? No matter how many recommendations a builder may have, if you cannot see eye to eye from day one, then it is never going to work.

10. Do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

In case you may have missed it, one of the most important points to remember is, do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts. In my experience, this is the one area that really gets builders blood pressure up. You may think you’re “improving the design”, when what you are doing is mucking up your builder’s timetable, materials lead-ins and also emptying your bank account much quicker, as any changes you make now will cost you…..usually seriously. You may think moving a stud wall is a five minute job. It may well be so in your case if you’re lucky, however in 99% of cases it will have a knock-on effect on every trade that has to now wait for this work to be done.
Making changes to the approved plans is a sure-fire way to test your relationship with your builder to the max. So, unless you can say you have considered every implication of the changes you wish to make…..do NOT make changes to the plans after work starts.

So, with all this in mind, I embarked on the great builder hunt. Being sort of “in the trade”, I have had dealings with a lot of builders over the years but the best way to find one is still personal recommendation. You would have thought that with the recession and general downturn, builders would be keen for work. I was surprised to find that this was not necessarily the case. Out of my original list of fourteen builders contacted, in the end I received responses from only seven. The rest just didn’t bother. In fairness to the seven who did respond, they all provided quotes from the drawings I had sent them. I met with five of them, in a mixture of on-site meetings and office meetings, to discuss the ins and outs of the job and generally see if I could get on with them. Again, in fairness to them, they were all good guys.
In the end it was a difficult decision but I decided to go with Daniel Cox of Cox Building Services, Larbert, Falkirk. (www.coxbuilders.co.uk Tel : 01324 552296). Danny was recommended by a colleague and I had seen some of his work through the course of my “day job”. He was very enthusiastic, had a very positive outlook on the job, had no hesitation in providing references, had a sense of humour like mine and it was obvious we were on the same wavelength.
He was also professional.
So, the decision was made. The deal was sealed with a handshake, a start date agreed and no contracts were exchanged. It was time to put everything to the test.