Experts - are they all the same?
The definition of an expert has been questioned over time. I believe the answer lies with the expert who can give the solution without looking. This is really clever and you can get so much more done without ever getting near a problem. Politicians do it all the time. This art was first perfected however by builders.
I had a job completed a year ago which involved the redecoration of a splendid large room in a splendid large house in a splendid part of the world. All was good with the world until mould was seen affecting the decoration in the bay ceiling area. Poor decoration was the cry from the insurance company. We have to go and put it right was the demand. I went along to see what the problem was.
The decoration indeed was poor in the bay and some of the original paper (not put up by me 100 years ago)Â was hanging down and threads of whispy rot were in between the plaster and the original paper. My verdict was “this needs looking at behind the plaster and then we can make some decisions”. Sensible so far?
The experts came along with a longer list of letters behind them than an MP’s expense account, “it is categorically not rot”. This is a bold statement of which there can be no return. It is in total contrast to mine which is “lets take a look behind the plaster”.
I have spoken to the loss adjuster and he agreed to let me remove the plaster. We did just that to find, beyond doubt, dry rot. A nasty infliction to any house that needs to be sorted properly. Now the situation is the roof needs to come off and new lead put back afterwards.
The expert would have had someone just paint over the mess and leave it for six months. By this time the rot would have affected other rooms floors and ceilings, four of which are adjoining this area. All of those rooms would have had to be pulled apart resulting in tens of thousands of pounds of work and disruption beyond belief.
The moral of this story is that experts are not always right. Judgement needs to be made and common sense should be applied. What seems like the right approach? What feels right at the time? Never be afraid to ask more questions. It is your house, your pain, if it goes wrong ask another “expert” if required to do so, seek another opinion.
I am not saying this because I was proved to be right but because no human being could have had the answer this expert gave, only the bionic man could have seen through the plaster! As a mere mortal without any expert mentality, I feel I gave the right advice, “it needs looking at”. Don’t, whatever you do, ignore it. Dry rot especially doesn’t just go away.
Developing Property?
Developing Property? If you’re developing property which you don’t intend to live in, you are likely to have legal responsibilities for health and safety. Anyone developing property and having construction or building work carried out has legal duties as a ‘client’ under the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 unless they are a domestic client. Read more here: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/property-developer/index.htm
You are never to old to think young
- Lorna Page
This is probably my favourite blog posting so far. A few years ago I worked for a lady called Lorna Page. I knew both Lorna and her daughter Wendy. It was extremely sad that Wendy had cancer. Wendy never lost her fighting spirit and survived a fundraising occasion I arranged by one day because she wanted to know how it went. I spent a fair bit of time with Lorna after Wendy’s passing. I decorated her flat up in Ashtead and we overlooked the local cricket ground and she would chit chat about all manor of subjects and discuss with such wisdom that I was completely enthralled.
This was all about seven years ago. Time moves on and I have not caught up with Lorna and to be honest did not know if she was still with us or not. I don’t often read local newspapers because I know where all the pizza places are, but I did read a story the other day. A ninety-four year old lady has just become a famous author. I saw the picture and it was Lorna. I could not stop laughing out loud when I read with pride her current situation. Three years ago she wrote a book and it was accidently discovered by her son. It went to print and has become a huge success. Her second novel is out now and she has editors ringing her trying to capture her services. It gets better, Lorna went on to tell us in the interview that she had to turn down tv and interviews in Hollywood because she was too busy writing.
To show the true nature of compassion is not dead Lorna put out an advert for people to share her house that she has bought with the income from book sales. She has bought a big house now in Devon and has invited people living in care homes to join her as they might feel depressed in some of the “not so nice ones”.
What a lady! I am very proud to have been a small part of such a remarkable lady’s life. It has to be said though that Lorna cannot have it her own way not even with international stardom at her feet. She has been barred from a wish she has kept under wraps for some while as, wait for it, sky diving is considered unsuitable for her at her young age of ninety-four! I am sure she will talk them around to it.
Good luck for the future Lorna, all the best, Paul.
(Not all the posts have to be building related - good stories come in all shapes and sizes!)
Photo courtesy of The Epsom Guardian
Check A Trade
I saw an advert on TV the other day about Check a Trade. This is a service where the client can have some feed back on builders from previous clients as to standards and ethics about working practices. I thought I would go on the website and have a look. I will go into depth on another occasion. The one thing I am very happy about is that an old friend has come to light. Kevin and I used to work together many years ago with a company called Scouted Out. He and I worked on trying to give people genuine help in finding good people and trying to warn them away from rogue builders. I am so pleased that he seems to have lost none of his passion on this subject matter and is still operating the same kind of requirements for builders. The testimony that we are still bleating about the same issues is, I believe, a sign of how there are good guys out there, we just need to find them and communicate about them. I am hoping to contact Kevin this week and discuss how we may be able to go on from here. It seems to me that we do need the synergy of the free market where people make choices as to how they spend their money but with a back up from trading standards and councils to enforce those who do not choose to conduct themselves by fair business methods.
Good luck Kevin and the team. I will be sure to be adding comments and linking in with their ethos.
Please visit them on www.checkatrade.com
Damp!
Yet another reaction from yours truly after watching Rogue Traders on BBC1 last week. What a great result the bad men got put away for years. Rightly so because for years they had been playing the oldest trick in the book - conning old people into thinking that the walls were damp by putting their fingers over the damp meter pins at the same time as holding against the wall. The moisture from the fingers sends the reading high and the buzzer goes and the red light comes on. Panic sets in and the conman can talk thousands of pounds for work that doesn’t need doing or in any case is done badly.
I am sending you to the Triton Chemicals site www.triton-chemicals.com. As mentioned before I have worked with these guys (Kevin and Paul are the technical team) for years and they have been a great help in letting their customers know what is happening out there in the market place. There are new products on offer that give better results than some of the old solutions.
The trouble with damp is it can come in from a variety of sources and it is dangerous to think that one thing is going to solve all problems. I went to a customer of mine many years ago who had been quoted £8,000 for a new roof. I said I would have a look. I fixed the problem and charged him a cup of tea. Above his wardrobes he had a lot of games from when his children were small. There was no room for air to move and this then resulted in moist air causing mould spores to be seen on the wallpaper. Easy fix and no need for a new roof!
A friend of mine recently had a view that there was a major amount of work to be carried out on his daughter’s house. We managed to fix this one remotely. All that needed was to hang the washing outside or use a dryer with an outside vent. If a family has a couple of wash loads a day, there are gallons of water that remain within the environment. We have so many surfaces these days that are waterproof - worktops, floors and paints that the water just hangs around. I have so often been involved in projects where there is no alternative but to strip everything away and start again with a major refurbishment but it does not mean it is like this every time. Careful consideration needs to be taken before embarking with such a major project and don’t be frightened of asking more questions from different sources. Once underway a damp problem can cause further work when floors are lifted or rot is found behind skirtings. Be prepared is the motto here. A quick fix might not solve all of the problem but might make the contractor a quick buck. The whole problem needs solving or you may as well not do anything. Look at the combination of problems. Seek professional advice from a recommended source. Read testimonials carefully. These letters could be Mrs. X from Anytown and don’t hold any value whatsoever.
Finally I just wish Rogue traders would get away from the childish humour. The matter is too serious for this nonsense. It is prime time TV and the time would be better spent advising others not to get caught in the same way as the unfortunate people on the programme last week.
I am going to come back to this subject again and again I can feel it happening!
Got Our Own Back!
Sometimes we all have our turn to be the focus of attention whether we want it or not.
My friend Graham Ridgewell is a rep for a large decorating merchants. Many moons ago which is a long time around these parts Graham went to give a demonstration for Rocal. Rocal make paint for line marking, tennis courts, car parks that sort of thing. He had to see the Headmistress of a very posh public school. All went well with the sales pitch until the moment Graham put the can in the machine. You got it the paint went every where all over the carpet, the mahogany, wood panelling and almost every thing except thank goodness the Head Mistress. Embarrassment, absolutely! Guys at the branch nick named him Rocal Ridgey. Graham didn’t tell em about this episode but the rest of them couldn’t wait.
Time then came to pass and I was being very patient. Then the opportunity came for my moment to strike. We were on a busy project with lots of us having tea when Graham came around to see us. He began by holding court and having a laugh at us all in the most light hearted way. When He was about ten minutes into the repertoire I decided to go for the killer blow and brought the whole episode of Rocal Ridgy to the fore. Be sure your sins will find you out. These are the times that I always look back at with fond memories. Just to let you know that I have too made such a fool of myself I thought it only right to share with you. Many moons before the Rocal episode which is way back to the time I was seventeen. I had a skip on site in the front garden of a house. I had the ladder erected in the space between the skip and leaning against the house with the foot of the ladder being against the skip, are you with me still. This was fine until I came down the ladder caught my foot on the skip and ended up falling into the skip, it was empty! All I could hope for was that no one saw me and I could get out quickly. Not a chance across the road was a bus stop serving an all girls school. There were probably sixty girls laughing at me so I took a bow and walked to the rear of the property to feel sorry for myself!
See even the best of us do it. Speak soon Graham if you will still talk to me!
Loada Rubbish!
When you are next sitting there musing over the extortionate price you think your builder has quoted just remember they also get unwelcome mail. My skip company today has put a price increase (again). This is not just because certain costs are going up but due to additional reasons.
From the 1st April 2009 Landfill operators will not accept plasterboard in skips in the normal way. We must separate the plasterboard waste into a separate container. This will not only mean twice the price for two skips instead of one, with probably both going not filled but also double handling. Many sites which I work on are actually houses where people live and one skip outside sends panic to them regarding parking issues. Now almost certainly one will be outside involving etc costs for licences and lights and aggro etc. We will carry on trailers because we have a licence and bring to my yard. Not all builders will comply of course. The financial gap between the genuine builder responding to these changes and the fly tipper (tipping rubbish wherever) will grow. The councils will get more flytipping which then in turn puts up the council taxes. To the client the lower estimate levels may just be worth not worrying where their rubbish will end up. The honest builder will again end up justifying the costs.
We all want green and we should all be prepared to pay for it but enforce the rules fairly to make a level platform and don’t beat up the builder for decisions taken outside their control.
And whilst I am whinging about fair play what about this senario. I undertook a job recently which involved removing asbestos waste. Now unless you have not read a paper or had a television ( which now costs an extra £5 to dispose of by the way) asbestos is bad for you. I know that we all know that. Of course it’s not that bad that we shouldn’t have it in half our schools I mean that would be silly but none the less it is bad. People have suffered for a long time and deserve all the help they can get when they get sick. Now tell me why I have to get a licence giving all my details including the operatives the measures being taken the address for me the address for the site the three days in advance warning to the tip when the skip is being collected, plus the extreme costs involved when you the householder can smash up asbestos put it in the back of your car in open bags and take it down the tip!!!
P.S. does anyone know where I can get rid of my soap box, one careful owner for a good price. Please respond on a recycled postcard.
Supporting The Big Issue
Anyone who has ever invested in property or is thinking of it is bound to be interested in this event being organised by Judith Morgan of The Money Gym in London on March 21st, all ticket monies being donated to The Big Issue charity for the homeless.
http://judithmorgan.com/2009/03/11/money-gym-property-investors-hope-to-raise-4500-for-the-big-issue
Right Tools for the Right Job
It is always important in my mind to have the right tools for the job. This ethos has never been more exposed than the occasion when I failed one of my workers with inappropriate equipment. The background to this comes from when I was working on the Manor project in Oxfordshire. I had got to know a lot of the locals during my time and many of them became good friends. One such local originated from Ireland and came over to England to live his dream of working with horses. The area In Oxford I am around is famous for its horse culture. So Fitzy as he is known with affection by all around the village came to come to work for me when he needed a break from the horses. I knew he would be honest and hard working because he had proved that for years showing the discipline of getting up and riding out at some unearthly time in the morning.
Day one sure enough he was there at 6.00am. The one problem he has is his accent is so strong we ended up getting him to sing to us so we could be sure to understand him. He worked for me for several months and I have to say it was a joy having him around, nothing was too much trouble. The beers in the evening were great as well. When nearing the end of his time with us we had a day when he was going to help me on the decorating front. I was prepared for hanging lining paper in the Hall way. So we were all set up and Fitzy was going to cut and paste (that is not a computer term) in these circumstances. In the Long room we were set up for the cutting and pasting of the paper whilst I would hang it in the Hall. This way we all have plenty of room to work in. I asked for some small areas to be cut and pasted around a hatch and all went well. I then asked for some full drops to be done. I asked Fitzy for 9 6′ lengths cut and pasted. All was quiet. Fitzy asked me several times if I had got the measurements right. I knew I had got them right but attention was elsewhere. When I did not get my paper coming through for me to hang I walked into the other room to check on my willing helper. He was stuck and complained that the problem was that the table was only 6′ in length and therefore impossible to put a 9′ something piece of paper on such a short table. I have not stopped laughing since! I wonder where we would get a table to do the 20′ plus drops! His mindset did not include folding the paper. It was my fault for not providing adequate training and too short a table of course!
When that night I had to tell everyone what had happened, and to give him loads of credit he has laughed more than anyone else at himself, we knew it was one for the records! I have never taken him up on his offer to teach me to ride, I think the RSPCA would be informed if ever I got on a horse!
Hidden Talent
Some years ago we had to do the preparation work for a real artist. We of course did a great job on preparing the walls, lining and painting in white. What was to follow on was a really talented guy doing pictures and scenes from films on the walls. I did happen to mention to the owner of the house that there was a shower room above and it would be worth getting Mark to check it out first to make sure there were no leaks.
Time moved on and a couple of weeks later this guy called Maggot had transformed this room to all but a film set without the sound. I was so impressed by his talent.
A few weeks later I got the call that you are now suspecting. The shower had leaked from the waste and the water had now come through and stained the Lion King and Jungle Book scenes painted on the walls. I was asked to come back and do some more decorating in other rooms which I did on a regular basis anyway. When I saw this I was horrified and when I was asked to repair and repaint the scenes my jaw dropped even further. I got a load of sample pots delivered with my other materials and was due to start. I wasn’t nervous I was petrified! I am not an artist after all. I took it on, on the undertaking that I wouldn’t make it worse.
In those days one of the guys who worked for me was an old boy called Pete. He looked like Bob Hoskins and we would have entered him for gurning competitions if the prize money were there. On the first couple of days I had the flu so did not get over to site. I had left instructions that just do the other rooms and we would look at the film scenes later. A few days later I got to the house only to find that Pete had not only put the stain block over the damp stains but had repainted the pictures. These scenes had really complicated sunsets and numerous changes in colours and blends of colours and fading areas. I was absolutely gob smacked - this was perfect! I honestly could not see where he had repaired it and blended all of the new paint work in. I say it here and I cannot take any credit for this apart from providing the paint which doesn’t count apparently! I would never have done such a good job as Pete and whenever I think of him and his gurning ways I remember his ability and his hidden artistic talent.
I hope you are OK Pete where ever you are now as some of lifes unfortunate turns affected him badly.
