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Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting on Oct 16
 The insurance company Aviva recently conducted a survey amongst their clients which dispelled the myth that “White Van Man” was no more than an urban thug.
Tradesmen in London are the smartest, sexiest and most successful drivers on the road their research showed, with over 70% having an interest in politics and current affairs.
Smart Tradesmen in London
Over half of the white van drivers surveyed said that they regularly read books, compared to one-in-ten sports car owners.
Sexy Tradesmen in London
Most of the white van drivers questioned responded that they like to keep themselves in shape and pursued some form of outdoor leisure activity.
Successful Tradesmen in London
Half of all van drivers were the boss of their own business, as compared to 83% of sports car drivers who work for someone else.
Nigel Bartram, motoring expert at Aviva, who carried out the survey, said: “It’s great to prove what we already knew – van drivers are switched on and enterprising! Gone are the days of the traditional white van man stereotype. What our research shows is that van drivers are entrepreneurial and responsible. This is why we have tailored direct motor insurance to cater for the 21st century van driver.”
With half of van drivers opting to fix household appliances when they break rather than ask for help, they are also the handiest to have at home. After a hard day’s work, a tradesman in London is more likely to catch a news bulletin or documentary than anything else on the box and, out of all drivers questioned, is the least likely to watch reality TV.
Sofeminine.co.uk added a female perspective to the results of the survey with the comment that “A white van driver may not be so likely to have a degree, but he has a big package” – So much for stereotypes!
For a deeper look into the psyche of a white van driver tradesman in London, visit the Social Issue Research Centre web site, who produced a quite eye-opening and humorous insight into this social phenomenon, and concluded that in order to change their image, tradesmen in London should paint their vans a different colour!
Tags: Find a Tradesman in London, insurance, Research, Social Issues, Survey, Tradesmen´s Directory, transit van, Van Driver
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
 Nearly half a million pounds of lottery funding has been allocated to support Age Concern´s “Men in Sheds” scheme, a program aimed at supporting men over the age of 55 who have been affected by life-changing events – such as bereavement and redundancy – and providing an opportunity to socialise and learn practical skills from each other in a supportive environment.
A pilot scheme, launched earlier this year in Cheshire, was based on the Australian model “Mensheds”, which has received worldwide acclaim for its innovation and the value to over-55´s of integrating back into the community after a major trauma in their lives.
John Standing from the scheme has said that men over the age of 55 are welcome to work on projects at the charities warehouse. “They make things and share resources and skills to help each other. It is also a great way for them to access other services which may be useful to them”.
Alex Major of Age Concern Cheshire highlighted the need for more projects involving older men: ‘There are a lot of projects for older people, but they mainly appeal to women and men can feel left out.’ The pilot project had 20 members who helped the charity in the area with jobs such as repairing furniture and minor DIY tasks. Ken Clemens, also of Age Concern Cheshire, said: ‘The atmosphere in the shed is very informal with men coming together to do activities such as wood working, producing items that are sold to help support the work of the shed – or just to socialise and share time with other men.’
Initially, the scheme in Greenwich is the only one planned for the immediate future in the London area, but Age Concern are monitoring the success of “Men in Sheds” and hoping it can be spread nationwide in the near future.
If you are a retired handyman in South London and would like to learn more about the scheme, details are expected to be posted soon on the News pages of the Age Concern web site, or you can call Age Concern Greenwich on 08452 707 507
Tags: Age Concern, AgeUK, DIY, find a handyman in London, Handyman Services, Lottery funding, Sheds, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, News, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting on Oct 16
 The cost of DIY bodge-ups according to the Clydesdale Bank Research from the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks has revealed that bodged DIY jobs in the home cost homeowners £235 million to put right last year.
The recent survey was conducted amongst two thousand of the banks´ customers and showed that over a quarter had experienced a DIY disaster within the past twelve months.
With one in ten respondents having to pay up to £500 to get their mistakes fixed, a spokesman for the Clydesdale Bank commented that while DIY may be a great way to save money, it is important to have the correct tools and right set of skills to avoid a job around the home becoming a very expensive exercise.
The bank estimates that nearly 5 million people across the country ended up paying for DIY mistakes after they attempted to do DIY jobs such as decorating, plumbing or gardening. Instead of wishing you had never started a job that is ultimately going to cost you a lot of money, why not consult Mr Skill´s Tradesmen’s Directory and benefit from the financial advantages of using a London tradesman.
Tags: decorating, DIY, Find a Tradesman in London, fix, Home Improvements, Home Maintenance, Mr Skill, Plumbing, tools, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, News, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
Quite frequently, an older house may have a basement lying dormant. If the owner knows that it exists at all, then they often just fill it up with junk. Other basements are completely forgotten places, even though it would cost £100’s to build equivalent new space.
 o The single most important point is access. If you cannot get to the basement from the house itself, the chances are that you will not use it properly, and may waste your money. A spiral staircase is a popular space-saving solution. If mobility is an issue, consider a conventional staircase with wheelchair-assist, or a mini-lift.
o Damp is another very important consideration. If you are in doubt, find a tradesman at Mr-Skill and ask for their estimation.
o Get rid off all the junk, and clean the basement out completely. Then paint everything white, including the floors and ceiling. Suddenly everything looks brighter and larger too, and you can begin to plan. At this stage, I recommend you consult a designer to get ideas.
 o What shall you use the extra space for? A family room, a study or a pub? The possibilities are endless. Now draw up your plans, and have them approved by the local council before proceeding. Tradesmen in London will refuse to do a thing without this, because otherwise they know that they will be chasing moving targets. When you are ready to begin, do not take chances. Find a tradesman recommended by Mr Skill.
Remember to advise your insurer of the change and have your policy updated. After that, you can move your furniture in, and enjoy your bigger home.
Tags: access, approve, basement, clean, council, damp, design, designer, dormant, empty, family room, find a tradesman, insurer, junk, lift, paint, plans, policy, pub, spiral staircase, study, tradesman quotes, tradesmen london, wasted, wheelchair-assist
Posted in General Building, General Building, Handyman Services, Handyman Services, Inspirations, Painting & Decorating, Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
 The Chief Executive of Travis Perkins – the parent company for Wickes – has commented that the spending cuts announced by the government could actually be a good thing for the DIY retail section. Speaking after announcing a group growth of 7%, Geoff Cooper said that at a time home owners are feeling uncertain about the impact the spending cuts will have on them, home owners will be looking to improve the appeal and value of their home through DIY projects and by using local tradesmen for more home improvements.
Wickes currently has 190 stores throughout the UK – with 34 located in the London area – and Mr Cooper put the company´s growth to their range of products being competitively priced to attract business from London tradesmen amongst others.
His optimistic comments were backed up by the latest “Money Mood Survey” from Legal & General which found that 60% of those questioned were actively saving for the future during the last month. One of the biggest categories that people were saving for was home improvements, with the survey showing that the fear of job losses and difficult economic times are forcing people to reconsider how they spend their money.
If you are one of the many people re-assessing how to make the most of your home, we suggest that you use our “Post-a-Job” facility to get tradesman quotes on the jobs you would like to give priority to, or contact a local tradesman in London through our Tradesmen´s Directory.
Tags: DIY, Find a Tradesman in London, Handyman Services, Home Maintenance, save money, spending cuts, tradesmen quotes, Tradesmen´s Directory, travis perkins, wickes
Posted in Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting | Comments Off
 Whether you are a builder, a carpenter or a decorator, this show is for you!
With more than 300 exhibitors, The National Home Improvement Show is the UK’s largest event for tradesmen in London and people looking to add space and value to their home. It offers the best in home improvement, design and space-saving advice from Real Homes experts, including TV personalities Julia Kendell (presenter of DIY SOS on BBC1 and 60-Minute Makeover), Matt James (Channel Four’s The City Gardener) and Michael Holmes (Editor-in-Chief of Real Homes magazine and presenter of Five’s “I Own Britain’s Best Home”).
The exhibition starts this Friday (1st October) and runs until Sunday. Tickets are £8.00 in advance or £12.00 on the door and further details about the event can be found on www.improveyourhomeshow.co.uk
Tags: bathroom, builder, Decorating & Interior Design, exhibition, Find a Builder in London, find a carpenter in London, find a decorator, find a handyman in London, Home Improvements, interior decoration, Painting, tradesman
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Kitchen Fitting, Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Posted in General Building on Sep 27
 A loophole in the new Part L Building Regulations which come into force on Friday (1st October) is being exploited by London builders. Local Authorities are reporting that London builders are registering their intention to start work on a site before the revised Part L (2010) regulations take effect, effectively giving them a period of twelve months before they have to start work on the project and, once started, allowing the building to comply with Part L (2006) regulations – saving approximately £2.000 on the difference in building standards.
The move, which includes the registration of thousands of plots – including many without planning permission – has been condemned by Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy. He said “This undermines work on improving the energy standard of new homes in England. I do wonder if Andrew Stunell (the Lib-Dem minister in charge of Building Regulations) knows what is going on.”
This haste to register takes advantage of the “transitional arrangements” that bridges the change in regulations. These arrangements were less generous when Part L 2006 was introduced; then builders in London had to comply with the new version if work had not started on site before it took effect. This time around, builders in London are expected to save millions of pounds in building costs.
Note: Local Authority Building Control, which advises council inspectors, had stuck to the 2006 interpretation, but changed its mind after thousands of plots were registered with the NHBC.
For details of the new 2010 regulations and how they affect Ventilation (Part F) and Conservation of Fuel and Power (Parts L1a / L1b), please visit the Mr. Skill guide to Building Regulations.
Tags: builder, Building Control, building regulations, Building Regulations Part F, Building Regulations Part L, conservation, Construction, energy efficiency, Find a Builder in London, General Builders, London builder, planning permission, ventilation
Posted in General Building | Comments Off
 As reported in many trade journals, the Health and Safety Executive and the Building Control Alliance have signed an agreement to work more closely to improve health and safety standards on construction sites. The arrangement means that the HSE and building control professionals will co-operate to help and support each other by providing health and safety advice to on-site builders in London.
Philip White, HSE’s chief inspector of construction, was quoted as saying “Today’s agreement does not change a duty holder’s responsibility to protect workers health and safety, but has created another opportunity to get potentially life-saving advice to those responsible for health and safety standards on construction sites.” Meanwhile Diane Marshall, group head of building control at NHBC, was equally as gushing -“Building Control professionals are ideally placed to raise awareness of health and safety issues on construction sites during the course of their inspections. This agreement creates a mechanism for Building Control professionals to discharge their professional duty of care in a simple and straightforward manner by working closely with our HSE colleagues.”
However, builders in London, although keen to make any health and safety improvements in their industry were not so enthusiastic about the proposals. Commenting in the online builder.co.uk magazine, Colin McNeil wrote –
“Great, another feather in the cap for the great and good who govern Building Control, when was the last time that any of these people went on site? So as a Building Control Surveyor you are supposed to have good technical knowledge of Structures and structural stability, have a intimate knowledge of fire safety and means of escape, thermal performance and CO2 emissions and access into and around buildings for people with disabilities, a comprehensive knowledge of damp protection and prevention of water ingress, methods of preventing sound transfer, drainage systems and knowledge of staircases and guardings. Together with a good knowledge of boiler systems and building services generally, Then there are the requirements to check planning conditions etc all this for the generous salary of about £30000 to £35000 a year. (sic)”
It does seem to be that building control surveyors already have enough on their plates, and with three new sets of building regulations coming into force this week will find it difficult to integrate health and safety regulations into their already overloaded schedules. Maybe Mr White and Ms Marshall should get their patent leather shoes out of their ivory towers and have a look at what actually goes on at ground level.
Tags: builder, Building Control, building regulations, CO2 emissions, Construction, Construction Safety, damp proofing, drainage system, Find a Builder in London, General Builders, health, Health & Safety Executive, safety standards, thermal performance
Posted in General Building, Handyman Services | Comments Off
 Depending on which source of history you choose to quote from, the phrase “Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics” is either attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Mark Twain or Leonard H Courtney (later president of the Royal Statistical Society), but as far as builders in London are concerned, there seems to be no accurate guide to what contractors get paid these days.
A report by Hays Construction which is quoted on the builder.co.uk web site, states that average pay in London has decreased by 8% with almost one in five companies reducing the pay of their staff, whereas Construction News Insight produced their own report showing a 0.4% pay increase amongst London builders.
Writing in Construction News, former Bank of England monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower said: “The official UK construction employment data remain a puzzle. It may well be that many of the construction jobs were held by workers from Eastern Europe who have now returned home. Many of these workers were not covered in the official counts and if so then the decline in employment may well be understated.”
In contrast to Mr Blanchflower´s words, the Office of National Statistics reported that for the year ended 31st March 2010, 234.000 jobs were lost in the construction industry. Maybe the Eastern Europeans could not make head or tail of the figures either!
Tags: builder, conditions, Construction, contractor, Find a Builder in London, London, pay, statistics
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Painting & Decorating, Plastering & Drywall, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
 Five London boroughs have been sent notices by the Health and Safety Executive, ordering them to clean up their act when it comes to dealing with asbestos in London´s schools. Harrow, Lambeth, Thurrock, Waltham Forest and Medway councils were all advised that their methods of managing the risks of asbestos were inadequate and that they were potentially putting thousands of teachers and children at risk from asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Although the recent HSE press release asserts that the majority of local authorities in London are complying with official guidance, it also shows that a significant number are not managing their asbestos effectively, with a quarter of the 42 schools inspected requiring enforcement action to be taken through the issuing of 18 improvement notices and one prohibition notice.
In February, a report published by the asbestos consultants’ association – ATaC – of their inspections of a sample number of schools found serious flaws in asbestos management. Their report reflected what their members find in many schools up and down the country, as the chairman of ATaC stated: “These are not minor problems that have crept in over recent years; rather they are fundamental problems that are endemic in schools in the UK.” (You can read the report by clicking here)
A spokesperson for the “Asbestos in Schools” action group claimed that these findings confirmed AiS’s concerns that a significant proportion of schools are not managing their asbestos effectively.
“This new HSE report highlights that many schools and local authorities are still not safely managing their asbestos and underlines the urgent need for all the schools and authorities in the country that are not adequately protecting their occupants from the dangers of asbestos, to be identified and then brought up to a safe standard. “
They continued “The previous Government recognised that measures have to be taken to improve the asbestos management in schools by establishing an expert Steering Group under the Department for Education to recommend practical measures that will achieve this. The Coalition Government has not yet confirmed that the Steering Group will continue. This report shows that it is essential that it does.”
Many older public buildings in London, as well as residential dwellings, were constructed during a period when the risks of asbestos as a fire-proofing material were not fully understood. As well as being used in fabric form, asbestos was often mixed into cement, and fibres from both sources can lead to pleural illnesses if inhaled or absorbed into the digestive system through eating and drinking in a contaminated area. If you have any concerns about asbestos levels in your home, office or commercial premises, please contact one of the waste disposal experts in London featured in our Tradesmen´s Directory.
Tags: asbestos, asbestos consultants association, Asbestos in Schools, building regulations, cement, dangerous building sites, Disposals & Waste Removal, fire proofing, Hazardous Waste, Health & Safety Executive, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Disposals & Waste Removal, General Building | Comments Off
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