A BUILDER’S VIEW
THE TROUBLE WITH SMALL PROJECTS
If you’re having difficulty finding a builder to carry out that small renovation job, Andy Stevens offers his invaluable advice on where you might be going wrong
ANDY STEVENS Is an awardwinning builder and broadcaster. You can find him on Instagram @andystevenstv
Finding the right building firm for your project has never been easy. But for some reason, finding a good contractor to take on smaller jobs is even harder. Getting quotes is hard enough, let alone getting anyone to do the work. So why is this the case? I will go into the reasons why I believe this is and also how to make a small project more attractive to the trades.
Smaller jobs, such as a kitchen or bathroom renovation, still require a lot of organising as you or your contractor will need most trades associated with larger jobs (admittedly not ground workers, roofers etc, but most others).
Therefore, all these trades have to be booked into the schedule, often having to work together in a small space. Let’s take a bathroom refurb as an example, these are the trades I would potentially have to book in:
• Plumber
• Electrician
• Carpenter
• Dryliner
• Plasterer
• Tiler
• Decorator