Difference between revisions of "Tradespeople"
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* I have worked on various jobs alongside Malcolm for almost 15 years. He trained as a carpenter and his fitting of doors is superb, but he also does a range of building construction work, tiling, kitchen and bathroom fitting, decorating, replacing windows, some roof repairs etc. -- John Stumbles, Oct 2016 | * I have worked on various jobs alongside Malcolm for almost 15 years. He trained as a carpenter and his fitting of doors is superb, but he also does a range of building construction work, tiling, kitchen and bathroom fitting, decorating, replacing windows, some roof repairs etc. -- John Stumbles, Oct 2016 | ||
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* 2 recommendations on Streetlife - Dec 2016 | * 2 recommendations on Streetlife - Dec 2016 | ||
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+ | |- | ||
+ | | Electrician | ||
+ | | Richard Pierce / Pierce Electrical | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * 07598 341 111 | ||
+ | * 0118 437 0897 | ||
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+ | * I worked with Richard in 2015 -- John Stumbles, Feb 2020 | ||
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* 07866 517 928 | * 07866 517 928 | ||
− | * [mailto: | + | * [mailto:lockserv86@gmail.com email] |
− | * [www.lockserv. | + | * [http://www.lockserv.co.uk web] |
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* Andy replaced a defective ignition lock for me at a very reasonable price. Friendly and helpful. -- John Stumbles, Mar 2018 | * Andy replaced a defective ignition lock for me at a very reasonable price. Friendly and helpful. -- John Stumbles, Mar 2018 | ||
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| Garage workshop | | Garage workshop | ||
− | | Northcourt Garage | + | | Northcourt Garage<br>88-90 Northcourt Ave, Reading RG2 7HQ |
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01189871834 | 01189871834 | ||
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* A family-run business who evidently like and understand motors, who have been doing services and MOTs on my vans and cars for years. Reasonable prices and good work. -- John Stumbles, Oct 2016 | * A family-run business who evidently like and understand motors, who have been doing services and MOTs on my vans and cars for years. Reasonable prices and good work. -- John Stumbles, Oct 2016 | ||
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+ | |- | ||
+ | | Garage workshop | ||
+ | | S B Autos<br>2 Belmont Rd, Reading RG30 2UU | ||
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+ | 01189391585 | ||
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+ | * I've heard 3 people recommend S B Autos, directly and indirectly. -- John Stumbles, Jun 2018 | ||
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+ | |} | ||
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+ | === "Man and Van" transport === | ||
+ | |||
+ | {| class="wikitable" | ||
+ | ! Trade(s) | ||
+ | ! person/company | ||
+ | ! contact | ||
+ | ! recommendation, name & date | ||
+ | |||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | M's Light Haulage | ||
+ | | Mike | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * 07505067262 | ||
+ | * [mailto:mslighthaulage@gmail.com email] | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * Mike and Simon helped a friend move house recently and they worked solidly for hours, were cheerful and friendly, and extremely reasonably priced. -- John Stumbles, Dec 2018 | ||
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+ | |- | ||
+ | | Zatimpex Intertrans | ||
+ | | Zarand | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * [https://www.zatimpex.com/collections/transport website] | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * Recommended by a friend. Also I know and respect Zarand -- John Stumbles, Dec 2018 | ||
+ | |||
+ | |} | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Pest control === | ||
+ | |||
+ | {| class="wikitable" | ||
+ | ! Trade(s) | ||
+ | ! person/company | ||
+ | ! contact | ||
+ | ! recommendation, name & date | ||
+ | |||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | Pest control | ||
+ | | Denis Froud Pest Control Services | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | 07528 500558 | ||
+ | [http://www.dfroudpestcontrol.co.uk/ website] | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | * A friend tells me she found Denis through several recommendations on a community forum for Henley (but she lives in Reading) -- John Stumbles, May 2018 | ||
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Latest revision as of 21:54, 16 December 2022
Finding competent, reliable, affordable, honest and user-friendly tradespeople is an issue most people have to deal with at some time. There is no foolproof answer: professional bodies such as Gas Safe Register, NIC-EIC, NAPIT etc, maintain lists of members, indicating a degree of competence. Commercial certification schemes such as Checkatrade, Trustmark and some local authority (but not Reading) approved trader schemes try to vouch for the quality, reliability and integrity of tradespeople they list.
There is word-of-mouth recommendation, either person to person or by asking on mailing lists or social media.
And there are directories such as the Little Green Book and informal, user-contributed directories such as the University's Handy Persons web page which try to capture word-of-mouth recommendations.
Reality check: Tradespeople are human: they have strengths and weaknesses, they have off days and make mistakes, they get on better with some people than others, and they have home lives with personal and family issues to deal with. One person's dream tradesperson who turned up on the dot, did an excellent job quickly, at an amazingly reasonable price and was a delight to be around could be another person's Trader From Hell. Some tradespeople will more consistently do better work than others, some will be more reliable than others, some cheaper than others, some will communicate more clearly, some will be better than others at getting on with a wide range of people. Few have the best of all qualities.
Contents
Professional bodies
Building trades
Gas installers (plumbers qualified to work on gas, including LPG) have to be registered with Gas Safe Register which has a Find an Engineer search page.
Oil: Heating engineers qualified to work on oil burning systems can be found through OFTEC's Locate a Registered Technician page.
Electricians should be registered with competent persons schemes, which are run by several different organisations, which have their own search pages:
Directories
The Little Green Book has listings of tradespeople recommended by customers (although the tradespeople also have to pay to be listed in the directory. It is organised into sections for Reading, Wokingham and other nearby areas.
Social media
The Ding's own Facebook group should become a useful place to ask for tradesperson recommendations.
For women on Facebook there are Reading and Caversham Gossip Girls groups with huge numbers of members.
The Facebook East Reading Community Board is another resource.
Recommendations
The University's Handy Persons page used to be a useful resource but it is no longer maintained and increasingly out of date (and not available from the University's own site now unless you have a Uni login - this link is to the Wayback Machine's saved copy).
Here is the start of a Ding directory of local tradespeople and similar.
Building services
Builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, handypersons etc
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Builders | Radex Building Services |
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Builder | Malcolm Kirby |
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Electrician | Andy Lannon Electrical Services |
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Electrician | Steve / STS Electrical |
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Electrician | Richard Pierce / Pierce Electrical |
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Plumbing, Heating, Gas | Maiden Erleigh Heating & Plumbing Ltd |
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Plumbing, Heating, Gas | "Bash" / MBA Plumbing |
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Drainage | A Better Drainflow |
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Architect | David Quevillart |
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Project Management | Mike Jacob |
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Locks
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Auto/domestic/commercial locksmith | Andy Hardie / LockServ |
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Motor mechanics
Mechanics, garages, auto electrical, bodywork etc
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
---|---|---|---|
Mobile mechanic | Karl Parfitt |
07584 352706 |
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Garage workshop | Northcourt Garage 88-90 Northcourt Ave, Reading RG2 7HQ |
01189871834 |
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Garage workshop | S B Autos 2 Belmont Rd, Reading RG30 2UU |
01189391585 |
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"Man and Van" transport
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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M's Light Haulage | Mike |
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Zatimpex Intertrans | Zarand |
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Pest control
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Pest control | Denis Froud Pest Control Services |
07528 500558 website |
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Window cleaners
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Window cleaning | PJ and Co (firemen) |
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Window cleaning | Richard Gregory |
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Window cleaning | Trevor Johnson |
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Garden
Gardeners, tree surgeons etc
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Gardening | Georgina Taylor |
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Tree surgeons | Ian Hogg / Eldon Tree Surgery |
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Computer services
Trade(s) | person/company | contact | recommendation, name & date |
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Computer support | Tri Computers |
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Pets
Dog walkers, cat sitters, vets etc