How do I know if he's any good?

[diyblonde]

I'm trying to find a good plumber to redo a bathroom and a central heating engineer to fit new rads and central heating.

I had someone in who was nice but made a complete mess of the bathroom plumbing so now I'm scared to trust anyone. I've only recently moved to this area (Epsom KT21) and so don't know anyone for referrals.

When someone comes to quote how do I know they are any good?

Are there any standard questions I can ask to gauge their level of expertise and integrity?

Any ideas?

 

[hi-spec plumbing heating]

you don't.
ask if they have any pics of any of their work etc.
i've been to many bathroom installs fitted by so called bathroom fitters,contracted by the shops where they brought the suite and they have been a total disaster for the money they paid every possible water reg broken.
and i've been to diy fitted that have been A1.

 

[diyblonde]

Arggh!

Is theretelling questions that will show up someone who is rubbish and let someone really good shine?

I realise someone who has studied can't necessarily put into practise what he or she knows but isn't there some tricky central heating and plumbing question I could ask that would show up the level of expertise?

Often the longer someone is working the greater skill sets are aquired and knowledge that no rookie would have.

 

[JohnD]

I am a great believer in the Reference Site Visit.

First, ask around your friends and neighbours to seee if they recommend someone local. if so, ask what he did, and when. then have a look at the work and see if it looks good. ask them if they had any problems and what it cost. People who have recently had home improvements are usually happy to boast about them (or moan).

ask any prospective tradesman if he can put you in touch with a couple of local customers that he has recently done similar work for. If he can't, ask yourself why not. Has he never done the job before? Or are all his customers dissatisfied?

Phone these people and try to get them to let you visit and see his work. if they only have mobile no's and no address that you can verify, you don't know if they are just his drinking buddies or his mum.

If he is a local person and has a string of satisfied customers, he should not find it difficult to put you in touch with them.

Another method is to cruise round your neighbourhood, noting houses with vans outside, taking the name and number of the plumber. You can later approach the householder for an opinion (this can be easier if you are walking your dog past when they are in the front garden sweeping up the leaves or something). It can be useful to do this after some months, in case they are itinernant flybynights.