5 Ways On How To Find Good Tradesmen
Qualified Tradesmen Online
While we’re all big fans of learning to make home improvements ourselves, not everyone is really cut out for such a thing – at least not immediately. The challenge is always how to find good tradesmen. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself in need of a professional who has the sort of expertise that the job requires. Sure, you might not be living up to externally imposed notions of being a jack of all trades, but forcing yourself to tackle a situation you honestly know you might not be prepared to handle is hardly any better. Indeed, looking into securing the services of well-trained tradesmen is often the best course of action in such circumstances.
Be Choosey Finding Tradesmen
Of course, being choosy at this stage is still well within your rights – as with any field of expertise, tradesmen aren’t universally reliable as there are occasional bad apples that you might want to steer clear of so you can work with the better ones. Taking the time to screen and find good tradesmen will hopefully spare you no end of grief that you might otherwise encounter. Dodgy tradesmen not only give their craft a bad name – they also result in quite a headache for you. Here are some things to consider when you look.
- Consider hiring locals. By local, we mean it’s more important that they do most of their work in the area rather than live there. This will allow you to negotiate deals without having to factor in travel times from other towns. Furthermore, if they’ve worked locally for some time, they’ll have a reputation to think of, which will hopefully translate to a conscientious work ethic.
- Avoid tradesmen who dont have review or cold call out of the blue offering their services. While this isn’t meant to shun the honest cold-callers, it’s usually best to be the one initiating the inquiry so you don’t fall for any dishonest rovers.
- Get a minimum of three quotes for the work. This is standard practice when you’re getting work done; this gets you a scope of work that you’ll be able to evaluate more critically in order to find the best deal. Some tradesmen may offer better deals or ways to get more for the same, and putting them through the rigors of selection allows you to get to know them, as you should. Do your due diligence, make sure your needs are met, and look for better value rather than just the lowest price quote.
- Speaking of due diligence, your screening process should cover the basics. Make sure you know all about their trade license, insurance cover, health and safety insurance, and reputation.
- Take care of contractors who do good work for you. This will preserve the working relationship and make them eager to work with you again, possibly with the chance of a better offer next time.
That’s all well and good, but where do you find reputable tradesmen? There are some services that have sprung up specifically to cater to people looking to be put in touch with awesome tradesmen who can do the jobs that need doing.
Run by Gumtree, a subsidiary of eBay, the eponymous website is a catch-all classified ads site where one can post ads offering items for sale, or real estate lots for sale, or services for hire. While the reviews of the service run the gamut from questionable to satisfied, those who say the latter point out that while there are some duds the service does work. As with all classified ads, the usual “caveat emptor” must be in place.
While just about five years old (prior to becoming OneFlare it was called PickAQuote), OneFlare has emerged as a popular and well-liked online marketplace. It connects local service providers (currently over 70,000 registered local service providers) in over 200 service categories with customers who may be in need of their services. The site works by matching up service requests from customers with competitive quotes posted by the tradesmen or service providers who can do the work that needs doing. Processing the service is also fairly straightforward, with SMS and email updates sending the five lowest-priced quotes for the customer to choose from.
Almost a full decade old, Service Seeking is an online marketplace that goes the extra mile by offering a price comparison service. It puts consumers in touch with businesses that provide the needed services by letting would-be consumers post the jobs they need done and businesses responding by posting job quotations for those jobs. Over $200AUD million worth of jobs were completed in mid-2012, and about $46AUD million a month worth of jobs were being posted in 2014. It’s worth noting that each business interested in posting on Service Seeking has to be certified by the site, which even includes a seminar on quoting and responding to customers. Reviews and possibly previous completed job information help consumers make decisions as well.
A Sydney-based company, AirTasker has been around for some five years. Users post a job they need done along with a proposed payment, and other users signify interest in doing that job along with their own proposed payment for doing the job, if any. The user who wants the job done can then make a decision as to who to go with. It’s worth noting that while signing up for the service is free, a 15% commission is charged to the user/applicant per completed task.
Also called “hipages”, this 2004-founded company offers a paid service matching up consumers to registered tradesmen who can do the jobs that are posted. More than 70,000 listed tradesmen from a variety of skill sets are able to do a variety of home improvement and repair tasks such as tiling and painting. The website claims to have Australia’s largest network of trade professionals, and assures users that their customer service team screens the qualifications and job quality of this large body of tradies. The website even provides informational articles on home improvement, which could be helpful in aiding a user in making a decision about the job before seeking trade help.
Think of goguide as a friend or neighbour who recommends a local tradie to you. They are different from other search listings and directories because goguide focus on targeting local businesses, so you can find the right person for the job with a simple search. It’s a great directory focused on bringing local tradies together with local people who need to get a job done quickly, cheaply and professionally all in just a few mouse clicks!
