The thing with DIY is that it isn’t always Do It Yourself - some things are just too bloody hard/dangerous to do yourself. This is where tradespeople come in.Getting a tradesperson in to do something isn’t as easy as it sounds, however. Where do you find them? How reliable will your choice of tradesperson be? What about the price?Here are some methods we’ve tried:
- Local paperThis is where we found our plasterer. We didn’t look very much though. We went with the first person who quoted because we wanted to get going quickly. They did an okay job, but at least we now have a point of reference when it comes to plasterers. We’d probably use them again based on what people have said about their quote but we might try another one next time to gauge the difference.
- Word of mouthThis is a great way to find tradespeople. Chances are if you know any home owners they would have used one or two tradespeople in their time. Ask your friends and co-workers for some names and numbers. This works even better if there’s a personal relationship: “Hi, I got your details from Peter - he says you’re the best…” This is what we’re relying on for a floor sander.
- The internetYou can find just about anything on the internet, including tradespeople. There are several sources, some better than others. There’s the Yellow Pages, which - quite frankly - does a pretty poor job. There’s finda, which has a pretty large collection of tradespeople and you could even try good old Google. All of these options will work, but they lack 1 important feature: peer reviews/references.
- No CowboysThis is where word of mouth meets the internet. This site has a shitload of tradespeople listed - some good, some not so good. The beauty of the system is that you are able to read reviews of the tradespeople which then enables you to make a better informed choice. It’s very similar to the way in which Trade Me has trader reviews.
So far we’ve had one quote from someone we found on No Cowboys, and we’re having an electrician over tonight who we found there too. By all accounts they’re going to be all good (if the reviews and great comments on the site are anything to go by!)So if you’re looking for a good tradesperson and your mates are of no use give No Cowboys a go!