Horror stories about rogue builders and joiners are rife, and asking friends and family for recommendations can be confusing. Someone who might be described as trustworthy by one person may be over-priced to another. The best way to find a hardworking and reasonably priced joiner or builder is to combine your common sense with these tips.

Establish your options
- Ask around for recommendations, even if you do get conflicting tips. It is a good starting point to which builders and joiners are in your area, and you can work out their affordability and reliability from there.

- You can widen your pool of tradespeople to choose from by looking online. For example, search for "joinery in Cambridge" on Google and you will see a wide range of choices to consider. The main advantage of searching online is that a tradesman's website might reflect how reliable they are. Look for photographs of work they have completed and testimonials, although remain open minded about the latter. Find out if a company carry out the kind of work which you require, and look for example photographs on their website. A good website to find tradesmen is www.safelocaltrades.com which is aimed at people within the PE postcodes, listing services such as joinery in Cambridge. Builders and joiners are vetted and have to stick to a service charter to remain being advertised on this website.

- Do not consider hiring anyone who approaches you. If someone knocks on your door claiming you have a faulty roof tile which they can fix or offering to tarmac your drive, be cautious. This is one of the most likely areas where tradesmen disappear with money; you are left with no idea where they are from or how to get hold of them.

Assessing reliability

- A bad job can sometimes be even worse than someone disappearing with your money as you have to pay for repairs; or you may even find yourself with irreplaceable damage. You need to find a business with a fixed address, so check for an office address if you are using websites, notice boards or flyers. Ensure that this address is genuine. If you are looking for a joiner perhaps visit their workplace to ask for your estimate; this way you will be able to look around at the quality of their work.

- It also goes without saying that one of the main factors to look out for is members of trade regulation companies and experience.

- Ask a number of companies for estimates but don't let price sway you over experience, quality of work or reliability. Choose a single company to ask for a full quotation, but do not pay for it. When asking for a quotation make sure you get it in writing, including what the price will cover. Make sure that this figure includes materials too. Never agree to pay a full amount before any work is done, and try to avoid cash deposits too.

- Ask whether they can produce a 3D computer design of the completed work, you will be able to ensure that you are completely happy with it before work commences. There are companies which provide joinery in Cambridge who offer this. Check that any guarantees are covered by insurance, although this may not apply to small projects with individual handymen.

- Once you have selected a builder or joiner ask to pay by credit card. Most credit card companies automatically cover against fraud.

Martin Thompson Joinery are one of the most reliable joinery companies in the UK, and are full members of the Safe Local Trades website. They create bespoke fitted kitchens, bedrooms and other joinery for Huntington, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Quality joinery services

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