Darren
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Say n' maw, say no maw!
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Hi folks,
I'm thinking of having a wall knocked through to link our living room and dining room. I'm unsure as to whether it's a load-bearing wall (I suspect it is) and need advise on how we'd go about it.
Preferably, I'd like someone in the trade to initially take a look, give me advise and name a price for doing the job. Can anyone recommend someone local who can do a good job of it?
Any advise from anyone who's done something similar (things to consider/avoid, etc) would be most welcome too 
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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Joe
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No knowledge of any builders, Darren, but sounds a great idea.
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Martyn
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doh... I'll have to re-route the cable I just put in
I'll ask in the family... Grandad knows some good people!
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Kipper
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Hi Darren,
Sounds like your going to have fun....
Just out of interest, what is the wall made of that is above the wall you intend to remove.........what is the floor made of in the two rooms you intend to extend..........is it your intention to remove the wall in it's entirety or do you intend to leave a foot or so either side.....is the property detached?...and can I assume the wall you intend to remove is single brick thick?.....
Kipper.
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Darren
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Pleased you like the idea, Joe
Sorry Martyn!
Kipper:
The wall above the one we intended on removing is made of the same 'stuff' that the one we want to remove (unsure of material, but is certainly solid...likely to be brick).
RE: flooring - one floor is floorboards, the other in concrete.
Intention is to leave a foot or so either side.
The property is a mid-terrace.
You assume incorrectly, it's at least double-brick thick (Martyn drilled through it recently, to fit cable...was quite a job!).
Does the above information help you? Reading it back, all signs point to it being a load-bearer.
One thing, however, is our neighbours have done the exactly same thing recently, but the wall itself had previous work done to it (there was a frosted substantial window in it prior to their removal of it). Perhaps there was already on RSJ in place (I will, of course, pick their brains too!).
Thanks again for any advise, Kipper
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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hugs
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paul carr is a builder his brother owned or ran the trowel and hammer but not sure if he is still in the trade or not.
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Kipper
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PLUS!...you can't go wrong with machinery that talks sense......Bob for Prime Minister.....
Kipper.
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Darren
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Thanks for the tips, Kipper.
For those that know me, they'd be laughing out loud at the prospect of me doing manual labour! I'll certainly look to bring a professional in (as it happens, we're planning on totally gutting both rooms, so plastering, etc, will be a fundamental part of the entire job too).
Thanks again.
Still keen on hearing personal recommendations on local builders
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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Joe
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Annie's recently had lots of internal house modifications done. Maybe she can help?
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shaz
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Plasterer : Sean McArthur 01502 564237 His dad Eddie does damp proof work.
He's done loads of work for us and did a great job. Expensive but worth it for quality.
Also my friend always uses the same builders and she's having an extension built at the mo with walls being knocked down so I'll get their number for you.
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Darren
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Sounds like a fair price to me, Annie! Did that include the cost of the materials they used too? (the RSJ, plaster, etc)?
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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Mephisto
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Jason Grimmer is the best in town at the moment.. when it comes to quality.. both building and plastering.
Or Francis Fuller in Beccles...you don't get any messing around with them.
Unfortunately when it comes to local builders theres very few that are good enough.. acceptable and overpriced.. . but Jason is the best I've had the pleasure of working with when it comes to building and plastering..and of course i work along side many different people in the game.
I know a few more builders but none i would recommend.
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Darren
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Do you have any contact details for him, Meph? If so, please do post/PM them...naturally I'll be persuing multiple quotes (although it's not just price, I want them to tell me what they'd do for the best, etc!).
Thanks!
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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Martyn
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its not a brick wall, the drill went through to easily, and it did have a fairly large cavity in it to.
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Alice
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I need to change this pic.
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I'm agree with Darren about manual labor. When it comes to doing something that has a good chance of causing my house to cave in, I'd call for an expert name Manuel and let him labor at it.
My mother had some work done and is happy with it (had a stairwell put in between two flats to make one). It looks like you have a few solid recommendations here, but if you need more, PM me and I'll call her for the numbers.
alice
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MervynB
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Trevor Briggs is another good one based in South Lowestoft, done all my work when I lived down there first class work at a good price........Mervyn
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Kipper
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its not a brick wall, the drill went through to easily, and it did have a fairly large cavity in it to.
Sounds like the wall is either Breeze-block or Cinder-block then.....one things for sure, it will come out easily....
Kipper.
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Annie
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Sounds like a fair price to me, Annie! Did that include the cost of the materials they used too? (the RSJ, plaster, etc)?
The price included everything, even little things that they came across and made the job a bit longer we were not charged extra for 
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It doesn't matter who wins as long as you win together
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Darren
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Fantastic, Annie. I'll be giving them a call then 
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Best wishes,
Darren - Webmaster
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat!
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Joe
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How is the wall removal project coming along, Darren?
Hope your building works are on schedule & going to plan, Annie.
The reason a woman sees all those problems in advance when a man doesn't is because the woman knows SHE won't have to fix them.
Can anyone suggest for me a firm or odd job builder or garden centre etc that could repair or rebuild my fence? It blew down in the strong winds about a fortnight back.  Thanks.
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Julie C
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It sounds simple, Chrissie, but we see so many TV programmes exposing 'cowboy' builders that it makes us nervous of just picking one out of the paper or telephone directory. Getting a recommendation from someone who has been pleased with a tradesman's service is reassuring, both for quality of work and not being ripped off with the price!
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Mmmmmm
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I Love Lowestoft!
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Hi Joe,
If you are still looking for someone to repair your fence, I know just the people. The guy you need ot speak to is Justin of Outside Line on 01508 570249. He is based just outside Norwich, but as he is a good friend of mine and is normally round mine at least once a week, he should be able to fly by and give you an estimate.
Here is his card (Doesnt it look great, ok yeah, I designed it lol)
Hope this helps.
J
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mrTibbs
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Anyone got numbers for these folks: My Yellow Pages and Phone book do not list the numbers for anyone mentioned so far
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funkychick
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Yes i was trying to find that lowestoft building Co after you recommended it but can't find it in any phone books
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mrTibbs
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Funkychick,
Lowestoft Building Services is the correct name of Lowestoft Building Co, according to Annie. They should be in the phone book but they are not in mine :-(
EXCEPT .. I had an address for them in 70 Europa Road, Lowestoft ( originally via Dunn & Bradstreet, confirmed by Annie ) and Companies House have Lowestoft Business Services Limited listed in Longs Estate, Gorleston. Neither have a phone number listed, nor does BT.
Which address is correct? What is their phone number?
Regards,
Tony
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funkychick
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so near yet so far i thought they sounded good and do want to use someone recommended not just out the phone book or paper too many cowboys around anyway thanks for that MrTibbs if you get anythoing further let us know
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mrTibbs
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Thank you Annie. I also hope the staff who did such a good job for you 2 years ago are the ones who help us out.
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Chocolate Lover
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I've tried the landline number and that is no longer current (the poor long suffering lady on the phone said she'd moved in to the house in November and loads of people were trying to get hold of them). I've left a message on the mobile and will let you know if that's still good.
Thanks for all your help
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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mrTibbs
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I have tried calling the mobile and left my mobile number for LBS to call back on. They are both Vodaphone so it should be cheap for them to call us back.
In the meantime can anyone recommend and provide contact details for other local builders who are competent, reasonably priced and available for work in central Lowestoft?
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Chocolate Lover
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It looks like the mobile number isn't current either - I've left three messages and MrTibbs has left one as well with no response at all. Please could someone (anyone?) pm me with a number for one of the other builders recommended? I need to get someone to put a lintel in our house before the kitchen (and back bedroom) fall down!
Thanks
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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mrTibbs
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We have given up on LBS  Fortunately we have been pointed at a few other contacts who can assist in the timescales we need. We shall let you know if they do a good job.
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Chocolate Lover
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We're still batting zero on a builder, unfortunately. Please can anyone help by let me have a number for any of the builders that have been recommended so far, we're getting desperate. The baby's due in about two and a half weeks and at this rate will be sleeping in the kitchen as there's no room in our temporary bedroom for a cot and the front bedroom's too damp to stay in. I've even tried the Federation of Master Builders but there's no one in the Lowestoft area and all the Norwich ones don't want to travel this far. Trading Standards don't have a list of approved builders and I'm just not getting anywhere.
PLEASE HELP, I'M DESPERATE!!!!
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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Chocolate Lover
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Externally we need a small section of flashing to be removed and replaced, and a patch of cracked render about a foot square to be taken out and replaced with a new section of higher lime content render.
Internally we need a corner of the room to have new plasterboard/plaster where the damp has come through the cracked render. I can do the decoration myself after the baby's born.
The external work will take a morning (it'll take longer to put the scaffolding up!) and the internal work a day or so. I'm considering contacting the BBC's DIY SOS at this point, I'm so desperate!
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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Chocolate Lover
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Try this services/builders/results/in/Lowestoft.html - put it into Google it should come up as "Up My Street"
The problem is that the last thing I need is a cowboy - and I've no way of knowing who's trustworthy and who's not, esp as local Trading Standards don't do any kind of list at all, either good or bad. Please someone help - we need a good local builder's number! I've tried BT, yell.com and ThomsonLocal for those people so far recommended and can't find a number for any of them under the names given.
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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Alice
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I need to change this pic.
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I've sent an email to my mom looking for the name of a handyman/builder that they use who is very good. I know he lives in Kirkley and does it for a living and has always done well with the work they've contracted out. I just don't know his full name and phone. As soon as I get it, I'll post it.
alice
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Alice
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I need to change this pic.
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Here's the email I got from my Mum about the handyman who does work for them....
"His name is Mark Beales and his home phone number is 01502-501-113 and
his cell phone is 07818 866629. We like him very much."
alice
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Chocolate Lover
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Thanks Alice, you're a diamond! I'll give him a try.
ChocolateLover
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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing
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And1cap
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Andy Smith.
01502 582461
Mob. 07773158455
Did a complete makeover on my house.........everything from tiling,plastering etc to plumbing to a very high standard. Won't touch electrics.
Good builder and cheaper than hiring each separate tradesman
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Alice
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I need to change this pic.
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I found this for joiners website yesterday and when I put in my postcode about 2 dozen names of local joiners showed up.
It might be a good place to start when you're looking for carpenters.
http://www.joinersregister.com/
alice
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shaz
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Does Andy Smith, Builder live in Stradbroke Rd??
I often see his van there!
I am waiting for the plans for my new kitchen so will need someone who can do all the work for me.
Andy1 did you book well in advance for him?
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And1cap
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Does Andy Smith, Builder live in Stradbroke Rd??
I often see his van there!
I am waiting for the plans for my new kitchen so will need someone who can do all the work for me.
Andy1 did you book well in advance for him?
Hey Shaz!!
Thats the kiddy. He's a good bloke. Give him a call and he'll make time to come and have a look at the job. He's also got access to a lot of specialist tradesman whom he'll call on if he doesn't think his skills are up to it. I like him, he's honest, funny and straightforward.
He is busy, can't deny it but to get a good job i'd rather wait. There is generally a reason if a builder can get to you tomorrow to start and the reason is never a good one!!
Regards Andrew
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shaz
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Thank you, will definately get him round once plans are ready.
I hope they will be soon, I'm sick of my kitchen now and just want to click my fingers and a new one in it's place!!
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allenall3yb
Junior Member
Posts: 19
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Hello, Does anyone know of a freelance bricklayer that is in need of some work?
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