The last time a 'trusted trader' visited our home, they left my wife and I with irreparable damage to our guttering. We attempted calm remediation unsuccessfully which became a catalyst for raised voices and a refusal to make good. Our money disappeared never to be refunded and finally, we let it go for our own mental wellbeing. Our only remedy? A one-star review on this particular company's website. Sadly, this isn't the first time we've endured such a bad experience with home maintenance and it has made us very wary of who we allow into our home.
Trust in tradespeople
It's situations like this, which have made me reticent to call for help to fix anything, let alone undertake bigger tasks. One summer I put this into practice as I helped a talented and good friend of mine completely renovate my front garden and side return. We dug ditches, added new draining and completely retiled and grouted the entire area. Sweat poured from me like torrential precipitation and my muscles ached satisfyingly allowing me to dispense with my gym membership. I acquired some gratifying education in landscaping, and I was equally proud of my home's new aesthetic. The trade-off, however, of missing cherished time with my young family during the scirocco heat on that South London summer was not something I particularly wanted to repeat.
My DIY talents have been a steady acquisition over the years following a plethora of mistakes. Indeed, like the majority of the UK, my skills tend to fall into the category of basic painting and decorating, plus erecting furniture. Anything else and I would normally get someone else in to complete and pay for the privilege. However, the distrust I've obtained following some bad experiences has always made me want to try and do things myself and learn on the job. Not ideal, especially when your confidence in home maintenance doesn't stretch to more taxing assignments.
Do I DIY or not?
Here is the issue that a lot of people face. Do I trade my own time and potentially make mistakes or do I spend and trust the experts to come in and help? With the UK home improvement market valued in the billions and only expected to continue to grow, it’s something we don’t seem to want to relinquish our spend on in these times of austerity.
I now unfortunately have a problem with my previous summer’s renovation work around the garden. A few years down the line, my own grouting is not looking too shapely and making my tiles loose. With a difficult work schedule, school and nursery run plus weekend clubs it’s going to be difficult to fix. With the thought of the tiles becoming broken and having a bigger job on my hands, I call my friend to help with the promise of free lunches and some cash but he’s fraught and busy on a landscaping job.
Home repair subscription
Using a previous service where I obtained a trusted tradesperson and also asking our local WhatsApp group for recommendations is not on my radar. Both of these things have yielded bad experiences for me so I’m now at a loss and looking to do early morning or late night grouting work which fills me with trepidation.
A friend then recommends a new service called Maison Plan with the promise of a month-free subscription. The thing is, it's a subscription service and do I really need this on top of all my other subscription plans which seems to be ad nauseum these days? Time-poor and bad weather moving in forces my hand. I decide with a lot of other jobs piling up around the house, I could equally do with time back and knowing the tradespeople have been previously vetted. I choose my pricing based on my home size, location (bad luck if you’re outside the M25 by the way), and any additional add-ons such as boiler service and I’m in.
The cost and the job
I looked at how much I spend over the year on improvements and this seems comparable, but I realise I will probably use the service more so I’m hoping it will work out cost-effective in the long run. Onto the first test: sorting out my grout, which I book through the website.
The team arrive when they say they will and so far comms have been consistently good. They talk me through what they’re going to do, how long it will take and if there’s anything else which may come up that I might be charged for not in the subscription. The ubiquitous cups of tea are offered and drunk and the work continues and in a couple of hours, I hear a knock on my door. Sadly, the weather is against us and they have to come back in a few days, but all of the grouting has been removed and they are ready to sort out the fresh application.
A couple of days later, another team member arrives, they are courteous, and polite and get the job completed within the time frame they estimate. I inspect the work and I’m very satisfied. It feels a bit odd not to do the dance of the invoice and complain about the additional cost these things usually ascertain, but I’m glad of it. They clean up and leave politely and I think my trust might have been restored.
Am I a convert?
Will I use the service again? Well, I’m tied in now for a year so I’m going to make absolute use of it but I have to admit that having the rigmarole of searching around for someone trusted, even for the smallest home repair being removed, feels like a huge luxury. For those not talented in the home repair space, the time-poor or those who just do not like to get involved, then this service is probably for you. My grouting has never looked better and I can finally get that guttering fixed. It’s the little things.