Published on 12, July, 2020
Earlier this afternoon my son and I found ourselves watching a couple of men doing some garden clearance work at a neighbour's property, with a sense of amusement and also disbelief. However, to a person without insider knowledge, they may well have seemed perfectly legit and professional.
Several years ago, my son had done a garden maintenance course, which mainly consisted of garden clearance work. Health and safety was taken seriously and it was the first thing he learnt about. This included wearing appropriate clothing (PPE) like ear defenders, protective gloves, and steel-toe safety work boots. Before my son was allowed to be let loose with the likes of industrial lawn strimmers, hedge trimmers and so on without supervision, he had to prove his competence by demonstrating that he understood how to use them.
The men my son and I had been observing had no ear defenders, were wearing trainers, and only one of them was wearing protective gloves. Although it wasn't obvious to me, my son could tell that they weren't using the equipment properly, and in some instances were using incorrect equipment. My son said that a true professional would be likely to make an initial visit to assess the work that needed to be done and what equipment would be required. Based on what my son had witnessed, his opinion was that no prior assessment had taken place.
If the services offered by professionals includes the removal of garden waste from the premises, the use of canvas bags or plastic garden trugs tends to be favoured. It makes economical sense because they can be emptied and re-used, unlike plastic refuse sacks, which is what these two men used.
I know it's wrong to assume, but it wouldn't surprise me if those black plastic refuse sacks end up being fly-tipped somewhere.
It's awful what some people are like. This is why I try to do a lot of things myself...though admittedly I can't do a lot of technical things. My dad used to do a lot for me but lately I've been trying to do more.
Sporadic Sparkly said:Health and safety was taken seriously and it was the first thing he learnt about.
About 3 years ago I bought a 150 year old apartment on the first foor that had a rotting wood and glass conservatory over a big, old balcony overlooking the street.
We got quotes for demolishing this which came in between £4k and £6k and involved covering half the building with scaffolding for a month with demolition taking 2 weeks.
My brother has worked in the building trade for almost 50 years and we sat down to plan how to do it. We used all the PPE kit but basically wrapped the conservatory in a tarpaulin to stop anything falling outwards, braced all the internal walls and cut the roof off starting with a rabbit hole in the centre and working outwards.
Then out came the windows, wooden framework and it took the 2 of us less than 4 hours without the need for scaffolding but still done quite safely.
I agree some Health and Safety stuff is useful but it adds so much complexity and cost to larger projects that it can be a real drag when decent planning makes it redundant.
I have concluded that where possible it is best to have someone either recommended by someone you know has used them or by seeing them working somewhere else.
Sometimes recommendations from the trade websites are reliable but I think on other occasions they got friends to do them. You can't always trust the pictures on websites either.
Health and safety is important too, as well as insurance.
I once saw a construction worker, when clearing a site for a major city centre building project, balanced on an upturned bucket while using a chainsaw!
There are so many cowboys about doing everything from asbestos removal to window cleaning, a friend had some cowboy wanting to take down her abestos riddled shed and was going to take the waste from Hampshire to Peterborough! Another friend here on the island was having her house done up and they wanted an extension with a roof terrace to be put in at a later date. When the new builder came to do the roof terrace, he found that the whole extension needed to be taken down as the wrong timbers had been used and there was something dodgy about the brick work too. A bloke who was supposed to put a wooden rail around a terrace, listened to what was wanted, agreed with all, had all the drawings, came and started work ignoring everything that he'd been asked to do and had cut all the wood wrong so as it couldn't be used for what he was being paid to do. Another friend was left without a kitchen or downstairs bathroom for 18 months because of a builder who was crap, she has a serverly disabled nephew and his mother was carrying him up and down stairs to use the toilet.
Getting any work done seems to be a nightmare as you don't know who to trust. Getting work done in a timely fashion is difficult as all the good builders are booked up months in advance and if it's something weather dependent or needs doing fast, you're left at the mercy of cowboys.
I really think there ought to be some sort of registration, insurance, something, anything other than the small claims court for people to get redress. Often these builders have ceased trading by the time an application to the small claims court can be made, they just set up under a different name and carry on ruining more peoples lives.
Two years ago, I got the guys who do the lawn for my Artist friend to come over here. They fly-tipped the cutting at the field behind my backyard. Plus, they charged £40.
Then, my cleaner got me in contact with a guy who lives a few houses down the road, who charges £20 for the same job, to do it. Had him ever since. He even cleared my guttering, unblocked my sewage and cleaned up my family grave. In fact, he came this afternoon to cut my lawn.
All fine, and dandy. Yeah, Cowboy operations end up sour.