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    <title>renovation &amp;mdash; Gerrit Niezen</title>
    <link>https://gerritniezen.com/tag:renovation</link>
    <description>Maker of open-source software and hardware.</description>
    <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:53:47 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title>renovation &amp;mdash; Gerrit Niezen</title>
      <link>https://gerritniezen.com/tag:renovation</link>
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      <title>Expensive lessons learned from doing home improvements</title>
      <link>https://gerritniezen.com/expensive-lessons-learned-from-doing-home-improvements?pk_campaign=rss-feed</link>
      <description>&lt;![CDATA[We&#39;re having the back of our house re-rendered and roof repairs done at the same time. Here are some things I wish I knew before we started.&#xA;&#xA;Get a breakdown of the work to be done&#xA;&#xA;If the job quoted for is more than £1000, insist on a breakdown of what work is to be done. It is not a breach of trust to ask for something that will be of use to both parties involved.&#xA;&#xA;Don&#39;t use MyBuilder, RatedPeople or similar marketplaces&#xA;&#xA;The contractors who do the actual work don&#39;t have the time or money to pay for leads, so the ones on those sites usually sub-contract, or work the lead generation costs into their fees. Customers may be too intimidated to post negative reviews, so you only see good reviews. Rather try to get recommendations via word-of-mouth.&#xA;&#xA;Don&#39;t use builders with sub-contractors&#xA;&#xA;While it may make things easier for you in terms of having a single point of contact, you may end up paying twice what you would&#39;ve paid if you dealt with each contractor separately. There&#39;s no guarantee that the builder treats his sub-contractors well, and he&#39;s probably taking most of the profit for himself.&#xA;&#xA;#homeimprovement #renovation&#xA;&#xA;iComment on this post/i&#xD;&#xA;div id=&#34;cusdis_thread&#34;/div]]&gt;</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#39;re having the back of our house re-rendered and roof repairs done at the same time. Here are some things I wish I knew before we started.</p>

<h3 id="get-a-breakdown-of-the-work-to-be-done" id="get-a-breakdown-of-the-work-to-be-done">Get a breakdown of the work to be done</h3>

<p>If the job quoted for is more than £1000, insist on a breakdown of what work is to be done. It is not a breach of trust to ask for something that will be of use to both parties involved.</p>

<h3 id="don-t-use-mybuilder-ratedpeople-or-similar-marketplaces" id="don-t-use-mybuilder-ratedpeople-or-similar-marketplaces">Don&#39;t use MyBuilder, RatedPeople or similar marketplaces</h3>

<p>The contractors who do the actual work don&#39;t have the time or money to pay for leads, so the ones on those sites usually sub-contract, or work the lead generation costs into their fees. Customers may be too intimidated to post negative reviews, so you only see good reviews. Rather try to get recommendations via word-of-mouth.</p>

<h3 id="don-t-use-builders-with-sub-contractors" id="don-t-use-builders-with-sub-contractors">Don&#39;t use builders with sub-contractors</h3>

<p>While it may make things easier for you in terms of having a single point of contact, you may end up paying twice what you would&#39;ve paid if you dealt with each contractor separately. There&#39;s no guarantee that the builder treats his sub-contractors well, and he&#39;s probably taking most of the profit for himself.</p>

<p><a href="https://gerritniezen.com/tag:homeimprovement" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">homeimprovement</span></a> <a href="https://gerritniezen.com/tag:renovation" class="hashtag"><span>#</span><span class="p-category">renovation</span></a></p>

<p><i>Comment on this post</i>
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      <guid>https://gerritniezen.com/expensive-lessons-learned-from-doing-home-improvements</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Mar 2019 17:27:46 +0000</pubDate>
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