Q. How do I find a reliable builder?

Q. I am planning to build a very simple extension to my house. How do I find a reliable builder?

A. If you have plans and specifications ready it would be a good idea to have your Architect or Engineer recommend a builder. This dramatically increases the likelihood that they have professional references and they will be loyal to the Architect (or engineer) as well as yourself because the repeat business they cherish will come from them and not you. The entire building process is complex at the best of times and is only worsened if a good trustworthy relationship is not established with a competent builder at the outset. John Ruskin once said "There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey." This quote is particularly apt when it comes to construction. Before you put any builder on your tender list make sure he is insured with 3 types of insurance, (Public Liability Insurance to cover the brick falling on the passer-by's head, Employer's liability insurance to cover the chap falling off the roof and Contractors All Risk's Insurance to cover the works so you get more than just "sorry Maam" when the chap with the blow torch sets it on fire the day before handover). Avoid "cash" deals (i.e. 13.5%VAT avoidance) as they forfeit your legal protection and if your builder lies to the taxman maybe he lies to you too! A local builder in a country village will normally behave himself to preserve his reputation but in large cities like Dublin it is too easy for the rogue builders to flit around the place undetected. My strong advice would be to not allow anyone price who is not pre-approved as outlined above. Having said all this there are a number of very competent, experienced and fair builders who will work on tight and competitive, though not impossible, profit margins. Remember that "The Workman is worthy of his wage" and the last thing you want is a builder going into liquidation while on your project. As a rough rule of thumb I would advise that any works over €30,000 in value should have at least a partial service by an Architect and anything over €60,000 should have a full service where a standard RIAI contract is administered and interim payments are certified by the architect. Strangely enough most people find that, for a small proportion of the overall spend, the architect saved them a fortune in the entire process. As always we at Help My House are happy to advise on site for any specific project for the €150 fee.

FIRST AREA ARCHITECTS CONFERENCE 10-2-12 RIAI

Jan Van Dijk, Harry Bent, John Hodgins, Malcolm O'Beirn and Gareth O'Callaghan

Michael Tierney, Anthony Brabazon (standing), Jan Van Dijk, Harry Bent, John HOdgins, Malcolm O'Beirne and Gareth O'Callaghan

Malcolm O'Beirne, Gareth O'Callaghan, Sandy Williams, John Graby (RIAI Director), Michael Tierney and Anthony Brabazon

Jan Van Dijk, Harry Bent, John Hodgins, Malcolm O'Beirn, Gareth O'Callaghan, Sandy Williams, Martin Murray and Anthony Brabazon

John Graby (RIAI Director) with Michael Tierney

Michael Tierney, Anthony Brabazon (standing), Jan Van Dijk, Harry Bent and John Hodgins

HELP MY HOUSE NATIONWIDE TEAM

Area Architects gather at RIAI in Dublin for Nationwide (direct service) and Northern Ireland Launch. Pictured from left to right are: Martin Murray (Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow west), Sandy Williams (Kerry north), Gareth O'Callaghan (Cork east and north) , John Hodgins (Wicklow East), Anthony Brabazon (Dublin), Jan Van Dijk (Louth, Monaghan, Armagh, Down), Michael Tierney (Wexford, Carlow), Dermot McCabe (Mayo) and Harry Bent (Waterford, Kilkenny). These and 11 others offer all Ireland coverage for your house.

'Help My House' service expanding to NI and UK

While it is a difficult time for architects it is equally a difficult time for homeowners who need expert,  impartial and affordable advice on house defects.  The Help My House.ie service is proving to be that elusive marriage made in heaven.

Approximately two years ago a former client from Sandymount asked architect Anthony Brabazon to look at a wet wall in her house.  She had called in a "builder" and, despite assurances that the problem was "fixed", she found that the wall was wetter than before!  Hot on the heels of this house visit he was approached by a local builder who described some incidences of unscrupulous roofers taking advantage of people in the Dublin 4 area.  The 'roofer' would approach the homeowner advising that a few slates were missing, climb his ladder, make a bigger hole in the roof and then quote a price to 'fix the problem'.  It sometimes happened that, while up on the roof, a few slates would be removed from the neighbour's roof ensuring that more work could be quoted for.

Having been involved in house design, repair and renovations for the previous twenty years, this wasn't totally new to Anthony but it was a tipping point.  A sense of outrage built and, following discussion with others in his office, 'Help My House' was born.  Anthony realised that all the experience of two decades could be put to good use in helping people avoid being ripped off.  It was time for architects to come down from the ivory tower!  People from all over Ireland could contact Anthony's office and be directed to a 'Help My House' architect in their area. 
After the success of the first two years Anthony feels it is time to expand the service into Northern Ireland and then into the UK.  Also, in Ireland, the area architects will now locally promote the service and homeowners will be able to directly contact their local architect with the information available on the helpmyhouse.ie site.

This Friday morning (10-February) at RIAI, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2,  there will be a gathering of up to 20 Architects for the first Annual Help My House Area Architects Conference.  The main focus of the gathering is the decentralization process to the counties outside Dublin as well as the expansion to Northern Ireland.  Having conducted over 170 Help My House visits Anthony Brabazon will be speaking on the ethos of the business as well as his experiences to date.  Also being discussed will be the expansion of the service into Northern Ireland.  

On the team there are nine conservation architects (2 Grade I, 2 Grade II and 5 Grade III).  There are also three award-winning firms and two 'passive house' architects.  Homeowners will now be able to directly contact their local 'Help My House' architect and for a fixed price of €150 (€200 in rural areas) have them visit, diagnose defects and recommend both a tailor-made solution and appropriate contractor(s) for the works.  The hidden secret is that the contractor, being loyal to the architect who is a source of repeat business, offers the client an exemplary service, something people could only dream of in the past as they witnessed another dodgy van driver disappear into the mist with their cash.

Over the past two years there have been approximately four hundred house visits made, two hundred of these in the Dublin area.  The service has saved people having to replace roofs, rescued people from scary planning enforcements, cleared out wasps' nests, solved damp mysteries, assisted the disabled and elderly, calmed fears over cracks and subsidence, made houses warmer, and remodelled house space where necessary.  On top of this, the clients have been connected with reputable builders and tradesmen thereby achieving the original goal of giving peace of mind and saving money.  So far we can agree with a certain well known character in saying, "Can we fix it? Yes, we can".
Visit helpmyhouse.ie on the web to make contact with your local Area Architect and arrange a visit to your home or ring 01-6683519
The Cost is €150 in the cities and €200 elsewhere (VAT included).

Q. What energy grants are available from SEAI? (Dec.2011)

GRANTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE BUT IN MANY CASES HAVE BEEN MARGINALLY REDUCED. The following information comes from seai.ie:

The Better Energy Homes scheme temporarily closed for new applications following Budget 2012 and a subsequent announcement by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

As with all schemes administered by SEAI, the Better Energy Homes scheme is subject to continuous review with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with respect to programme objectives.  To date over €115m has been paid in grant support towards 270,000 upgrade measures in 110,000 homes.  There is also a noted continued downward trend in the typical cost of works, particularly in the case of wall insulation.

Therefore after a review with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources a number of scheme revisions have been agreed, which will come into effect when the scheme reopens on December 8^th 2011, at 10.00 a.m. 

The two key changes to the scheme are

• Revised grant amounts for all wall insulation types and Building Energy Rating (BER)
• Internal and external wall insulation grants will no longer be one single amount, but rather be based upon the house type.

Grants for attic insulation and all heating system upgrades including solar remain unchanged.

A summary of the new grant levels, and how they relate to house type, is shown below:

New application guide, application forms and online application are now available on www.seai.ie/betterenergyhomes.

ARCHITECTS TO THE RESCUE

Everybody has a horror story they can tell about a home improvement gone wrong. Whether the “victim” is themselves, a family member or friend, the end result is the same – the person ends up out of pocket and the house is remains unimproved.
The reason for the endless list of sorry tales is largely due to the number of homeowners who fail to get independent advice from salesmen and end up paying well over the odds for work carried out to their property. Sometimes the work is unnecessary; while on other occasions the work is unprofessional and fails to repair the damage.
Thankfully, we are set to see a diminishing amount of people unhappy with the results of their home improvements thanks to Help My House, which is now in its second year troubleshooting homeowners’ problems.

The nationwide organisation, which comprises 19 registered architects from the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI), was set up by Anthony Brabazon in a bid to solve the rising tide of dissatisfaction amongst homeowners carrying out home improvements on their properties.

Help My House has become a vital service in Ireland today. With no sign of recovery for the property market and an increasing number of people facing negative equity, more and more property owners are choosing to improve their homes rather than upgrade. Last year, over 175 benefited from this flat fee service. City based homeowners pay a fee of €150 including VAT while all others are charged €200. Homeowners can either log onto the website www.helpmyhouse.ie or call 01 6683519. Within two days the area architect will contact them and a visit will be arranged within two weeks. At the end of the site visit, the architect will provide a written report with recommended solutions for the client.

“I recently had a client in North Dublin who was complaining about a roof leak. The roof was guaranteed so the man had called up the roof company and they had visited his house. The company failed to find the source of the problem, which was actually just a severe case of condensation,” said Anthony Brabazon. “When I checked the house I discovered that the kitchen extractor wasn’t connected properly to the outside of the house. If the problem had not been properly identified, there is a good chance the homeowner would have taken the drastic step of replacing the entire roof. Worse than that, the problem would still have remained.”

According to Brabazon, Help My House is thriving during our recessionary times because people are increasingly looking for low cost solutions to their house problems. “We are very used to dealing with people on tight budgets and fortunately we are in a position to help them.”

Q. How do I deal with blocked drains?

Q. We are having ongoing problems with blocked drains. Should I contact the city council?

HMH: Most blockages are on either private drains or common (shared private) drains. a small bit of detective work should establish if it’s a proverbial “nappy”  blockage or a broken drain caused by building work, tree roots or, as I recently experienced, a tree stake driven through the heart (of a drain). If the mystery persists contact a drainage company who will, for a fee, do a video survey where the problem gets pinpointed.  When new building work is carried out over drains it ought to be done in such a way where the old sewer is not taking extra weight, is encased in concrete and is capable of being rodded (i.e. no sharp bends without manholes). Of course if the blockage is on road or public land…ring the city council drainage section.