James Reeve, decorator at Royal Spa Decoration, said it’s not easy to find a good decorator who is readily available to attend to a self build and that’s because they are always booked months in advance especially if it is a one-man band business.

“The same I would say applies to big companies but that doesn’t mean that if you find someone available then they are not good decorators. Generally decorators will be booked months in advance.”

According to carpenter John Argyle, most people tend to think carpenters just make furniture. “When I started we were doing everything from concrete, making windows, brick work and learning how to mark the arch was part of the job for a carpenter. Now we have a lot of bespoke work like counter tops and all the special stuff that people ask for now.”

Electrician Nick Bundy said: “If they are looking at a rewire before they move in, we are the first people that should go in simply because we are going to pull walls down and make a mess. If it’s just a rewire and modernisation, electrician and plumber have to go in first.”

Jack Auletta, owner of a construction company said: “I own a construction company that has 11 employees all covering the different trades covering from ground work all the way to tile roof. We take on all sorts of jobs from your small extension to refurbishment to new builds and we work with self builders as well. “ I have been doing this for 30 years and one of the difficulties I talk about with clients is picking up a wrong trades people. My advice on this is to look for reputation. Look for people who have worked on a similar project before.

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