Singing Pig

hi,

i have just noticed this forum.

i whole heartedly agree with the sentiments of Ollie in that i encounter difficulties that perhaps men would not encouter purely because of my sex. I agree with cathy's comments

..............Don' feel patronised at all I'm afraid. I use a mixture of sites that are geared at women and sites that are for everyone. All fit different purposes .........

One of my problems ........well infact my biggest problem, is the demon builders, it feels like they take one look at me and shout yippee
I have four properties in the north, three of them i have refurbed.......never again in that area. If a light switch needs changing, i am told it needs a full re-wire, if a tap is dripping I apparently needs all the plumbing changed. On the house i am working on at the moment, when i told the electrician that i appreciated his advise but could he give me a quote for replacing the broken switch, he muttered something very rude under his breathe and skulled off.

now when i meet these guys, I am not dresed like sarah beeny with a short skirt and something slashed to the waist. I have my special outfit of cat boots(very dirty) jeans with plenty of mastic around the knees and an old jumper with moth holes everywhere oh and my hair which is long and red is stuffed up under a wooly cap........perhaps i should dress like sarah Beeny, perhaps that is where i am going wrong.

Anyway getting back to the point I phoned another electrician, dragged a male friend along, stood in the corner clutching a copy of woman's own and said nothing and guess what, the place didn't need a full re-wire (£3000) if just needed a bit of a tidy up (£200). By the way these properties are in the north!!!!

My question is have any of you ladies had this sort of experience and in which area??? Or have you had more positive experiences.

the only reason I am posting this here because I do not think it would be of much interest on the main board but any comments or suggestions by guys would be more than welcome

kathrine

ps it really gets on my t*ts to have to take a token bloke along with me to be taken seriously

I know exactly what you mean, however, I buy locally, very expensive in the south, but that does mean that I use the same local guys. It is different if you are a girl but I always say 'if you finish by a certain day - I'll make sure a bottle of whisky is yours' that helps! And giving the same guy regular work helps, although everyone has a sell-by date. Do you find though that the more you buy the better it is - the apprentiship is nearly over! Not taking the daft comments too seriously helps but letting them know that you have heard is good. My builder wants to do a JV with me so something must be right - except the timing is not! Hope this sounds clear to you.

Some guys you click with and want to work with, some guys you can;t wait till the job has ended - but that mainly goes for stuff at home - I suppose the only solution is do it yourself - not an option although my brother in law is training to be an electrician that might help! Blockes are funny though - don't they see the big picture or do they only see the job in hand?

With best wishes
Cathy

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Whenever I encounter a problem like this I either get several quotes or at the very least make out I will be getting more quotes. If you pitch them against one another you will get something near enough - eventually!

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George

Post Edited By Moderator (Ollie) : 9/29/2004 4:56:30 PM GMT

hi

GEORGE SAYS
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well i am just on my way out so have not the time to address this issue fully, however, george, with due respect...........THIS IS A WOMENS FORUM.......and if you want to post a (pathetic) joke, please be curtious enough to address it to Gals/guys

Addressing it to only guys(on a womans forum grrrrrr) is both disrespectful and IMHO looks like you are trying to incourage men to take over this forum.

Know your place george
........in this forum (it is where you belong) it is behind our butt

show some respect man
katpoo

Post Edited By Moderator (Ollie) : 9/29/2004 4:57:13 PM GMT

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Post Edited By Moderator (Ollie) : 9/29/2004 4:58:11 PM GMT

george you said

With all due respect you did request comments from guys in your original post..........
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YES ABSOLUTELY

my comment was ...........WHY DID YOU SAY GUYS ...........and not gals and guys ( when you addresed your joke) on a womens forum........show some respect................

and as for being touchy and not having a sense of humour ........... a serious case of projection dont you think???????

i have a fabulous sense of humour, just dont have the time to demonstrate it right now.

to busy laughing my tits
at your comment on if i do a refurb i should do all the work myself !!!!!!!

as my dear departed father used to say ............you use your head for thinking and your feet for dancing ..............i have a brain why on earth do you think that i would do the work on a refurb myself

please dont throw your teddy and go off in a sulk , i suspect we may get on eventually, are you man enough for the challenge ??????? ????????smile:
katpoo

ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY

How did you know I still have my teddy bear? - Womens intuition I guess

George

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Katpoo,

I think I missed all of the excitement due to most of George being deleted, but I think I get the idea of the subject---

My wife and I (yes, i'm a guy) are forever discussing this same issue as we are both in property/business though not together. The best weapon against the problem that you have with male builders taking advantage is knowledge. When you first got into property yourself, I am sure that you noticed that there was a certain vocabulary and manor of the way that you would interact with your buying team (broker, solicitor, agents[though this is another story altogether!]). Dealing with builders is exactly the same.

I don't mean for this to come out the wrong way to all of you builders out there, but it's not brain surgery. Don't get me wrong, there is alot to be said for acumen for a builder in all of the different types of trade, but to rewire a switch or install a shower is not that difficult. The more you do it the less time it takes and the less silly mistakes you make.

You will find that having the knowledge to know the details of what needs to be done is just as important of carring out the work. That way you may want it to seem to a builder is that you know how to do it yourself, but just have other more important things to do. It is easier for an electrician to take advantage when you ask 'how much is it to install an outside flood light?' that it would to if you would TELL him 'splice a 13amp wire from an inside outlet, run it through the wall, and connect it to a 1 gang all weather switch ran to a 500 watt spot light and be sure to fill the hole drilled through the house with sealant to keep the wet out.' You might even find that if you know what needs to be done, you can pick up the materiels yourself and save quite a lot. I just made the above addition to one of our houses and the materiels for 2 lights was £5 cheaper than an electrician was quoting for the materials for one.

You were on the right track to start dressing down which keeps them from being distracted. Reading up on some of the smaller bricks and mortar items to increase your knowledge will help your confidence and be able to point out if someone is trying to pull a fast one.

To get you on the right track, on amazon.co.uk if you search DIY in the software section there is a program by Tommy Walsh for £1.50 with video and 3d descriptions to show you the basics of DIY.

Good luck.

Arrow