Can you recommend a wardrobe fitter near me?

We are often asked this question and the short answer is, unfortunately, ‘no’. We do not hold a database of recommended wardrobe fitters, the main reason being that we would only want to recommend an individual or a business if we had first hand experience of their work or if we had personally inspected it, and unfortunately this is not possible due to the number of orders we supply.

Of course, we know many wardrobe fitters and wardrobe installers who purchase sliding wardrobe doors from us on a regular basis, which would indicate they have many of their own satisfied customers, and therefore presumably do a good job.

We are happy to pass on the contact details of such installers if they are in your general area, on the understanding that it would not be a ‘recommendation’ from us, as we have not directly seen or inspected their work. If you are interested in sourcing a wardrobe installer on this basis let us know the broad area or relevant postcode for the installation address and we can check our database to see if we have supplied any installers in your area. If we are not able to provide you with the contact details for a joiner or installer local to you please see below for a few helpful suggestions of how you may go about finding one. Also offered below are a few tips relating to due diligence and how this can help inform your choice of tradesperson.

Choosing an appropriate tradesperson or wardrobe fitter

There are a number of terms used to describe the type of tradespersons that may be able to help you:

• General tradespersons – for example, joiners, carpenters, general builders.
• Craftspersons – for example, cabinetmakers, master carpenters, bespoke furniture fitters. Such people may only be interested in more complex, bespoke fitted or built-in furniture projects.
• Specialist fitters / installers – a wide category of tradespersons who may be engaged specifically in wardrobe installations and built-in wardrobe interiors but could also kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and built-in storage systems etc.

How to find a wardrobe installer to fit your sliding wardrobe doors

Family / friends

Asking for recommendations from family and friends is always a good start - most likely any recommendations will be a general tradesperson. If a tradesperson is recommended this way we would also suggest that, if possible, you go and view the work they have completed – this will give you chance to inspect the work, as what someone else may consider to be a good standard of work may not be in your eyes. Also, if you receive a recommendation for a tradesperson this way it is worth asking / searching to see if they have a website or Facebook page. If other projects and customer reviews are available, this will help you in your decision whether to engage them or not.

Google search

An initial search on Google (or other search engine) can be useful but will likely produce dozens of results, many of which may be a market place websites (see below), online directories and/or larger building or joinery businesses. If you are lucky you may find an individual joiner or wardrobe fitters close to you.

One other thing to bear in mind with a Google search is that you are more likely to find larger joinery businesses rather than individual joiners.

Market place websites

Market place websites are specialist ‘hub’ websites that connect customers with local tradespeople. There are a number of market place websites for which you can input your requirements and request quotes for jobs eg:

www.trustatrader.com
www.checkatrade.com
www.ratedpeople.com
www.mybuilder.com

Typically, these sites work by guiding you through a predetermined set of questions that allow you to outline the job requirements and the locality in which the work is to be undertaken. This information is then sent out to any member that matches the criteria whilst you sit back and wait for the replies to come back to you.

Once you receive the replies you can then check the different suppliers’ profiles. These should include any relevant qualifications, a portfolio of previous projects and also reviews from previous customers. An overall rating for that supplier is also often provided.

The vetting criteria for joining such websites can be quite strict so before the tradesperson/company is allowed to join they will be asked to complete or produce all or some of the following information: qualifications, insurance certificates, credit checks, trading standard checks, proof of address.

Online directories

Online directories such as Yell offer a database of joiners which you can search for in a specific area. They are similar to the market place websites but there are no pre-checks, so in essence anyone can add a listing and market themselves. You will have to contact each individual person or company to see if they are interested in the work.

Facebook

A local Facebook page is quite a good place to find and check out tradespersons in your area. You can also find a number of joiner/ carpenter/builder specific groups where you can post a request for a joiner in a specific area.

Gumtree

Gumtree is a classified advertisements website where users can buy and sell goods or services and also find or offer jobs in a specific area. These are classified ads so the tradesperson will have paid to advertise here. If you have used Gumtree before and have had successful results then it may be worth using to see if there are any matches.

Flat-pack furniture installers

We know of a couple of our customers who have employed the services of companies who specialises in assembling flat-pack furniture. However, we would suggest that from experience, the installation of our sliding wardrobe doors is more involved a task than a company like this would undertake – for example, there will be a certain amount of measuring, cutting and drilling necessary, compared to the simpler process involved in assembling flat-pack furniture.

DIY installation

Don’t forget that our sliding wardrobe doors are specially designed to enable DIY installation, so if you are a confident, enthusiastic DIYer then you should be more than up-to the challenge of installing our sliding wardrobe doors. On our website we have a number of comprehensive, free to download installation guides that will take you, step-by-step, through the stages of installing our sliding wardrobe doors.

Briefing – know the extent and scope of the work you want doing

When you have identified a tradesperson that you wish to brief on the job there are a few simple points to remember to help smooth the process:

• If your initial contact with a tradesperson is via a website or by email, try to include as much detail as you think is relevant but also aim to write a concise brief.
• If your initial contact is by phone, write a few bullet points down first so you don’t forget to mention any important points.
• If briefing a tradesperson face-to-face, aim to have a good overall understanding of the project and what potential issues it may entail prior to their arrival. Try to be concise in the information you give and be sure that both parties agree on any options discussed or that may be offered by them. If you foresee any potential issues relating to existing fittings such as power sockets, light switches, skirting boards, ceiling coving etc. be sure to point out such items.
• It may also be helpful to mention our website so that they can understand our sliding wardrobe doors and what they may need to do to install the doors – our sliding wardrobe doors installation guide page would be a good starting point. You can also use this link in your email to a potential tradesperson: www.wardrobedoorsdirect.co.uk/installation-guide
• If, after meeting with a tradesperson, you are still unsure about any aspect of their service or quality of work, ask if they have testimonials from any satisfied customers or if they can provide contact details of any previous customers you could ring to ask for their feedback. If the customer is really pleased with their completed work then they should be more than happy to talk about the work done. However, we also think it is worth taking other peoples' feedback with a 'pinch of salt' as for many people a 'good job' could mean that the tradesperson was tidy and cleaned-up after themselves (which all tradespersons should do), but an untidy tradesperson may not necessarily mean a bad job.
• Remember, the more relevant detail you can include the more likely the tradesperson will be inclined to provide a quote – if you are too vague about what you want or indecisive about too many elements, then potentially they will wait for the next, easier request to land in their Inbox! Good tradespeople are always in demand, so if you can describe the job required in simple, but informed terms they will be much more likely to provide a quote.

Obtaining and comparing quotes

In an ideal world we would suggest that you get three comparative quotes but not necessarily to opt for the lowest price. Some tradespersons may underprice a job simply to try and win it, whereas a much higher price may indicate a company that does not really want to undertake the work but will do so if they can charge a premium rate.

Always make sure you have the tradesperson’s quote in writing or on a typed letterhead prior to engaging them to do the work. Any additional costs or divergences from the initial brief can then be discussed more easily at a later stage, if necessary.

For some help in how to assess the costs associated with fitting our sliding wardrobe doors please see our article How much do fitted wardrobes cost?

Next steps

If you have found a joiner and they have quoted and you are happy with the quote there are still a number additional due diligence checks you can undertake:

• Try to speak to previous customers
• Try to visit a previous customers’ home to inspect the work undertaken
• Look for reviews online
• Check if they have a Facebook page as this will show other jobs and potential feedback from previous customers
• Ask if they have a portfolio of previous projects / photographs
• Look to see if they have relevant qualifications
• Check to see if they carry Public Liability Insurance

Other considerations

Bear in mind that well-established, good quality tradespersons will have a large customer base, possibly with many other trades using them.This means they may be booked-up weeks (or even months) in advance so if you decide to use them their service will need to be planned-in to coincide with the scheduled delivery of the wardrobe doors/interiors. These generally have a lead time of 3-4 weeks between ordering and delivery.

We always recommend that you plan to have the doors delivered some time in advance of the planned installation date so if there is an issue with product quality (e.g. on the very rare occasion where doors/tracks/interiors have been damaged in transit) then there is sufficient time to rectifying such an occurrence.

Contact us

If you have any queries in relation to this article please contact our Design Team on 0800 035 1730.