Everyone tells you to get three quotes and compare them. This guide tells you what to compare them on, trade by trade, in plain English.
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Before you sign anything
Quotes rarely use the same words for the same job. A low total can look attractive while the prep, the waste removal or the finish sit outside the price.
One tradesman includes waste removal. Another leaves it off. The lower number can end up the more expensive job once work starts.
Materials, prep, disposal and payment stages get described differently from one tradesman to the next. You end up comparing figures that don't cover the same work.
A missing line could mean it's included, forgotten, or left for you to sort out later. The checklist tells you which, and what to ask about it.
What's inside
Written from thirty years on site, not a script.
Ten things every quote should have, whatever the job. Scope, materials, VAT, payment stages, guarantees. Miss more than two or three and that's your first red flag.
What to look for in joinery, tiling, flooring and decorating specifically. The part a generalist review can't give you, because each trade hides its shortcuts in a different place.
A page to lay two or three quotes side by side: total price, what's included, materials, payment schedule, red flags spotted. The gaps between them tell you more than any single quote does on its own.
Ask these out loud, in person or on the phone. How someone answers tells you as much as what they say.
The comparison worksheet
Lay two or three quotes side by side and the differences jump out. You'll walk away knowing exactly what's still open on each one.
A page from the guide, filled in as a worked example.
Who wrote this
Thirty years hands-on in joinery, tiling, flooring and decorating, trading as C&L Services (UK) Limited. This guide is the advice I'd give a friend before they signed anything. No obligation, no hard sell.
Get the guide
A PDF you can read in one sitting or keep on your phone for when the quotes land. No subscription, nothing else to buy afterwards.
Questions before you buy
Yes. The comparison worksheet works with quotes you already have, and the checklist tells you what to check for in the one you're holding right now.
Joinery, tiling, flooring and decorating each get their own section. The ten-point checklist applies whatever work you're having done.
There's a quote review call included inside the guide. Send your quote over beforehand and go through it with Craig on a video call.
It's a PDF, delivered straight after checkout, so you can start reading before your next quote lands.