Most people choose a trade on price and a good feeling. Both matter, but neither tells you whether the job will be done properly or whether anyone will answer the phone in six months. Here is what to check, in the order we would check it if we were hiring someone for our own house. It applies to us as much as to anyone else.
Where should I look?
Start with people you know, then Google, then the directories. A recommendation from a neighbour is still the best signal there is. Google will show you a business’s profile with reviews and photos of real jobs. The directories, Checkatrade, MyBuilder, TrustATrader and Which? Trusted Traders, vet their members and carry reviews, and they are worth reading, with one caveat: trades pay to be on them, and that cost shapes the quotes you get. Nextdoor and local Facebook groups are useful for the honest word of mouth and hopeless for anything else.
Are they insured?
Ask for public liability insurance and expect a straight answer with a figure. If something goes wrong in your house, this is what pays for it. A trade that hesitates or cannot name the insurer is telling you something. Ours is £2,000,000 with Hiscox, and we will show the certificate.
Are they a real business?
A trading name, a company number or a registered sole trader, an address, a landline or a number that is answered. None of that guarantees good work, but the absence of all of it means you have no one to go back to. Mendwell is the trading name of Life Assembly Limited, company number 13963870, based in Nuneaton.
Do they say what they will not do?
This is the check most people miss. Someone who says yes to everything is either exceptional or about to attempt something they should not. Gas is Gas Safe registered engineers only, no exceptions. Electrical work that needs certifying, a new circuit, a consumer unit, anything in a bathroom, needs a registered electrician. The right answer is “I will bring one in and manage it” or “that is not for me”, never “I will have a go”. We wrote down our own list: who Mendwell is not for.
Will they visit before quoting?
A price from a photo is an estimate that will grow. A trade that visits, looks at the frame or the posts or the wall, and then gives you a fixed figure in writing is telling you they know what the job takes. Half an hour of their time before the job is worth a great deal of yours after it.
Is the quote written down and itemised?
A number on a text is not a quote. A quote says what is included, what is not, what the materials are, what happens if something unexpected is found, and when you pay. If waste removal, decorating or the second side of a door are not on it, they are not in the price. Which? advises the same: get it in writing, broken down, and treat the cheapest as a question rather than an answer.
What are they asking for up front?
A deposit that covers the materials is normal and sensible. Half the job before anyone has turned up is not. Payment by bank transfer against an invoice protects both sides; a discount for cash is a red flag, not a favour.
What do the reviews actually say?
Read the recent ones and the middling ones, not the star average. Look for specifics: what the job was, whether they turned up when they said, whether the house was left tidy, whether a problem was put right. Twenty reviews at 4.8 that describe real jobs tell you more than five at 5.0 that say “great guy”.
Do they answer?
Call or message, and see what happens. A reply within the day, a straight answer to a straight question, and a date rather than a vague “next week” are the habits that carry through into the job.
Do you need the cheapest, or the right one?
Both are legitimate. If the lowest number is what matters most, say so, get three quotes, and pick the lowest that passes the checks above. If you want the job done once, tidily, by someone who will still be answering the phone next year, expect to pay a little more and to be told honestly when something is not worth doing.
Where Mendwell fits
We are the second kind. Property maintenance for homes and businesses, based in Nuneaton, working across Warwickshire, a visit before every quote, a fixed price in writing, solid materials, the room protected, and a plain list of what we will not touch. If that sounds right, book a visit at mendwell.co.uk/book. If you are outside the towns you see us mention, ask anyway.
Reviewed September 2026.
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