Buildings here are used intensively: shops at the bottom, coaching or offices above, flats above that. So a repair often involves a part of the building that more than one person uses, and the practical question is usually who it belongs to before what is wrong with it.
Shared staircases and common windows
The window on a landing, the glass over a common door and the railing on a shared stair belong to everybody and therefore to nobody.\n\nThey are the last things repaired and often the most used.\n\nWe are happy to quote these as a single job to be split, with a clear written price, because that is usually what unblocks it. A quote addressed to one person for a shared item rarely gets agreed, and the item stays broken for years.
Working in a building with many tenants
Access here needs arranging with more than one person, and a repair on one floor often needs a few minutes on another.\n\nSo we ask at booking who holds the keys to the landing, the terrace and the meter room.\n\nIt sounds like a small thing and it is the usual reason a short job takes a whole morning. Five minutes on the phone beforehand is worth more than anything else we can do to keep the cost of these jobs down.
Grilles and safety on the lower floors
Ground and first floor windows here generally have grilles, and many were fitted long ago with no opening section.\n\nThat is a real risk rather than a theoretical one, because a grilled window is also a blocked escape route.\n\nSo where we replace or repair a grille on a lower floor we fit one with an opening panel and a simple internal catch. It costs slightly more than a fixed grille, it is no less secure from outside, and it is the version we would want in our own homes.
How the job works
- Tell us about the jobSend a few photos, rough sizes and what you need. Use WhatsApp or the form. For a repair, a short video of the door moving helps a lot.
- We call you back in about 2 minutesWe confirm what you need and a time to visit. Where we can, we give you a rough price on the call.
- We come and measureWe measure the opening and check the walls, floor and ceiling around it. Anything made to size is made to these measurements, so they must be right.
- You get a written priceIt lists each item, with GST as its own line. If anything about the job changes, we tell you before we go ahead.
- We fit itYou approve the price and pay the advance. Our own team fits the work, checks that every door and window opens and closes properly, and clears up. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days.
