his308

Well we purchased out property in July and it doesn't need major works just kitchen, new sockets/switches, guttering etc. Have met up with several builders who would naturally sub-contract the type of initial work we need. First one gave us an estimate of £14,000! and the second one just hasn't got back. Ray, my partner has been out for 3 weeks and during that time all he could do was work on his own painting/gardening etc (he is not a diy type of guy!). Although the work he achieved was good it is not getting us very far in being able to stay comfortably at the house (no kitchen as such at the moment but he managed somehow). The house is in Zalakomar. Can anyone help at all. We intend getting the kitchen from Ikea as we have not found any kitchen shops in that area. Any help at all would be superb, preferably English speaking. Time is trucking on and would like to get back out whilst work is being carried out. Many many thanks for any contacts or advice.

Mitzyboy

Afraid all the tradesmen are probably over in the UK
Hope someone can offer you some help on here

FenTiger

I have a Hungarian brother-in-law. They and my parents-in-law have had work done on their houses every now and again. It's always been of a high standard. I think the bottom line is you have got to build up a network of contacts of people who will do a honest day's work for a honest day's pay. Are any of your neighbours Hungarian? Do they have contacts?
I don't know if 14,000 pounds is alot of money for the work to be done. Hungarians don't earn alot of money. In fact I earn 15,000 pounds per year more than my Hungarian brother-in-law yet he has a bigger house (including 2 bathrooms), 2 cars (one of them a brand new Suzuki Grand Vitara 4 WD, air-con, etc.), etc. They recently had some work done on one of their bathrooms. They were able to afford a very modern luxurious bathroom with one of those fancy jet showers. Maybe you need to do some research on builders pay rates to get a rough idea of whether you're getting ripped off or not. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law lives in North Hungary.

his308

Thank you for your advice, however since posting the thread I managed to locate two fantastic English workmen and a young Belgian tradesman. Between them they have transformed our home - and at a good and decent rate of pay. We are absolutely thrilled and it is thanks to this site that it has saved the day. They have become lovely friends, people we like and trust. Ray is coming back out on 6th Jan for three weeks whilst I keep the "home fires burning" and look after the pets! lucky Ray. Thanks again Lesley

FenTiger

His308 - great. Glad you have found some trusted tradesmen. When my time comes to move to Hungary I think I'm going to be much luckier because my wife is Hungarian and we should be able to use my brother-in-law's contacts to find good tradesmen to do jobs around our future house.
One thing we will definitely do is if there is a washing machine in the bathroom move it out as soon as possible. I'm not one for electrics in the bathroom. They scare me!

his308

Hi. Yes we noticed there are a few sockets in our bathroom too but don't intend using them! We are lucky we have two utility rooms one will house the freezer and the other our washer and cleaning things. Very useful to have good space. It's snowing over there today but only -5. I spoke to my relatives in Calgary yesterday and it was -45!!! Good luck when your time comes for house hunting. Regards

Mitzyboy

In Spain there are sockets in every bathroom! There are several in mine. I'm still alive

Markcomp

The sockets in the bathroom surprised me, but it seems very common except in the UK. Our electrician (and wifes cousin) says he has never heard of any problems, but maybe nobody trys to use a hairdryer near the bath!!
When we did our bathroom I just made sure it was a long way from water! Maybe UK regs stem from a time when appliances were not as safe...?