hiring friends for a renovation

WOULD YOU RENOVATE ALL IN ONE GO OR DO IT ROOM BY ROOM? YES NO IS HIRING FRIENDS FOR A RENOVATION A GOOD IDEA? Getting a skilled mate to help with a house project can save money, but is it worth risking a friendship? Two readers reveal their thoughts THE BIG DEBATE ‘I didn’t want to make things awkward by complaining so kept silent’ ‘We said what we thought and Faith Mitchell (@faithmitchellinteriors) lives with partner Andy in a 1950s threebed semi-detached house in Newcastle ‘Using a friend to help with a renovation makes it hard to complain when something is wrong. It can be awkward. When renovating our house we had a family friend do all of our doors and skirting boards. While he was very cheap and saved us a lot of money, he ended up dinting all of our newly laid floor in the kitchen. I don’t know whether he’d dropped the doors or the pieces of wood, but after he left there were dints all over Bianca Opris (@opris_b_designs) is an interior designer based in Brussels ‘You can work for friends if there is trust and communication. When I started out, working took everything in good humour’ for NEXT MONTH: the floor. We’d paid so much to have it done and now it really needed taking up and doing again. ‘Because he lives next door to my relatives, I didn’t want to make anything awkward for them by complaining so we kept silent and didn’t say anything. In the end I filled them in myself and we have lived with it. ‘I think if you are paying full price for a friends was an obvious way to gain experience and service, you expect a good result and feel you build up my portfolio, and I was prepared to offer have more of a comeback if something is wrong. mates’ rates in exchange. I made over a young When we had the company in to lay the floor, there couple’s tired 1980s house. Designed and projectwere a few areas where I wasn’t happy with the managed an apartment update. And oversaw a big finish. I called them and asked them to come back. extension build for someone I’d met via Facebook. ‘But this guy was helping us out, he was ‘With the young couple I was friends with, we retired and he’d done it cheap, so we didn’t really weren’t afraid to voice our (few) disagreements feel we could say anything. And because he lived to reach a positive outcome. We communicated next door to relatives we didn’t want to be like regularly, said what we thought worked and “You’ve damaged the floor and we are really not what didn’t and took everything in good humour. happy about it,” then have to see him every time For my Facebook friend, we became a team and we went over to their house. It made it awkward. delivered a large residential renovation as if we’d ‘Another downside to using friends is having done it for ages. Again, there was communication to fit in with their schedule and when they can and mutual respect. I did my utmost for the come and help. Other (paying) jobs take priority, project and she said she felt supported mentally which can be frustrating. If something gets and emotionally on top of the work itself. pushed back because of someone else’s job, it has ‘With my other friend, I knew her and her a knock-on effect on when everything else is done.’ family very well but every decision was questioned in the “family forum”. That situation takes careful navigation. Working for a relationship dynamic. But friend changes we got there in the the end. If you’re paying full price for a the ‘The design process is consultative, that way agreed plan pleases both parties. I try to be service, you feel you have more of as flexible as possible as I know imposing won’t work. Not with friends, not with any my ideas client.’ a comeback if something is wrong