LPOC vs SPAB

[wibblewobble]

Hello all!

My partner and I purchased our first home in December, a mid-17th century cottage in Kent. We want to make sure we're doing everything properly, so we need guidance along the way. To achieve this we registered with the Listed Property Owner's Club upon the recommendation of a friend... but we are having zero luck getting any kind of response from any of the companies in their registry for the projects we're looking at undertaking. We've left numerous messages with each company at this point without hearing anything back. We haven't looked too far outside of their registry as we want to make sure whoever we hire has experience with this type of property.

Is it just a very very busy time of year? Or are we maybe looking at an extremely limited range of vendors when we really could be casting a wider net? Is the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings a better resource?

We've gone the LPOC route simply because we're new at this and it was recommended, but I'm starting to think it wasn't the way to go. From reading threads here it seems like you're all a much more active resource. What are your thoughts on sourcing historic property-aware plumbers, carpenters, etc?

Thanks in advance for reading this novel of a post!

- Shane

 

[Itchinfilth]

Hello!
It helps to get a good understanding of the construction methods and materials used on your house. By learning as much as you can you might find you won't need any specialists if you can specify exactly what needs to be done to not damage any important parts of the fabric or decorative items. Especially for things like plumbing. Appreciate the need for a a more specialist joiner if its structural.

I've met some great contractors on My Builder that don't advertise on the web or exist on any recommended lists as being "specialists" but have tonnes of experience working on older houses and realy know their stuff.

 

[wibblewobble]

Very helpful advice! Thanks so much. I do think we'll have more success reaching out to people not advertising as specialists, who won't be inundated by all the people like me who are looking within that narrow category.

 

[a twig]

No experience of LPOC but SPAB were a lot more useful 10-15 years ago when the current wealth of knowledge and suppliers available on the internet wasn’t so prevalent. I got many useful reference books and articles from them back then when first grappling with lime and breathability.

Nowadays the answers to most questions are just a quick search away

 

[Kearn]

Personal recommendations, or searching and heavy vetting.

Must decent historic trades won’t need to advertise, and I remember a recent discussion where many said they’d never bother with either of those publications due to the costs involved to be listed.