Advice Hub
Straight answers on the jobs people ask about most — what's worth doing yourself, what isn't, and how to stop small faults turning into expensive ones. Written by Craig Whetlor, 25+ years on the tools in Ivybridge and across South Devon.
Most home maintenance advice online is written by people who have never lifted a floorboard. Everything on this page comes from jobs actually carried out in Ivybridge, Plympton, Plymstock, Modbury, South Brent and the villages in between — Victorian terraces with lath and plaster, 1970s estates with dot-and-dab walls, converted barns with walls that are nowhere near square, and coastal properties taking a beating from salt-laden wind eight months a year.
That local context matters more than people expect. Damp behaves differently in solid-stone South Hams cottages than it does in a cavity-wall new build. Exterior timber in Newton Ferrers or Noss Mayo needs repainting far sooner than the same timber five miles inland. A fence specification that's fine in a sheltered Plymouth garden will be flat on the lawn after the first proper gale off Dartmoor.
The guides below cover the questions Craig gets asked on site most weeks. Each one links through to the relevant service page if you'd rather just have the job done properly and move on with your week.
Short, practical reads on the jobs that come up again and again in South Devon homes.
Tiling looks straightforward until you hit an out-of-square wall. Cutting around sockets, setting out so you don't finish on a 10mm sliver, and getting a consistent grout line are what separate a decent job from an obvious one. If it's a small splashback with full tiles, DIY is realistic. Bathrooms, wet rooms and floor tiling involve waterproofing and levelling that cost far more to put right than to do properly first time.
Tiling servicesA lot of household jobs sit awkwardly between trades — a sticking door, a loose banister, a leaking tap, a fence panel down after a Dartmoor gale. Booking a separate specialist for each one means multiple call-out charges and multiple waits. A single visit that clears six small jobs is usually cheaper than two specialist visits, and it stops small faults turning into damp, rot or damage.
Handyman servicesThe usual ones: measuring the room but not the appliances, ignoring floor level before the units go in, and leaving no service access behind the sink run. Worktop joints put in the wrong place will show for the life of the kitchen. Plan the plumbing and electrics before a single carcass is assembled, and check every wall for square — old Devon properties rarely are.
Kitchen fittingTwice a year, run through the basics: check under every sink for slow drips, bleed radiators before the heating season, test the stopcock actually turns, clear gutters and gullies, and look at the seal around the bath and shower tray. Five minutes of checking beats a ceiling repair. Know where your stopcock is before you need it — most people find out during the emergency.
Plumbing & electricalCoastal and moorland weather is hard on render, timber and fascias. Wind-driven rain finds any gap in the paint film, and south-facing elevations bleach and chalk. Wash down, cut out flaking material and treat bare timber before repainting — a coat straight over failing paint will lift again within a season. Late spring and early autumn give the best drying conditions here.
External paintingPanel fencing fails at the post, not the panel. Concrete posts and gravel boards outlast timber posts set straight into soil, and closeboard construction handles gusts better than lap panels in exposed gardens. Get the line and the post depth right and a fence lasts a decade or more; rush it and you'll be replacing panels every winter.
FencingProperty maintenance is cheaper when it's planned. Two short inspections a year — one in spring, one before the clocks change — catch almost everything that turns into a big bill. Here's the routine Craig recommends to customers across Ivybridge and the South Hams.
If a list like that turns up five or six jobs, it's almost always cheaper to have them cleared in one visit than to book them separately over the year. That's exactly what the handyman service is designed for — a planned half-day or day, everything ticked off, tidy site at the end.
Ask who is actually doing the work. Plenty of firms quote, then send whoever is free that week. Craig quotes and carries out the work himself — no subcontractors, no handover, no one turning up who has never seen the job. That single fact removes most of the complaints people have about builders.
Ask about insurance and get it confirmed in writing. SCR Property Services is fully insured, which matters the moment something unexpected happens behind a wall. Ask for recent local work you can look at, and be wary of anyone who won't put a price in writing or who wants a large cash deposit up front.
Finally, judge the quote on scope rather than the headline figure. A cheaper price that excludes making good, waste removal or preparation isn't cheaper — it just moves the cost. A clear quote should tell you what's included, what isn't, and roughly how long the job will take.
Describe the job to Craig and get honest advice plus a no-obligation quote — usually the same day.
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