Builders in Poole
Garden walls, render, roofs, extensions, drives, insulation and kitchens, on Poole houses and blocks of flats from Branksome to Hamworthy. A free visit, then the price in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Bournemouth Roofing & Building does brickwork, render and plaster, roofing, extensions, drives and patios, insulation and kitchens all over Poole. Thomas Hannen visits, looks at the whole job and sends a written quote that prices each part separately. Neither the visit nor the quote costs you anything.
These are the kinds of things that make someone in Poole ring a builder. A boundary wall in Parkstone has started to lean after a winter of gales. Render on a house facing the harbour has gone green, cracked and hollow. A family on Canford Heath needs a bigger kitchen, and the only way to get it is a room across the back. Or you own a flat near the Quay and the freeholder has asked you to find someone to look at the walls and roof.
Very few of those are a single trade. Taking down an old garden wall can expose a drain under it that needs attention too. A new back room means footings, blockwork, a roof, plaster and probably a new path to the side gate. So you want a builder who sees how the parts fit together, tells you what has to happen first, and puts it all in writing before work begins. Below is what we take on, how to pick a builder you can rely on, and what goes into a fair price.
What we do
Building work around Poole, trade by trade
Poole is not one kind of house. Parkstone and Branksome have a lot of Victorian and Edwardian villas. Oakdale is mostly inter-war, with plenty of bungalows. Hamworthy and Canford Heath are mostly post-war estates, and there are many blocks of flats near the water.
Brick walls, boundary walls and repointing
Garden and boundary walls, piers and steps, spalled bricks, moved arches, wall ties and brick matching. The red brick of a Parkstone villa was laid in soft lime mortar. Repoint it in strong cement and the water leaves through the brick face instead, which then crumbles, so lime goes back. Near the shore, salt from the spray dries inside brick and pushes its face off, so a low seaward wall may want harder brick and a good coping. See brickwork in Poole and repointing in Poole.
Render, plaster and the weather off the harbour
Sand and cement, monocouche and silicone render, pebbledash patched on inter-war houses, and inside, skimming, covering artex, dry lining and lime plaster on older solid walls. A wall that takes rain blown straight off Poole Bay or the harbour needs a render that sheds water but lets the wall dry, such as a thin silicone coat. More on rendering in Poole and plastering in Poole.
Extensions on Poole houses
We build the extension itself: footings, slab, cavity walls in block with brick or render outside, the steel over the opening, then roof, insulation and plaster. You arrange the drawings, the engineer's calculations and building control, or the quote names who does them. Parts of Poole sit on clay that shrinks in a dry summer and swells in a wet winter. Near a big tree the inspector may want deeper footings once the trench is open, so that line on a quote should be an allowance. See house extensions.
Roofs, flat roofs and the roofline
On the villas you find natural slate. The inter-war semis and bungalows mostly have clay tiles. Hamworthy and Canford Heath are largely concrete interlocking tile, often with a flat roof on the garage or porch. We repair and re-roof all of them, with ridges, verges, leadwork, skylights and the roofline, and re-cover flat roofs in EPDM, GRP or felt, blocks of flats included. Within reach of salt air, ask for stainless steel or copper nails and stainless clips. See roofing in Poole, flat roofing in Poole and fascias and guttering in Poole.
Driveways, patios and where the water goes
Block paving, resin bound and tarmac drives, porcelain patios, and repairs to drives that have sunk or crack. Some Poole ground drains freely and some holds water, so a soakaway is tested before anyone counts on it. Paving more than five square metres of front garden needs planning permission unless the surface lets water through or it runs onto a lawn or bed inside your boundary, and a new dropped kerb needs separate BCP approval. See driveways in Poole, block paving in Poole, resin driveways in Poole and patios in Poole.
Insulation
Loft, room-in-roof, warm roof, cavity and internal wall insulation. Post-war cavity walls can often be filled. On a wall that takes the full weather off the water, though, fill can carry rain across the cavity, so we judge the exposure first. Solid-walled villas are insulated from inside, with a vapour control layer. See insulation in Poole, loft insulation in Poole and wall insulation in Poole.
Kitchens
Old kitchen out, walls and floor put right, then units, worktops, sink and appliances, including a kitchen you bought yourself. By law, gas needs a Gas Safe registered engineer and new circuits come under Part P, so the quote names who covers each. See kitchen fitting in Poole.
For shops, offices and blocks of flats we also do commercial roofing and plastering.
Before you hire
Finding a builder in Poole you can rely on
Directories list many builders in Poole. Use these checks to narrow the list down, and use them on us too.
- Search the firm on Companies House. Is it active? Does the name on the quote match the registered company? Who are the directors? We are company number 15471719.
- Insist on an itemised quote in writing. Citizens Advice says the same. A single figure gives you no way to compare builders and no record of what you agreed.
- Find out who will actually be doing the work, and who answers the phone when a question comes up.
- Look at jobs they have done recently that are like yours, and read their reviews on Google or Checkatrade, where the builder cannot edit them.
- Get it in writing who deals with building control, and with a Party Wall notice if the work touches a shared wall.
- Find out whether the job needs planning permission before you sign, not once the scaffold is up.
- Agree the payment stages up front, each one tied to a finished piece of work. Be wary of anyone who wants a big payment before they start.
- If you sign the contract at home, you usually have 14 days to change your mind. Citizens Advice sets out how.
Price
Day rates, fixed prices and reading a builder's quote
Ask a builder what they charge per hour and you will learn little about your job. Some work on a day rate, where you pay for each day on site and the materials on top. That is fair for work nobody can measure in advance, like chasing a leak through an old wall. For a job with a set scope, a fixed price is usually better, so you know the figure before the first day.
Several things move that figure more than the labour does: scaffold and access, whether a skip fits on the drive, the materials you pick, how much has to be made good afterwards, and what is hiding under the floor or behind the plaster. A clear quote breaks the job into stages, marks any allowance for something that cannot be measured yet, and says plainly what is not included.
When you have two or three quotes side by side, ask each builder the same things:
- Is the scaffold in the price, and for how many weeks?
- Who pays for the skip or the waste removal?
- Which lines are allowances, and how are they settled at the end?
- Is making good and decoration in, or left to you?
- Who is arranging drawings, structural calculations and building control?
Our own method is set out on how we price a job.
Working with us
What happens once you ring us
- Thomas Hannen comes to the house, looks over the job and prices it himself. From that first visit to the last day, he is the one person you deal with.
- You get a free written itemised quote after a free site visit, with every stage and any allowance on its own line.
- If something unexpected turns up once a wall or floor is opened, we stop that part, photograph it, price it in writing, and carry on only with your go-ahead.
- Scaffold arrives on the day we give you, and any opened roof or wall is weathertight before we leave each evening.
- Floors are covered, the site is swept each day, and the waste goes away with us.
Where a job needs several trades, the quote follows the order of the work, so you can see which stage depends on which. We are based in Boscombe and cover the whole of Poole, from the Old Town out to Broadstone.
If water is getting in, ring 07435 839745. If we cannot answer, we ring you back.
Permission
Who signs off building work in Poole
Planning and building control in Poole are both handled by BCP Council, through its planning and building control pages.
Is it a house or a flat? Central Poole has a lot of flats, and the rules treat a building containing flats as something other than a house (article 2 of the permitted development order). A flat owner therefore has no householder permitted development rights, so an extension or other change to the outside is not covered. Expect to need a planning application, plus the freeholder's consent under your lease.
Is it in a conservation area? Poole has a good number of its own, including Town Centre Heritage around the Old Town and the Quay, Poole Park, Heckford Park, Ashley Cross, and Branksome Park and Chine Gardens. Find your street on the BCP conservation area pages. Inside one, a side extension, a rear extension taller than one storey, and render or cladding on the outside all need permission, and some streets have an Article 4 direction that takes away more. If the house is listed, changes to its character need listed building consent.
Building regulations apply even when planning does not. An extension goes through BCP building control or a registered approver, either by full plans or a building notice. If you dig near a neighbour's foundations or build on a shared wall, you must serve notice under the Party Wall Act before work starts.
You do not need any of this sorted before you ask us to look. We tell you at the visit which parts apply and who will take care of each. For the difference between the three consents, read our guide to planning, building regulations and listed building consent.
Reviews
Two customers, in their own words
Copied without edits: a resin driveway in BH13, which is a Poole postcode, and a new roof.
Bournemouth Roofing and Building completed a beautiful resin driveway, patio, and decking area for us. … They were quick, efficient, friendly, and kept us updated throughout the whole process with excellent communication. The quality of the work was fantastic, and we are extremely pleased with the finished result. …
… The team were friendly, professional, and always turned up when they said they would. They took the time to explain everything, so I knew exactly what was happening throughout. … they left the property clean and tidy every day, which I really appreciated. …
Questions
Poole building questions, answered
What do builders in Poole charge per hour?
We do not work to an hourly rate on a defined job. After a free visit we price the whole job, and the written quote shows each stage, so you can hold it up against anyone else's line by line. A day rate is only fair where the size of the job cannot be seen until it is opened up.
How do I find a reliable builder in Poole?
Look the company up on Companies House, get itemised written quotes for the same work, ask who will be on site, look at recent jobs and reviews on Google or Checkatrade, and agree in writing who handles building control and any Party Wall notice.
Do you take on small building jobs?
Yes. A cracked brick arch, a short run of garden wall, a patch of blown render or a sunken corner of a drive are all worth a visit, and they get the same free written quote as an extension.
Can I extend a house in a Poole conservation area?
Often, yes, but with less freedom. In a conservation area a side extension, a rear extension of more than one storey, and new render or cladding all need planning permission from BCP Council. Check your street on the BCP conservation area list before paying for drawings.
I own a flat in Poole. Can you work on it?
Yes. Inside the flat you can usually instruct us yourself. The roof, the outside walls and the shared parts normally belong to the freeholder, so that work is ordered by the freeholder or managing agent, and we send them an itemised quote they can share with the other leaseholders.
Does being near Poole Harbour change how the work is done?
It can. Salt air corrodes ordinary roof fixings, wind-driven rain finds weak render and pointing, and salt can break up the face of brick on low walls near the shore. We pick fixings, render and brick with that exposure in mind, and the quote says what is being used.
Nearby, and next door
Trades in Poole, and builders in the next towns
- Freeholders and letting agents: quotes for blocks and rentals
- Our recent jobs: photographs of work we have done
- Every review: copied word for word from Google and Checkatrade
Our trades in Poole
Builders in other towns
Around Poole
Roofing and everything else in Poole Every area we cover Request a free quote
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Got a job in Poole?
Send a couple of photos or book a visit. Thomas looks at the whole job on site and sends you a free written itemised quote.