What structural carpentry do you do in Fleet?
Across Fleet (GU51) it is mostly self-build and infill timber frames, cut roofs on extensions and loft conversions. Fleet is a settled commuter town where most of the work is single plots, extensions and loft conversions rather than new estates, and that pushes it towards hand-cut roofs, steel goalposts and first fix packages on existing houses. Every job is priced off your architect and engineer drawings and a look at the site access, because a rate per square metre for structural work is a guess dressed up as a quote.
Do you charge extra to come out to Fleet?
No. Travel is in the price. Fleet is about 6 km from our Farnborough base, well inside the patch we cover as a matter of course, so you are paying for labour and materials rather than for the van. What does affect the price is access: whether a crane can get in and stand, and whether the deliveries can be taken on site or have to be double handled.
Do you cover Fleet regularly?
Yes. Fleet is ten minutes down the road and it is mostly single plots and extensions rather than volume housing, which suits cut roof work. We are based in Farnborough and cover London, Berkshire, Surrey and Hampshire as standard, so Fleet is well inside our normal patch rather than a favour. Call and tell us where the site is, roughly what the structure is and when you need it, and you will get a straight answer on whether we can hit your dates.
Does the property in Fleet change how the job is done?
Yes, and mostly in favour of cut roofs. Fleet is settled housing rather than development land, so the work is extensions, loft conversions and the occasional infill plot. Those roofs have to marry into an existing building, which rules a truss order out on most of them, and they usually come with a steel or two to form the opening below. Getting the beam and the roof done by the same outfit on the same visit is what keeps that sort of job short.
How long would the structure take on a job in Fleet?
For a single house in Fleet, a timber frame is usually one to two weeks to wind-tight, a truss roof is a day or two once it is craned in, and an extension roof cut on site runs to two to four days. A steel goalpost and the timber framed off it is often the same visit. Larger schemes get a programme rather than a rule of thumb, worked out off the drawings before you commit to anything.
Can you look at drawings for a Fleet job before we commit?
That is the order we would rather do it in. Send the architect and engineer drawings over and we will come back with a broken-down price and, more usefully, with the questions. Details that are awkward or expensive to build are cheap to change on a drawing and expensive to change on site, so it is worth having that conversation before the kit or the trusses are ordered.
Do you work as a subcontractor for developers in Fleet?
Yes, and a good share of our work is exactly that. We are used to working to a main contractor programme, to site rules and method statements, and to being one of several trades on a live site. Insurance certificates and the usual subcontractor paperwork go over with the quote so nothing holds a start date up. We are equally happy dealing direct with a self-builder handling their own plot in Fleet.
