Anyone would think we were asking the impossible, a builder to remove a fireplace and shore it up, the calcs are all done so all that is needed is someone to do the work and therein lies the rub!

We initially tried with the loft boarding out and had a guy come round, who eventually provided a quote on a compliment slip but didn’t really want the job, had one that left and never got in touch, and then one guy turned up without any tape measures who then provided the most comprehensive excel sheet that showed the minutia of costs, but never exactly said how much.

So we thought FMB (Federation of Master Builders) lets get a professional in to look at the fireplace, after all these guys must be hungry for work and we have all the info they need. Advertisement placed, 3 respondees, one turned up, measured, made notes and would supply costs on return from his holiday, but never came back, one left two messages, but when we got in touch he never turned up and then the most promising was a guy who runs teams of builders. This one measures it all, provided detailed quotes and then when it came to the crunch of him providing references. RAMS and accurate details, suddenly that very day had taken on a mass of work for the foreseeable future.

Is this mission impossible, can we build it, obviously bloody not!!!