Meet Oz

I have been working as a self-employed domestic carpenter in the Kings Heath and Moseley areas of South Birmingham since 1994.

I find working for myself gives me the flexibility and autonomy I need to do quality work.

I believe in excellent customer service and building good relations with my customers. Many customers come to me with a set of ideas about something they would like to have built in their home and I love working with them to produce a design that I can build for them.

While it is difficult for me to compete with factory produced cupboards and shelf units, I can produce practical and elegant bespoke work that is designed to fit a particular space and according to the particular needs of the customer.

I have hung hundreds of doors, but I am not as young as I used to be and find the lifting an issue. So I don't hang doors these days, but I am happy to make adjustments to existing doors that don't open and close properly. I can set up and tweak handles, catches, bolts and locks so they all engage correctly and smoothly.

I am happy to do small jobs. Some customers give me a list of small things that need doing around their home. As well as 'easing' and adjusting ill-fitting doors (including cupboard doors) this can include fixing things to walls, repairing floors and stairs, boxing in pipes, meter cupboards, fitting hand-rails, fitting locks and all manner of minor repairs and small projects. I find this work particularly satisfying and I find that I can find solutions to lots of annoying little problems that people have in their homes in a relatively short space of time. It never ceases to amaze me how delighted my customers are when I finish at the end of the day having fixed a whole range of these 'little problems' throughout their homes, some of which may have been left for a long time.

Having lived and worked in Kings Heath for many years I take an interest in the local community and local initiatives. I volunteer for a number of local community groups including Enjoy Kings Heath (Kings Heath BID), Kings Heath Community Interest Company (which set up Kings Heath Art Rooms a few years ago), Brandwood and Kings Heath Litter Pickers (where I focus on painting over graffiti tagging in the High Street area), and Kings Heath Farmers Market.

I approach carpentry and voluntary work in the same way — working together with people to make good things happen.

'Comes when says will come and does what says will do'

It always amazes me how many stories I hear about tradespeople who don't turn up when they say they will, without even bothering to mention to the customer that they won't be coming. As a customer myself I know how irritating it is when you have made special arrangements to be at home because you are expecting a tradesperson to come and do a job for you, and they just don't turn up.

And perhaps even worse is when a tradesperson does turn up and doesn't do what you've asked them to do but does something different without discussing it with you first.

I make every effort to come when I say I will. If that's not possible I will keep you informed so you can plan your day effectively.

And I always endeavour to do a job as discussed, but sometimes during the course of a job it can become apparent that it is necessary to make changes to the original plan of action. When this happens I will always make you aware of the changes I need to make and explain the reasons for it so you can input to the process.