DIY SOS Painting, Decorating, Carpentry & General Handyman

18/04/2026

08/04/2026

So i wasn't sure what to post today, and then in going after a big job, i asked an old customer to "whatsapp" me a quick resume/ reference of how he found working with me on one of his bigger property investment refurbs a few years ago, this is what he sent back:

Hi julian of course

We’re very happy to recommend Julian What really stood out to us was how he went above and beyond what we initially brought him in for. Although we engaged him for painting and decorating, he quickly took a genuine interest in the overall project and treated it as if it were his own.

He didn’t just focus on his own work—he helped coordinate other trades, kept things moving, and made sure everything was done to a high standard across the board. This allowed us to be largely hands-off, which was invaluable, especially on a multi-unit project.

His reliability, communication, and proactive approach meant problems were solved quickly and efficiently, without needing our constant input. It’s rare to find someone who takes that level of ownership and pride in the end result.

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to other property investors looking for someone dependable who can manage more than just their own trade and genuinely care about the success of the whole project.

Best regards,
David & Verity

In addition, for those of you that have been following me, you will know im going for more work than i could usually manage to keep young Alex fully engaged so he can get himself, his 6 month old baby, his 7 yr old boy and his wife off the streets and back into full time, hopefully privately rented accomodation again, having been made homeless through a " no fault eviction" that the landlord rushed through before the law changes in 6 weeks time!! He's doing well, im keeping him busy thanks to all the love and generous support everyone has shown him.

He is so keen to get ahead and back on top of things, we have even been working away, further afield!

If you check out everything i do on my page, follow, like and share, im sure we can get his family back under a permanent roof.

Any enquiries, whatsapp me 07428666615

Thanks in advance, julian x

01/04/2026

Hi Everyone,

So, for those of you that have been following me recently, you will know I have been focussing my work efforts on trying to help young Alex, who no fault of his own found himself rendered homeless by his landlord with a 6-month-old baby, 6-year-old boy and his wife.

Thankyou to everyone who responded with work enquiries, your kindness and genuine need for help with your properties is much appreciated.

Apologies to those that I have not yet got to to estimate, I will, just been rely busy trying to keep Alex busy and put some money in his pocket so he can re-enter private renting without having to rely on the useless council system. At the end of the day, he speaks perfect English, he is too “white”, has a British passport so really stands zero chance of any help from this wishy-washy governmental set-up we currently have!! Oh yeah, and his children are white British so he’ll get zero help at all

However, outside of the council and government circles, it seems there are many lovely people willing to try and do their bit to help, for which we both thank you. Please continue to send you property work/ maintenance enquiries, painting and decorating, carpentry, plastering, rendering, tiling etc, etc so I can keep him busy and get his youngsters back into a secure, long term home, thanks in advance, Julian x

18/03/2026

So, a couple of weeks ago, I did a "wednesday business post" and it got declined by the village page admins for being posted after 10pm!?
Clearly the admins have never been self employed and have no concept of real working hours, after actually doing a days work, in my case today a 3 HR round trip commute, an extra hour stopping at 3 different suppliers for materials in the way home, then spending a further 2 hours dealing with enquiries and estimates, not to mention also going to view a couple of jobs on the way home, then I've finally sat down to eat at 9.50, and ooooos, doing my marketing albeit after 10pm!!!

I'd just like to say a massive thank you for all the enquiries that have come in with people genuinely trying to help me, help Alex and his young family and get them back into full time , permanent accomodation.
If admins refuse this post as too late, after 10pm, then god help us all, for trying to help others while holding down 16 HR days of self-employment!
Thankyou to everyone for all your support in helping me help Alex , Julian x

11/03/2026

So, once again i'd like to do a two part post.

First off, as I missed the cutoff deadline last week, i'd like to say a huge thankyou to James (and all of his staff) at Henry Abbott Hardware who are always unbelievably helpful, stock thousands of lines for such a relatively small shop and literally have just about anything you could ever need without driving to Ipswich or Stowmarket!! As a local handyman, i'm literally in there almost every day, and if they haven't got something essential , they get it in quick especially!!

Secondly, as some of you may be aware if you follow me at DIY SOS Painting, Decorating, Carpentry & General Handyman, i've been trying to help out a lovely young fella who, with his wife, 5 month old baby girl and young boy have recently been made homeless through a "no fault eviction", that's tough when you are single, let alone with a young family and mouths to feed and nowhere to stay in the cold winter months!! Fortunately other people have stepped in and helped with short term accommodation. (Maybe when take the 2 bed rental that I am told they are about to acquire on their books on Low Road, they will consider him, even if initially he is government assisted,Ii know for sure from many people I have spoken to that he will be able to provide excellent personal references, through his friends, the church etc.

So far, having only met him a couple of weeks ago, i've managed to get him out to help me on a couple of jobs thanks through the enormous help, generosity and kind nature of some of my followers on here and regular clients!

Ideally, i'd really like to get super busy so i can help get him, and his lovely family, get fully back on their feet.

So, i'm asking for any jobs, large or small, anything that matches the pics of my capabilities on my profile, including plastering, rendering and damp proofing, (this young man's speciality) then please come forward, i'm happy to come and give you an estimate.

To date, all the jobs I have taken him on, I had already quoted just for me and my time, not including a second person on site, so i've effectively been paying him out of my earnings while i've tested him out, albeit, when explained, clients have been equally generous and charitable to help me help him with a little extra over my original quotation!

I really like this young fella and believe everyone deserves a chance when their chips are down, especially through no fault of their own, so I want to continue helping him out, if I can, but to do so, i really need the local communities support!

Therefore, the more jobs the local villagers can send my way, especially larger two person jobs that i can include/ quote him into, then the faster he and his family can get back to normal living, not relying on other peoples goodwill. So, thank you from myself and Alex in advance of fulfilling all your property maintenance needs ....

Slso, as I said at the start, i'd really like everyone in the village (and surrounding area) to support James who runs Henry Abbott Hardware, next to the Coop store in Debenham. As a local builder/ handyman/ property "fixer upper" of all your local properties, I would like to say there is literally nothing that James doesn't know, or doesn't stock in terms of every conceivable gismo, replacement part, gadget, tool etc that you/ your property would ever need. I have found his help and advice invaluable over the past year, and if you need a certain something. and he doesn't have it in, (which will be very surprising as he's got literally thousands of lines for such a compact and well laid out store!), he'll certainly get it in quickly for you, if you ask him or his staff!! He really is one of the superstars of Debenham Village and local businesses, so thank you James for all your help, always very much appreciated!

So, i fully appreciate that not everyone needs work doing all the time, right at this moment and maybe not while reading this post?!

However, if you feel compelled to help me help young Alex, and his family, then please share my post to all your friends, family and personal contacts, and like the post etc, etc as maybe someone you already know is considering a project around the house, whether that be carpentry, painting and decorating, tiling, new skirtings, coving, hanging doors etc, etc, you name it, I can do pretty much anything, but twice as quick with Alex's help, while helping him, his wife and children out get back to normal living at the same time!
Please browse my profile to see the kind of projects i get involved in, thanks. I know James Henry Abbott Hardware is already tring to help having explianed the young mans plight to him.

I look forward to estimating all your enquiries, many thanks, in advance, Julian x

05/03/2026

Thanks for all your amazing help and feedback re potential jobs, I felt humbled and genuinely optimistic we can, between us all, help this young lad and his family get back on track, so thank you to all x

04/03/2026

So, once again i'd like to do a two part post.

First of all, as some of you may be aware if you follow me at DIY SOS Painting, Decorating, Carpentry & General Handyman, i've been trying to help out a lovely young fella who, with his wife, 5 month old baby girl and young boy have recently been made homeless through a "no fault eviction", that's tough when you are single, let alone with a young family and mouths to feed and nowhere to stay in the cold winter months!! Fortunately other people have stepped in and helped with short term accommodation. (Maybe when Hamilton Smiths take the 2 bed rental that I am told they are about to acquire on their books on Low Road, they will consider him, even if initially he is government assisted, i know for sure from many people i have spoken to that he will be able to provide excellent personal references.

So far, having only met him a couple of weeks ago, i've managed to get him out to help me on a couple of jobs thanks to the enormous help, generosity and kind nature of some of my followers on here and regular clients!
Ideally, i'd really like to get super busy so i can help get him, and his lovely family, get fully back on their feet.

So, i'm asking for any jobs, large or small, anything that matches the pics of my capabilities on my profile, including plastering, rendering and damp proofing, (this young man's speciality) then please come forward, i'm happy to come and give you an estimate.

To date, all the jobs I have taken him on, I had already quoted just for me and my time, not including a second person on site, so i've effectively been paying him out of my earnings while i've tested him out, albeit, when explained, clients have been equally generous and charitable to help me help him with a little extra over my original quotation!

I really like this young fella and believe everyone deserves a chance when their chips are down, especially through no fault of their own, so I want to continue helping him out, if I can, but to do so, i really need the local communities support!

Therefore, the more jobs the community can send my way, especially larger two person jobs that i can include/ quote him into, then the faster he and his family can get back to normal living, not relying on other peoples goodwill. So, thank you from myself and Alex in advance of fulfilling all your property maintenance needs ....

The second part of my post is a massive shout out and thank you to James who runs Henry Abbott Hardware, next to the Coop store in Debenham. As a local builder/ handyman/ property "fixer upper" of all your local properties, I would like to say there is literally nothing that James doesn't know, or doesn't stock in terms of every conceivable gismo, replacement part, gadget, tool etc that you/ your property would ever need. I have found his help and advice invaluable over the past year, and if you need a certain something. and he doesn't have it in, (which will be very surprising as he's got literally thousands of lines for such a compact and well laid out store!), he'll certainly get it in quickly for you, if you ask him or his staff!! He really is one of the superstars of Debenham Village and local businesses, so thank you James for all your help, always very much appreciated!

So, i appreciate fully that not everyone needs work doing all the time, and maybe not while reading this post?!

However, if you feel compelled to help young Alex, and his family, then please share my post to all your friends, family and personal contacts, and like the post etc, etc as maybe someone you already know is considering a project around the house, whether that be carpentry, painting and decorating, tiling, new skirtings, coving, hanging doors etc, etc, you name it, I can do pretty much anything, but twice as quick with Alex's help, while helping him, his wife and children out get back to normal living at the same time!

I look forward to estimating all your enquiries, many thanks, in advance, Julian x

ps. (BTW, in the garden video with the amazing gazebo, i built literally everything in the garden from start to finish, over several years as the client could afford it, I'll add a b4 pic!!)

25/02/2026

So, i'd like to make a 2-part post tonight.
The first part is a massive thankyou and shout out to the entire team at Evergreens Garage in crowfield who, at very reasonable cost and being somewhat sympathetic to my plight following an evening of major trauma fixed up my van and had it back on the road within 24 hours after a major, catastrophic breakdown!
Yes it cost a few quid, but they charged a very fair amount for the work done, so hats off to the at Crowfield, suffolk crew, plus Suffolk Traffic Police for the tow to safety (lost all power steering!) and ASAT Recovery in Ipswich for the tow to Evergreen's at crowfield!!
My second comment is about a young lad called Alex who i met last week, he and his wife and two young children have been made homeless through a "no fault eviction".
I would like to see him get back on his feet, so i'm looking for as much local work as possible to fill my diary so i can cost him in on a few bigger jobs and hopefully get him and the family back on their feet and back into full time accommodation?
Anything from plastering, rendering, pointing, painting and decorating, carpentry, flooring, tilling, fitting doors, architraves and skirtings etc etc, i can do/ fix most things just look at my profile pics for job or project ideas!!
Help me get this delightful young lad and his kids back into a proper house, thanks in advance, look forward to estimating your work, Julian x
(...and apologies to any commuters who got temporarily held up on the A14 last wednesday!)

02/10/2024

With Leadwork SW – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉