Renovation bussiness - market situation

[Promax]

Hi
I am new here. So hello for everybody.

I have 18 years of experience in renovation/remodeling , as a contractor in Canada.
I have EU passport .

all aspect of painting, tile setting incl. marble, limestone, drywall installation incl. finishing, finishing carpentry, pre-finished hardwood, laminates, cork installation, etc.
Real experience in commercial and residential, high quality work.
Question:
is it market for man like me in Cyprus. Which city or part of Cyprus will be the best for looking for work or contracts.
Thank you for all information
peter

[Veronica]

Originally Posted by Promax

Hi
I am new here. So hello for everybody.

I have 18 years of experience in renovation/remodeling , as a contractor in Canada.
I have EU passport .

all aspect of painting, tile setting incl. marble, limestone, drywall installation incl. finishing, finishing carpentry, pre-finished hardwood, laminates, cork installation, etc.
Real experience in commercial and residential, high quality work.
Question:
is it market for man like me in Cyprus. Which city or part of Cyprus will be the best for looking for work or contracts.
Thank you for all information
peter

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but the housing market here has taken a huge battering this past year and there are many people in your line of work who are struggling to find enough work to put food on the table.
The days of people buying old properties to renovate are also in the past and that is where people like you might have found work before.

If you are gainfully employed at this time it would be very unwise to give it up to move here.

Veronica

[BabsM]

Hi Peter,

I'm sorry but I agree with Veronica. At the moment there is little work of this kind going in the Larnaca area and people are struggling.

Babs

[Cleo Shahateet]

At the moment, there is really no need for drywall as home are built from concrete. Some people have just begun to make "American Style" or "Timber Frame" homes but they are not as popular although less expensive. I never heard of anyone here using Cork or Bamboo yet as they do in the US/Canada or much hardwood on floors. However, if you do choose to come over depsite the property downturn, it seems you would have to cooperate with the timber frame builders as you specialize in some areas that are a bit different than what is usually offered here.

[kimonas]

Originally Posted by Cleo Shahateet

At the moment, there is really no need for drywall as home are built from concrete. Some people have just begun to make "American Style" or "Timber Frame" homes but they are not as popular although less expensive. I never heard of anyone here using Cork or Bamboo yet as they do in the US/Canada or much hardwood on floors. However, if you do choose to come over depsite the property downturn, it seems you would have to cooperate with the timber frame builders as you specialize in some areas that are a bit different than what is usually offered here.

I wouldn't entirely agree about the drywalling as most homes (especially partment blocks) have a concrete outer shell but all the internal walls and finishing is in drywall (usually aluminium frame and plasterboard). At least that's my experience in the last dozen or so projects I know of through friends and family. Cleo is right to point out that timber frame buildings are less common here, but that is changing, especially since people are realising that the concrete blocks they are used to are a devil to heat in the winter and act as heat storage units in the summer when they are very difficult to keep cool without the need for aircon. There are several companies now building timber framed houses with EU regulation standard codes for insulation. They are much cheaper to build than the concrete monsters that have lately sprun up all over the island, and of course are environmentally friendly. We're building one at the moment. The difficulty here regarding work is that the companies that build ususally operate a design and build contract and bring all their own workers with them. That said, we're leaving our loft space completely empty on our new build because we can't afford to build rooms up there yet, so we'll be looking for a dry waller in a few years! Another opportunity that springs to mind is shop fitting. Units here change hands fairly regularly and there are always dozens of cafeterias, restuarants, florists, etc that chnage hands and new owners do a complete refit and that is almost always drywalling.

[theresoon]

Originally Posted by kimonas

I wouldn't entirely agree about the drywalling as most homes (especially partment blocks) have a concrete outer shell but all the internal walls and finishing is in drywall (usually aluminium frame and plasterboard). At least that's my experience in the last dozen or so projects I know of through friends and family. Cleo is right to point out that timber frame buildings are less common here, but that is changing, especially since people are realising that the concrete blocks they are used to are a devil to heat in the winter and act as heat storage units in the summer when they are very difficult to keep cool without the need for aircon. There are several companies now building timber framed houses with EU regulation standard codes for insulation. They are much cheaper to build than the concrete monsters that have lately sprun up all over the island, and of course are environmentally friendly. We're building one at the moment. The difficulty here regarding work is that the companies that build ususally operate a design and build contract and bring all their own workers with them. That said, we're leaving our loft space completely empty on our new build because we can't afford to build rooms up there yet, so we'll be looking for a dry waller in a few years! Another opportunity that springs to mind is shop fitting. Units here change hands fairly regularly and there are always dozens of cafeterias, restuarants, florists, etc that chnage hands and new owners do a complete refit and that is almost always drywalling.

Kimonas,
I would love to have more details about your experiences with this as we plan to start as soon as I have a job (I hope early in the new year). You can PM me. thanks