It's not all gloom in the building scene this Winter. With house sales stagnating you might have thought the property market had crashed but not according to local carpenter and building renovation expert Liam Grey, who tells me that he's as busy as ever.

Liam runs a building company called Cranfield Contractors, originally from Cranfield Place but now based in Serpentine Road, Ballsbridge, which undertakes refurbishment work on some of the older houses in Dublin 4. Liam says that “while houses are not selling, people are spending what money they have on upgrading and extending homes rather than moving.”

He says he has worked on a number of refurbishments around Ballsbridge and Sandymount and loves to see an old house being brought up to date with modern glazing, new bathrooms, extensions and so on. He has two men working with him and is currently doing a renovation on a red brick close to Herbert Park. “It's great to see some of the older buildings being restored to their former glory,” he says, “but there's a limit to what you can do with an older building.

For instance, solid walls are not so easy to insulate as cavity walls and one has to consider losing, say, four inches from a room to add on an internal layer of insulation.” Specialists are bought in for underfloor heating. He leaves such things as solar panels and the like to specialists who can certify works in their field of expertise

. His company specialises in restoration and renovation, taking on only one building at a time and seeing it through so that the job is up to scratch. “When we do a job we do it really well. There aren't ever any complaints or call backs,” he says. Liam Grey is from Castle Park in Sandymount and began school in Star of the Sea and then secondary in Marian College. After leaving school he did an apprenticeship with O'Connor and Bailey in carpentry and shop fitting. He is a father of two daughters, one aged 11 and attending Lakelands and the other a 19 year old in DIT Aungier Street, doing business studies.

Liam remarked on some of the recent developments in Sandymount noting that the new façade over Mulligan's wasn't quite in keeping with the older Victorian and Edwardian fronts. The windows are not the same or matching with the old ones and it doesn't make the street look great. He says he has quoted for jobs and been undercut by other builders who then find they can't finish a job and do a runner.

He says he's often called in to see could he finish a job where he had already put in a price but then didn't get the job by being under-priced by someone who finds that they can't do the work for the money quoted. “They'd have been better to let me work from the start. A fair quote for a fair job,” he says, “you have to do your homework when pricing for work.” On the subject of the property market, Liam says that there's a range of charges from the auctioneers ' and solicitors' fees let alone the problems with stamp duty that ought to be dealt with.

“The Auctioneers hyped up property prices in wealthy areas and now they find that they've dropped by as much as 40% in value in the last twelve months and now they can't sell such houses,” says Liam. He works with architects Jimmy Delahunty on the Merrion Road and William Wallace in Ringsend. He has two full-time staff and then has sub-contractors working alongside. To get in touch with Liam Grey call 086 2597094.

Above: 'Always hire a busy man…' Liam Grey