Photographing work that gets covered up, and the extras you find

Why it is worth the few seconds

The customer is paying for work they will never see. A photo of a neat pipe run or a properly compacted base shows them where the money went, and it is often the thing they end up showing their friends.

Photos also protect you. If a problem appears years later, or a customer questions the bill, or the next tradesperson wants to know what is behind the plasterboard, a dated photo answers the question in a way your memory can’t.

The moment to take it

The right time is the last moment the work is visible: before the boards go down, before the plasterer arrives, before the slabs go on. Make it a habit at that step rather than something you try to remember at the end of the day, when it is already too late.

If someone else is covering your work (a plasterer over your cables, a tiler over your tanking), take the photos before you leave site, not on the assumption that you will be back in time.

What to photograph, trade by trade

Plumbing and heating: pipe runs and joints before the floor or boxing goes back, isolation valves, and anything you replaced, with the old part beside the new. There is more on this in job updates for plumbers.

Electrical work: cable routes in the walls before plastering, with a tape measure along the run if you can, and the consumer unit with its cover off once it is labelled. See job updates for electricians.

Building work: foundations and their depth, damp-proof course, insulation before it is boarded, steel and lintels before they are boxed in. See job updates for builders.

Roofing: the state of the old roof once stripped, then the membrane, battens and flashings before the tiles or slates go on. See job updates for roofers.

Kitchens and bathrooms: the bare walls and floor, the tanking or waterproofing before tiling, and the pipe and waste positions before the units go in. See job updates for kitchen and bathroom fitters.

Landscaping and garden work: the dig, the sub-base with something to show its depth, and the drainage before it is buried. See job updates for landscapers.

Decorating: the filling, sanding and repairs before the paint goes on, because good prep is invisible once it is done. See job updates for decorators.

Taking a photo that explains itself

Take two: one wide shot so the customer knows which room or which corner of the garden they are looking at, and one close-up of the detail that matters. A close-up on its own is a mystery picture of some pipes.

Put something in frame for scale: a tape measure, a spirit level, a hand. Turn a light on or use the phone’s torch for dark voids and lofts. Move the clutter out of shot first. It takes seconds and the photo reads twice as well.

Write a short caption while you still remember: what it is, where it is, and why it matters. “New 22mm feed under the landing, clipped every 600mm” is useful in five years’ time; “pipes” is not.

Before and after, from the same spot

For the parts the customer will see, take the before photo from somewhere you can stand again at the end, such as the doorway or the back step. The same angle makes the change obvious, and it is the pair of photos people keep and share.

When you find work you didn’t quote for

Every trade has the moment: you lift the floor and the joists are rotten, you open the wall and the old wiring is worse than anyone thought, the car is on the ramp and the brake pipes are corroded. How you handle the next ten minutes decides whether the customer thanks you or feels stung.

Stop before you do the extra work. Take a photo of the problem, wide and close, while it is in front of you. Then tell the customer straight away, in plain words: what you found, why it matters, and what happens if it is left.

Give them the options and a price for each, even if one option is “leave it for now and I’ll make it safe”. Then get their go-ahead in writing before you start; a text reply saying yes is enough to point back to. If you can’t give an exact price yet, say when you will have one and don’t start until you do.

The photo does most of the persuading. A customer who has seen the corroded joint with their own eyes, on their own phone, doesn’t wonder whether the extra was really needed. Mechanics meet the same moment with a worn part under a car, and it works the same way there; see job updates for mobile mechanics.

Keeping the photos

Photos left in your camera roll get lost among everything else on your phone. Keep each job’s photos together, somewhere you can find by customer or address, and make sure the customer has a copy too. It is their house, and a future buyer, insurer or tradesperson may ask them what is behind the wall.

Doing it with How’s the Job

How’s the Job keeps a job’s photos and updates together on one page, and your customer has the link. Post a photo of the pipework before the floor goes back, or of the problem you have just found, with a line explaining it, and it appears on their page straight away, newest first. They can open any photo full size to save it or show someone.

Before a photo is stored, the hidden location and camera details your phone adds to it are removed, so the customer’s page shows the picture and nothing else. It is free for tradespeople and for customers; see how it reads for heating engineers or any of the other trades.