In this instalment I am going to try to attempt to prove that finding a builder here in Central Portugal is much like dating. Now it might be like this the world over, I don’t know, I have never had need of a builder in the UK or Jersey. It might just be a very sad reflection on my dating history (likely) or it just might be the next 10 points are the truest thing you’ve ever read. 1) There are a lot of ‘fish in the sea’. Just like the dating pool there are a lot of builders out there. But finding the one you want is hard. I’ve heard my friends make their recommendations ‘not him, he is pissed by noon’, ‘he’s good but never returns your calls’, ‘don’t trust him’. 2) You need to deal with rejection. You invite the builder to take a look at the project, you speak you best Portuguese, tell a few jokes, look interested in what he has to say, smile, nod, ask questions, he says he’ll call you, he doesn’t. You wait by the phone, you check your emails