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Service oriented

Lucille

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I'm trying to find a carpenter who knows what he/she is doing for some work I need done on my house.
Simple, right? Nope.
One carpenter didn't want to take the time to come out and look, he asked for a photo. Another made an appointment to come look and didn't show and didn't call.
Another was quick to provide me with a list of what he was going to charge me but would not discuss a required certification.
Finally found one, he showed up, knew what he was doing, knew all the requirements and certifications, and he will be sending me a bid in a few days.
I shouldn't have to go through 4 people to find one who is (I hope) the one for the job and service oriented. :(
 
Going through the same with basement water proofing. Got into it with guy today telling me I should do exterior. I have large front and back porch, driveway on one side and triangular wall on other side. Would cost a fortune to hand dig 3 sides and tear out driveway. I said I want interior estimate. He gives me a 8800.00 quote. That's like 4000 higher than the next highest bid. Hate to have seen that exterior bid!
 
I'm trying to find a carpenter who knows what he/she is doing for some work I need done on my house.
Simple, right? Nope.
One carpenter didn't want to take the time to come out and look, he asked for a photo. Another made an appointment to come look and didn't show and didn't call.
Another was quick to provide me with a list of what he was going to charge me but would not discuss a required certification.
Finally found one, he showed up, knew what he was doing, knew all the requirements and certifications, and he will be sending me a bid in a few days.
I shouldn't have to go through 4 people to find one who is (I hope) the one for the job and service oriented. :(


Yea,but with all the people out there working for themselves and barely out of high school,you have to go through so many. It does suck.

We are doing our fixing up any issues now on our house to move south.mand it's a pain. Good thing I've been doing all this type of work myself for over 30 years.
I will do what I'm good at and let a pro do the things I cannot or don't want to. With the bad heart I'm not suppose to do to much hard physical stuff. But...

I wish you the best with up coming bid
 
Well after going through 5 contractors I finally got an honest company. Each one that came out I acted like I had no clue about basement water proofing or drains. 4 of them tried to B.S me. The company I chose also recommended items instead of demanding things had to be done.

The total cost is $8200.00 to tear out 16" all around perimeter 96 feet. Dig down to footer, 2 weep holes in each block, pipe, sump crock, sump pump, a battery back up sump pump, install a Mainline sewer back water valve with maintenance hatch, dig out driveway near side door and patch wall then redo driveway to slant away from house and patch floor in basement where old oil burner used to be.

The guy I was talking about above wanted 8800 just to install pipe and crock with one pump. The others wanted more for complete job and with cheap sewer device and pumps.

I'm sure your carpentry issue is tough. So many hacks and quick fix guys out there. I learned my lesson when a co worker of my wife, her husband installed doors. Yeah he was cheap and so was the work. I would have done a better job. Hopefully right person shows up for you.
 
I will do what I'm good at and let a pro do the things I cannot or don't want to.
I do that too. I've done all kinds of stuff, painting, fencing, fixed one of the room ACs yesterday, but there's stuff I can't do.
 
.

I'm sure your carpentry issue is tough. So many hacks and quick fix guys out there. I learned my lesson when a co worker of my wife, her husband installed doors. Yeah he was cheap and so was the work. I would have done a better job. Hopefully right person shows up for you.

I was thinking about what you said here, and it occurred to me that the situation I am facing is far from unique.
I think I am going to go with the last guy who showed up and sent me a bid. It was not cheap, but he had plenty of references that described quality work, and is proposing to use quality materials.
I had another guy email me this morning, not wanting to talking about what he was going to do but rather asking the amount of the other bids I received so he could undercut them.
In some ways my issue mirrors what reptile buyers face in their transactions. You get some sellers with a quality critter that ask a fair price considering the time they've spent and the quality of their stock. Then you get others who are more interested in making a profit by any means, whether the buyer receives value or not.
 
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