Well now *I* want to hug *him*!!! Nice to hear good contractor stories!

Always nice to hear "good contractor" stories. Good for you!

Wow! That's awesome! I have a horror-electrician-story (I strongly suspect that the guy stole my patio furniture on his last visit to my house), so it's wonderful to hear from someone who's had such a positive experience! Yay!

That's a handy little gadget they installed. Never heard of it before. We have our washer/dryer stacked as well and would never be able to reach the shut-off without pulling it all out. I wish they had something similar for the gas connection on the dryer.

Congrats on the good contractors. We have horrible problems with electricians and plumbers as well. We finally found a good plumber--not so lucky on finding a good electrician.

Hey -- great story -- and so happy to hear a tale about the Contractor Who Would ..... and Did .....And Finished the Job!

Time to celebrate! :)

My worst contractor experience was with an electrician, too, Mari! Last year, during our garage project. He didn't return calls and the helpmeet said he'd take care of it... blah, blah... . 4/5 weeks after the fact I got on the blower and left him a message stating who I was and asking why he hadn't returned the 4 prior calls (recited the dates, too!). He called me back the next morning, at 8 AM, lol. He finished up what we needed done within a couple of days and I told him to bill us. "But there's more to do...". Yes, but you aren't going to do it, I've lined up someone else and he knows the entire story. I want to pay you and be finished with you. I don't want to be angry, I want the job finished. We are now 4/5 wks. behind schedule because you don't return calls or follow up. You should have seen his face! What story do you think I tell when his name comes up in passing conversation? He's a big name in my area, but I know a lot of people, too. And the other contractors sure as hell noticed his lack of timely presence. :)

Every other local contractor we've ever used in this area has been uniformly great. We've been open, "up front" with them, willing to work with their schedules, and unflinchingly understanding when things have "taken a turn". If we've had a small, piddly job we've been willing to work with them and asked them to be honest about their willingness to do it. We happily pay money "up front" to "seal the deal", and pay the final bill promptly.

It's nice to hear such a good story from you because I know you've been through the tortures of the damned several times in the past few years. Do you suppose your recent success has anything to do with the present economic climate? I do! Times are gettin' leaner every day for contractors and the importance of returning calls and actually SHOWING UP or calling if you can't is more important than it maybe was 2-3 yrs. ago.

Excellent move on the kitty! Shelters are awash in them (result of economic downturn, too), and they make the most excellent pets. I've been lobbying for another 1 or 2, too.

Happiness is . . . having a husband who worked as an electrician's apprentice as a teenager. He does't do it for a living, but he's done SO much electrical work on our houses over the years. He's so nonchalant about it, too. It's not rocket science he's always telling me.

No, Chelone, I don't think that these two particular incidents have anything to do with the current business climate... I've used this plumber off and on for a couple of years and he's always been quite reliable but he had disappeared for a bit to take care of some family stuff, as soon as he got back he was right on the phone to me. He's always been well-behaved in that department. He told me once that while he knew bazillions of electricians (since he does work as a subcontractor at times) he won't refer anyone he wouldn't hire to work on his own house, because if it goes badly for the customer it reflects negatively on him, but finally he'd gotten to know this excellent guy who's very well established so he was happy to give that referral. The electrician isn't even listed in the yellow pages, ya gotta have connections *snicker*... We talked about the problems I'd had with people not returning calls and not showing up and he grinned and said "that's why I don't even need to put my name on the side of my truck" - because he has always run his business like a sensible person, he's never hurt for work and never even had to advertise, but unfortunately it makes him impossible to find if you don't know someone who knows him!

He gave me a couple of references - more folks from the "construction underground" LOL - to come look at structural issues like the trampoline floors, but I'm going to wait until after the holiday to make those calls.

As for the kitty, it's shelter all the way for us. (We drove 14 hours RT to get our dog from a shelter in New York! Hurrah for Petfinder!) We're planning on a young adult instead of a kitten this time. Kittens are always comparatively easy to place but when they're not "cute widdle babies" anymore it gets a lot harder for them, and I'm not really up for kitten-level chaos. I admire the people who can adopt seniors but I just can't do it, even if that makes me a bad person it's the way it is. This is a "one dog, one cat" household; I don't have the energy for too many critters, Goku "overloads" rather quickly, and we want to make sure we have the financial wherewithal to care for all our pets properly. We might be coming up your way cat-hunting later in the summer - we hear there's a good shelter in West Kennebunk and Petfinder is showing a fine selection. (I don't mean that quite as clinically as it sounded!)

My DH dug graves as a teenager. (I'm not kidding. He worked in a cemetery.) Not a real useful skill. :-)

Our entire "fleet" was removed from the welfare rolls in W. Kennebunk. Good website.

3 kittens in fall '03 (they "waived" the limit for us, lol) and the dog in the summer of '04. We adopted our first dog there, too. Way back in '91.

We have rescue kitties, great electricians, plumbers and handy persons in central Texas too, if anyone needs to know :^)
I'm so glad that you are having good luck with yours Mari...life needs to be easier for you!!
We have Texas hugs too, and here is one for you!! (())

So glad you had good luck with contractors. I have had some good and some really bad experiences. Seems most now don't really care what you think, they just get enough complaints at the BBB and close up shop and open with new name.

Thanks for your sweet words, Jaybird - life IS getting a little easier, knock on wood. :-) A neighbor got her roof done yesterday and can't rave enough about the roofers so we're going to have them come out and see about patching the porch roof and doing a few other things to squeeze a few more years out of this roof so we can save up for the whole shebang. So there's another good one "on the spike".

A guy is coming next Wednesday to stack our washer and dryer and do the new vent for it - I have my fingers crossed. He at least returned my phone call promptly, I'll give him that much.

I'll add my recent "anti-rant" here, too.

8:00 ish on a Sunday night - no water in the house. We live on an acreage with a drilled well and a holding tank, and a quick glance shows water coming into the holding tank, so it's not a well issue, thank goodness. Determine the cause of the problem is likely the pressure pump on the holding tank.

Monday morning, dh calls the Water Company and relates the problem. Fellow says he will be out by 11 AM. He showed up - on time - and agrees that it is likely the pump, and mentions that they have had a rash of problems with the same pump in the past year. Installs new pump and pressure tank within one hour. The pump had a three year warranty on it, and was installed about 3 years and 3 months ago (figures!), so he took the pump back with him and told me he would try and get a warranty credit on it.

When we received the bill, he mentioned that the date of manufacture on the pump showed it was actually 4 years old (it was apparently a piece of older stock when they originally installed it). He said the company would not honour any warranty on it, so he waived the labour charges of his service call to make up for it!

A contractor that gives prompt, same day service, then charges *less* than he could! It's like a fairy tale, LOL. Actually, we've had outstanding service from quite a few small, local mom and pop companies, many that were aligned or recommended by our builder (also a small, local, mom and pop company). They really do exist.

And FTR, our local economy is still very robust.

Carrie

We had a chimney installed in our new garage (oil fired-furnace with an extra flue for woodstoves). The flue for the woodstove showed signs of moisture seepage around the thimble (where the stove pipe connects to the chimney) early this spring after torrential downpours. I called the mason, explained the situation/circumstances for the leakage and told him to come "scope it out". I explained what I wanted to do to smooth out the cinderblock chimney he installed, emphasising that the final finish will be painted.

Today! he was pulling out of my driveway as I was preparing to pull in. He has a plan (left me a note to that effect), and knows I'm "cool" with fitting it in to his schedule. I don't expect him to drop everything and "hop to", but told him I want to get the face of the chimney skimcoated over the summer, so there is plenty of time for the surfacing to "cure". He's a great guy; has done two chimneys for us, and, as a tradesman, I understand that sometimes you can't fix everythng as quickly as you may wish.

I also appreciate that there is definitely a "network" out there, Mari (lol). Contractors know each other, they talk to each other.