*
Dragging a topic out of archives from not so long ago….a few more thoughts that might help:
Visit a current site run by contractor you’re considering. Is everyone truly busy? If after hours, what is condition of job site? Are tools left lying out overnight/weekend? Are materials stored carefully? Is jobsite reasonably clean (eg. is lunch garbage lying around, are dangerous materials scraps (such as small pieces of metal roofing) blowing in wind) Does scrap seem excessive? If workers/contractor care about their tools, materials and their workplace, there’s a chance they’ll be looking out for customer’s best interests.
Replies
*
How about a thread on
Pete Draganic
*Thanks for adding just a touch more dignity to the building trades. I'm sure all the customers (you remember them, the ones who pay) will think that's just the wittiest thing ever. After all, don't customers exist to make your life as easy as they can and pay you for the privilege. I particularly like the mental image of little pieces of their brains shooting out. Have you ever considered being a novelist. Why waste that angst on silly threads like this when you could enlighten people on larger scale.And you wonder why people don't trust contractors.SHG
*Settle down. I was just having a little fun and throwing one back at the posters who like to stop in here once or twice and complain about the contractors and how DIY is so much beter and how we screw them and blah blah blah.For the most part I have had some really great customers. A few jerks here and there but overall they've been pretty good. I have seen a lot of DIY jobs that have been screwed up 10 different ways to Sunday and a few that have impressed me also.I usually don't get the chance to deal with the cheap and jerky customers because I am hardly the lowest bidder and I provide a great product & service.I didn't mean to whiz in your wheaties.Pete Draganic
*Oh, alright. Sorry I got my drawers twisted a little tight. Just spend too much time fighting the perception that we're out to screw 'em whenever they're back is turned. Personally, I love my customers. They're the ones who let me do what I really enjoy doing, and then pay me for it. It doesn't get any better than that.SHG
*Thanks for the Laugh of the Day Pete!!!ROFLMAOL
*FYI -- we're not DIYers, we didn't take lowest bid, and we place great value on having a good contractor, so we're not bashing all you legitimate guys out there. But we've also learned a few things in the process of building our house (rather, having our house built). And some questions we never thought we'd need to ask should have been, and when we did visit job sites, we should have looked more carefully. Bottom line...having a license doesn't guarantee quality of work (see thread about Fly-by-nighters)
*tina, were you referred to the contractors that evidently burst your bubble? by people you trust or some other place? and maybe give an example of where you were had. i for one won't laugh, i'd just be interested in hearing your story. afterall, i make a living doing this and my name is on it which makes it mean even more. that being said, please inform me. i'm not too old or set in my ways to learn something new. thanks