Garage Still Falling
So, last week I was calling around to get more quotes for my wonderful leaning garage and one very reputible company actually gave me a recommendation.Like most bigger companies, they didn't want to touch my little-but-difficult job. They did, however, give me the number of a carpenter who is "a hard drinking, partying kinda guy. But he does excellent work. He's all business on the job, but when you meet him, ...he's not much to look at."
Oddly enough, I had the opposite opinion of him. He was very prompt and persistent about calling me back and showing up for an early appointment, and he was mostly polite and didn't seem like a loser at all. The hard lines in his face did give the impression that he's lived a hard drinking life, but I saw no evidence that he was presently anything but sober.
However, he seemed to not grasp the totality of the job. He looked confused and made suggestions without a lick of confidence.
It seemed he did not know how to fix my garage, and when asked if he'd done any jobs like this before, he answered without answering.
He did not give me an estimate, but said he would write something up and send it to me or call. Neither has happened and it's been two days.
Incidentally, the guy who verbally quoted 4k for the job has not sent me a written estimate as he said he would, and the guy who is improperly using the BBB and NARI logos in his yellow pages ad has not sent me a quote either.
Well, one of the companies I called last week was the Handyman Network. It's a nationwide company that has a local franchise. When I called, the women answering the phone attempted to suggest that the job was not something they could do, but I was desperate, so I convinced her the job was not as big as it sounded.
They made an appointment to look at my garage the following week, and that appointment took place today. Throughout the week I almost cancelled the appointment once or twice, but for some reason I didn't.
The guy came today and seemed to know what he was talking about. His solution was not the most thorough, but he has done these jobs before and seemed confident that it would work.
Also, his quote was around $1700.
Considering that a new garage would cost between $8100 and $11,000, that's a big relief.
I wouldn't have to pay any money until the job is completed, and I feel much safer about using this company because they do have a nationwide reputation to uphold, and they are a member of NARI. So, if there is a dispute, I have an avenue or two of recourse.
Decision is still pending.
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