Other than hiring myself, a couple of my friends and family, I don’t know.
Here’s the second roof in a year I’ve looked at because shingles are falling off. The shingles were not very old on either roof, they were just installed incorrectly. I feel bad that some homeowners have paid / are paying for very poor quality work.
My older brother asked me the other day, when he buys a house – how does he hire a contractor to work on it ? Word of mouth was the best thing I could think of. Get recommendations from other homeowners, and ALSO ask lumber yards who they hear good things about. This probably won’t work at a Menards or Home Depot, etc…the big chains, but if you are in an area with a small lumber yard – they know who pays their bills, and who has a good reputation to them anyway. Most of all, Ask if how the contractor is about honoring their warranty? Does their warranty cover 30 yr Shingles that fall off the house within a couple years ?
I hope everyone is able to find the contractor they like and can work with, who does quality work!
I’ll be honest with you, the idea that something is “Made in America” doesn’t impress me anymore like it did before the Chevy -General Motors bailouts from the US Government/american people.
What Does impress me still about a product or a service, etc… is the Customer Service and Warranty ! If I know that a product I buy will be repaired quickly, in a location near me, and gotten back to me quickly, that is impressive! I spent a day last week sitting by this coputer I’m using now, watching as a person in India move my curser around and try to get my computer running correctly again. Granted, it’s impressive that someone in India CAN get in my computer virtually and fix things, it’s still frustrating when I have problems Again, with a 9 month old computer. I have spent several times the cost of this computer, if I added up the hours of work I have missed while sitting on the phone to India with computer repair problems, and the ammount of “warranties and virus protection” they have talked me into buying.
Again and again I have seen that a Low price does NOT equal a High Value. It sounds like if I had spent more money on processors and virus protection when I bought the computer, I might have lost less work time by not having as many repair issues.
With the sub-contractors I work with, I have found the same thing. On top of doing a good job, the ones who answer their phones and make my life easier are the ones I call. The idea of a person or business standing behind what they do or sell is SO important. I have seen many times, and especially after the Ham Lake Fire, that a lot of carpenters from out of the area were bought in to help re-build. I’m sure some of these buildings are fine, but I have seen a few of these “New” cabins with Major problems. And now where are the contractors who built them ? In Minneapolis? Iowa? Illinois? Are they driving up after work to fix a problem with the cabin they built?
I live and work in Cook County. But MORE than that, I stand behind the warranty on the projects I build in Cook County. I have found that price and value are closely related. Sure, there’s always someone who will work for cash, work without a license, or Insurance, or whatever it is they are doing to be able to work very cheaply. But the lowest price, in the long run, often does not offer the highest value.
It sounds like the Gunflint Trail Garage Sale was a success for everyone involved. It’s interesting and kinda cool – the things that end up becoming Events , on the Gunflint Trail. I went down to Trail Center for a burger in the afternoon, and it was like a party down there. Thank you for [...]
GUNFLINT TRAIL’S FIRST ANNUAL TRASH AND TREASURE DAY! Saturday May
29th 8 am-5 pm 60 miles of Bargains 26 Businesses and all the
homeowners that want to join in. Please post this anyplace you can!
Blogs, press releases, website. Help make this a big event for the
Gunflint Trail/Cook County Homeowners please join in!
I think [...]
We’ve built several docks in the past. This one we built about 2 years ago. In the summer it’s attached to a crib dock on a part of the lake that gets quite a bit of wind. In the fall we move it around this point to a protected bay to wait for ice out [...]
After finishing a quick chimney repair this morning on Gull Lake, I swung by the Seagull River / campgound to see if walleye were running in the river yet. We didn’t see any running and the water levels are very low this spring, they may even have trouble getting very far upstream. Was still a [...]
Here are a few pieces of advice I found on blog posts, other constructon sites, etc.. The articles were all much longer, these are just a few of the highlights.
The following is from mcclurebuilders.com
“The biggest reason for remodeling should be that the homeowner loves his or her location and percieves the home to have [...]
On my way home from looking at a project near Grand Marais, I spotted this calf moose in the swamp to me left and wanted to film it crossing the road. I wasn’t expecting the cow ( mother ) to be nearby and come out from the right side of the road and follow it’s [...]
The Cook County News-Herald is reporting that
“The Board of Commissioners resolved to extend the effective duration of the land use permits issued to properties within the Ham Lake fire area from the existing one-year timeframe to a three-year period.”
They make it sound like the permits still had to be applied for within 180 days [...]
“On the positive side for builders, Americans remain invested in the concept of homeownership, according to the survey, which was released this week. Seventy percent believe that buying a home is one of the safest investments they can make. Eighty percent say that homeownership is important to the economy. And they definitely see the value [...]