Foolproof Contractor Search
Mike from Yet Another D*mn Blog has one of the best tips EVER for finding local contractors and such.
It's also one of the funniest to someone like me who, even though technology advances in leaps and bounds, can't always let go of her Luddite ways.
From Mike:
A few years back, my brother had his house painted. I asked him how he found the guys that did it, since he was so happy with the job they did. "Easy," he said, "I keep a ten-year old copy of the phone book around. I sit down with the old one and the new one, and I figure anyone who's still in business now has got to be good.
That is so simple and so brilliant. Sometimes old-fashioned does have its advantages.
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Comments
BRILLANT!
Posted by: Saple | April 14, 2005 9:04 AM
Great idea...now all I need to do is write a post on my blog asking folks to send me a copy of a 10 year old phone book since we just relocated here. :)
Posted by: Heather | April 14, 2005 9:19 AM
That is brilliant. I also -that is until I started doing everything myself - used to judge them by their truck. Too nice a truck with way too many bells and whistles meant they may be desperate to make the truck payment and might try and rip you off. Too run down of a truck means they are not getting enough work to make ends meet. I liked a nice work truck that shows some wear and tare but is still well maintained.
Posted by: Grex | April 14, 2005 2:02 PM
Here's the rub. The best contractors don't advertise. They don't have to. You won't find them in the "Yellow Pages".
It's referrals and "word-of-mouth" all the way.
Never, never, NEVER choose a contractor from the phone book! You might get lucky --- but it's only luck.
Posted by: Marty | April 14, 2005 11:49 PM
the library has old phonebooks. and other books.
here all businesses are in the yellow pages. most have no other ad. so that would work well here.
the truck thing is true. but if you want to see the truth, drive past their shop and see what their employees drive.
Posted by: Brian | April 15, 2005 8:53 AM
The phonebook is a great idea! I wish I had thought about that a few months ago when we had our bathroom re-done.
I didn't know anyone in town and didn't want to call random guys out of the yellowpages so I went online and found a great FREE service. It is call www.reliableremodeler.com. All I had to do was enter some information about my project and before the week was over I had 3 contractors come and give me estimates on my bathroom! Two of the contractors were really good the other one was just okay. But it was a really easy way for me to find contractors.
Posted by: Gregg | April 20, 2005 6:27 PM