So hard to find good help these days . . .

[k brown]

Part of our garage door frame was dry-rotted. Hired someone with ump-teen great Yelp reviews.

Sign-of-Trouble #1 - Guy we hired doesn't come; sends someone else.

SOT #2 - Guy can barely speak a word of (incorrect) English at a time, and seems to barely understand what's said to him (Russian).

SOT #3 - After briefly looking at the issue, spends at least 15 minutes on the phone (in Russian) to someone I suppose is the guy we thought we hired.

SOT #4 - Instead of setting about to crow-bar away the affected 2x6, he starts 'chiseling' away at it with a hammer and screwdriver. I dig out a couple of my own chisels and hand to him; he sheepishly thanks me and mutters: "My wife took my tools".

SOT #5 - Realizing it will take him what's left of this year to chisel the whole thing away, he finally starts to pry the 2x6 away from the door frame, not with a demo bar or crowbar, but a claw hammer!

And so it went - you can guess what happened next - head breaks off the hammer. While digging around in my tool bin for a crowbar, I comment about 'not the right tool for the job'; again he says his wife took his tools.

- I take a break from this agony; when I check back, he's hammering away on the crowbar with the broken-off head of the hammer. I give him one of mine, along with a dead-blow sledge.

- Well, he finally gets the job done, and when he lets me know, I see that in prying away the 2x6, he's sheared off big chunks of the healthy adjacent moulding, which he's glued back only part of. The big gaps remaining he filled in not with epoxy putty, or even wood patch, but with cheap DAP caulk. And not even completely, but with deep recesses at the surface. As soon as he left, I dug all that crap out, to be replaced with the proper stuff.

- Then I see that he re-attached the 7' length of stop-moulding that's on top of the 2x6, not with counter-sunk finishing nails, but two (counted 'em, two) roofing nails; the ones with the huge, flat heads. One near the top, and the other about a foot and a half above the bottom. Nice strip of daylight left between moulding and frame.

 

[pucho812]

Seems to me you would have been better off doing it yourself. But yes good help is hard to find. When you can’t find it you end up with second rate or third rate folks who can barely function properly.

 

[AnalogPackrat]

I feel your pain. We are having our back porch and deck redone. Previous homeowner laid down new decking, put up new railing, etc. over 18 year old partially rotted framing that had not been built properly to start with.

First couple of guys I called never called back. Third guy came right out to look. Took forever to get an estimate together (one line item, zero details). We set a start date and he didn't show. I called him mid-morning and got a story about parts he'd ordered didn't arrive. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. Well, next day nothing. Called him in the late afternoon. No answer. Next day, nothing. Doesn't answer phone or texts. There's more, but the guy just ghosted us after we spent two months getting the estimate and a slot in his schedule.

Fourth guy is now over half done. He's mid-40s. Decent guy. His crew range from 20-something greenhorn to late 20s somewhat sloppy worker, to 63 year old who knows what to do, but only has four or five hours in his gas tank. I've been pitching in and doing work on weekends and days they haven't shown up. Frustrating. We're three weeks into a two week estimate.

If at all possible, DIY. This one involved jacking up 30x8' porch roof to replace all supporting structure including columns and pouring new footings. Beyond my comfort zone.

 

[sahib]

Same here.

Brotherhood of tradesmen.

I bet these guys are part of a secret society, and have monthly zoom meetings that they don't turn up to.

 

[JohnRoberts]

The hope (my hope) when hiring a tradesman is that you get someone who can do a better job than you. So far I have been lucky enough to find a decent plumber and good carpenter in my town. The carpenter is getting older so he may not be available forever, the plumber still has some years left on him.

I never found a decent electrician and after the one I was chasing stopped answering my calls about doing a wiring job for me, I ended up handling it myself. I was going to pay him to wire in a 4 wire service for my new wall oven. After he ghosted me I wired in the oven myself using the existing service. That was a few years ago and my house hasn't burned down yet.

JR

 

[k brown]

Addenda:

I don't know if it's just in my area, but when I went to get finishing nails to properly re-attach the stop-mould, none of the nails in both the stores I went to had the 'dip' in the head to keep the counter-sink tool from slipping off the head (like I've seen on finishing nails my whole life).

Is this just how all finishing nails are made now?

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Addenda:

I don't know if it's just in my area, but when I went to get finishing nails to properly re-attach the stop-mould, none of the nails in both the stores I went to had the 'dip' in the head to keep the counter-sink tool from slipping off the head (like I've seen on finishing nails my whole life).

Is this just how all finishing nails are made now?

Like most commodity items it's all imported and mostly substandard compared to decades past. Welcome to globalism. I still have a few boxes of old finish nails. You could try using the new square drive finish screws (small head draws below the surface), but with narrow and/or dry/brittle molding you might want to predrill or it will split.

 

[k brown]

Like most commodity items it's all imported and mostly substandard compared to decades past. Welcome to globalism. I still have a few boxes of old finish nails. You could try using the new square drive finish screws (small head draws below the surface), but with narrow and/or dry/brittle molding you might want to predrill or it will split.

Good idea, I've seen those but had forgotten about them.

 

[crazydoc]

Addenda:

I don't know if it's just in my area, but when I went to get finishing nails to properly re-attach the stop-mould, none of the nails in both the stores I went to had the 'dip' in the head to keep the counter-sink tool from slipping off the head (like I've seen on finishing nails my whole life).

Is this just how all finishing nails are made now?

Use a nail set rather than a center punch to set the nails - they don't use a dimple in the nail head.

 

[scott2000]

The GRK finish screws are pretty nice. All the GRK screws are that I've tried. My neighbor is a fastener rep for the big box stores and they ship boxes of them to him just to test shipping quality so I've had a chance to play with many of them... They pull so hard even the giant ones with pan heads will countersink and beyond...

 

[Rusan]

This all sounds far too familiar. Last year, we hired a guy to do some home repairs and improvements, who came highly recommended by a good friend of ours, who is his neighbor. The guy said he'd been doing carpentry work for over 50 years (since he was about 12 years old), and claimed he was a foreman with a major nationwide construction company for 14 years, with a crew of 110 under him.

He did the shoddiest work I've ever seen. After one particularly unsightly/stupid mistake (which I discovered much later), he made an excuse that he had to order some more trim and would be back to finish the job in a few days. That was 15 months ago, and we've not seen him again. My wife said it's just as well, because she doesn't want him back to destroy something else.

I've spent MANY hours repairing or completing his work, and am still nowhere near finished. Some of it is irreparable. I foolishly trusted his word and there was no written contract, so there's no legal recourse. Yes, I'm old enough to know better, but did it anyway.

I've had similarly negative experiences with a few local auto repair shops, several lawn care services, an appliance repair service, and a plumber with his name emblazoned above "Master Plumber" on the side of his van. Several years ago, a rather shady heat and air business scammed my elderly grandmother for a couple thousand dollars. They were a new startup at that time, and only lasted a couple of years before negative word-of-mouth put them out of business. Ditto for some of the other businesses,

Thankfully, we did find a good roofer recently. It was a company with only one small crew, but they were highly experienced (one had nearly 30 years full-time) and did excellent work. Actually, I didn't have much choice! Like Analog Packrat, 2 or 3 companies I contacted wouldn't return my call, one that did never sent someone out for a quote, and one was extremely high priced. And, just like JR, an electrician I'd already hired to do some work then wouldn't return my calls or texts, and ghosted me. I ended up by chance hiring an electrician who was from out of the area, but was staying here for a few days while wiring a new house for someone I know. He was a dream to work with, and did superb work at a reasonable price.

Sadly, it seems that about one or two in ten tradesmen (at least in my area) are both competent and honest. 50 years ago, when I was growing up in a small town, a good name/reputation was your most valuable asset, and you protected it at all cost. Times have changed...

 

[scott2000]

I find that trade specific forums are a good place to find guys/get solid referrals of ones that are into their crafts or you can interact in the middle of a project to check things or get advice......even found an unbelievable carpet cleaner that way. Most of the time I'm trying to learn for myself on the forums but sometimes you need someone...

 

[k brown]

How 'bout this one -

A few years ago, we had a small job done on our roof (won't go into the dull details).

First rainy season after, we noticed a bulge in the paint on our kitchen ceiling, which turned out to be full of water. Soon found that over a third of the kitchen ceiling was saturated with water. An inspector went into the attic and discovered that the people who did the previous very small job had attached the work with 8-10 4" long drywall screws that went clear through the tar and gravel roof, into the attic.

The kicker was the poor fellow who went into the attic to inspect, set his foot in the wrong place of the ceiling and fell clean through to the kitchen floor. Was unhurt, luckily. We felt like we were in an episode of "I Love Lucy".

Had to re-drywall the entire ceiling and two walls.

 

[scott2000]

And with the way some products are getting sketchier these days, it's like adding another exciting dimension to the mix as if there weren't enough already..

 

[AnalogPackrat]

We had HVAC work done in the spring. That crew was competent. Not cheap, but they did what they said they'd do and on the scheduled day.

Will need new shingles by next year. Was planning to do it this fall, but only after porch completed. I mentioned it to the guy who ghosted me when he came out to look at the porch in April. Turns out his father/brother run one of the bigger roofing outfits in town. They partly share a business office. When I called trying to get in touch with the ghoster his father answered. When I told him what I was calling about he hung up on me. Guess who isn't getting my roofing job.

I was hoping to find the competent honest guy that I could trust to do a few other projects here, but it's looking like my "retirement" is going to full of carpentry, plumbing, and electrical.

Oh, we also had a septic system backup in 2022. The first place I called wouldn't come out for 2-3 days. The second didn't answer. The third said they'd fit me in that day. I met the crew and offered to help dig once the tank was located since they were in a hurry. They appreciated my help. The older guy had been on the crew that originally put the system in. The whole time we worked he was cracking jokes and telling funny stories*. They earned a future customer that day.

*In the 22 years I owned my CA home I had to dig up the septic access three times for inspection. The septic guys were all friendly and funny. I guess that job attracts people who can handle shit with a smile.

 

[fazer]

So far my house has been DIY for jobs but I got an estimate for making a 10’ tall Door on the Barn/shop into a 12’ tall door for my recent RV purchased this year. He said I should cut the top of the door open an extra 2’ so they wouldn’t have to get permits and then gave me a figure of $6K to add a panel and new track. That was back in June. I realized I could buy a 12’ door insulated from Manards for 1800. I added the new door to the back side of the barn which makes for a drive through drive bay. I talked to my brother who is great at constructing just about anything and he said no problem so two 70 year old guys are about 2 thirds of the way done. We stopped to give him a couple of days to get over a cold but plan to finish this week. It scares me thinking of hiring people to do things these days.

 

[scott2000]

Be careful if doing the spring . That still stands out as one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. Even 20 years later a dang murphy bed spring tried to take my hand off when I wasn't paying enough attention...

 

[pucho812]

So unrelated other than general maintenance. Due to where my flat is located and how it faces. I rarely have need to run the my flats HVAC. However in doing so after a year or so, it will backup and spew water out. I have no idea where it comes from or why it happens as the HVAC is not in use. The only solution is to have maintenance come in and clean out the drain line. I am baffled why the drain line has anything going on considering I don’t use the HVAC.

 

[scott2000]

Maybe critters

 

[JohnRoberts]

So unrelated other than general maintenance. Due to where my flat is located and how it faces. I rarely have need to run the my flats HVAC. However in doing so after a year or so, it will backup and spew water out. I have no idea where it comes from or why it happens as the HVAC is not in use. The only solution is to have maintenance come in and clean out the drain line. I am baffled why the drain line has anything going on considering I don’t use the HVAC.

That is not very logical... is it providing heat and cooling or just cooling?

If making heat, condensation can accumulate on the cold outside coils.

JR