Home Maintenance and Repair
Tips for doing your own home maintenance and repair
He gave you an estimate of $1500 to do what?
That is all I could say to this woman as she explained to me that some handyman had just given her an estimate of $ 1500 for labor to replace the front door of her home. Now mind you this was not a gold inlay door it was just a standard 6 panel solid core front door. There wasn't any fancy hardware or special wood.
I was there to replace an electrical disconnect ( a fancy name for the fused switch usually found next to the outdoor unit) for her outdoor air conditioning unit. I was only charging her $ 200 for parts and time, but imagine my shock when after she paid and thanked me she tells me that the same handyman who had given her a price for the door had also quoted her a price $ 650 to replace the very same part I had just finished replacing for $ 200. It was then that I realized that I was in the wrong business I was attempting to represent myself and the company I worked for at the time as honest and fair and all the time there were other people out there fleecing these people for every thing they could get.
Here 6 very important dos and don'ts that I live buy in my dealings with home repair handymen. Follow these and you will save yourself a lot of heart ache.
Don't wait till you absolutely have to have it fixed to get it done. They are waiting to stick it to you.
Do get multiple estimates regardless of how badly you need it done.
Do get suggestions from your family, friends, coworkers. Then refer to # 2
Do ask for references from every service person before you let them do any work.
Do not be afraid to check up on and watch them work. It is your home after all.
DON'T let anyone start any work on your home with out a reasonable completion date in writing and then ask for daily or weekly reports in regards to the progress towards the completion date.
I haven't changed my tactics one bit I still try to represent the company I work for in a far and honest manner. Apparently in ten years a lot of other people have not changed they're tactics either, they are still trying to fleece trusting people out of their money. They give those of us who trying to the right thing a bad name.