but I repeat myself...

I have a 40-ish foot tall double-trunked Poplar in the side yard that needs to come down. One half I could do myself, but the other is facing in a bad direction and the weight distribution of the branches pretty much dictates that it'll fall in a bad direction - House, landscaping, power lines. Much safer to have it taken out from the top down.

Called three tree service places yesterday. One number disconnected, one no answer but had an email contact, and left a voice mail on the third.

Somewhat surprisingly, Voicemail Guy called back last evening and said he'd be in the area this morning and would stop by and give me a price.

Email Guy called this morning with the same story.

It's now nearly 3:30pm and both are No Show No Call. Pisses me right the fuck off.

Look, Jackwagon, it's simple: Don't want the job? just say so, I won't be offended. Can't even look at it for a couple of weeks? Likewise. Planned to be here but Shit Happened? I bet you have a cell phone.

Called my favorite plumber for a couple of little things. One of his crew answered and said, "Gosh, we'd like to help you but we're weeks out on new jobs and even if I wrote it down, it'd get lost between now and then. You can try calling back in a month. Sorry."

That, I can respect. Part of the reason he's my favorite plumber.

Yes I agree but don't understand how they stay in business. Dad and I built houses for years, additions, repairs, plumbing and electrical as well, new and service work. Also many many built in appliance installs for local appliance stores. Not a huge operation but we had 15 employees at the peak. You never blow off a customer. You don't set a hard date or time unless necessary but when you do you damn well make it!

I have always done all my own work, cars, house, everything. I re-roofed my last house, 1600 sq ft, T shaped ranch. Tare off and replace completely by myself.

But... I'm 65 now and slowing down... and one of my dreaded fears is having to find someone reasonable and dependable to do things I no longer want to do or are to much for me tackle anymore. For example, that house I re-roofed before is now my daughters and it needs a new roof again now but no way in hell am I going to tackle that so...

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
But... I'm 65 now and slowing down... and one of my dreaded fears is having to find someone reasonable and dependable to do things I no longer want to do or are to much for me tackle anymore. For example, that house I re-roofed before is now my daughters and it needs a new roof again now but no way in hell am I going to tackle that so...

That's the boat I'm in. 10 or 15 years ago, I'da dropped that sumbitch myself. Same deal with the plumbing.

The days of climbing trees, working on my knees or working with my arms up over my head for more than a minute or two are gone.

Good news is, one of the tree guys finally showed up around 4pm and gave me a decent price to take it down. All I want him to do is get it horizontal, I'll take care of the rest. Said he'd climb it with spurs and drop it in sections for $400. Done and done, see ya next week.

^^^^^
That is a good price. The guys I used after the last hurricane have moved on. I remember years ago I had to call this guys mother to contact him. He lived in a shack with no electricity. I also had to help. His price was right though.

I had a big White Oak taken down last year . It was behind my house and they had to bring in a crane and reach over the house . The guy in the tree would cut a section and rig the cable and they swung it over and set it in the front yard . They cut it up , loaded it in a dump truck and hauled it away . I paid less than a thousand bucks . Around here there is probably about 5 different guys that cut trees and all of them have a pretty good reputation . Prices vary a lot though .

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Done and done, see ya next week.

So if he showed up at 4:00 pm for his morning appointment, are we taking bets on what week he'll show up for his next week appointment?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Done and done, see ya next week.

So if he showed up at 4:00 pm for his morning appointment, are we taking bets on what week he'll show up for his next week appointment?

Uhhhh...NO!

Turns out I WAS born at night, but it wasn't LAST night...

They are hard to find. I remember replacing my windows. It took me 6 damn months to find the right contractor and window mfr. They are crooks. I had to take down three trees on the property and luckily my normal landscape guy I pay to come by once a year for trimming took care of it. It’s getting harder and harder to find reliable contractors to stick in the Rolodex. My plumbers, mom and pop shop, well I guess the Patriarch was getting too old to run it, the kids didn’t want it, so it was sold out to some corporate bullshit. I have a sprinkler guy, and a pool equipment guy, if you call their voicemails they state they aren’t accepting new customers. The solid independent types, are hard to find. All of it is a fucking racket. I take care of my guys well.

I needed a brick contractor to do a small job for me . Two were no shows and the third brought photo albums of his work and told me how awesome he was . We talked about the job and he promised to get back to me the following week with an estimate . That never happened . Two years later I saw him on a local Facebook page replying to a request for a brick mason reference . I asked him when he was going to get back to me since I thought two years time was plenty to figure out an estimate . That set him off and he proceeded to rip me a new ass .He said it was obvious that I didn't take care of my property , my home or myself , and he could tell that I was the kind of person that wanted something for nothing so he didn't bother getting back to me . WTFO ! I blasted him back and that was the end of it . I have never missed a chance to " give him a reference " every time the opportunity arises . What a dick .

Not to mellow your bitch..

I've had good luck using Angie's List to find contractors. You can look for contractors in your area and read their info and reviews before making contact. First thing I look for is "good communication".