I too seem to have bad taste in tradespeople. I have been considering ponying up to join Angie's List, but getting court records would be a useful adjunct. Thanks for the tip!

Checking local court records is an excellent idea. I would add for clarification that simply being sued isn't the same as actually having done something wrong. Nor is settling a lawsuit. For the benefit of others's reading this thread, make sure you're not only checking for lawsuits but also checking the outcome of each case.

Mike

True Mike. Although, I do find that people that are habitually sued, tend to have poor customer service skills. IOW they seem to tick ppl off. Not the kind of people I care to waste my money on.

I went with a roofer that had 1 complaint against him with the local BBB, thinking 1 complaint isn't so bad. It seemed to be resolved or so they said...

What literal HELL we went through with that roofer (leaks, caught them putting shingles up without the ice dam we paid for, no one spoke english to communicate with the workers when we found them doing it wrong, damaged siding, etc. I complained to that same BBB and they did nothing, so my new motto is any complaints, not a chance.

Do you have a local real estate agent you can ask? My husband does home repair, and he has several agents that he works with when houses need repairs prior to sale. An agent isn't going to stick with someone who does shoddy work, so if they have someone they like, you can bet that he does good work.

It's a shame that you've had so much trouble getting compenent work. If you live in or near an area with a senior center they make keep a referral list of people who have a good reputation. I know one of the sr. centers here does just that with home repair and caregivers and they update their list 2 x a year by calling and checking references.

Thanks for the tip on senior centers and realtors. I will see if I can come up with some referrals. From what I have heard all the true craftsman left the area years ago. There are alot of slum landlord rental houses also (one guy owns 300 houses in town!) so I think they are used/expect to shoddy work.

One GREAT thing happened today. The Nachi house inspector that did the pre-inspection on the house has lost his license due to the photos and documentation we provided. His grossly negligent inspection is what got us into this expensive mess to begin with. (that and non-disclosure by the PO and realtor)

They have barred him from reapplying for a home inspection license for 5 yrs. That will SPARE any future victims, which is some relief to me.

My husband spoke with the legal dept for the state that held the investigation/hearing and he said the guy will NEVER inspect homes in this state again. It was the worse case of negligence their office has seen.

Small victory anyway!

The BBB, at best, provides mediation. They have no authority to force anyone to do anything. Even a good company makes mistakes and theyÂre more than a few consumers that have completely unreasonable expectations about almost everything. I wouldnÂt completely ignore a BBB complaint but IÂd look at it in context too.

Many years ago in a field completely unrelated to construction I had a female employee to alleged sexual harassment by a male co-worker. She said that she had told no one about the incident before she talked to me. The male employee happened to be on the premises at the time of the complaint. I immediately talked to the male employee and he admitted to sexual contact but claimed that it was consensual. Literally within 10 minutes of the time of the complaint the male employee was suspended (and eventually terminated).

She still sued me. After $4,000 in legal fees to "prove" my innocence I wrote her a check for a few thousand because it was cheaper to pay her than the lawyers.

Mike

Sorry to hear about that Mike. It does unfortunately happen. I do think those with any ligation against them in my case, will do just fine without my business though, and me and my wallet will sleep better.

We are licensed master electricians in Dallas. I assure you there are many honest and competitent professional trades people. The real bug-a-boo is hiring "handymen" who frequently try to be a jack of all and master of none. Look in your yellow pages. Many trades people have adds that list their license numbers. Call local trade unions for references. Try to get at least two bids. Ask for references and check them out. If someone gives you a bad reference, DON'T think it is trivial and then have a disaster with your roof. Do not invite a trades person into your home and then act dumb or think he/she is the only person available. Unless you live in Poodunk, you should have a lot of qualified options. If you live in an area large enough to have a small claims court, you should have many licensed trades people.

I agree with texasredhead.
In the past I've hired several fast-talking Jacks of all trade who present themselves as experts who can do things at such better prices than them there "high-priced professionals". Things never seem to get done right, or on time.

This time, I picked an electrician out of the yellow pages. It was minor work - the sort that those Jacks might well agree to do - but with such a safety issue I wanted to be sure it was done right, even if it costs more. I should have gotten recommendations and quotes but I was very short on time. ('New' house with missing grounded plugs)

Well, I lucked out. I got a very professional-appearing man WITH an apprentice. Both were polite, tidy, and worked steadily for four hours. He made recommendations but didn't pressure me into having more done than I absolutely needed right now. Charged me $65 (Canadian) per hour for both of them, plus materials.

For sure, he's coming back to do more work once I know what else I want for this house.

C.

Texasred, the house leveling company we hired were recommended by the local permit office. They do all the town work. What I ended up with was a bowed subfloor. That's the only raising they did. It took another company to cut the supports they put in and the room leveled out perfectly.

Yes I am in Podunk I think. There are just no qualified workers. The electrician and a $70. an hour plumber so far have been the only workers that did the job right the first time.

It's not a matter of money, it's a competence issue. Even the plumber and electrician *couldn't recommend anyone* for construction type work. It seems everyone in this town has a shingle hung out and as you said are master of none.

My state only licenses electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades. Until a few years ago they had no RE disclosure laws and inspectors didn't have to be licensed. What horror to deal with these backwards people.

I feel for you as I also live in 'Podunk' with no qualified workers (very good employment rate here so the good ones all have steady work in higher paying fields). We're lucky though in that all handymen must have a license, including guys who just paint or something else minor like that.

Hang in there. There has to be a good honest worker somewhere - when you find him, pay him well and make him cookies! Perhaps consider paying extra to have a worker drive in from the nearest 'big' city - offer gas, food & lodging as well.

thank you ladynimue! If people aren't 'living' it, it's really hard for them to believe the phenomenon :-)

At this point I think we're going to have to hire laborers and be our own contractor. My husband called the local fire dept as they were the ones that moved our loaded truck for us. Strong guys with good work ethics. One of them is going to come by next week and see what help we need.

This time we'll supervise and tell them what we want done. The fireman had no problem with that arrangement.

hopefully it will work out to be a win/win situation.

ps I usually always feed the workers here. Made little difference unfortunately!