I have always fought against the evil's of the world. Although I am not a pure tree hugger, I see what the tree huggers have done for society, and when they don't exist we have blights like Colombia. At the same time I do not openly critize people for thier ignorant viewpoints, but I don't give up either. TD you are like an ostrich with it's head in the mud. Pull you'r head out and look at what is the real world. I used an anology to show what too much advertizing can do to a company already facing a meltdown. TRANE was sold in the nick of time, before it melted down. Why is this so? Because they spent too much money on advertizing a common product. It was not exceptional, only average with a poor track record for many years. All BS aside, you can stop a TRANE with a feather. Carrier went into major debt to keep Goodman in second place. This was not because of superiour techniology, but by putting a solvent company into hock. Why, because they did not want to be known as second. Many companies are proud of thier heritage, and do stupid tricks to keep an image. Carrier is one of those comapnies. I hope they pull out of the nose dive. Lennox another company that has a long tradition of excellence is in danger of going into a nose dive. Dave is dead and gone, so who is left? Intertherm is a giant HVAC company just like Goodman, but in my area, they probably have less than 5% of the market. Rheem is one company that I respect. I guess because the equipment works like expected. That is until you buy the bottom line grade equipment. There are many brands that I would rate higher than Carrier and TRANE. IMO, "MR-head-in-the-Mud", This is what makes America so great. No one is forced to buy only one brand of anything. The day WALMART or Home Depot puts thier own name to HVAC equipment, will be a cold day for the AC industry. All of the normal brands will be set aside for the HD brand of the month.

Fiberglass and/or composite windows: Most major window manufactures have been trying for years to solve the window question with fiberglass. "Owens Corning" (you know the in the pink), They gave up the effort years back. So that should tell everyone something! There has been literally more companies that have tried and given up on this type of product because of the following listed obstacles. Yet still several companies are still trying to offer an incomplete line up of products. Windows combinations and lack of support fiberglass shapes, and substitution of Vinyl products to fill in these areas. � Pella "impervia" � Marvin " Integrity" � WeatherShield "Fiberglass-clad / wood" � Anderson "Renewal by Andersen" The basic problem lies with; 1. Holding the glass in place within the sash, attaining water and air seal, not to mention water tight corners. Fiberglass glass stops and mulling covers cannot be effectively utilized. 2. Special shapes or combinations mulling of different materials is problematic at best and down played. 3. Various other plastics or vinyl�s must be used, Resulting in product fade issued as well as reliability issues. 4. Glass is glass! Thermal issues in some climates unless 100% thermally separated inside from outside. 5. There is a very good possibility of paint adhesion problems down the road if you paint them! "one of the reason they include the color in the pultrusion process. On the plus side, if you only need single (stand alone windows) fiberglass could be a good choice, replacing the glass and avoiding cracked glass is another concern, due to the grove glazing or glass stop problems. Advice: Once you paint you probably will be painting again and again! Take the factory finish or move on�

On the subject of finding good contractors or more accuratly getting your money's worth out of them. A developer recently bought several acres accross the road from me. They have been doing dirt work and surveying over the last month while the wife and I watch from our deck. Workers routinly arrive at 7am,work for 30 minutes,a truck leaves then returns with snacks and drinks. 45 minutes to 1.5 hrs are spent consuming snacks before about half of workers return to the machines which were idleing the whole time. Work continues for another hour before they stop one by one and sit for an hour or two while drivers nap in the air conditioned cabs. The routine is repeated every day. Mind you this developer has been around for years and has multiple jobs underway at any given time. If an experienced company can't find good help,what are the odds for homeowners?

Our only experience is with plumbers. The first was a friend recommendation. We actually had them come out twice. First for a water leak where our primary wate pipe had siding nailed into it. They fixed the 3" pipe that had. Racked all the way down into the slab. Then told us our 1 1/2" pipe from the kitchen sink wasn't to code and put in 2" pipe outside the wall, inside the cabinet. Called them again when we had a gas leak where the PO had copper run under the patio slab then into the house. Settling happened and the joint completely separated. They came out and ran new copper pipe strapped to the foundation. Fast forward to our kitchen remodel. Called one that was recommended on the Next Door app. They were stunned at the length of copper run outside and said there's no way that will pass inspection. The sink drain pipe that was supposedly not to code would have been fine. The new plumbers did a reasonable job with running the new gas line in the ceiling. I'm not happy with where they drilled the holes through the ceiling joists, but that seems to be fairly common with plumbers.