Can you be more specific as the craft or trade you're wanting to hammer into the ground? I find more professionals with high degrees tend to be more incompetent, avoid the rules, are crooks with no integrity and charge 10 times more then they are worth.

Financial services are the worst incompetent crooks and can get better advice from plumbers or framers for free.

Absolutely satisfied.

Built our second new house 23 years ago on a raw piece of land.

From surveying, clearing the bush, levelling the lot, drilling a well, running power from the main road, digging the basement, laying infloor heating, inside finishing, insulation, proper windows, electrical work, and so on we have been totally satisfied with the work done Our general contractor handled all the permits, kept us informed, and encouraged on site visits. . We used licensed tradespeople. We’re warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. We did add A/C a few years ago as our summers are getting hotter and it is something we never expected to need. The house has met/exceeded our expectations. Other than location, our reason for moving, our first build was pretty much the same.

I think most people know enough to do their homework when hiring contractors. Research isn’t that hard.

Sure. I was thinking along the lines of skilled workers people engage to make, alter or repair things around their homes. Or concerning their personal property, like cars, electronics, or other things big or small.

The old phrase was "tradesmen" but as to develop competence and expertise in any trade favors neither gender's characteristics, a tradesman can also be a tradeswoman. It's easier to just say "tradesperson".

Some places are awash with what ultimately are many excellent providers to choose from. Others, less so.

I have no interest in pounding anything into the ground. My curiosity had to do with whether people in various parts of the country find that they can successfully seek out and engage people/companies to do work to their satisfaction, with the characteristics I briefly mentioned.

Well the new chimney flu didn't pass the test....

Yes, it is easy to find competent people/companies to do repairs/renovations in my area.

Yes, it is easy to find them. Also easy to get incompetent. And some are competent but unlicensed, or not set up as a business. I find referrals on my uber-local fb group. One problem is their availability. The best ones might not be available when you want or need them, but sometimes they are worth the wait.

I live in th suburbs of a major metropolitan area, so there is no shortage of people offering their services.

Also easy for us. Most I’m thinking of (painters, landscapers, plumbers, roofers, mechanics, pest control, HVAC) we’ve used for years and were referrals from friends, neighbors or our realtor. As mentioned, availability can be an issue, but we’ve always seemed to work it out. I honestly can’t recall ever not being pleased with results.

DH's father was a custom builder. When he was still around, he told us the questions to ask before hiring anyone. When we needed a new roof, i interviewed at least 20 people, before one of them brought up the info himself before I had a chance to ask. That's how I knew he was the right person for the job. Aside from that, we have used the same family firm for everything--kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Their grandfather did the kitchens and bathrooms for my FIL's projects, and we would not change for anything, even though we are now dealing with the grandchildren. After 3 kitchens and4 baths in various houses, we have no more large projects for them. They are about an hour away from us, but if I called them, they would be here in a flash, even for a small job. The electricians and plumbers that they sub-contract to are equally fine. And, of course, everybody is licensed and had the appropriate insurance. I am quite lucky.

We moved here 9 years ago, and I relied on the local FB pages for most referrals. Nice thing is that the most recommended people are really local, live in the township, you run into them at the grocery, or see them at local events, or know their kids are in school with my grandson. I've been very happy, except for a flaky plumber who did no harm, but he's just flaky.

It used to be pretty easy to find a great handyman/woman, car repair, general contractor, electrician, plumber, etc in this area. Not so much anymore without running into a problem. Unless you happen to know someone with recent experience. Most of this is due to the growth in our town and the sheer number of people looking for trades. We have been fortunate. When we build our house we used the builder we had watched build the house across the road from us, and who lived in our rural neighborhood too. A husband & wife team, where was a master craftsman and she ran the business end but had also studied architecture in college (didn’t finish). As most people know, one key is the contractor’s subs they hire and theirs were exceptional.

With few exceptions, we have always used our dealer for car maintenance and repairs. There is one other BMW service garage in town I’ve used that is very good and a couple of others that are great for body work that I know about from friend’s experience and recommendations.

My neighbor has bought and fixed houses for rental property for around 15 years. She is our neighborhood source for plumbers, roofers, and electricians if needed. All we have used so far have been reasonable and very good.

The only person I would not hire again is now deceased. We hired his company to do some minor renovation in a bathroom. He had dumb and dumber working for him and we finally told him to get someone else here to work on things. We could not believe the things they started to rip out and replace for no reason. They ripped out half of the solid wood moulding around the floor on one wall for some odd reason. When we asked why they took it out they said they were going to piece it back with some fake wood stuff. Not the only dumb thing they did. Uh, nope!

When I was on the board of our condo association at the lake, we had more issues with service providers. It’s in a small town about 35 miles from here. We had one guy on the board who always was looking for the cheapest way to do or buy anything. Not that this is bad, but sometimes you get what you pay for. If we found someone or something that was great for the job, he could always find it cheaper or someone who do do it more cheaply. As an example, I cannot tell you how many cheap pool umbrellas we bought every year thanks to his thriftiness when we could have bought nice sturdy UV Sunbrella umbrellas that would have lasted for years.

Its fairly easy for us to find competent tradespeople. Often we ask our neighbors for recommendations (ie. painter, landscaper). For larger jobs such as roofing, windows, bath and kitchen renovation we interviewed multiple contractors. My DH can usually handle small repairs.

Our most recent use of tradespeople was a restoration company sent by our insurance company for remediation and repairs after a significant water leak. They did a good job of communicating and we were happy with the workmanship. Given the contractor has a relationship with our insurance company probably helped. If they fail to satisfy us and/or other customers referred by the insurance company, the contractor’s long term relationship with the insurance company could be at risk.

Satisfied.

So far, I've been happy with everyone I've used.

The challenge is finding someone you want to use and who has time/is interested, and educating yourself enough to weed out the ones you don't want. In my case, another challenge is finding the right balance of DIY and hire pro.

Example: had my house painted. Large old house, three floors, lead paint in terrible shape on S and W walls Had six painting companies come look and bid, including one "lead paint specialist". Everyone was going to just scrape a bit then spray, resulting in a pockmarked surface with lots of edges and scars, basically they wouldn't sand or do any real prep on lead paint. They all wanted to replace portions of the siding too. The lead paint specialist claimed they'd do good prep, so I looked at some houses they'd painted and, well, they looked like no prep was done. Bids ranged from $20K to $35K. I didn't bother calling the expensive painter in my neighborhood, I know they charge $50K++ for high quality prep and paint of an old house. So I got all the lead protection gear and procedure, and a professional paint stripping tool, and on 20 sf of wall I stripped the siding to bare wood, sanded repaired and filled to ready for primer. Then I called a high quality but not "most expensive" painter, showed him what I was doing, asked for a bid assuming I did that prep to the S and W walls. He bid $22K including needed prep on the other walls then spray and backbrush, visited during the summer I spent stripping/sanding to check progress and advise me on what I needed to do, then in the fall he did a really high quality job. So now I have a good painter and won't use anyone else. He taught me tricks too - like, if you don't strip siding to bare wood, then prime it then skim coat to cover the scar and old paint edges, then paint. Also to cut out all the old caulk under the siding lower edges, moisture needs to escape and the walls to breathe.

Good and bad -- sometimes from the same company or individual.

Today a plumber from the company we've used for over ten years was a mostly OK. We paid just under $500 to repair an area of a sump pump drain immediately outside the house. We didn't bite on the $350 to send a camera through the entire drain to learn why it wouldn't handle a fire hose volume of water. (Should it prove unable to handle the normal weak flow, we can revisit that.)

This problem was created by a 'bad actor' company that tore up the far end of the pipe while clearing brush, and we've already paid $350 to get that end of the pipe replaced. ,

We have a little problem with tradesmen because DH grew up not only fatherless, but totally innocent of household problems. I had no father either, but did grow up with more exposure to such stuff and am the more 'tech-y' of the two of us. Only recently have tradesmen not assumed they have to speak only to 'the man of the house'. (It is chaging!)

I have always been satisfied. Hopefully as tradespeople are reaching retirement age as we have - that won't change. My plumber of decades is now semi-retired. I pay him in cash and assume how he keeps his books is not my concern 😊

This is a smaller community and outgoing DH knows many people. If we don't know someone appropriate, we will know someone who knows someone appropriate. And - talented. I've yet to be disappointed in anyone I've hired but I'm cautious and do my homework before taking someone under contract.

" We have a little problem with tradesmen because DH grew up not only fatherless, but totally innocent of household problems. I had no father either "

These factors aren't necessarily a problem SO LONG as the workers you call hire to resolve your problems or make the enhancements you wish are properly trained and experienced so as to be competent and also are honest people who act with integrity and give priority to what's in your best interests. Not what's in there's.

An extreme example - you don't need to know how to diagnose tooth problems, be it decay, the need for a root canal or extraction, or whatever, in order to have the work done by an honest and competent dentist. BUT, if the dentist is sub-par skill wise (50% of dentists in practice are less competent than the average of all dentists ;-) ) and doesn't conduct her/himself with integrity, anything can happen.

Elmer -- You have to know *something* about how things are supposed to work to know what to ask before hiring. Sure, you *can* get a good result without any background. You don't know what you don't know. You may also pay an inflated price.

My point, though, was that more trades are OK discussing projects with me, a mere female, at the outset. That's new. Until recently, they always assumed they needed to speak to 'the man of the house' if he was present.

chisue, you describe an angle (being a female dealing with such situations) I didn't consider and of course haven't experienced. And to be honest, being a bit younger than you and in a different part of the country, my wife hasn't experienced that either. I asked.

I think people working in the trades are a bit less rough and gruff than they used to be - that's something I personally have noticed. A bit more polite, a bit more well-spoken. Maybe because methods and tools are more advanced and many kinds of trade work takes more brains than before and less gorilla brawn.

People who work on cars are technicians these days, not mechanics and certainly not grease monkeys. The work is more complicated. The systems and equipment are more high tech to make and to work on. Maybe that's an outlier example.