contractors

Photo by PoPville flickr user Der Berzerker

“Dear PoPville,

Does anyone know or has used a company to shore up sagging floors? I have a sagging first floor that needs to be repaired. I’ve gotten an engineer’s report which states that the floor needs to be leveled and the joists sistered. The basement below is all cinder block walls and open ceiling (no drywall on the ceiling) so it should be easy to do. However, I haven’t been able to find a company that I can trust to do it.

If anyone has had this type of work done – please give me a recommendation. Thanks.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend

“My wife and I are planning to get rid of our concrete carport and have pavers installed, and we are looking for recommendations for good people/companies who do this type of work (I’ve seen a few previous PoP posts about DIY paver projects, but we won’t be doing this ourselves). Anyone?”

You can see all forum topics and add your own here. If you are having trouble uploading your question please email me at princeofpetworth(at)gmail Please Note this is NOT an events calendar.

“Dear PoPville,

I recently bought an unfortunately pink house in Northeast DC that I am looking to have painted. I received a job quote from a reputable company for $14,000 and from a local handyman for $4,500. Paintzen, a NYC startup that was cast as the Uber of house painting by a Wall Street Journal blogger, quoted me $2,200. This seems way too good to be true. I’ve been scouring the internet/Yelp/house blogs for evidence of a scam but am coming up with nothing but rave reviews. Paintzen requires a 10% deposit at booking, but they won’t provide me with a contract or invoice prior to payment other than the initial quote that was embedded in an email. Has anyone else used this service? Is it legit?!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user evegophotos

“Dear PoPville,

I am writing to see if your readers could provide recommendations for a contractor who specializes in pocket door repairs. I live in a historic building in D.C. and one of the two large pocket doors separating my bedroom and living room has been stuck for some time. Ideally, I’m looking for someone who has experience working in older/historic buildings.”

“Dear PoPville,

I need some help. I live in a row house that was renovated 18 months ago. At some point, water leaked around the windows, causing some damage to the window sill. I have no idea how the water got in, or who to contact about it. Window companies seem to be in the business of replacing glass or replacing the entire window. Who fixes window leaks? Thanks for any input.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe Flood

“Dear PoPville,

I recently discovered a few termites (I knew there are never just a few) in the siding on the front of my row house. I called a pest remediation company who came out, said I had active termites, and my house would need to be treated.

The problem is, that because it’s a row house with no basement and only about 6 inches of crawl space underneath, they can’t treat the house in the normal way, so they wanted to drill holes in my hard wood floors all the way through the house. That doesn’t really work for me, so I’ve been trying to come up with a creative way to deliver the chemical they would have used (termidor) via the crawlspace. I’ve done a lot of online research, but cannot find any specific information on how a house is normally treated when there is no way to access the “sides” of the house.

Does anybody have any thoughts or idea, or any experience trying to treat for termites in a row house? For the record, it appears that my house is built on a series of brick columns for a foundation.”