contractors

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.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user available_photons

“Dear Popville,

I recently purchased a house with radiators that have been painted over many times and are now peeling. We like radiator heat, and we like the look of nice radiators, so were hoping to fix them up somehow. Has anyone tried to restore their radiators? Did they do it themselves or use a local company?”

Ed. Note: Here are some old recs from 2010 but if anyone has more current ones please add to the comments – thanks!

Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil

“Dear PoPville,

After 5 months of a terrible experience with a contractor for our 6 week kitchen reno and historic house rehab, we’ve gotten the help of a lawyer to terminate our contract and start the process of getting our money (and cabinetry held hostage!) back. (And no, we’re not holding our breath).

It seems that everytime I ask for recommendations for a new contractor, I get the “I know someone NOT to use” response. Anyone out there actually have some glowing reviews to offer for a general contractor? A big plus if they have experience in maintaining and rehabbing original character elements of a historic home.

Thanks — Displaced Petworth Peeps”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr.TinDC

“Dear PoPville,

I am getting ready to move and need a number of things fixed in my house / projects completed before I rent it out. My first thought was to do it ourselves but my husband and I work full time and have a new baby, so we just do not have the time. Then I thought I’d just hire a handyman rather than a full service general contractor, since individually these are all small projects (but collectively will be probably several days of work). I have contacted a few places (Renaissance and Handyman Services Corp, both with good online reviews) to see if they could take on the job but neither has replied. So, I’d like to know if the PoP community has any suggestions for a good handyman or contractor who’d be willing to take on the “small” jobs? The list of projects is below:

Projects:
1) replace missing trim on side of porch roof
2) patch cracks in concrete porch
3) touch up paint on interior walls
4) re-paint interior trim and doors (or instead of scraping and re-painting doors replacing doors if it will be cheaper)
5) replace lock on 1 exterior door
6) install 2 hard-wired smoke detectors (connections from an old one are already there)
7) replace broken floor tiles in bathroom
8) replace bathroom vanity
9) replace bathroom light fixture
10) paint fence in back of house
11) paint exterior window trim on back of house
12) insulate kitchen pipes (they are exposed in basement ceiling)
13) patch 2 holes in drywall ceiling where access to kitchen pipes is (we opened them up to expose the kitchen pipes to thaw them out after one of the cold snaps this winter)”