Finding a good contractor can be a daunting task! I have had a fair share of contractors over the years and I've my share of problems.

Things to consider when hiring a contractor: the cheapest bid is not always the cheapest final cost; you want to find someone who completes the job without leaving you a great deal of finish work; you want someone you can trust in your home! I also want someone that will tell me if something won't look right and will stop the job if something is wrong (rather than cover it up).

My story: We built a house in 2005. The house was expensive and we assumed (YIKES!) that everything would be done correctly. Our builder had won awards for house-building. I stopped by the site every morning and every evening on the way to and from work. We returned in the evening to thoroughly inspect the work, but we were not housebuilders. We pointed out problems to the construction supervisor in hopes the issues would be fixed. One morning, I stopped to find drywallers starting before repairs behind the wall were finished. I hopped in my car, driving to work while calling every contact number I had for the builder. No answer at any number. I turned around, drove back to the house, and asked who was in charge. I explained I was the homeowner and I was stopping their work because the builder did not complete some requirements. The head drywaller never said a word to me; he just picked up his phone and called my builder. My builder had people out there in less than five minutes. Years ago, a friend of mine said he knew a Chrysler executive that had a sign in his office that read: "Quality is what you inspect, not what you expect." I have never forgotten that and building is a stark reminder of how important that is. In spite of trying to stay on top of the quality, things slipped through.

Problem #1: Our windows were close to impossible to shut and latch. Window company came out and found the windows weren't square. The builder had to fix them, which they sort of did.

Problem #2: Our patio doors were rotting. We have patio doors on two levels and both levels were rotting. We assuming the doors were cheap. Rick was busy, so we hired another local company to install a new patio door on the lower level and a new service door in the garage. The company installed the wrong color door. The door was supposed to be white and they installed cream. They called me down to look at the door when they finished and I said "The door is the wrong color." The worker said "Yes, it is." Why did they install it if they knew the color was wrong? They sent the door compny out to look at it: it is the wrong color. They wanted to paint it, to which I responded "Only if it looks like the factory finish." They eventually replaced the door. They also installed casing that did not match the casing in my house and it was raw wood, so we had to prime and paint. Not happy with this company and probably because we were spoiled by the quality of work we get from Rick of R.J. Bennett. Rick talks with you ahead of time and asks what you want to do and what he should do. He gives the option of doing it all (down to the painting) or doing some of it and he details this to you BEFORE accepting payment or starting work.

Problem #3: The windows leaked, down from the top, onto the latches and down the glass. By this time, the housing bubble had burst and our builder was out of business. We called R.J. Bennett. Rick (the "R" of R. J. Bennett) looked for a cause a the roof line, above the windows, etc. He could not see anything that could be identified as the problem, so he sealed where he could and hoped for the best (and told us just that). It still leaked. He tried again... still leaked. This went on for a couple of years (it only leaked when it rained hard) then finally, he said it may be the windows are not flashed correctly. He pulled off some siding and checked the windows - some were okay and some weren't. The house had not been wrapped with Tyvek or similar and the flashing around the windows consisted of the flashing "tape." Once the OSB gets wet everal times, the tape may no longer stick to it. That was the issue on our house and this is also why the doors rotted. After discussing options with Rick, we made a decision to remove all of the siding, wrap the house, use aluminum flashing around the windows, and reside. After the siding was removed, there were two areas on the house where the OSB had started to rot from water damage (the house was ten years old). Since re-doing the siding, the house looks better and the windows & doors don't leak.

Problem #4: The kitchen sink smelled. We had multiple plumbers in to look at the drain and try to solve the problem. One company told us (in 2015) that we had a 21 foot horizontal drain, so that was the problem. He said that if we switched the pipe to a larger size, that would take care of it. We did that. It did not fix the problem. When we had Rick re-do our kitchen in 2016, his plumber found that our drain pipe was not supported adequately, so it sagged, which meant that food particles and water stayed in the pipe... which meant the drain would smell. He fixed it by supporting it properly.