Holmes and Holmes is one of my favorite TV shows on HGTV. The host, Mike Holmes and his son Mike Jr., have made a living fixing the work of renovations gone wrong from bad contractors. Homeowners will write to the show asking if they can help rebuild the mess that was left from a bad renovation. Which usually means redoing the entire renovation starting from demolition and building up again.
Costs More to Fix Bad Projects
Having a good trades contractors for gas, electrical, carpenter, plumbing is the key to all your success as a home owner. A good contractor will be able to bring your design ideas to life and open up all kinds of real estate possibilities with any home. A bad contractor can delay your timelines with bad renovation projects that have to be restarted while writing down the loss as sunk cost and an expensive lesson learned. When hiring a contractor for a project, you want to avoid the fallacy of always going for the cheapest quote. I am more than willing to pay higher cost for a contractor that I know can get the job done well especially if he came recommended from a trusted source such as a friend or business contact.
My Dad’s Broken Water Heater
gas control valve indicator light
My father’s water heater had finally broken down after 12 years of good service. Most water heater manufacturers recommend replacing after 6 years so to get double the life is something worth celebrating. The contractor replaced our old unit with a Bradford White BWC RE350T6-1NCWW 50GAL 240V water heater that came with a gas control valve and blinking indicator light. No more fiddling with dangerous long stem matches while trying to light the gas pilot. The light indicator tells when the water heater is performing as normal or when something is not working.
Good Contractor Will Go the Extra Mile
The contractor also added straps around the water heater for earthquake safety, ground wire around the copper pipes, and drain pipe with drip pan. All of which were missing from the original installation of the old water heater. I immediately saved this contractor’s number to my phonebook and he is now my go-to-guy for water heaters. I had him install a tankless water heater inside my home a few months after and again he did a fantastic job and I did not care to find a cheaper contractor because I knew he would get the job done right and that peace of mind is worth every penny.
water heater earthquake straps grounding copper pipes to water main
Share your go-to-contractor story in the comments. List the work done and their Yelp business link.
