THE REPAIR COLLECTIVE

"A small, but difficult, job. A stackable washer and dryer were built into an already small closet, but then a plumbing chase had been built in front of it. We had to disassemble things just to get into the space. We are happy she was satisfied with the work and the price. For what needed to be done, it was expensive. But she was right, for what it actually took it was a good price. Fortunately she knew many of the important issues, and more importantly, she communicated them to us, so there were few surprises."

"Deck rot. Rot is always hard to predict. You would think that on a deck you would be able to see most of what needs to be done. We got into it and found a fair amount more than what was visible to the eye. We had run all over town finding boards that matched the shape and grain of what they had. When we found more work was needed we weren't going to leave any behind just because it wouldn't show for a few years. It was going to be more economical for them to get it all done at once, especially because the painter was due to come soon. We tried to check in with them, and when we couldn't reach them, decided it would be most cost-effective to proceed with what really needed to be done. We are glad they agree with our judgement."

"He has been a pleasure to work with. There has been a long list of things to get his house ready for market, and we have been back several times. When he says we aren't “ interested in getting more business out of you” he is showing we are happy to refer you to someone more cost-effective for larger jobs or more skilled in a certain area. We have enough business that we don't need to take on jobs we aren't right for, and wouldn't take them on even if we did need the business. Sometimes we have been at his house all day. Sometimes we've run out for that one little tweak to make things perfect before the house is shown. He wants the job done right. One time when we recommended that he call someone who was a specialist in a certain time of work because they might get it done faster, he was insistent on us because he knew it would get taken care of promptly and it would be done right. Like most of our clients, he often isn't asking what it will cost. He knows we are going to be as efficient and thorough as we can, and charge only for what we do. Often this works out to be a great deal for the client. On our last visit, however, there were what seemed to be a couple of tiny adjustments that were needed. I am sure he expected Tim would be there around an hour. It ended up being three hours because the client's initial diagnosis was a bit off and because we had to run out for specialty metric parts and metric tools. He understood and was happy we took the time to do it right. He also understood that anyone else who would have addressed this problem would not even be able to find its real cause and would have spent weeks ordering parts that weren't needed and replacing the whole system instead of working to find what turned out to be an easy fix."

"These guys are dedicated to keeping things out of the landfill! These are all small repairs on smaller items they drop off. It's not a profitable thing, but they are usually fun little projects."

"[Member Name Removed] was a wonder to work for. She went out of her way to get ready for us, and did much more than anyone could expect. She saved a bit of money by being prepared and asking us to leave some of the cleanup to her. We discussed a lot of ideas, and offered our opinions on taste, even though our skills are more geared toward problem solving than they are to décor choices. We were able to offer some insights into the the lines of the bathroom would be effected by some of the choices, and offer some practical limits to what you would get for the price. I do wonder if she has the price correct in her review. It seems lower than I would have thought. But it was for a partial remodel, so it could have been that low. We would look forward to working with her again."

"This was our first job with them, and we have since been back many more times to fix everything from a deck to basement steps. They had picked up the flooring themselves and found that the lumberyard had cut it to the wrong dimension. We were able to install it in a different orientation that they were satisfied with. They are always seem happy to see us and are always appreciative of what we do."

"There was an area of the cinderblock into the basement that had been left open. We found block to fit the opening and got it patched up. After that we addressed the usual list of this fell off, that doesn't close, etc."

"We have been back to her house time and time again. She is a delight to work for, and I enjoy running into her in town as well. Since the initial visit, we have been back for many larger projects. Not every one turned out to be as good a bargain as our first visit, but she has an understanding of how much more she is getting for her money, the value of hiring a well-equipped and highly skilled team. When we run into a surprise, she interested in hearing about it, but always says go ahead and do it the way we suggest. She has come to know what to expect from us, leaves much to our judgement, and is always satisfied with the work and price."

"Tim has a hard time leaving a small appliance unfixed. If you have read the story of the pioneer girl Caddie Woodlawn, then you may know the quote of the traveling preacher who said when asked what was wrong with his broken clock: “Well, I don't rightly know. I was winding it up one night, when suddenly it gave a little gasp and a long sigh, like a soul departing from the body; and it wouldn't go after that. Sometimes, from force of habit, I take it out at night and start to wind it. Then I miss its genial tick, and I feel as if I am looking at the face of a dead friend." “A dead friend! The phrase sank into Caddie's mind. Perhaps that was why she always hated to see an unwound clock standing idle.” Likewise someone said of Tim “Your hands itch when you see something that doesn't work, don't they?”"

"This customer was a bit generous in his opinion of price here, because it ended up being a fairly expensive job. Then I remembered he was present and saw what it took to get the ducting out of the house! It nearly burnt out a hammer drill and burnt Tim out as well. I'm glad he was understanding of what we ran into. We did manage to make up a fair bit of the time by doing the second project as efficently as possible. Tim agrees with him, and likes to think he can do anything too, though he still sometimes has to rely on the rest of us in the collective, or on our Board of Directors. You'll get far with him from praise like that, with appreciation, and from listening to his rants on why replacement windows devalue older homes and don't save any energy."

"This work actually took place on October 6, 2010. I'm glad she was so satisfied with the work. If I remember correctly, and I may not as it has been so long since the work was done, I gave a range on the labor, though offered no estimate, and could only make a wild guess on the materials, as the lumberyards had long since closed. I put in an extra 3 hours free to get it to turn out right, and covered a tiny bit of extra materials that were due to my error. The work was finished in one day, at less cost than I had guessed, though I finished at 6:00 instead of 3:00 which did not increase the charges. Usually we are hard to get ahold of because we are out working during the day, and often finish when it is too late to return calls, sometimes Tim is even too tired to check messages. Our regular customers know that for true, dire emergencies, they can call Tim at home, though for emergencies where something is flooding or smoking, get anyone you can reach to come. Knowing that this work took place just after Tim's birthday, we can guess why he let the messages fill up! We often like to point out to people where to shut off the electricity and water to their entire house, so they can take immediate action to prevent damage. Please ask us about this if we don't offer, and pay attention when we do. That two minutes of knowledge can avert a catsotrophe!"

"I wonder if there was some sort of telephone transcription error in their comments. The members struck me as much more articulate than then their comments might lead you to believe. Did Angie's List leave something out? They had some squirrels get in through rotted facia under the roof. The pest control company had been there, and they wanted things sealed up before the squirrels came back. They were meeting with someone for an energy audit at the same moment we were looking at the work, so it was a little hard to discuss our proposed solutions. While we were waiting to speak with them, we uncovered some chimney flashing leaks, that were leading water into the fascia, and causing the rot. We weren't able to get in there as quickly as we hoped, because the homeowners hadn't returned our calls confirming the date. Or perhaps they left a garbled message from their cell phone, so it's always best to listen to the messages you leave. Although this was by no means an emergency, we did ask some of our existing clients to let them have their spots, so we could get to them in a more timely manner. We built a cricket alongside the chimney to stop the leaks. In essence, we made a little roof to not only divert water away from the chimney, but also to keep snow from piling up there. We replace the facia in the three locations, including one that they hadn't noticed before. Though we usually avoid the use of PVC, because the manufacture of it is so toxic, we used it here to insure that the job wouldn't need to be done again in the future. Inside there were some holes drilled into the flooring. While they had thought a simple plug would do, on my own time I found some prefinished hardwood samples that matched their flooring and carefully cut out the sections with the holes and replaced them with a near exact match. The bathroom fan was falling out of the ceiling. Instead of replacing a fan that was operating as well as it ever had, I made new clips to hold it in place, saving time, money, effort, and the possibility of turning it into a bigger project."

"Boy, did I ever get to feel like a hero. Went out to address a drip in the kitchen ceiling that a plumber couldn't access. Only had a few minutes available in the morning, but when I got a call from a pregnant woman, just a couple of weeks before her due date, I figured I could at least put her mind at ease. “Hey,” I thought, “she's probably just in the nesting phase, and needs to have a thing or two taken care of, and maybe a little advice.” I ended up pushing another appointment back, as I tried to at least uncover the problem. Opening up the ceiling was easy enough, but when the just pointing to the source of the leak turned the leak into a gush, I figured I might have to do something NOW! “That isn't your only toilet in the house, is it?!” “Yes, and [being 8 and ½ months pregnant, with the kid sitting on her bladder means that] I have to go every half hour.” Okay, so a courtesy call turned into an emergency. My regular clients were glad to let me cancel my appointments that day, and running all over town for parts, the leak was patched, and the ceiling recovered in time for the afternoon nap to end (hers, not mine). Whew! Comfort for the last few weeks of frequent nightime runs to the bathroom. I was back to fix a squeal in the dryer, that was more or less another emergency call. They had already diagnosed the problem accurately, and having the wee one in cloth diapers meant the dryer was going day and night. I was able to fit them earlier in our schedule so the new arrival would have dry and fluffy diapers without the dryer creating such a racket that he would miss his frequent naps."

"Member had some vinyl windows with sills that had gotten soft. They could have used some caulking years ago, because every one that was under the gable end of a roof wasn't well sheltered from the rain. The sills were vinyl with a wood core, and the wood had rotted, been eaten by carpenter ants, and dissolved into a pile of dust. We cut out the sills, removed the bottoms, and then cut pressure-treated wood, to fill the form of the vinyl. Like so many jobs we do, it was hard to tell what it would take until we got into it. I liked her comment on price: “Their price, for the great quality of work, was not low but was fair.” That's true. I would have liked it to cost less, but we rather have it turn out right than be cheap."

"Many of his projects involved a lot of detective work. His was the second Bosch Dishwasher with and intermittent problem that leads to long cycles. Intermittent problems in appliances can be very difficult to diagnose, so I am still waiting for more information. There was a boiler problem we didn't work on, but did some intial diagnosis, and found him someone knowledgable and reliable to do the work. There were a few other projects that someone had done in years past who either didn't know his limits or had limited experience. We were able to make changes which probably prevented a fire."

"Member was surprised at first when, on our intial consultation, my recommendation wasn't to rip out all her patio doors and adjoining glass panels and replace them with new ones. Most everything had lots of life left in it, and fortunately she caught it before it spread too far. We were able to cut out sections of rot, and rebuild the frames that will give her many more years of use, and be nearly indistinguishable from what she had. We try to give a ballpark range, but really don't give estimates. With rot, you never can tell what will turn up. We probably went over our guess, but the results came out great, and cost a fraction of what new doors would have cost."

"We are cutting out the bottom of Brosco and similar door frames a good deal. The bottoms were just never sealed well at the factory. They do have a new frame where the bottom foot or so is made of a composite material that won't rot. In this case, we were able to cut out the rotted section, and make up a new one that fit into the space. After a fresh coat of paint, the repair was scarcely noticable."

"A great deal of minor things, that added up to a lot of work. Not all the baby-proofing materials that the homeowner provided were on hand when we arrived, which became a bit time consuming and resulted in repeat trips. They were tremendously understanding and helpful."

"Fitting new refrigerators into spaces that were made for an older fridge can be troublesome. If you are stuck with cabinets like hers, it's best to make sure that your appliance repair person knows what he or she is doing, which probably means they aren't part of a large chain. Think twice about building cabinetry that will only accommodate a certain sized fridge, but if you are stuck, we can often adjust it."

"This project we found had the fan already removed. We had to redo some the pieces to support the drywall. Using a faster drying joint compound, we were able to get both coats done in a day and ready for painting. Yes, it often takes a few days for us to get calls returned. Often we are working until it is past a decent hour for us to call clients. Tim, who has been doing all of our scheduling, doesn't use cellular phones for both health and environmental reasons. If you haven't heard from us by the end of the week, please call again. All our calls actually do get returned unless you don't leave your number or your message is too garbled to hear."