These people coming in to fix shit in my house!!!

[Maraya1969]

First my AC broke on Sat. A friend of a friend came, (The AC company said it would charge $150 just to show up) so he fixed it and charged me $100 for the whole thing. But I heard him joking that he gets money from people by charging small amounts, (death by a thousand cuts he said) and then having them call him back over and over.

Then I remembered him telling me that my AC needs maintenance. $75 and he would do that at another time.

So he leaves and my garage door doesn't open. He actually comes back and tries to fix it twice but can't.

So today the garage door guy comes in and says immediately, "You need new sensors."

Me: "How do you know that?"
Him: "Because the light is blinking"
Me: "First the light blinks often, it just needs to be adjusted and why don't you just adjust the sensors"

So now he is in there trying to fix the thing. It obviously is not the sensors, it is something on the track...............I think. But it is going to cost me $175 at least anyway.

A woman living along is prey to these people. I hate that.

[a kennedy]

1. I know.......good luck with it all.

[Phoenix61]

2. I have saved myself a ton of money over the years

learning how to fix all kinds of things. You tube is fantastic and even if I couldn’t do the repair it still saved me a bunch of money because I knew if someone was trying to play loose with the truth.

[lagomorph777]

9. Unless it involves heavy lifting, high pressure fluids, or expensive tools,

learn how to fix it. Being a woman is no reason you can't!

[In_The_Wind]

3. I feel your pain.

[dawg day]

4. You might find a trusted handyman-- someone who is 45-70 who has done everything

in home construction and maintenance, someone maybe who was a maintenance supervisor at a condo development, or a retired homebuilder.

If they can't fix it, they'll probably know someone who will.

[Maraya1969]

5. I had a couple years ago who did things for me all the time and were very reasonable. But I lost

touch with them and I don't even think they live around here anymore.

But you are right about that.

[Chainfire]

6. As a former contractor

You are better off to call the best licensed contractor in your area to do your work. It may seem like it costs more up front, but it is usually the cheapest in the long run. If something goes wrong with the work, a reputable contractor will usually do the right thing. You can not depend on that with a jack of all trades.

Find out what licensed contractor in your area has the best reputation and call them.

[DonaldsRump]

8. For some things, that's true

But I've been using handymen for 30 years and most of the time they will tell me that it's not something they can do.

I totally agree with you, but it is not often times cost effective when the fixes are so simple. For example, we had a Bosch dishwasher that was still under warranty and wouldn't work. We had a licensed repair company, take it apart, and got it working. They let the cycle go for about 20 minutes and then left as everything was fine. Then it stopped about 20 minutes after they left. It turned out that there was some gunk in air gap that I cleaned out myself. If the air gap is clogged, the dishwasher will not work. It worked fine.

I had another issue where a second story bathroom was leaking into the first floor (gasp...truly an awful situation). We had several licensed plumbers come in, sent by the home warranty company, and they finally traced the issue to holes in the tile where the shower enclosure was. We replaced the shower enclosure and everything worked fine, for a few days. We then called the plumbers in again, and they could not figure out the problem. They wanted to cut into our first floor wooden ceilings, and I said no. The warranty company agreed to send one of those high end leak tracers. However, my handyman happened to be there, and he figured the issue. The toilet was leaking! He replaced the innards of the toilet and everything was fine.

YMMV as with all things.

[DonaldsRump]

7. There is so much you can do yourself or with a trusty handyman

Some of the best handyman are the ones that work for construction companies. If you have a friend in the construction business, get some recs from them especially.

As another poster said, YouTube is great for guiding on repairs. Almost everything that will happen to you and me has happened a million times to other folks, and these good people are very good about videos and text on how to go about fixing things.

Also, get the Reader's Digest handyman guide etc. These are written so that even dummies like me can fix things. I remember about 20 years ago the hot water heater went out in the place I was living. I didn't have time to call a plumber or electrician, and so I went for many days taking REALLY cold showers! I finally opened my Reader's Digest DIY guide and realized I just need to hit the reset button. Aargh! So many cold showers and such an easy fix.

It is amazing what a good and honest handyman can do. I am having a major project done right now and with ingenuity three hardworking folks are in the process of making a brilliant fix to a very difficult problem.

On your garage door opener, check to make sure there are no blockages in front of the sensor. Google your garage door opener model and make and add "blinking sensor" and I would be sure you will find SOMETHING. Maybe it is your sensor, but I doubt it, unless it's been hit or there's been an electrical problem.

[Shermann]

10. At least it's figurative shit and not literal shit in the house

Things may not be as bad as you think!