Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: Need good contractor in LA

Well, it's official, as of Wednesday, Roger and I will be home owners! We had the final walk-through this afternoon.

We need to replace the heater and add an air conditioner to the place. Anyone know how/where I can find a good (reliable) contractor for this? Are there good message boards for Home Improvement stuff?

Thanks for the help!

PS - we also need to find someone to give us estimates on some flooring work. (Refinish some hardwood, and add hardwood up a flight of stairs.)

Try talking to your new neighbors and see if they have any good references for you. Good place to start I suppose.

spiff, call a heating/cooling parts house and ask those people. they in their trade, like us in our trade know who and who not to call.
dan

Craig,
congrats on the new place! I hope you're very happy, just make sure to let everyone on the forum know when the house-warming is and we'll pack the place

(sorry I had nothing of value to contribute to this thread)

My sister-in-law is dating an AC guy. He does work in LA, including some celebrities' homes. Apparently, he likes to impress the chicks with the celeb phone messages they leave, "Yo Ernie, this is Sly...". I'll PM you w/ his info when I get home tonight.

YES, house warming party at craigs..

bring a bottle of something with alcohol in it, a piece of lawn art(pink flamingo,knome,etc), and come dressed as your favorite opposite sex star.. i will be 'DEVINE'.. no wait, she's a guy.. oh screw it, i liked him in 'hairspray', and i definitely got the body for it.. so watch out for mrs. turnblatt, cause here i come.

bigjohn

OK bigjohn - NOW you are getting me excited. I'll be there wearing spandex.

BTW, after catching your picture and BigWill's picture, we should make a side trip. We can drive around LA and stand on the sidewalk looking into the "All You Can Eat" restaurants. Ought to scare the hell out of them.

Congrats and welcome to homeownership. Now the $$$ will going someplace besides audio...

I knew I forgot something - Congratulations Craig!!! Did you decide how you will be configuring the HT? (front or back of room)?

I have no clue but CONGRATULATIONS! :-)

jr

Thanks all.

I think everything will be in the front of the room. Not exactly sure yet. As much as I love the rear of the room idea, it started adding up really quickly. That idea will cost about $600+ more than the front of the room idea.

Roger had an idea I hadn't thought of yet though. He suggested that perhaps we could get a love seat that would fit into the nook that had formerly been designated for the tv. If a love seat were there, then I'd have the entire back wall for tv/audio space.

I'm not sure I like the idea though. Layout wise I think it may look kind of strange. I'll have a much better idea when I get some stuff moved in there.

I'm very happy for you, Craig. Though I don't envy you the moving process, it is a LOT of fun to set up a new place. Have a good time doing it.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing in about 16 months. If you could see my basement, you'd think I was nuts. YIPES!

Best wishes to you and Roger in your new abode. Get ready to start wondering where all of your money went...

Ray? Spandex? That violates the covenants of 99.9% of homeowner's associations. You better have spiff check with them first before you get him kicked out of the neighborhood!

Have you tried posting that question on the LA fixit forum on craigslist?

Yeah, congratulations, man! Be sure to post them pictures...

I'll definately be posting pics once we're moved in!

Thanks for the tip Peter.

I dunno, it's kinda neat to see before and after pictures. But I'm sure you've got better things to do at the moment! When's the big move-in day?

This Saturday!

Congrats!

I'll do some work for a couple of Rotel amps.

I second that, but if I lived in the LA area, I'd help you for free (beer). Cuz I'm like that.

Wow! Good luck, enjoy the move, and don't work too hard. Ok, well, work hard enough to get it done...

Sorry Curtis, I've only got one Rotel amp, and I'm keeping it!

I've got three guys coming to give me estimates this week on the heating/AC. I've also got a couple of people coming to look at the floors.

Let's hope his doesn't cost too too much.

Craig, Congratulations! Someday, you will wistfully recall your pre-homeowner days and all of that disposable income and discretionary time you USED to have.

I did not grow up in a family where we performed remodeling tasks ourselves. So, it was with much trepidation that I responded to several gouging bids by saying "I'll just buy the tools and do it myself". This series of decisions was very satisfying for me, as I learned new things and developed skills by just plunging in and DOING IT myself. Plus, it rarely costs more to pay the "professional" to fix something after you have tried yourself, and I found that the act of paying someone did not guarantee quality work. I'm slow, though.

Just don't place implicit trust in advice dispensed by Home Depot staff.

That being said, some things are obvious outsource deals - like your AC situation. However, the floors might be a DIY project. You can rent sanders and do the finish work yourself.

Anyway, I'm happy for you. Keep us posted with pictures and stories.

I used to do a lot of work in my car myself, and agree that there's a tremendous sense of accomplishment involved to getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself.

I try to do some of the smaller things around the house as well. I've already bought a new faucet for the kitchen sink, and intend of installing it myself.

As much as I'd love to give the floors a try, I also know that is a job that if screwed up, will be a major problem. If I mess the faucet up, it's not the end of the world.

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If I mess the faucet up, it's not the end of the world.

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Depends on how long it takes the plumber to get there to stem the flood.

On that note, learn the location of your main water shutoff BEFORE starting any plumbing work.

I had intended to shut off the water first.

spiff, ask what kind of equiptment your hvac contractor will be using,the differences in the price from one estimate to the next may reflect the brand of furnace and a/c unit you will get.ask about trane,costs a little more but well worth it,very reliable...congrats and good luck...oh yeah,get a basin wrench before you start your sink or you will be mr-fn the world...ron

Thanks for the tips.

I've got three guys coming, and am going to try and get prices on Trane, Carrier, and York units.

Hey man -

Everyone has their opinions, but my dad's Trane turned 17 this year w/out an incident.

Congrats on the house! That's been the smartest thing I've done in a loooong time. ha.

My favorite part is just sitting on the driveway.

Enjoy,
^billy

Some more tips:
-Don't put too much money into the place until you're certain you're going to stay there a long time.
-Hardwood floors can only be re-finished once or twice (I heard, don't know for sure).
-You may want to slap your stereo in before you commit to the hardwood floors. You're going to a smaller room AND to hardwood floors? My vote would be for some super soft, deep carpet.
-Hardwood floors are high maintenance if you're a picky sort.

Craig, as you are so quick to recommend Hsu, Hsu, Hsu, and Rotel, Rotel, Rotel, I will jump in with my recommendation of Carrier, Carrier, Carrier. They are about 4 to 5 years ahead of the competition with current technology and experience. Let me explain:

Central air conditioners use a chemical that most people know as “Freon”, or “R22”. Freon is a HCFC (HydroChloroFlouroCarbon) that has been in use for at least 40 to 50 years. The problem with Freon is the “Chlorine” element, and is one of the major causes of Ozone depletion in the atmosphere. It has been legislated to be replaced with a “Chlorine Free” refrigerant within the next 6 years.

This is where things get interesting. About 10 years ago, Carrier contributed about 9 million dollars, and along with Allied Signal and Dupont, developed R410a – a Chlorine free refrigerant for residential applications. No other HVAC manufacturer was involved in the development of the new refrigerant. Carrier patented the name “Puron”, and installed their first Puron units in 1996. This was a full 4 years ahead of the first units from Trane and Lennox. Most of the competition is still in their “learning curve”.

Other Carrier highlights:

Silencer System – 4 design elements to reduce noise levels and alter sound pitch to be less irritating than conventional A/C’s. They consist of: 1) A low-speed fan with large diameter blades. 2) A computer modeled fan shroud to reduce air turbulence. 3) A compressor vibration isolator plate. 4) A compressor sound jacket or blanket.

Ceramic Coated Screws – Other Mfg.’s tout using stainless steel screws. The problem is that the base and cap are made of galvanized steel. With dissimilar metals reacting, corrosion is inevitable. Ceramic coating the screws eliminates this problem.

Reliability – Carrier’s scroll compressor design has the most trouble-free performance record of any scroll compressor on the market today.

Hopefully this helps. Sorry for the grammar.

Shawn.

i noticed on your profile that you are in sales..

you dont sale Carrier AC units by any chance, do ya'??

bigjohn

Great info real80sm.

Yes Freon is sticking around although is getting phased out. Another great idea gone bad. Our friends at Dupont really need to do a ton more testing before releasing products en masse.

puron,like all other refrigerants must be recovered because of the ''what if'' factor ,although there are no negatives against it as of now, 5-10-or even 15 years from now they might find out something bad about it.r-12 was the greatest thing to happen to the a/c world along with r-22,then they find out the damage it does to the ozone,,who knows,maybe they will find out down the road that puron causes a third arm to grow out of your nose..i install and service trane-carrier and york units along with some others.and trane seems to be the better built and most reliable...just my opinnion....ron

Freon may be getting phased out, but you'll still be able to get it, a bottle of DDT, and your Viagra right across the border in sunny Mexico.

(Not suggesting you need Viagra, Chess.)

The problem comes in getting caught with it Bigwill.
Those crazy border guards are real funny about metal canisters with weird chemicals in them these days.

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Those crazy border guards are real funny about metal canisters with weird chemicals in them these days.

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No kidding - Olympia beer is on the Canadian banned list - it contravenes the trades descriptions act, legally they have no right to call that beer.

Bren R.

BigJohn, you are a pretty bright fellow. I'm a sales rep for a Carrier dealer. (I used to install) My father was a Lennox dealer here in Ontario, so I grew up in the business. Lennox head offices are in your neck-of-the-woods.

Ron, thanks for your input. I'm not too familiar with Trane, as they just started trickling into Ontario a few years ago. So far, they haven't made many inroads. Carrier & Lennox are the big names here.

not trying to be a smart-a$$, but do ya'll really even need AC units in canada?? from what i know, the hottest temps rarely get over 90 degrees, and thats only for 1 maybe 2 months.. granted, there always exceptions, but i just would never see the AC business being real lucritive in canada.

a few years back , my sister lived in fort collins colorado, and the apartments she lived in did not have AC.. and these were nice apts, real nice.. i was so surprised when she told me that they didnt have AC in them.. but it never got real hot,and they always had a nice cool breeze coming off the mountains.

just curious guys.. i dont think ya'll live in the stone-age or nothing..

bigjohn

Well bigjohn, think about it this way, our winters are so brutally cold that the body gets acclimated to lower temperatures such that an increase to 10C is equally brutally hot for us.
I start wearing shorts about the 8C mark on a sunny day.
(Sorry i could not mentally convert those Celsius values into the archaic Farenheit system, but 32F is 0C for reference).

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not trying to be a smart-a$$, but do ya'll really even need AC units in canada??

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Well, the Ontarians and British Columbians have the moderating effect of large bodies of water, but here on the prairies we get the extremes. Winter from -35C (-31F) to 35C (95F) in the summer (true temperature, without the humidex/windchill factors) not sure how dry Texas is, but on a 95-100F day where you can cut the air with a 2x4, AC is a necessity.

Though having a friend in AZ introduced me to the idea of a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling)... ingenious idea, that!

Bren R.

realsman, i went the other way. i told my contractor to install condensing units with out electronics. just a compressor, contactor, capacitor & motor, etc. here in mass, we don't need a high seer because it's only used for about 4 or 5 weeks. less in the unit= less to go bad.
dan

i didnt even think about the whole farenheit/celsius conversion thing.. i think 90F degrees, would be about 32-34C?? i think.. if it was 8C degrees, thats in the lower 40F's, so yea, that is cold to me.. but i am like a big polar bear, i wear shorts 12 months a year anyway, even when it is right at freezing. i would say that canada would be perfect for me in that regard, but i also like going and swimming in the lake, and water activities in general.. dont know if the lakes and rivers ever get warm enough to enjoy doing that up there.

bigjohn

haha you'll have to come ice fishing here in July

Problem in Southern Ontario is the heat and the HIGH humidity, I'd never ever own a house or a car without air.

Btw did you know that each winter parts of Texas almost always get snow before I do.

So far no good. I had an appointment setup to meet an AC/Heater guy at 12noon today. His office called at 11:40am to confirm...all's well so far.

At 11:45am the tech guy himself called me and gave me a lenghth of sh*t a mile long. Saying he wasn't going to "waste" his time coming over if "all decision making parties" weren't present, as he wanted us to agree to a purchase right there an then. I felt like I was talking to a car salesman for god's sake. I'm still ticked off about it. After I got off the phone with him, I called his office and let them know that their man had pretty much lost them a sale.

Grrrrrr...welcome to home ownership. Geesh...this is only the first day!

Craig, sorry to hear about your incident. Did this contractor happen to be part of a chain, or owned by a utility, supplier, or manufacturer? Up here, we have a number of contractors that fall into this category, and their prices are generaly 30 to 40 percent higher than the market average. Because of this, their salesmen pull some of the tactics you describe. We call it the "American" way of selling. (Ok everybody, don't start the attacks....)

With both you and Roger in the room, he would have pulled some very aggressive closing techniques, and you couldn't fall back on the old, "I have to talk to my spouse/partner before I make a decision".

Basically, with his prices so high, he has to be the first guy in and close it on the spot, or he really has no chance of getting the job once you comparison shop.

Shawn

Unbelievable! But, good for you for blowing him off. I don't react to high pressure at all. The harder they push, the more I dig my heels in, and the less willing I am to do business with them. Don't let it get to you. There ARE honest contractors out there. You'll find one. Just hang in there.

Dan, good point. Same goes up here, eh. Relatively speaking, our cooling hours are low and electrical costs are cheap. Spending the extra dough on high seer units doesn't make sense. (Don't tell my customers I said that! HaHa!)

But aren't the hydro rates in CA double or triple the rest of the nation? Plus with 3 times the number of cooling hours, it would make sense for Craig to spend the extra on a high seer unit. (BTW - in Ontario we call electricity "hydro", and for everyone else, SEER is Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio)

Jack, the sad part is that seniors are so trusting, that they get taken advantage of most often. Here is the other kicker! We have two "chains" up here that won't give make or model numbers of the units they sell. That way you can't compare with other estimates. They say they are "deluxe" models, when in all actuallity, they are builder grade.

It is actually fun to go in for an estimate after these guys have been out to do their estimate. I can rip every sentence they spew, completely to shreds.

Well, we had the second guy show up tonight. He was MUCH nicer. He's a Carrier dealer and suggested we go with the 38HDC unit. It's much smaller, and much quieter than most typical units. Which in our case would be two tremendous pluses, as the condenser needs to sit on the balcony outside our smaller bedroom/game room. The downside to this unit is that it only has a SEER rating of 12, which does not qualify for the Energy Star rebates in LA. It's also not available for use with Puron. Hmmm...

on a similar topic, (but somewhat of a hijack - sorry Craig), does anyone on this forum use a ground-source heating and cooling system??? They're becoming really popular in Manitoba, in fact there are entire neighbourhoods being constructed that use this method of heating/cooling. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it or thoughts about it.