I was ... just coming in to say that! We've found that no tradie worth their salt is going to do a free home visit to quote on a 15-60 minute job, it's a waste of their time and yours. You'd probably be pushing it to get anyone decent to free quote on jobs around the $500ish order of magnitude, I reckon, depending on the economic climate.
Do you have a dreamwidth/lj group for your area, or perhaps an active freecycle "cafe" (spinoff chat) group? They might be decent places for recommendations. Or maybe one of the home renovation forums.
Lastly... yeah, we always get plumbers and electricians to supply their own stuff. Maybe we could save some pocket change by shopping ourselves, but the time and spoons input combined with the risk of stuffing things up makes it not worth it for us. Also, I figure if something goes wrong, they're both supplier and fitter, and there's less chance of awkward wrangling about who's responsible for the problem.
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I was ... just coming in to say that! We've found that no tradie worth their salt is going to do a free home visit to quote on a 15-60 minute job, it's a waste of their time and yours. You'd probably be pushing it to get anyone decent to free quote on jobs around the $500ish order of magnitude, I reckon, depending on the economic climate.
Do you have a dreamwidth/lj group for your area, or perhaps an active freecycle "cafe" (spinoff chat) group? They might be decent places for recommendations. Or maybe one of the home renovation forums.
Lastly... yeah, we always get plumbers and electricians to supply their own stuff. Maybe we could save some pocket change by shopping ourselves, but the time and spoons input combined with the risk of stuffing things up makes it not worth it for us. Also, I figure if something goes wrong, they're both supplier and fitter, and there's less chance of awkward wrangling about who's responsible for the problem.