There’s Angie’s List. Which is great and wonderful and the list I’ve turned to when I’ve needed a mechanic, a plasterer or a chimney repairman. And then there’s this other list I sometimes use — the “I Gotta Guy List.” Friends or neighbors supply this list, usually by saying, “I gotta a guy who…” or “I know a guy who…” This list is very short, but the repairmen on it have been fantastic. Often I get to see their work in person before I hire them. I always compare lists to see if the repairman is on both. If not, I offer to add him (or her) to Angie’s List.
So I confess. Tonight, I’m meeting a plumber at my house who’s on my “I Gotta Guy List” but not Angie’s List. I hope that’s not grounds for dismissal?! (I promise to submit a report on their service!)
Robin is a staff writer who recently joined
Angie’s List magazine. She lives in South Broad Ripple, Indianapolis with her husband and a cat in a tiny bungalow that needs lots of work.
I use my Angie’s List membership to find great service companies. That’s a no-brainer. I also use it to see how much my home-improvement dreams will cost.
For example, we need a fence to keep our puppy Boo Radley in and nosy neighbors out. Approximate cost? If we go with chainlink (which we won’t), it could start around $1,000. Fancy ornamental steel fencing? Roughly, a whopping $5,000. (Not going with that either.) A wooden privacy fence can cost around $2,400. (That’s more like it.)
Those are figures from one local company on the List who built fences for members. Continue reading ‘Cold, hard facts from the List about fencing’
Mandy Miller is senior online editor for Angie's List publication department. When she's not focusing on the
magazine's website and other online offerings, she's tackling a mounting list of home improvements she thinks she can do herself. Plus, she really likes to ride her bike, play with her puppy, Boo Radley, and take naps.
Maybe you know the story of the Tower of Babel. These old-timey peoples began building a tower to reach the heavens, but God deemed it an homage to man’s glory, not his. So he smote their society — which was united by a common language — by creating multiple languages and distancing the people.
I think those forces are still somewhat at work. Ever notice the members-only speak of certain professions? I’ve worked in the journalism field for more than 10 years and I know we’ve got some unique lingo and notations of our own.
“The paper’s been put to bed.” = “The paper’s gone to print.” “Adjust the kerning.” = “Take in the spacing between letters.” “SIC” = “Spelling is correct.”
And so it goes with other professions, as well. To me, a budding handyman(dy), it happens most frequently with construction specialists and home improvement gurus. Continue reading ‘Home improvement Babylon’
Mandy Miller is senior online editor for Angie's List publication department. When she's not focusing on the
magazine's website and other online offerings, she's tackling a mounting list of home improvements she thinks she can do herself. Plus, she really likes to ride her bike, play with her puppy, Boo Radley, and take naps.
The never-ending cycle of home ownership responsibilities has my head in a fog. My to-do list keeps getting longer and longer. I cross one item off the list, two more get added; I cross two items off the list, several more get added.
Things are meant to be in order in my world, but chaos is the name of the game lately. Continue reading ‘A big to-do about homework’
Kristy is deputy managing editor at
Angie's List magazine. She has two rottweilers, Bud and Moto, and enjoys playing mom to her rott-en, lovable pups. Taking the plunge into homeownership last year was a huge wake up call for Kristy. Thankfully, she says, she not only has a handy fiancé, but a handy tool called Angie’s List as well.
You’d think after living in central Indiana my entire life I’d be used to our weather. But it never fails to surprise me with tornadoes, thunderstorms, destroyed power lines and overflowing basements.
As Kristy indicated, Indianapolis has recently experienced some bad weather. Last weekend, I came home to knee-high sewage that had backed up into my basement. Continue reading ‘Bad weather bothering you? Not me…’
Conor is an associate editor for
Angie's List magazine. He has a cat named Kanye and a puppy named Sherman, his favorite movie is
Back to the Future, he loves playing basketball and his favorite place is his couch.
Okay, the title is a bit misleading … I promise I won’t go on too long about my own troubles. So, here’s the deal: Due to a limited amount of funds, my fiance and I tend to do most of our repairs and projects ourselves. My fiance’s father happens to be one of those guys that knows how to do everything. I mean EVERYTHING. It’s been said that if the world comes to an end, he’s the guy you’d want in your bomb shelter. Let’s face it, he’s a modern day MacGyver.
While it’s comforting to know that we’ll never (knock on wood) need to hire an electrician, plumber or landscaper there are just some things I can’t trust him with. It’s not that he does shoddy work, it’s just that I can’t always appreciate the resourcefulness.
Our kitchen is in desperate need of some remodeling. And while I think it’s just swell that my future father in-law can rig up an apartment heater in our garage using plywood and copper piping … I don’t really want my to leave the fate of my kitchen floor to innovation and quick wit.
I decided (much to my fiance’s chagrin) that we were going to hire a handyman. After the initial shock wore off, we began to compile a list of things that needed to be done and that we didn’t want to “burden” the pops with.
We started with the kitchen floor, cabinets and light fixtures and moved to other areas of the house. We’re also in dire need of getting our hardwood floors refinished, but I caught myself before putting that on the list. Should a handyman refinish your floors? Even if he can, should he? If he’s so good at refinishing floors then why doesn’t he specialize? I mean … I want this done right. Especially if we’re going to pay for it. Is that too much to ask? It seems that the prospect of having one person knock out my projects was a little unnerving. I then realized I may have a control problem, or maybe I’m a bit cheap. All I know is that I found myself calling a familiar number and saying, “Hey Dad, do you happen to have a drum sander?”
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
