Andy's Discussions

I've bought a bunch of stuff from Home Depot in recent years: we finished off a daylight basement that covered the entire footprint of the house, and bought virtually all the materials there. I don't think we had a single problem with any of our special orders. We also had our countertops (engineered stone) installed through Home Depot, and they did a fine job. I'm sure there are differences in quality from store to store. And I believe that Home Depot subcontracts out all installation services, so they're only as good as the subcontractor you get.All in all, I've been very happy with Home Depot, although in recent years it's gotten a lot harder to find someone to help you in the store. I guess that's the price we pay for rock-bottom prices.

Hi Dan,If Medford, Malden, and Melrose are your home territory, you should try connecting with potential customers on those city pages. Check out:http://www.zillow.com/real-estate/MA-Medfordhttp://www.zillow.com/real-estate/MA-Maldenhttp://www.zillow.com/real-estate/MA-MelroseGood luck!

The other way to narrow your search is to limit the price range, the number of bedrooms and/or bathrooms, the home size, or some combination of those.The general problem you're seeing is that there are currently 395 homes for sale in Montana on Zillow, and we only show 50 homes at a time. If you were to page through the list of for sale homes when you search for Montana, you would find your home somewhere in that list.

We're adding a bathroom to an unfinished section of our basement. I went out and bought a bunch of copper pipe and fittings, and was all ready to start the (for me) painful and time-consuming process of running new water lines. Then a contractor friend told me about something called AquaPex (sp?) and brought some of it by. It's basically flexible plastic tubing that comes in red and blue (for hot and cold lines). It has various connectors, like elbows and T's, and a special tool to connect them to the tubing, with no blowtorches needed. It sure looks a lot easier than using copper, and the price seemed to be only a little bit more.Has anyone actually used this stuff? Is it as reliable as copper? Are there any hidden gotchas to be aware of? I'd hate to put it in and then find out that it's not to code in my area.

One thing to think about is whether you actually need a phone outlet in your study room at all. Running wire in existing construction can be a slow, arduous process, and if you can avoid it altogether you'll be much happier. Do you need a phone in the study room? There are lots of multi-handset cordless phone systems with a base station that plugs into a single outlet. Do you need dial-up internet access? I'm pretty sure they make wireless modems that can transmit the signal to the phone jack in your bedroom. You might decide that it's still best to run a new line to your study, but there may be other options. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. Being located in Seattle, I'm not too worried about freeze resistance, but I do like the convenience of it. I'll give it a try and report back here.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm asking this mostly for entertainment value. I'm sure many of you out there have some great stories about going above and beyond the call of duty to sell a home.To make things a little more interesting, next Friday I'll pick the most interesting true story and send some Zillow swag to the person who submitted it.So now that I've thrown down the gauntlet, let's hear how great an agent you really are!

Please give my congratulations to Patricia. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to care for a child all by yourself, work full time, and earn a professional license all at the same time. She's got my respect.- Andy

I used Deco Electric when we finished a large chunk of our basement a couple years ago. Their rates were reasonable, and we were very pleased with their work. (So was the L&I inspector: it passed on the first inspection.) I think they're based in Bellevue, but I'm sure they work in Seattle. The phone # is (425) 644-8908. Good luck!

I agree with sas912. My wife and her sister are trying to fix up and sell a home they inherited that's on the other side of the country. They've had nothing but trouble: jacked up estimates, and "professionals" that don't show up when they say they will (or even return phone calls). If you really feel guilty about asking a friend to help, offer to pay them for their time. Tell them that the amount you pay them will certainly be less than the cost (in time, money, and grief) of trying to get the work done blind.