Reader Recommendation: General Contractor, Jamul Area...

Reader Steve K. (who lives “down the hill” in Jamul town) asked me to pass along his recommendation for a general contractor based in Jamul.  Gladly!  Says Steve:

I love getting first hand recommendations for products and services and I‘ve gotten several from you and your readers over the years via your blog. Now I’d like to return the favor. I recently completed a large project at my house that involved grading, foundation, concrete, framing, electrical, and plumbing work. Initially I was shopping around for individual contractors that worked in these various trades, but it began to occur to me that there were going to be things that fell in the gaps between the trades, and I was going to have to handle them.

Then I found Custom Construction Company right here in Jamul – a general contractor. The wonderful thing, in my experience, about using a general contractor is that they can bridge the gaps between the trades, and for things they don’t do (e.g. insulation and drywall in my case) they have trusted subcontractors that they’ve developed a close relationship with over many years.

This is a family business (3 generations) and the owner (Darren) is very patient, easy to communicate with, incredibly knowledgeable, and very fair. Because of his years of experience, he also has great ideas in the design department. The 2 things I want to emphasize about my experience are the integrity and comfortable style that Darren brings to his work and the incredibly high quality of the work Darren and his son Jason provide. Their attention to detail is unbelievable. I actually used another company (that I’d already signed a contract with before I found them) for a part of my project and the contrast between the two companies was striking. The other company was what I seem to find more and more these days – guys with almost no experience and little skill working as “installers” or “technicians”. The folks at Custom Construction Company are true craftsmen and I can’t recommend them highly enough. You can reach them at 619-669-6339.

Roof Update: It's Done!

While I was away, our roof contractor came (as promised) to finish the job.  We are just tickled pink with the roof itself, the way that our contractor did the work, and the way our contractor worked with us.

Which means, dear local readers, that I can now recommend him without reservation.  Here's the contact info for our contractor:

Bolt Sheet Metal Works
9445 Doheny Rd
Santee, CA  92071
619/449-5991

The proprietor (and sheet metal master craftsman) is Chris Lavin, and he can also be reached by email (but usually only in the evenings, as he's usually off at work sites during the day.  Chris' sons also sometimes work in the business, along with other employees.

Chris and his guys did a simply outstanding job for us, from our first contact with him right up to the finish.  We couldn't be more pleased...

Service Recommendation...

A few weeks ago, Debbie noticed some odd “growths” from a tiny crevice in the drywall of our livingroom.  Both of us thought “Termites!” and we decided to call in a pest control company.  On the basis of nothing more than their clever radio ads and advertised guarantee, we decided to call Corky's Pest Control.

It turned out to be a good decision.

First Corky's sent out an inspector – who showed up at the appointed time (even way out in the boonies where we live!), and quickly determined that we did in fact have termites (of the subterranean variety) and what we should do about it.  He prescribed a pesticide “curtain” around our entire house, with special attention to the area of infestation.  To create this curtain, they would have to dig a small trench around the entire house to soak the ground to a few feet deep with pesticide.  Our home, like many others, has a concrete “apron” around parts of it.  In those areas, they would have to drill small (3/8") holes through the concrete, 18" apart, and inject the pesticide at high pressure.

Our house has a feature that complicated the process just a bit.  We have a covered patio attached to one end of our house, and the wood of the patio roof connects directly to the wood of our house's roof.  That means the termites could eat their way into our patio, and from there into our house – so to make the house safe, the patio also needed to be treated, exactly as the house.  The inspector quoted a price for the entire job that we thought was very fair, and we signed up for the treatment.

A week or so after the inspection, Corky's pesticide applicator showed up (again, on time per the appointment made).  He worked all day to dig trenches, drill holes, apply the pesticide, patch the holes, fill trenches, and clean up.  We were very happy with the quality of the work he did, but there was a bit of confusion.  Normally he doesn't treat patios, and though he saw the inspector's order to treat the patio, he thought it wasn't the right thing to do.  It was a Saturday, and the inspector wasn't available for consultation, so he didn't do the patio, telling us that if it turned out that he was supposed to do it, he'd be back out again.

Well, a few days later we got the treatment report from Corky's, and it was very clear from that paperwork that the patio should have been treated.  Debbie called Corky's, had a pleasant conversation about the issue, and was promised that the pesticide applicator would be back out on May 11th to finish the job.  No hassle, no reluctance – just a straightforward acknowledgement of the issue and a promise to make it right – and on May 11th, the pesticide applicator showed up exactly as promised, and in fact made it right, treating the patio area exactly as the inspector had intended.

I think that recovering from a problem situation is a great test of the quality of a service provider, and Corky's passed this accidental test with flying colors.  If we need termite service again, we're calling Corky's – and we're recommending them to our friends and neighbors...

Product Recommendation...

If you have dogs or cats (we have four and seven), you may already have an automatic waterer of some kind.  Recirculating water encourages animals to drink, and in our dry climate it's important for them to get enough water.  

For several years we've had a Drinkwell “Big Dog” fountain.  All of our indoor animals took to it immediately, and we've generally been very happy with it.  However, it had one downside that caused me to go looking for something better: it needed regular and onerous cleaning.  The entire unit had to be disassembled, cleaned in steamy hot water, and reassembled – usually a couple times a week.  Less often (perhaps once a month), some mechanical abrasion was needed to scrape off the accumulated scale left by water evaporating from all the exposed surfaces where it had splashed.

Titanium Tea Strainer...

If you're a tea drinker, as I am, I highly recommend these strainers (under $15).

Recommendation: Stanley 95-112 Tripod LED Flashlight

We recently purchased this Stanley tripod LED flashlight (on sale at Amazon), and I've been using it every morning and evening when walking the dogs. I like it.

It's not the brightest flashlight I've had, but it's bright enough for most purposes. The fact that it uses LEDs means that it should be reliable (no bulbs to burn out) and the batteries should last a long time (because LEDs are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs).

The tripod design and swivel head are a clever innovation for situations when you need both hands free to work with. When the tripod is folded, the rubbery wafers make a solid and comfortable grip. Nicely done all around!