Anyone ever use Lowes/Home Depot contractors to install a fence?

What does that mean, having them wrapped?

 

One wouldn't want the house to get pregnant.

 

If something is different and they have to change something. The prices they advertise are generally for identical hookups. Usually stuff you could probably do yourself easily, but don't know you can. Call around on your windows and get some estimates from other companies(Lowes usually has reasonable prices though). Hardwood flooring you will find cheaper elsewhere. Same goes for Tile. Carpet on the other hand is very cheap at Lowes/Home Depot.

 

The credit can not be taken on the labor, so make sure you would only take 30% on the windows/doors, and they have to meet specific criteria(see energystar's website). Also know that the credit is non-refundable, which means you have to have a tax liability to claim the credit against.

 

I've gotten home depot to install a garage door... the best part being that they haul the old one off.

I swore to myself I wouldn't take the easy way out though, next time I would actually go directly to a local business so that the national brand wouldn't get a cut. All their contractors are just local tradesmen anyway that usually do their own business but just do it discounted through a big chain as work allows.

If you get someone that is insured/bonded then their work is guaranteed by a 3rd party anyway... you can always check them out as a contractor through the BBB.

 

Obviously. I stated so. 30% on the windows. Just make sure they are .30 or less on both U-factor and SHGC.

 

Aluminum trim on the exterior..covers brickmould or outside framed exterior...basically ensures it is maint. free and supports fill in after sash extraction. Do it!

 

Most of my clients that have made improvements have assumed the credit includes labor, thats why I stated that. And many installers don't break out their invoices/receipts(which they should be anyways to accurately show sales tax). And there are people like me who would get no credit because I ate up my tax liability with the credit on my new heat pump.

 

They are self-righteous, but trustworthy...

 

The fence they build may be too small for your liking.

 

i put up about 40' of fence a couple weeks ago - it wasnt as difficult as i thought it would be. digging the fence posts was the biggest hassle, since i didnt rent an auger, but even that wasnt so bad - bought a post hole digger for $25 and did it myself.

timing was good as the city was doing their bulk garbage pickup so when the old fence fell down i just put it out at the curb and they hauled away all the lumber.

the total cost for all the wood, nails and quick-crete was about $225. if i paid someone it would have cost me about $600. me and a friend got it up in about 8 hours, and that was w/ neither of us really knowing what we were doing.

i spent 1 day taking down the old fence, another day at homedepot buying all the supplies and prepping the area and the 3rd day putting it up.

 

A tornado took our fence last October...no..it literally took our back fence - I couldn't find the panels anywhere. I rebuilt the fence myself & it wasn't too bad. Digging the post holes is the hardest part if you buy the prebuilt fencing panels at Lowes or Home Depot. You can buy a prebuilt panel for around $35 bucks per 8ft piece. I built my entire back fence for half of what people wanted to charge me to build it.

 

One more thing - I'd get metal posts, if possible. I had a new fence put in a little over a year ago and the two things I looked for are metal posts and that they used screws instead of nails for the fence. It would take an F5 to bring this b*stard down now. :grin:

 

I had a front door replaced by Lowes. The guy was a little rougher on removing the interior trim than I would have been (we reused it because it was custom trim). But overall, he did a good job and I'm still happy with the work.