When I moved to DFW, I had over 75 contractors in my house in the first 6 months – many of them giving quotes for jobs. Knowing few people at the time, I had to go off my instincts. I had to do my research and spend a lot of time reading. I didn’t have any recommendations I could trust.
Now I’m in a position where I have my favorite contractors. Here are a few of my personal favorites.
Sprinkler repair – This is one of my favorite contractors. Cesar, the owner of The Sprinkler Guy, is top notch. I recommended him to a friend and he was able to beat his other quote by half. He does good work, works fast and works hard.
Lawncare – My lawn guy is Trey (817 313-5129), owner of Sanderson Lawn Service. He’s a young kid (maybe 20) who works with his buddy and sometimes his brother or dad. Super respectful and on time. He’s honest too. One time he broke a light and there’s no way I would have known but he informed me he broke it and asked how much money it would cost to replace. I told him not to worry about it of course but that’s the type of guy. His quote came back cheap and they work hard. I remember people quoting me $40-50 per week to cut my lawn (lot is 1/3 acre) and he bid $30. His hourly rate is $45/hr for a team of 2-3. Other bids for cleanup projects were $65/hour/person. Crazy difference and I’m not sacrificing on quality. He came highly recommended on NextDoor and has been doing my lawn since I moved in last summer.
Air duct cleaning – This is another strong recommendation, Bclean Air Duct & Carpet Cleaning. I called about 8 companies for quotes. These guys mainly do quotes over the phone so it’s not like HVAC where you have to set 8 appointments on your calendar. You basically count vents and returns and most of them charge based on that. Brain at BClean was the cheapest or second cheapest. A perfect 5.0 star rating as well. It was about $450 for a 3500 sqft house where as other quotes were $500-$3500 but mainly $800 or so. For free he also disinfected the house which means we had to leave for 4 hours as the fumes can’t be inhaled.
Insulation – Homeland Energy is who I went with after 3-4 bids that were all quite expensive. Their sales rep said they are middle of the pack when it comes to pricing but I found of the reputable companies, they were actually the cheapest at $1.15/sqft for R-49 attic insulation. Surprisingly discovered them in a magazine, rather than online. The owner is a 75 year old man who is pretty high on his morals. His name is Jay. “I will not have an unsatisfied customer” mentality.
Roofing – Firefigher Roofing is who I recommend for someone you can trust. I’ve had several roofers here inspecting a problem that turned out to not be roofing. They came out and inspected my roof immediately. I called a handful and they not only showed up first but they said they don’t believe in subcontracting when the roof isn’t mainly roofing and said for the cheapest price it’s best to just take his recommendations on subs. His subs are my top picks for gutters and exterior painters.
HVAC – This was the biggest expense. I replaced 2/3 AC units this fall. Anytime that isn’t summer is a good time to bang that out. I got the most quotes of any project on this because it’s a shit ton of money to spend. There are A LOT of companies to choose from, so you’ll get all sorts of recommendations. However, after getting 12-15 quotes ranging from $6k to $25k per unit, I went with Moss Mechanical. I got a pair of Lennox 2-stage 3 ton units for about $9k a piece including 10 year labor upgrade and 0% financing. There were a lot of cheaper bids but I was happy with this quote. They even gave me the ~$2,000 govt rebate which was ending and not guaranteed if I went with other companies. Close second is Team Enoch Arlington. They were very close and I had a hard time deciding but I am still glad I chose Moss. I’d get quotes from both if I were you.
Painters – I had 5 or 6 people here to look at a siding issue which led to redoing the paint on the exterior of my home (excluding brick). This quote couldn’t be beat. It was one of the categories where I indeed go with the cheapest. Castillo Painting & Remodeling is who I went with. Bids to do the work ranged as high as $15,000 and they washed, prepped, repaired siding and painted it all for $4,500. Team of 5 and it took them a full week. They took about 3-4 weeks to start because they are busy. I also liked Scott Exteriors as they were very conscious on what was worth fixing and what could wait.
Pool repair – I have struggled to find reasonable pool repairs but I found my best contractor on the app Thumbtack. Pristine Pool Service is who I use and am happy with. I can’t find them on Google, only a different company under the same name. The tech I have worked with 3 times now is Derrick. Good guy, willing to repair things that can be repaired. Example, I had a timer break. Most quotes were $499-650 plus a bunch of fees. He came out and repaired it for like $200.
Gutters – Roy at Better Flo Gutters is where I got my gutters from. His quote came in much less than the few others I got and given the quality of the other recommendation from Firefighter Roofing, I felt confident going with them.
Chimney – HBR Chimney were solid. The tech was friendly given my chimney hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Dude left here an absolute mess and earned every dollar. On top of it, I had an issue with my chimney damper a few weeks later and they came out and fixed/diagnosed for free because they recently serviced it. Decent people.
Plumbing – I’ve had a few plumbers at the house and worked with two. Currently I use Jeremy at Heathco Plumbing. He’s out of Cedar Hill but services Arlington. It’s a family business – the husband is the plumber and the wife answers the phones. I love supporting a small business like that when I know the worker is getting all the money.
Brick repair – The Brick Doctor is probably who I will go with for this. I need to fix some grout spots that are worn out. Their quote was reasonable and again, were very conscious about fixing too much and knew exactly what could wait and what was necessary to be done.
Electrical – I’ve hired 3 or 4 electricians so far, totally 3 full days of work. Really struggling to find someone I’m 100% confident in. My background is computer engineering so electrical is something I have a some knowledge in and can follow along with all their work. I have found issues with most I have dealt with but right now my favorite is Merlan Electrical Services. They are my recommendation and would put them at a 9/10, far better than most I’ve dealt with.
