Baltimore Contractors

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Cordless or Useless?
Hello fellow contractors. Just wanted to know by the guys who use them- what is your favorite cordless tool? Who makes the worst? I've used pretty much every one on the market & have still not found the best. Currently have a Bosch 36V 4 pce kit- not bad, but heavy. Have a Ridgid 9.6 drill that holds up pretty well against even more powerful drills out there. The best I have ever had was an old 7.2 Makita- back in 1983- toughest drill I ever owned- lasted about 7 years until I retired it with honours. Anybody else got a favorite?

The Latest Reply

Hello, its not a matter of name, but I have been a contractor for over 20 years and recently upgraded my Millwaukie tools, my original drill lasted me over 14 years. I have used every make out there but swear by the Millwaukie. And let me tell you they are great, from their impact driver to the big 12" mitre saw. Nothing beats them.

Clients
I have been in renovations for 29 years now, 18 on my own. I've had the great privalege of working for some of the best people out there. I no longer advertise as my work comes from repeats/referrals, which is what every contractor works towards. I have seen a lot of contractor bashing on this as well as other sites (don't get me wrong, I've seen some pretty amazing & horrifying things in 29 years that were done by contractors) but I've never seen the other side of the coin on these sites- bad clients. They greatly outnumber the bad contractors. Every contractor has had at least 1, even Bob Villa & Mike Holmes have probably seen their share. My question is- does anyone know of a site where contractors can post bad clients to warn others to stay away? There are enough sites as I said warning of bad contractors, but in a lot of cases, it could be the client.

The Latest Reply

Hi ET, glad you are seeing things from the other side- but contractors & customers are in the same boat- customers do not want to be ripped off by contractors & vice versa. It seems to happen much to often, and this recession has created more 'hacks' than the market can handle. I don't care how many awards you have on your wall or how many groups you belong to like the BBB, if you are a good contractor, your customers will always let you know it & that is the best advertising there is. You should hold off your renovations until you are comfortable with a contractor because they will be in your space for a long time, and it will affect everyone around you. As for deposits- to me it sets up a trust between a client/contractor, as I have stated. If things go bad, the contractor will cover some of his losses- and don't be thinking that its the contractors fault the things go south- more often than not it is the customers inexperience & meddling that causes problems. Do not take offence to that- because the contractor in many cases is the problem- because many times they do not stay on top of things & things fall apart. I stated in the beginning of this thread that I have seen many horrifying things done by contractors in the last 30 years & things are not getting any better- just recently I ripped out some sloppily done electrical work that was done by a licensed electrician & passed by an inspector. I do this for my clients because it is the right thing to do & what they trust me for. You have every right to be distrustful of contractors, just like we can & should be wary of clients- but we are not all bad. We have to eat & have families to feed, bills to pay- but unlike most people, we never know if we will be bringing home a paycheque or not.