HVAC contractors

[Scott Douglas]

OK, I'm the first to admit it, I'm not a 'house' guy, I'm a car guy. I don't like to do house projects as I find wood to be extremely hard to work with. I'm an ex-machinist and find it very difficult to work with anything but metal on a mill.
So, we're paying off the house this month and the wife wants to have central heat, and possibly A/C too, put in.
My question is this, other than referrals from friends, relatives etc, how do you go about finding good contractors to ask to quote the job?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Angies list isn't a bad resource. Or (even though this will sound self-serving) call up some architects and mechanical engineers in your area that do residential stuff. It's a pretty small world and the bad apples get a rep pretty fast...

[azasadny]

Call your cities permit office and see if they'll tell you what HVAC company has been pulling the most permits.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Bigger does not necessarily mean better. I can give quite a few examples of this.

[billybek]

Talk to you neighbors.
You want to find someone that is local, has a good history in the neighborhood and a name at stake to back up the work that is done.

[look 171]

PM me if you want my HVAC man. He's based out of LA. This guy does all of my HVAC jobs.

[djmcmath]

A personal referral is the only one I'd trust. When we went to have this job done in our house, we got half a dozen quotes from guys who just seemed sleazy through-and-through. I finally paid to have a friend from 300 miles away come up for a long weekend to take care of it.

Dan

[chapo]

PM me, I will hook you up with my AC guy here in OC. I am a contractor and he is doing or has done my current custom, my last custom, my parents house, buddies house, buddies buddies house, etc. He also vintage races a 911. Good deal, straight shooter, ex navy.

[LWJ]

ACCA. Air Conditioning Contractors of America. These guys take continuing education and load calculation very seriously. Check the National web site for some local contractors to narrow down your list. Most members are real pros. I will caution that it is possible to get the occasional idiot as well who has paid membership as well.

Good luck.

Larry

Larry

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

How do you go about finding good contractors to ask to quote the job?

And when you do get a quote, make sure it lists the items in detail...model numbers, etc.

There are different levels of quality from the same manufacturer. Next find out how those benefit you in the long run...ie. quality. Go to the web and confirm what he is telling you.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Traveller

And when you do get a quote, make sure it lists the items in detail...model numbers, etc.

There are different levels of quality from the same manufacturer. Next find out how those benefit you in the long run...ie. quality. Go to the web and confirm what he is telling you.

Contractors are a funny group, especially smaller ones. A couple of my sub contractors, like my plumber is a great guy. Straight shooter no games, but he is just poor with paper work such as writing out everything in details like brand name and model number. I have sent him to clients and they call back surprise at how his estimate is not very details (compare to mine). They use him anyway because of my recommendation. I have met so many great guys out in the field that can't put a detail bid together if their life depend on it, but they are great craftsmen. When you are dealing with a big company, they have people do nothing but write bids all day. You also pay for that too.



Scott,

Hire a honest small local guy and be done with it. More then likely, the owner is the one doing some of the work and hang around the job daily. My guy does the work himself.

Jeff

[Scott Douglas]

Thanks for the help guys, it is appreciated.

[Zeke]

PM sent to recommend.

[cashflyer]

All I can tell you is that the one I used recently SUCKED.
Actually, I can tell a little more than that.

Be sure everything you discuss is put into writing. It's better than trying to remember who said what later on. Or coming up with a "I thought you were going to install a _______ there."

Be sure everything your contractor agrees to do is put into the contract. Not just specific equipment listings, but also all fees - and any "perks" that they promise. If it's not in the contract, it probably won't get done.

If you're doing a major change, have floor plans with notes and drawings. (You don't want a vent to show up on the south wall that was supposed to be on the west wall.)

Be sure to set deadlines, and arrange to make progress payments at certain checkpoints along the way. Never pay in advance.

It always helps to get more than one contractor to quote the job.