Home Improvements - Go Local!

Since June, our little house at 1040 has been getting some updates. First, we started with a new roof - badly needed and gladly done. We hired a well-known roofer from right here in little ol' Helena. He was fast and good and our roof looks great. Then we got the outside painted. Again, we hired a local guy that does everything from remodel to paint to floors. He did a great job and worked hard in the middle of a few really hot days (some of the only ones we had this summer). It looks great and blends in well with our natural sorroundings. Then, DocFam spent their July 4th weekend with the Jakes' sanding and staining the deck - another much-needed and gladly spent weekend and money. The result outside has been quite an update and will add some curb appeal in the near future when we outgrow our little house with Herbie's arrival (the story of how we named our unborn child is forthcoming). The outside improvements have gone by mostly without a hitch and have been fairly easy to execute even where we did the work ourselves.

I attribute those easy times to going with local professionals or doing the work ourselves. Whenenver possible, buy local, hire local and trust the locals. They know best...

Then we moved to the inside of the house and the "fun" began. We bought new appliances. And despite our better judgment, we got them at Lowe's. For a delivery that was promised to take 1 day for the fridge and dishwasher, and, at most, 2 weeks for the fridge, we waited 3.5 for all the appliances. It doesn't seem like such a big deal but by the time we finally got the appliances, we could have had 24 appliances delivered from the locally-owned place. Time is money. So the money we saved by going to Lowe's, the big box store owned by some corporation somewhere, we could have saved in time over and over and over again. Additionally, to make matters worse, I didn't get ONE phone call from Lowe's throughout the entire 3.5 weeks. I called them, inquired, was promised a call back, never received it, was told I'd get a call when they would deliver, didn't get a call. Finally called one day and they told me I was scheduled for delivery THAT day and "would 11 a.m - 2 p.m. delivery work for you?" Thankfully it did because the next delivery was another 4 days away. Hopefully we learned our lesson.

Now we need new countertops. And because we learned our lesson, I talked with a local guy who does cement countertops that look shockingly like granite, slate, or even river rock if that's our choice. But the estimate was outside our budget and the cement, while sustainable and trendy, may not be practical for our countertops because of the uneven and ridiculously designed island in the middle of our kitchen.

Sooo, forgive me for I have sinned: I went BACK to the box-store, chain, owned by corporations far and wide, Home Depot this time. I swore I wouldn't do it, but DAMMIT, I'm weak. The cost estimate, thankfully, was similar to my first quote so the price won't be my excuse for going to Home Depot. But the convenience might be. I shouldn't be swayed by convenience cuz making the right decision isn't always the easiest. I know this. But wow, they drive a hard bargain. Everything is included and easy. Paul comes out, measures, takes out the old, puts in the new and it takes about 24 hours and VOILA. Done. Easy. NO hassle. Except that's what I thought last time with Lowe's.

Now that I've bared my soul and confessed my sins to the cyberworld. I'm reinvigorated to go to a local guy tomorrow and get another estimate. Even if it takes another day or so to get it done, it's got to be worth it. ALRIGHT, I'm gonna do it. Wish me luck. Practice what I preach, right? Here I go ... I'll post pictures when it's all said and done.