Helpful Advice: Quality shops & services Knoxville (Maryville, Seymour: Home Depot, heat pump)

[bfskinnerpunk]

Perhaps we can start a thread regarding high quality shops and services in Knoxville.

In a previous thread, I have suggested Scott's Deli, The Bike Zoo, and TVA Bicycles in an earlier thread as places that do what they do very well.

Today, I went to a very hip vintage furniture and "stuff" store called "Living Vintage" in S. Knoxville ... way south on Chapman Hwy.. about a mile or so south of the Home Depot and Wal-Mart. GREAT prices and a small but nice selection of cool stuff. We went there because of a recent write up in the Knoxville Sentinel.

For myself, I'd like to learn about good quality handyman services, mechanics, tire shops, dentists, vets, and medical clinics.

This thread can be something like an Angie's List with a bit more randomness!

[NJDevil]

This is a good idea. It would be great to find stores and services that put CUSTOMER SATISFACTION first - honest people that deliver quality and care about what their customers think. Places that don't give you a hard time when you want to return something (for ANY reason). I would put my mechanic in this category, but he's in Seymour, so that doesn't help you Knoxville/Maryville folk.

The only problem is that if this thread gets to be very long, it will be hard for people to search for the type of service they're looking for. Maybe one thread can be limited to stores, another could be for services, and another could be for doctor-type.

[goodbyehollywood]

That's an excellent idea! I'm also looking for a good quality handyman. All of my neighbors are, too. If this is anybody's calling, they should be able to run a nice little business on word-of-mouth.

I'm curious-- what is a fair rate for a handyman in this area? In CA, it was $15-$20/hr-- at the most, it was $25, but that was for specialty skills, like electrical or networking/home theater. I've found that handymen here want a lot more for very basic jobs and they try to "game" you by charging outrageous amounts if they think they can get away with it. They won't give you an hourly rate, because that locks them in. I had a guy try to charge me $600 last week to fix a noisy hot water heater-- I could have purchased a new one and had it installed for less! But he thought I was stupid and could afford it, so he was going to take me, if he could.

Frankly, I've found most service people here to be dishonest. I don't even call small sole proprietors any more, unless I have a referral from someone who used them and was happy with their work. Everybody I know says the same thing, so a network of good, reliable contacts would be invaluable-- to homeowners, as well as honest tradespeople who offer quality work. I know they're out there-- but they probably don't have to advertise, because their work speaks for itself.

[the painter]

Oh Please do get the thread going. I have been all over the net looking for appliance stores (scratch/dent), researching fence co. feed & tack shops, ect. I hate to keep asking on the forum because I know its been asked in the past, probably hundreds of times. I did find some fence co on the forums and will be looking them up when we get there but the rest...

[SmokyMtnGal]

Please do add the information about your tried and true experiences. Once we get so many names we can gather them up and do a list at the top and make it a sticky.

[Pam& Bill]

As a good reliable electrician, we've used Jeff Hott.I lost his card but he is an installer at Comcast. Hik, do you know of him?
Pam

[DragonFly757]

For custom framing and artwork, by far the best place is "Glenstone Galleries" in Alcoa. A lot of our artwork and framing came from them...every room has been touched by this business. We will travel from Virginia just to get custom framing done and drive it all the way back. We've had great results with the shipping of smaller items as well.

Here is their link: Glenstone Galleries and Gifts - Home

[SmokyMtnGal]

Originally Posted by TailoredMaid

For custom framing and artwork, by far the best place is "Glenstone Galleries" in Alcoa. A lot of our artwork and framing came from them...every room has been touched by this business. We will travel from Virginia just to get custom framing done and drive it all the way back. We've had great results with the shipping of smaller items as well.

Here is their link: Glenstone Galleries and Gifts - Home

I have used him for numerous projects and can also recommend.

[knoxgarden]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

I have used him for numerous projects and can also recommend.

That's good to know. I have a several things that need rematting and/or glass replaced or just generally spruced up.
I've got a heating and AC firm to recommend: City Heating and Air. They installed a heat pump two years ago under KUB/TVAs Energy Rite program. Very good installation, careful, showed up when they're supposed to, hard workers, were careful with my property and cleaned up after themselves.
I had them out again last month. Heat pump is fine but the outside circuit box needed to be replaced. Ended up being less than the estimate and he explained to me why I needed it and what was wrong and what my options were.
Quality Installations, Sales, Services, City Heating and Air Conditioning, Knoxville, TN
One thing that impressed me is that I've asked them if I need a service contract with them, with yearly checkups and they tell me to wait at least another year, probably two, before doing that. That it shouldn't need it being this new and a very reliable unit.
They also call a couple of days after service to make sure that everything was OK and to get my opinion of their service. I like that. The office people are very helpful.

[creeksitter]

I must say I'm pretty shocked at the notion of paying a skilled handyman $15-20 in California. That seems such a pittance considering the cost of living is 2-3 times higher than Tennessee. Are these workers not here legally or something??

I have been paying skilled carpenters $14-$22 off and on for the last 10-12 years. 2-4 years ago during the building boom they could barely be found at any price. Of course this is with all their own tools. The $14/hour folks were students who were happy I could work around their class schedule.

Now that there's a housing bust repair people are more readily available. I put an ad on Craigslist and had 2 dozen responses in 3 days. Of the 3 I actually contacted one was an out & out fraud, one seemed a little vague, and the third was a highly skilled carpenter/hadyman whose former employer had closed up shop. Of course I hired #3 on a part time basis and he will be fitting me in inbetween high end jobs. He said he would work for $16 but I don't feel right paying him less than $20 because he is so fast.

That's with me providing a reliable source of work. For a 1 time job expect to be charged $25-30 or more by the honest folks. Then there are a lot of fraudsters in the biz, so word of mouth is recommended.