a reliable handyman in Machias area? (house, general contractor, closing)

[bluewatergirl]

Can anyone recommend a good/reliable general contractor or
capable all-around odd-jobs/handyperson in the Machias area?

There are a few things we need done to our house
before we move in, the biggest job being taking up
carpeting on the second floor and installing some type
of hard-surface flooring (unfortunately, the floors are
beyond simply re-finishing) and replacing stair railings.

Thanks for any input.

[MaineMathTCHER]

Hi-
When do you need the work done? About how many hours/days of work do you think you will need?

[bluewatergirl]

The initial before-we-move-in work of removing the carpet
and installing flooring we need done "ASAP"
(my son has asthma and allergies, so I don't want
to stir up dust with him living in the house already.)
That's the biggest job that needs to be done now.
Unfortunately, we're still living a distance away, and
it's hard to coordinate from afar. If we were closer, we
could probably take on some stuff ourselves as after-
the-kids-are-in-bed projects.

As to time needed to get it done, I'm not sure.
Two or three days?
The carpet is newer, about 1 1/2 - 2 years old, tacked
down, not glued or anything; I imagine it should come up
pretty easily. From what we can tell,
underneath is a mixed bag of wood and linoleum.
I think it's fairly even and should need little prep
before new flooring is laid down.
The total area is approx 750-800 sq feet, consisting of
4 bedrooms (2 very small), hallway and stairs. The
stairs are okay under the carpet and do not need new
treads. For flooring, I believe our best choice is to
install some type of fabricated/engineered wood-look
glueless Pergo-type stuff.
We also need a sturdier balustrude and railing installed
at the top of and on the stairs.
Those are the "must-do now" things.
There'll be plenty of ongoing projects once we move in.
Fencing, finishing an out-building, closing in a porch,
building a deck . . . the list goes on and on.
Luckily, I'm at least handy with a paintbrush!

We recently had a quote from one GC up in the area that
about knocked us over: it was 3 times as much as we'd
recently paid to have our entire basement of comparable
square footage done here with similar flooring.
I was feeling like those "S's" in Massachusetts were looking
like dollar signs to him. Nope. We're just average folk who've
purchased a home to make our primary residence up there.
Who're willing to pay a fair price.

This has gotten longer than I intended.
I hope it answered your questions.

And please, any other readers feel free to jump in
with your opinions and suggestions.

Thanks