[NewJeffCT]

I mentioned a few years back to a friend of mine that has worked in carpentry and home construction about a Home Depot offer to install decks, and he said that while they probably have a pretty good guarantee, the people that work there are probably not good enough to make it on their own in the deck installation business. We ended up going with a local contractor on our deck.

We did similar on blinds installation in our previous two homes in Ellington & Avon. We used a local guy for that and he did a great job at a fairly reasonable price. I'm guessing he's probably retired now, as I just googled his old website and its not available anymore and he was probably mid 60s when he did our Avon install in 2007. (And for an old guy in his mid 60s, he worked very quickly and methodically, knocking off all 30+ windows in half a day.)

However, when we moved down to the shoreline, my wife turned cheaper than usual and hired Lowe's to do it - $99 for the entire house. For the most part, the guy did a decent job, but not great. However, the long vertical blinds we have out to the deck and from the walk-out basement are kind of crappy work - not very smooth to operate, get stuck a lot, etc.

So, you get what you pay for.

[grecostimpy]

I've had Home Depot do carpeting in two rooms, 5 doors, a full kitchen cabinet installation and two separate installations of kitchen granite.

I've had no problems with any of them. All we done quickly and with very good results. I have no complaints at all about anything. I've since moved out of the house that had the most work done (down in Westchester County, NY), but when I moved everything was holding up quite nicely.

We had them install granite in the house we live in now (in CT) in an existing kitchen (just replace the existing formica, which we demo'ed) and they did a fantastic job.

I may just be lucky?

[Wordsmith11]

I'm kind of shocked that people appear to have major home improvement work (roofs, floors, counters, etc.) done on their homes by, essentially, strangers delivered to them via a big-box retailer, strangers whom you cannot evaluate via reviews or referrals.

I would assume in most cases these people's homes (or rental properties) are their largest investment...

Are these people insane?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith11

I'm kind of shocked that people appear to have major home improvement work (roofs, floors, counters, etc.) done on their homes by, essentially, strangers delivered to them via a big-box retailer, strangers whom you cannot evaluate via reviews or referrals.

I would assume in most cases these people's homes (or rental properties) are their largest investment...

Are these people insane?

While I agree that it is better to use local contractors for work on your home, I will say it very hard to find good reputable people to do it. Using a Home Depot contractor for things is easy and at least there is some guarantee with it. Plus some people are too busy or lazy to try and find people. Personally we use local people (never have used HD or Lowes) but I have some sources that make it easy for me to find people and I do not mind paying a bit more for local people. Jay

[Dallascaper]

Originally Posted by JayCT

While I agree that it is better to use local contractors for work on your home, I will say it very hard to find good reputable people to do it. Using a Home Depot contractor for things is easy and at least there is some guarantee with it. Plus some people are too busy or lazy to try and find people. Personally we use local people (never have used HD or Lowes) but I have some sources that make it easy for me to find people and I do not mind paying a bit more for local people. Jay

Home Depot installed my lawn sprinkler system in Texas, and there were no problems. About a year after installation, the backflow preventer blew. The company came about that night and installed a replacement, no questions asked.

Many local landscapers are fly-by-night, so knowing that a major company is backing the work is acceptable if you don't know a reputable contractor. That said, HD contractors are more expensive than their local counterparts.