PICKING A CONTRACTOR I don’t know the significance of this….but, of all my degrees….MASTER GARDENER gets the most quiet respect….all others are a yawn… (BA geology, BS Geography, Teaching Certificate, Scrub Tech….each took years and years..but they were “common”…..WTF?   Behind the curtain….it was a 10 week class on Saturdays…. Taught by a know it all, that didn’t. We defer to AIA and Contractors this way too…. Like they have some black magic….when in fact, they can be C students, just getting by….  Do you know there are many levels of being an AIA?….yet we lump the idiots with the greats, under this one umbrella term. This was an unknown, unknown to me.  I worked with a couple of AIA, guys, that said they were AIA, showed me some pics of work they did ? on their cell phone..!@!! (millennial resume I figured..).   Turns out, he hired kids from school to be his “interns” to do the work on a computer he didn’t know how to do. Lesson: GO TO THE GUYS OFFICE…SEE HIS PROCESS… SEE HIM MAKE THE COMPUTER DANCE before you hire!   Put it all on RED I have no idea if this house reno will save or sink us. Errors can domino and collapse into themselves like the The Money Pit. Design, style, function, logic, flow, finishes, windows, noise levels…all goes into plans… as does code, permits, and the wildest card of all….the contractor….. He/She can make your life HELL, So I picked a lady contractor…besides being a lady…(women do not make excuses…they just get the job done, and move on) she gave me a 30 page bid, then knocked off 10% to make it in my budget. 2. and Absolutely most important….she EMAILS ME so I do not have to wait for a knock on the door every min. She emails me, saying no work today, maybe tomorrow…FINE… I can relax for a day. I do NOT want phone calls, I want Emails!… a paper trail… wonderful. 3. She speaks English. She has an electrican and plumber for over 10 years, a HVAC for over 5, and the electrican and plumber’s kids intermarried…her team gets along…. So she is a fair boss, pays well….and the team works together… so one team of electricans do not leave trash for the plumber to walk over….its his job thing… 4. Her Dad was a contractor, so, she knows the business…and the politics and social skills her Dad taught her at the kitchen table at night… Hope all I fed into her equation is true….so far, it has been peaceful and smooth….