All I think I can add since your latest post, is to say that the stress and trauma of your personal situation at that time makes your venerability more understandable. It seems that these kind of people come out of the woodwork at exactly these kind of times. How do you find reliable honest tradesmen? Frankly, I don't know, since I do almost everything I need done in the way or repairs myself. Hopefully when I reach the time I can not longer do them myself, I will still be able to recognize the disreputable ones. The only thing I could suggest is that you try to find a reputable handyman and to find him now when you don't particularly need him. Everyone is looking for the good, honest mechanic. Most people are looking for the good, honest, cheap mechanic, but they don't exist. A good handyman maybe able to refer someone, even if he can't do the work himself. Even if he can't refer a specific company of person he can probably tell you what is reasonable approach and what is not. Talk with your friends, neighbors and acquaintances and try to get personal first hand references. Do it now so that when you need him, you won't be in a bind.

As I said in my previous post I know nothing about Angie's List other than their advertizements and what I related. Logic tell me that Angie's List gets paid. They wouldn't be in business unless they are making money. While they claim that no contractor can pay to get on Angie's List they must get a percentage of the fees. No business could survive subscriptions alone, especially advertizing on TV. They certainly could not provide any vetting of contractors or conflict resolution on subscription fees alone. And it is not in their best interest to set the standard too high. My understanding of the BBB is that they will tell you if and how many complaints they have on file for any given business and possibly whether on not these complaints were resolved. Neither can be your advocate. So, the only reliable source is personal first hand references. When you find the good honest, reliable, auto mechanic, plumber, electrician, handyman, be nice. You will need him again. Especially the plumber.

When your friends talk about the problems they have, discuss the details with them and find out who did the work. If they had a bad experience, they will be more than happy to share that. If they had a good experience they will be happy recommend that person or company.

I know nothing of a "burst pipe" method of pipe repair. That is not for water pipes. There is a method of relining drainage pipe. Tom (Speedball1) reports good results for repairing sewer pipes and Tom is a plumber. That method would not be feasible for repairing water or supply pipes.

Now that you have found this website, it is probably your best source for plumbing information. There are many good plumber that participate in this site, including Tom, Mark, Milo, MGD and others. They don't get paid to participate, so they must participate for the sole purpose of helping other people. Me, I'm just old, retired government employee that does handyman jobs to fight off old age.

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Originally Posted by hkstroud

All I think I can add since your latest post, is to say that the stress and trauma of your personal situation at that time makes your venerability more understandable. It seems that these kind of people come out of the woodwork at exactly these kind of times. How do you find reliable honest tradesmen? Frankly, I don't know, since I do almost everything I need done in the way or repairs myself. Hopefully when I reach the time I can not longer do them myself, I will still be able to recognize the disreputable ones. The only thing I could suggest is that you try to find a reputable handyman and to find him now when you don't particularly need him. Everyone is looking for the good, honest mechanic. Most people are looking for the good, honest, cheap mechanic, but they don't exist. A good handyman maybe able to refer someone, even if he can't do the work himself. Even if he can't refer a specific company of person he can probably tell you what is reasonable approach and what is not. Talk with your friends, neighbors and acquaintances and try to get personal first hand references. Do it now so that when you need him, you won't be in a bind.

As I said in my previous post I know nothing about Angie's List other than their advertizements and what I related. Logic tell me that Angie's List gets paid. They wouldn't be in business unless they are making money. While they claim that no contractor can pay to get on Angie's List they must get a percentage of the fees. No business could survive subscriptions alone, especially advertizing on TV. They certainly could not provide any vetting of contractors or conflict resolution on subscription fees alone. And it is not in their best interest to set the standard too high. My understanding of the BBB is that they will tell you if and how many complaints they have on file for any given business and possibly whether on not these complaints were resolved. Neither can be your advocate. So, the only reliable source is personal first hand references. When you find the good honest, reliable, auto mechanic, plumber, electrician, handyman, be nice. You will need him again. Especially the plumber.

When your friends talk about the problems they have, discuss the details with them and find out who did the work. If they had a bad experience, they will be more than happy to share that. If they had a good experience they will be happy recommend that person or company.

I know nothing of a "burst pipe" method of pipe repair. That is not for water pipes. There is a method of relining drainage pipe. Tom (Speedball1) reports good results for repairing sewer pipes and Tom is a plumber. That method would not be feasible for repairing water or supply pipes.

Now that you have found this website, it is probably your best source for plumbing information. There are many good plumber that participate in this site, including Tom, Mark, Milo, MGD and others. They don't get paid to participate, so they must participate for the sole purpose of helping other people. Me, I'm just old, retired government employee that does handyman jobs to fight off old age.

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Thank you, Harold. You are right, I should look now. One of the ways I find out who is BS'ing people over medical things is to play dumb, like I'm not an exceptionally well-read, sharp nurse (if I do brag so myssefl). Then I ask naïve questions that make me seem ripe for the picking, and if they use it in any way, out they go---sometimes with a stinging lecture. (That's because the other category of evil predators--well, there are many categories, aren't there?--i fake cures for miseries like arthritis, obesity and old age... and "cures" for lethal diseases like cancer.

So if you lose touch with people you know and trust by the time you're really old, pretend you're naïve, and ask a dumb question that leaves them an easy "in" to rip you off... and see if they pounce on it. That's what I've decided to do, just as I will continue to use the technique of the "imaginary husband who knows about 3/4 enough to do this himself, but not quite (or lacks the tools and time and license)', and/or pretending I'm so dumb they can tell me anything...but in both cases having done my research here and elsewhere.

Thanks again, and for the burst pipe business--yes, I just skimmed over it but now that you mention it, I can see how it would definitely not apply to a 3/4 inch thick metal pipe. I'll be reading your posts, you can be sure.

And my gift to all you aching-back plumbers out there:

Did you know the "Biofreeze" gel they sell for 30 or more bucks at the unscrupulous chiropractors out there is nothing more than plain old "IcyHot" gel? Yep! And any chiro who tries to sell you B-12 for under your tongue, Biofreeze, or any other special supplement is not only out of his expertise area, he's ripping you off.

Anne