When it comes to choosing a contractor, I don't put too much stock in feedback - some customers are simply unreasonable and can't be pleased no matter how much effort is put in, and others have a legitimate beef, but misremember which company offended them, end up zapping the wrong target unfairly, and then never bother to correct their mistake. I do go by the recommendations of people who've proven themselves to be trustworthy (a shout-out here, to plumber Dickie Wilem and to contractor Wayne Wyatt, who are each 11-out-of-10 on the trustworthiness scale). When the Christmas Eve polar bomb of 2022 hit (12º actual temperature/5-below-zero wind chill), a pipe burst above our kitchen ceiling. There were lots of steps required, to restore the place to its former condition (sheetrock removal, drying out the interior walls, new sheetrock in, new flooring, plus cabinets + countertops reinstalled). This street was built by filling in a swampy area, the house is 34 years old and has settled somewhat, over the years. Recommended to us by Wayne Wyatt, Rodney McKinney arrived with a Star Trek-looking tripod gizmo which used a red laser to visually align the bottom cabinets so that the countertops could go in. It was obvious from the start that he knew what he was doing, and he also gave us some sage advice on preventing heat loss, along with lots of pointers on small things here & there which added up to a huge positive difference in how things went, going forward. He could not have been more impressive. Anyone can praise anyone else, but the best endorsement was the silent one he got from the countertop installers. They arrived with the stone slabs, came into the kitchen, looked at all the cabinets, and visibly sagged when they saw how intricate the leveling would had to've been in order to make their job possible. They sighed, braced themselves, brought in the heavy countertop . . . and everything fit perfectly. Absolutely flat plane, zero adjustments necessary. The look of surprise & relief they exchanged at the instant they realized that the most difficult part of their work was already finished, said more than any credit from us ever could. Rodney's been at this for forty years, and every minute of his experience, shows. Rating: 11-out-of-10.
