"Nobody" wrote in message
news:OcS3f.15718$fE5.10333@fed1read06...

Yeah. It sucks.
...

(snip)

My bosses at work use this handy man that they swear by. Some how they can
get him on a moments notice, but when I called him once, he told me he had
a
7 week back log.

Well, this is one of the best arguments against door-to-door siding
salesmen- in the building trades, like most skilled jobs, the good ones
don't have to look for work, work looks for them. If there is significant
volume of custom (non-cookie-cutter) homes being built in your area, most of
the good guys and crews will be tied up there. Can't blame the tradesman-
you give first priority to your repeat customers, and fit the others in
around the edges, when and if you can. Best bet for homeowners is a
semi-retired guy, that doesn't wanna work 40-50 hour weeks any more, and
take off during hunting/fishing seasons. My father's company had one guy
like that- worked about 40 weeks a year, doing finish trim and cabinetry
only. He was too good to waste on framing, although he never hesitated to
mentor the kids on site (like me), about how that was supposed to be done,
when needed. Never did find out what happened to him after my father's
company went belly up- it he didn't really retire, I'm sure one of the other
custom buiders snapped the guy up.

aem sends...