Contractors are an iffy bunch. Some do, some don't. I had one guy put a back door in my home (yeah,…read moreI didn't have one) and a few years down the road, the thing needed a re-boot. Had a bunch of guys build a wall around the back of my property out of cinder block, and while it looked great initially, time has taken a toll and the flaws of the design are now entirely evident. Every now and then, an absolute pro takes on a tough job and you know, from the outset, that it's worth every penny of your investment. When Robert Herrera took a look at my completely inoperable fireplace (don't ask, long story), I knew it was in the right hands.
Robert owns about 30 years of experience in the home improvement biz, and he's old, old, old school. Dude doesn't have an email address. He doesn't post status updates. He's a veteran of the North Valley of Albuquerque with the skills to pay the bills, and I could say so, so much more about his aptitude. Case in point: while he worked on our 60 year-old travesty of a fireplace, I quizzed him on all kinds of other issues in our home: floors, layout, lighting, even the sad back door. He offered fantastic advice about everything, and we're bringing him back to work on the floors in a few weeks.
He's timely, entirely professional, kind, perhaps a little too talkative (because he wants to educate, not just work), efficient and very fair-priced. When he got working on our home, he quickly learned that the job was going to require a lot more than his initial estimate, but he didn't up-charge me a dime when all was said and done. He also created a plastic tent around his work zone which kept dust and debris from spreading around the rest of the house, and taped a cardboard walkway from the door to the zone to prohibit damages while he hauled concrete and other ugly stuff from the scene of the crime. He's great. Call him.
Oh, on top of all of it, he also identified a few huge fire hazards (wood below and above the fire pit) that could have literally burned us alive. Thanks, Robert.
