I hate writing this review because it will likely make you want to hire Jim Ketchum and the more people hire him, the more people will see how good his work is, and the word will spread--and then, he likely won't have time to help us with our repairs. So, I'd like to conveniently forgot to write this--but he deserves better than that. So, with a deep sigh, here goes. Based on our experience with Jim Ketchum (and other contractors), Mr. Ketchum is exceptionally intelligent, thoughtful, and logical. He also has a lot of experience. These characteristics lead him to evaluate and solve problems that other contractors either failed to solve or didn't want to bother doing. Our refreshing experience was that he showed up on time, completed his work in a timely fashion, kept us informed about his progress (including unexpected issues and possible solutions), and finished in less time than anticipated. Add to that, he's a delightful human being.
Some specifics:
The first and most important task we had for Jim was to get a very large microwave off our counter, where it had been sitting since Christmas, when our old wall microwave broke and our supposed repair company said they couldn't deal with it until after the holidays. The "after the holidays" extended to March and we realized we'd better find another contractor--especially because we still needed someone to determine if we would have to order (and wait for) a new trim kit, since the new microwave was a different brand than the old. (A new trim kit would lead to additional waiting and would cost more than the microwave.) Jim asked for the manuals for both microwaves, which we just happened to have. I watched him read through those, examine the wall unit (the bottom was/is a functional convection oven), and come up with a way to make the new microwave fit into the old one's kit. Heavenly! He then went on to fix three ceiling fans that previous repair people had failed to fix, patched a ceiling that was damaged by a plumbing leak--(a ceiling repair that was begun by sheet rock repair person who began the work last year but never could find time to come back and finish.) Jim then went on to repair a puck light over our cook top, three ceiling fans, and some outdoor lattice work. He also determined the additional can light we'd hope to install above our bathroom counter couldn't be added unless we changed the other two. read more