Neighborhood Services

RECOMMENDED SERVICE PROVIDERS: a list

NOTE:
This list, formerly maintained by Bill Ingram,
is now maintained in another format by Ruth Scodel
at https://tinyurl.com/LoBuPaList.
Please consult that site,
as this site has not been updated since June 2018.

| Air Conditioning | Airport Transit | Alterations | Appliance Repair | Auto Repair• Tires• Glass• Detailing | Baby Care, Baby Services | Basement Problems | Bathroom Remodeling | Bats | Bicycles | Bookkeeping | Carpentry & Cabinetry | Carpets | Cats | Cellphones | Child Care | Chimneys | Chiropractors | Cleaning | Computers | Concrete Work | Contractors | Damage Repair | Decks | Dentists | Doctors | Dogs | Drain & Sewer Cleaning | Dressmaking | Driveways | Drywall | Duct Cleaning | Electricians | Exterminators | Eyeglasses | Fences | Fireplaces | Firewood | Floors, New | Floor Refinishing | Furnaces | Furniture Repair, Refinishing | Garages | Gardening | Gutter Maintenance | Handymen | Heating & Cooling | Helpers | Home Remodeling | House Cleaning | Insect Control | Insulation | Kitchen Remodeling | Landscaping•Lawn•Garden | Lawnmowers | Leather Repair | Locksmiths | Masons, Masonry | Movers | Music Instruction | Notary Public | Office Management | Optometrists | Painters | Pediatricians | Pest Control | Pet Care | Photographers | Physical Therapy | Physicians | Piano Lessons | Plasterers | Plumbers | Radon Abatement | Realtors | Rodents | Roofers | Sewer Cleaning | Sewing, Tailoring | Shoe Repair | Snow Clearing | Tax Preparation | Tilers | Trash Removal | Tree Service | Vent Cleaning | Veterinarians | Walls, Wallpaper | Water Heaters | Water Service | Windows | Window Cleaning |

AIRPORT TRANSIT

Michigan Green Cars, 734-662-4444 or 877-476-8294, (website).
- 2017 August: Bill Ingram (email): They're based in Ann Arbor, and use hybrid vehicles. I use them regularly.
Maize and Blue Transportation, 734-864-4160, (email), (website).
- 2016 December: Bill Ingram (email): I used them over the Christmas holidays to get to the airport. They were prompt and efficient, phoning to say they were on their way, and they have a $50 flat rate from Ann Arbor to the airport ($60 to pick you up there and bring you back).
Uber Black.
- 2015 May: Ned Staebler (email): Try Uber Black and get 20 dollars off with this code: uberLBP
Metro Detroit Sedan (website).
- 2015 May: Paula Doering (email): We use this service and they have been great; they arrive on time, even in the middle of a major snowstorm.
Metro Cars.
- 2015 May: Jan Dowling (email): Metro Cars is great. If you work for UM, there is a discount as well.
Michigan Flyer.
- 2015 August: Marty Mung (email): The Michigan Flyer should be mentioned; it leaves from a couple of AA locations (including downtown) and stops at both Metro terminals. Very inexpensive and reliable. Senior discounts available. You can find them on the AATA website.

APPLIANCE REPAIR

Jeff at Lange Appliance Service, 971-0534.
- Regrettably, Jeff Lange, a very popular neighborhood repairman, has retired. He recommends that we use Heydlauff below:
Heydlauff Appliance Repair, 113 North Main Street, Chelsea, MI 48118; 734-475-1221 (website).
- 2016 June: Lynn Drickamer (email): I used Heydlauff recently, and was pleased. They have a lot more inventory than you'd think. And they only service what they sell, so that was good enough reason for me.
Repair Clinic (website).
- 2014 September: Ed Vielmetti (email): Repair Clinic is local (Canton); they have good service; people have told me they can help you locate the precise part you need.
Michigan Appliance Repair.
- 2014 September: Jackie Byars (email): We have had people from Michigan Appliance Repair work on our refrigerator and dishwasher (which, after 14 years, we replaced with a much better one, Bosch — actually not noisy!), and they do good work.
- 2017 September: John Hamerink (email): We have used Michigan Appliance Repair numerous times and they are great.
- BUT: 2017 October: Denise Kozikowski (email): My experience with Michigan Appliance Repair was just okay. The technician came out and didn't even need to touch anything to guess it was a dryer belt (I took a half-day vacation). It took two weeks for the part to arrive and another one and a half weeks to schedule. On the day of the repair, the wrong technician had my part in his truck. Sadly, the receptionist was not very helpful. It took a fair amount of pushing back to get the part and technician to my home. In the end, the work was fine, but it was just an okay experience.
MasterTech.
- 2014 September: Ruth Scodel (email): I've used Master Tech, and they solved my problem, but it wasn't cheap or especially convenient.

AUTO REPAIR (Auto Glass, Tires, Detailing in subheads below)

Steve Steeb, on Rosewood, 930-2277.
- 2009 October: Spencer Thomas (email): I've been taking my cars to Steve since about 2000. He's "in the back" of the little "plaza" next to Inn Storage. He's friendly, efficient, and especially helpful with older American cars. When I had a 16-year old Plymouth, he was sensitive to whether something needed to be fixed or could be just "lived with" for the (presumably short) remaining life of the car. He was willing to jury-rig solutions to problems that might otherwise require expensive part replacement. And he will will come out and hook up his diagnostic "computer" for no charge, so that I can decide whether and when I need to get something worked on. He never tries to sell me work I don't need. Five stars at cartalk.com.
- 2009 October: Pam Hoffer (email): Steve Steeb has been our mechanic and is wonderful-wonderful; voted best in AA many times. Steve is just a sweetheart, really honest.
- 2009 October: Victoria Green (email): Happy with Steve Steeb for years and years. He takes care of our Toyota. I especially appreciate that he'll tell me honestly when he thinks it's not worth fixing something on my ancient car. And he's within walking/biking distance so drop-offs are easy.
- 2009 October: B R Battey (email): Steve Steeb, look no further.
- 2009 October: JP Pagán (email): We've had good experiences with Steve Steeb as well. And how can you not love the name?
Professional Auto Technicians ; (email).
- 2014 February: Shawna Shafer (email): I HIGHLY recommend Professional Automotive Techs. They were referred to me by one of my co-workers who has been using the shop for years. I brought my 2004 Buick in because there was a pond (literally I was bailing inches of water out of my car) in my passenger side floor boards. I was expecting to pay hundreds of dollars because I thought I had a bad pump or some horrific leak of antifreeze etc..... it was simply a bad seal and nothing more. I also got an oil change that day (I believe it cost me a whole $19.00 because I was having other work done). Since I was unsure of exactly what was going on, they were very good about calling and explaining what was going on and what things would cost - which I appreciate... because honestly in a car of this age, you have to start to consider cost:benefit to high repair costs. These fine gentlemen assessed and fixed the problem in a fast and very professional manner. I would not hesitate to return to them and refer friends to have their cars looked at here. They are slightly more expensive - BUT you can trust that they will not make things up to fix (ie the ball bearings on your muffler are looking pretty bad.....). In fact, they will help you to make a list and prioritize the items so that you can plan and not be caught off guard by a huge car expense.
- 2014 February: Libby Robinson (email): We've used PAT on Jewett for years with several different cars. Highly competent and honest. Will tell you what the scoop is and how close your car is to needing to replace something. Excellent diagnosticians.
Packard Auto Repair, 1880 Packard, Ann Arbor; 734-327-6488.
- 2014 February: (email): We've used them for years. Their work is guaranteed, they are honest, and we have never had a problem with a repair there. They offer free towing (with repair work), their prices are better than the competition, and on several occasions they have done free repairs. Most of the time I have been able to simply wait while my car is worked on. Moreover, they are very flexible and if you are a DIY type like me (I used to work as an auto mechanic), they have no problem working with you. No bureaucracy or B.S. A pleasure to deal with those guys! The owner's name is KC, and as English is a second language for him and the mechanics (they are Jordanians), the guy who answers the phone if you call is a very knowledgeable American named John. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Loren Jackson, 948 Woodlawn, 761-6587.
- 2009 December: Larry Baitch (email): Loren Jackson, a neighbor who lives at 948 Woodlawn, is a Chrysler engineer who does great car repair as a side job. He does my brakes, shocks, struts and other minor work (PAT does the major stuff) and charges almost nothing for it. He charges so little that it's almost embarrassing, but he won't take more.. says he enjoys it too much. But he does the cars for a lot of the neighbors.
True Tech Auto on South Industrial.
- 2009 October: Jonson Porteux (email): True Tech Auto is great (a few blocks down from Kroger) — they don't overcharge and explain everything quite well. They've even gone so far as to explain to me in detail how to fix something on my own due to cost concerns.
Jourden's Automotive, 2115 South State Street.
- 2009 October: Tim Richards (email): I've been taking my cars to Jourdens Automotive forever. I recommend them highly. I have only good things to say about them.
Select Auto on Platt; 677-1210.
- 2009 December: Christy Whiting. Select Auto on Platt does a good job and is by far the least expensive place I've found. They've taken good care of my cars.
- 2016 November: Bryan Wagoner (email): Select Auto Service. Great shop.
AutoZone.
- 2012 June: Andy Jaworski (email): For a free diagnostic test, you can take your car to AutoZone or maybe to some of the other auto parts retailers in town. If they find a problem, they will also make recommendations about which parts are likely the cause.
O'Reilley Auto Parts, on W Stadium.
- 2012 June: Ed Vielmetti (email): I went to O'Reilley Auto Parts and borrowed a scanner, and now the next step is the mechanic.
Advance Automotive, on W Jackson Road, 734-662-9099.
- 2012 June: Joan Rose (email): I recommend Adavance Automotive, located on Jackson Rd. They seem very knowledgeable.

AUTO GLASS

A2 Auto, Wagner Road.
- 2012 June: Mike Sivak (email): We had our rear passenger window broken early Tuesday morning between 3 and 6 am. We used A2 Auto on Wagner. They repaired in an hour and cost was $195.00.

TIRES

Belle Tire.
- 2014 February: Spencer Thomas (email): I patronize Belle Tire (Arborland), but there are some caveats. They are friendly, reasonably quick, and have always done repairs for free, which are plusses. But, they also try to sell me other (expensive) work that doesn't (according to my mechanic) need to be done. And there is a certain lack of attention to detail: 3 times now, they have used generic weights instead of the weights that are designed for my wheels. What's the problem? The weights can come off. The first time that happened, I didn't figure it out until the tires had become cupped. Even after the weights were fixed, I had serious vibration at highway speeds, and eventually had to replace the tires about a year early.
- 2014 February: Mike Limmer (email): I have had great service from Belle Tire on Carpenter.
- 2014 February: Cherry Westerman (email): Ditto with Belle Tire at Arborland and the one out Jackson Rd.
Sears.
- 2014 February: Ruth Scodel (email): I've had good luck at Sears.
CostCo.
- 2014 February: Eric Straka (email): Costco, if you are a member.

DETAILING

A2 Auto Image, 112 Jackson Plaza, Ann Arbor; 327-9900; website.
- 2016 September: Chris DeRuyver (email): Great place!
Make It Beautiful.
- 2016 September: Leslie Barroso (email): I've had the car wash on South Industrial do it and also Make It Beautiful on Maple Road. I prefer Make It Beautiful. Good job, fair price!

BABY AND CHILD CARE

A child-care website: http://child-care.findthebest.com/.
- 2015 September: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): Some child care options right in our neighborhood can be found at this website.
Another child-care website: http://www.care.com/better-care-starts-here-p1087-q41948647.html.
- 2015 September: noticed by Bill Ingram (email), who hasn't used it. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the babysitting form.

NEW-BABY SERVICES

Center for the Childbearing Year (website).
- 2013 January: Victoria Green (email): I recommend a doula. Some doulas just do labor support but lots of postpartum doulas work with newborns & families on care and feeding issues. Even for an older baby a doula might still be a reasonable and cost effective choice - they're pretty flexible and knowledgeable. The one I used 10+ years ago is no longer working as a doula; but try the C4CBY people.
Katy Gladwin at Sacred Roots Services (email).
- 2013 January: Courtney (email): I second the notion of doulas. Sacred Roots Services, LLC offers post partum Doulas. They are a very wonderful group of women.

BASEMENT PROBLEMS (sump pumps etc) (see also Drain & Sewer Cleaning)

Dry-Mich Foundation Systems, 1-877-DRY-MICH; (website).
- 2017 May NOT recommended by Libby Walmsley (email): We had a bad experience with 877-dry-mich. They were unfamiliar with Ann Arbor regulations, and tried to pass their mistake off as a new change in Ann Arbor policy (not true). They dug a hole across our basement floor that was not needed and did not pass inspection, before finally agreeing to fix the problem without taking any responsibility for their mistakes. We felt they were dishonest, even if the final solution was the correct one, and would not recommend using them!
Water Emergency Reporting (Field Services website).
- 2013 December: JP Pagán (email): Field Services (website above) has a Water Emergency Reporting line. I called them because of sludge in my basement and the guy who came out said it was not sewage.
Gateway Restoration, in Chelsea; 734-645-5500.
- 2015 March: Monica Blair (email): We had water damage in our basement; I called Gateway Restoration, and they were outstanding. They were quick to come out to help, they explained all of my options, and in the end, they helped me determine that we could handle the damage for less than our insurance deductible. This consultation was free. In addition, when I had furnace trouble later in the day (which ended up being related to the furnace condensate pump that had leaked all over the floor in the first place), they connected with me with a furnace expert who walked me through all of the potential issues on the phone and helped me get my furnace running again. This also was at no charge. They were reliable, trustworthy, knowledgeable, caring, and they spent a lot of time helping me to fix the numerous issues we had that day. The other references written on "rateabiz" sound very similar to my experience as well. It is rare to get such outstanding service these days. I HIGHLY recommend them.
Dennis Stone (Stone Enterprises), 5800 Sylvan Rd, Manchester MI 48158; 734-428-1920.
- 2012 November, 2014 November, 2017 May: Cherry Westerman (email): We had Stone Enterprises water proof our basement in 2010. Our basement has been dry since!!! But it was a major project digging out around the whole outside of the basement, installing drain tile inside and out, and redoing our water line to the street. Excellent people, headed by Dennis Stone, who works with his crew. Not cheap, but did the job promised and did it well. He does other building as well; his business card says: New construction; Commercial Renovation; Residential Renovation; Basement Repair/Replace; Foundation — New/Repair; Underpinning.
Smith's Waterproofing. (website).
- 2013 December, 2017 May: Michele Rivette (email): I used this company that year that many of us had flooded basements, backed up storm drains...(shudder). The owner is honest, fair and they did a great job on time. I had them put in a drainage system (b-dry type) and a sump pump.
- 2017 May: Ruth Scodel (email): I used Smith in fall 2015 and was very pleased. Dennis Stone did an estimate and wanted to do the digging outside. Smith didn't think it was necessary. So it was much less expensive and didn't destroy my yard. He did make a mistake, putting in a kind of pipe Ann Arbor doesn't use but other towns in SE Michigan do, but he fixed it and didn't charge me. At least so far, the basement has been completely dry.
Bill Yadlosky (in phone book).
- 2012 November: Joel Dalton (email): Fair and good. Talked me out of getting work done that I didn't need back in 1995. I know others who have been happy since. Good guy, family business. In our case, he inspected our foundation about 17 years ago after another contractor had said we should replace everything without really even looking at it. Bill banged around inside and outside and thoroughly inspected it, and told us we didn't need his services, at least not yet - that it was solid. He also told us that he couldn't say that that would be the case 40 years from now, but gave us suggestions on how to keep water away from it, etc. to help it stay that way. He could have easily landed work we didn't need, but didn't.
- 2012 November: Vince Massey (email): Bill has done the majority of the new foundations in our neighborhood and is very honest and does a great job too! He did our foundation 8 years ago and we haven't had any problems since.
- 2012 November: Cherry Westerman (email): Bill told us we didn't need a new foundation, just some waterproofing. Nice to have the honesty.
Perimeter, LLC.
- 2010 December: Eric Straka (email): I STRONGLY recommend Perimeter. Earlier this month they disconnected the footing drain, installed a sump pump AT NO COST (they got one on credit from the city as part of the City's Developer Mitigation Program). They also did our neighbor Michelle's basement. They did charge $850 for a back-up sump which we were happy to pay.

BICYCLES

On Your Left, 1217 Prospect Ave; 645-8746 or (319) 400-3318; (website).
- 2014 November: Ruth Scodel (email): Anyone with a a bike that needs work: yesterday I went to the part-time bike repair on Prospect, On Your Left. He fixed my brakes and derailleurs on the spot. It was inexpensive and Paul Meyer and Luciana Lampert were interesting to talk to while he worked. Especially with bike shops disappearing in Ann Arbor, this is a great acquisition for the neighborhood. The shop also sells crafts, mostly made of recycled material.

BOOKKEEPING, OFFICE MANAGEMENT

Jorn Court Associates (Penny Corbett), 734-355-1221, email.
- 2014 January: Pam Hoffer (email):
- 2015 March: Jeff Monchamp, 734-358-6747 (email): Penny Corbett is helping me out with Quick Books business integration and general accounting concepts. She is simply great.

CARPENTRY & CABINETRY (see also Handymen)

Phil Dewey, 734-277-3805; (email):
- 2017 March: Tim Richards (email): I highly recommend Phil Dewey. He just finished a big project for us.
- 2016 September: Jeff Monchamp (email): I pass along most all of my carpentry jobs to Phil Dewey. He is a local artist off Packard who is a furniture maker and handyman. He has done many jobs around the hood, including built-ins, chain link fence, interior doors, kitchen eat-in nook, garage fix up, etc. Everyone is very pleased with his work and skill.
- 2016 August: Victoria Green (email): I second Phil Dewy; he's done a bunch of jobs for us. He's built in desks, shelves, cabinets, and bookcases, and they're just beautiful. And every time we cut a hole in the wall (don't ask) Phil patches it up undetectably (when we try to do it ourselves you can always tell, but not when Phil does). Plus he's a super-nice guy and easy to work with.
Patricia Haroun (Cardea Construction).
- 2012 June: Jackie Byars (email): When we bought our house in 1999, we had quite a lot of work done, including a completely remodeled bathroom (not to mention the kitchen and other things and, later the carpentry work on a new garage and even later insulating the entire house). Our contractor was Patricia Haroun, who owns Cardea Construction. She is very good; she answers calls promptly, has good workers, has lots of design experience, makes sure her people are there when she says they will be, makes sure they do a good job, makes sure they clean up, etc.
DreamMaker (website).
- 2012 June: Bill Ingram (email): We used DreamMaker to do some remodeling in our bathroom a couple of years ago, and they were efficient and prompt and reasonable.
Abel Thomason (Thomason Brothers Carpentry), 734-320-1844. (website).
- 2012 June: Joan Rose (email): For building a deck, I recommend Abel Thomason of Thomason Brothers Carpentry. He is a member of my Business Network International Group and also has done work for me. Check him out at www.a2bni.com under Thomason Brothers Carpentry.
Mark Braun , 734-604-3935.
- 2012 January: Jessica Sendra (email): Mark Braun has been recommended to us. He's an incredible boogie-woogie pianist (plays as Mr. B) and apparently a very skilled carpenter.
Alan McWaters (SkyShip Design) (email), 734-678-4340.
- 2012 January: Jeff Monchamp, 734-358-6747 (email): Al McWaters is a professional cabinet maker who recently retired from the Exhibit Museum where I got to know him quite well. He has a built-in, kitchen cabinet/furniture making company called SkyShipsDesign. Al can fabricate pretty much anything out of wood. Check out the hand rail around the Mastodons Exhibit next time you're at the Natural history museum; simple and elegant. Our old crooked homes won't be a problem for Al.
Luther Nagel (custom millwork and tool sharpening), 8523 Pleasant Lake Rd, Ann Arbor; 663-8069.
- 2014 June: Bailie Imber (email): He does millwork, to match trim in old homes for restoration etc. Also sharpening, not just tools but also yard equipment, kitchen knives, etc.

CARPET INSTALLATION (Cleaning in subhead below)

Esquire on Jackson Rd.
- 2016 October: Chris DeRuyver (email): Esquire on Jackson Rd has a great selection and their installers are awesome!
The Floor Trader, on South Industrial.
- 2014 June: Spencer Thomas (email): We had carpet installed by Georgia Carpet Outlet (since changed to GCO, and recently changed to The Floor Trader) on S. Industrial. This was about 24 years ago, and it has held up quite well. The carpet itself is faded and stained, but the installation is still good. I think that, despite the name change, the management of the store is the same. An Ann Arbor Observer story says it was opened in 1989 by Matt Merkel, who is still the owner.
Merkel.
- 2014 February: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): We had good results with Merkel in the Trader Joe's plaza a few years ago.
- 2016 October: Ann Clinger (email): We have bought ours from Merkel (Same shopping center as Trader Joe's)
Greg Lotz, 734-891-5142.
- 2014 October: Pam Hoffer (email): Greg Lotz just installed carpeting for us and was really great, fast, skilled and a nice person. He worked with a partner and the two of them completed our whole upstairs and a den on the first floor, working with us flexibly over two days so we could move the furniture from one room to the other when the first sections were done.

CARPET CLEANING

Directed Heat Restoration, 734-330-1683.
- 2014 May: Michele Rivette (email): They are a damage restoration company, but they also do carpet cleaning well and are reasonably priced.

CELLPHONES

John Fillinger at the Verizon store at 3035 Washtenaw, near Whole Foods.
- 2011 June: Pam Hoffer (email): We were really impressed with John Fillinger; he is just an amazing, competent, and helpful young man. If you need to deal with Verizon, and you want to deal with a person, he's really good to deal with. He helped us discover an employee discount (any of you who are UM employees, by the way, are eligible for 15% off your monthly bill) and a whole bunch of other help.

CHIMNEY/FIREPLACE INSTALLATION/REPAIR (Chimney Cleaning in subhead below)

Four Point Chimney/Construction.
- NOT recommended by Valerie Mangual (email): We had Four Point Chimney/Construction and had the worst experience. They took four weeks to do some basic point work, blocked our neighbor's driveway with the scaffolding all that time, did a sloppy job, and screamed at my husband when he complained. Unprofessional to say the least. Buyer beware.
Kish Masonry, 734-531-8680, (website):
- 2017 April: Daniel Zahn (email): Kish Masonry (out of Ypsilanti) does fantastic brick work. I have used Kevin twice, once to replace a lintel over my main window, and once to do some tuck and point work on my new house. He saved the old brick while removing it and it looked great once the job was complete. Call Kevin and he will give you a fair estimate. He stands by his work.
Omega Construction.
- 2017 April: Tish Shapiro (email): I had three major repairs done to my chimney over a few years 17-25 years ago. All work was done by Omega Construction and all work was inspected by the city. (1) A stainless steel liner was inserted and attached to the flue. My unlined chimney, like many in the neighborhood, had been a fire hazard. (2) The firebox was rebuilt. I think the original bricks had been crumbling. (3) I finally arranged to have the top of the chimney tuck pointed. We discovered that the underlying mortar was breaking apart, as were some of the bricks. I had the chimney rebuilt from the floor of the attic up to its original height. The work has certainly held up over the years. Original bricks were re-used when possible and almost-matching bricks were found to replace the few broken ones. I can't see the repairs even though I know where they were. I do not believe that the prices were low. They might not have even been average, but the quality of the work was much better than I've seen done by other contractors.
- BUT: 2017 April: Andrea Zemgulys: (email) wrote: I feel an obligation to report that ten years ago we had shoddy/endangering work done by Omega, for which two additional contractors had to be called in to fix. It was NOT masonry, and it's possible Tish's great experience was with the father running the business. But it was such bad and unethical service from Omega (that I wrote about earlier on this list [see under Roofers]), I really feel I must warn people to exercise caution if you engage their services. The person who did the new masonry on our addition is Dave Havlick, 734-757-5087. He did the new brick, matching the old mortar, and some tuckpointing. He mentioned he does repair work as well. (I should note the general contractor for the addition was Michael A Rogers, overall excellent; and I found the matching brick myself at Belden Bricks in Fraser, MI.)
Doctor Flue (website, email), 1-800-438-3583.
- 2015 June: Matt Beauchamp (email): We're having some work done this Friday by Dr Flue. They have a reputation for being expensive, but they also seem very reputable, and that was proven I think when they came out for an inspection last month. I'm not sure I'd use them for everything we need done, but they did a good job giving us the ground truth.
Chimney Rescue Squad, 734-662-2591.
- 2015 February: Nina (email): I recommend Chimney Rescue Squad. Great guy and WAAY cheaper than Dr. Flue.
Chimney Cricket.
- 2014 August: Liz Haas (no email). For a chimney liner, we used Chimney Cricket and had mixed feelings about them. They said it would take 1 day and it ended up taking 5 because of staffing issues and materials issues. After it was all done we had Dr.Flue inspect it and they said it was done right. So I am happy with the result but not with the process. I would probably just go with Dr. Flue if we were to do it again.
Dexter Block.
- 2014 July: Lynn Drickamer (email): We had Dexter Block rebuild our chimney from the ground up (outer chimney, not inner layer or firebox) this spring after having "repairs" done every 6 or 7 years for the last 34 years. Our chimney is block, as is our house, not brick. They were good to work with, but only time will be the real test of their work.
All Point Builders (Bill Martindale), email, cellphone 734-644-2825.
- 2013 June: Bill Ingram (email): Bill and his colleague Dave ground out the old mortar and re-pointed our chimney, installed new caps, cleaned the flues, and re-mortared the firebrick in the fireplace. They worked at it for three or four days, did a thorough job, and cleaned up after themselves. Impressive.
Bruce [no surname], 734-262-2028.
- 2011 October: Chris DeRuyver (email): Bruce is very clean and thoughtful. Also very affordable.

GAS FIREPLACES

Holly's Showcase, 517-467-9029.
- 2014 September: Chris DeRuyver (email): For sale and installation of gas fireplaces, see Holly's Showcase in Onsted. The owner is Jim Holly. He does an amazing job and has a great selection!.
RASA Construction in Livonia, 734-525-7733.
- 2015 February: Tim Richards (email): For gas fireplaces I can recommend RASA Construction, Inc in Livonia. We had them here recently. This is a family business.

CHIMNEY CLEANING

Clean Sweeps, 734-668-4780.
- 2015 January: Ned Staebler (email): For chimney and fireplace cleaning we just had a good experience with Clean Sweeps.

CHIROPRACTORS

Robert Tripodi, 761-7200.
- 2016 September: Barb [no surname] (email): I recommend Robert Tripodi at The Lotus Center on Carpenter. He's gentle (no bone-cracking!) and has a number of modalities in his repertoire.
Tom Gibson, 2350 Washtenaw, Suite 12; 669-8200; (website):
- 2016 August: Bill Goeman (email): Tom Gibson is top-notch. His website has some issues, so you might want to just call.
Complete Chiropractic (Linda Berry, Kathleen Dvorak, Sheila McGreal), 2020 Hogback Rd #7, 734-677-1900.
- 2016 August: Andrea Zemgulys (email): Although the treatment didn't work for my particular condition, I was referred by my physician to Linda Berry of Complete Chiropractic and Body Work on Hogback. She did provide some relief. (I went back to PT at the UM Spine Program for more successful treatment of my SI joint). Also at Complete Chiropractic is Sheila McGreal, who did "Automatic Release Therapy" on my foot/leg and truly set me on the path to recovery from 16 months of plantar fasciitis pain (after orthotics and steroids did nothing).
- 2016 August: Tracey Metry (email): I second the recommendation for anyone at Complete Chiropractic. I've been seeing Kathleen Dvorak there for many years. She has helped with acute issues and general maintenance.
- 2016 August: Ann Clinger (email): I third(?) the recommendation for Dr. Kathleen Dvorak and Sheila McGreal. Dr. Sheila got me back on my feet in one month. I still go every two weeks, she does a ton of stretching type of manipulations which are really great.
Kim Jackson.
- 2016 August: Pam Hoffer (email): Kim Jackson on Ann Arbor Saline Road. Even my traditional U of M doc thinks she is amazing.
Probility.
- 2016 August: Monica Blair (email): Another route is to try manual therapy. Probility does "same day assessments" and they treat spinal alignment issues as well. I highly recommend Michelle at the Saline office, and I have heard great things about the other offices as well (State St, Clark Rd, etc).

COMPUTER REPAIR AND SERVICE

Kohei Akio, 883-5958.
- 2009 December: Pam Hoffer (email): My nephew Kohei Akio is a whiz at building and rebuilding computers. He does it on his own as a side business. He can fix anything, by the way; appliances too. And he is a real sweetheart; a wonderful husband and daddy, doing what he can to provide for his family in this weird economy. I am happy to refer him.
- 2010 November: Miriam Meisler (email): Kohei came over and fixed the door of my dishwasher this afternoon. It had been bothering me for months, and it took him just a couple of minutes to diagnose and repair. I've send his number to both of our sons, none of us is handy and Kohei is great.
Jerry Brennan (website), (email), 734-417-7163.
- Noticed July 2012 by Bill Ingram (email): I found his business card, checked out his website, and found it engaging. The chief selling point is "no fix, no pay", but there are also many handy tips. On his business card he describes himself as "neurotically punctual". I've used his service, and he's good.

CONCRETE WORK

Donna Malski, 1605 Ferndale, 929-5780 (home), 657-7447 (cell).
- 2012 November: David DeLoof (email):
- 2012 November: Michele Rivette (email):
- 2012 November: Bill Ingram (email): Donna has done concrete work for us. She's efficient and competent.

CONTRACTORS (see also Carpenters, Handymen)

David Haig (website), 995-6730.
- 2018 February: Pam Hoffer (email): David Haig has my enthusiastic recommendation. He is lovely to deal with, smart, honest as the day is long, efficient and smmmmaart! We have known him since he was a teen. Has his own construction company, hires really good people, pays them well, gives them good benefits and they are longstanding employees and really reliable and competent. He just did a major renovation and design of a friend's home, and it was beautifully thought out and executed.
Patricia Haroun (Cardea Construction).
- 2012 June: Jackie Byars (email): When we bought our house in 1999, we had quite a lot of work done, including a completely remodeled bathroom (not to mention the kitchen and other things and, later the carpentry work on a new garage and even later insulating the entire house). Our contractor was Patricia Haroun, who owns Cardea Construction. She is very good; she answers calls promptly, has good workers, has lots of design experience, makes sure her people are there when she says they will be, makes sure they do a good job, makes sure they clean up, etc.
Dave Downey (email) (Renaissance Construction & Remodeling Co.), on Granger, 216-0925.
- Dave is a neighbor.

DAMAGE REPAIR

Directed Heat Restoration, 734-330-1683.
- 2014 May: Michele Rivette (email): They are a damage restoration company, but they also do carpet cleaning well and are reasonably priced.

DECK MAINTENANCE

Martin Lee Brown (email):
- 2015 May: Christopher Matthews (email): Martin Lee Brown does terrific work. He can do just about anything, including decks: he recently repaired our deck (at 1011 Rose) to get it ship-shape again. High-quality work and great attention to detail.
Dave Tibbals (D.L.T. Enterprises), 1257 N. Main, 320-5022.
- 2011 October: Bill Ingram (email): Dave cleaned both our decks; they were stained and moldy. He scrubbed with a stain remover, then power washed. He did a good job.

DENTISTS

Nancy Urquiola and
Neil and Asha Kinra.
- Both 2016 November: Jessica Novak (email): I'm your neighborhood hygienist! I work at two really wonderful practices; Dr Nancy Urquiola is located on Huron Parkway off Washtenaw. Her practice is small, and we pride ourselves on forming relationships with with our patents. There are even two therapy dogs that can sit on your lap if you need. I also work with Neil and Asha Kinra in Saline, another wonderful group of people. Family oriented, super friendly and U of M grads as well. I'll be happy to answer any questions or point you in the right direction based on your needs.
Kyle Pullen, formerly of 1209 Brooklyn, now 2220 S Huron Pkwy, 761-2629.
- 2011 October: Kevin Cheek (email): I'm very happy with him. He did some great work to fix a painful problem a while ago, and I particularly like how he explains things.
- 2015 January: Linda Dabrowski (email): Our family highly recommends Dr Kyle Pullen, former neighbor on Brooklyn. His office is now on Huron Parkway.
- 2015 January: Bill Ingram (email): My wife and I switched from Kim Karey to Kyle Pullen and are very happy with the change. He's thoughtful and patient, though no longer conveniently close.
- 2015 January: Cherry Westerman (email): I was hoping someone would recommend Kyle! Former student of mine from Slauson and a quality person. If we didn't already have a good dentist, I would go to Dr Pullen.
- 2015 January: John Hamerink (email): Kyle is a great dentist and individual! I was taught, and currently teach with him as well! I would definitely recommend him along with the others.
- 2015 January: Lilly Cordova (email): Kyle Pullen is a great dentist. All my children love going with him, including my 2 year old.
Heys Dental, 1201 E Stadium at Brooklyn (website), 668-7157.
- 2013 May: Joel Dalton (email): I highly recommend Dr. Heys and his son. They have late hours one day a week, I think. Very, very experienced. I've had a great experience, even getting a surprise crown on a broken tooth. Great office, great guy.
- 2015 January: John Hamerink (email): I'm a dentist who lives in the neighborhood (906 Granger), website. I know these individuals very well, and recommend them. Ron, Don, and John are all great.
- 2015 January: Monica Blair (email): I second Dr Hamerink's assessment of Dr John Heys — he has been my dentist for years and he is great — also easy walking distance within LoBuPa.
- 2015 January: Linda Sattler (email): I also recommend Heys! We love them (kids included). Easy walk too.
- 2015 January: Joel Dalton (email): Very, very happy with Heys in every way. And - 1/2 block from our house.
Kimberlee Karey, website.
- 2015 January: Meghan (email): Above the Starbucks on State Street. Nothing but exceptional.
- But NOT recommended by Jackie Byars (email): Kimberlee Karey can't seem to keep an associate. I refuse to see her any more.
Oak Valley Dental (Dr. Dan Edwards), 2411 Oak Valley Drive #600, 734-761-1122.
- 2015 January: John Hamerink (email): I'm a dentist who lives in the neighborhood (906 Granger), website. I know this individual very well, and recommend him.
- 2016 November: Marc Buchanan (email): I personally know both Dr Edwards and Dr Blogin. Dr Edwards is a bit younger than Dr Blogin, so if you would prefer the potential of a long-term relationship, he might be the better fit. Both are great, personable men.
Ann Arbor's Dentist (Dr. Keith Dobracki), 606 West Stadium Boulevard, 734-747-6400.
- 2015 January: John Hamerink (email): I'm a dentist who lives in the neighborhood (906 Granger), website. I know this individual very well, and recommend him.
- 2015 January: Marie delaFuente (email): I highly recommend Dr Dobracki. He is an excellent dentist who cares about his patients, and his staff is great as well!! Also happens to be conveniently located across from Pioneer High School.
Ann Arbor Smiles Dental Group on Huron Pkwy, website. .
- 2015 January: Justin Schmidt (email): They're on Huron Pkwy, just south of the Washtenaw intersection. Wonderful group there, and all the dentists are UM Dentistry School graduates, so you know they're great!
Mary John Sandberg DDS.
- 2015 January: Michele Rivette (email): Mary John Sandberg on Washtenaw near the Bear Claw coffee place. She's a lovely oerson, gentle, great dentist for adults and kids.
Craig Blogin, 2715 Packard, near the Eisenhower/Packard intersection, 975-6700.
- 2016 November: Cherry Westerman (email): We go to Craig Blogin, on Packard (right where Eisenhower and Packard join). He lives in Burns Park and his sons went through AAPS. Friendly office, and they do good work.
- 2016 November: Marc Buchanan (email): I personally know both Dr Edwards and Dr Blogin. Dr Blogin is my dentist, but Dr Edwards is a bit younger than Dr Blogin, so if you would prefer the potential of a long-term relationship, he might be the better fit. Both are great, personable men. The staff at Dr Blogin's office is excellent as well.
Maryann Griffith, 1110 Henry St, 973-3200, email), website.
- 2015 January: Danielle Loosbrock (email): I have been going to MaryAnn Griffith on Henry; she shares a parking lot with the office that has the big tooth carved in the tree stump. She is excellent as is her entire staff! She is careful and thorough, but also very thoughtful about working within the limitations of your dental insurance to get maximal coverage. She also does a really great job of explaining necessary procedures in lay-person's terms. I've had some terrible experiences with dentists in the past so finding her was a dream come true!! I've been seeing her for about 8 years, since I first moved to town. She has had very little turnover (like one person in the last 8 years) which is always a good sign. They also just implemented these awesome new appointment reminder system that can use either email, text, call or mail you with your information. It's so convenient!
Choice Dental, 1310 South Main, (website).
- 2013 May: David DeLoof (email): We've had great service from Choice Dental, on Main St just over the brand new bridge (nice walk). They've gotten mostly 5 stars on Yelp. Dr. Choi (as in Choice — U Pennsylvania DS '98) and Dr. Lim (UM Dental School '09) run a spotless high tech office (digital xrays, ultra close-up photos, etc.) and have Saturday and late Tuesday hours. As for cleaning, they only scrape roots when necessary, and mostly use some ultrasonic water tool (better).
Nicholas Greashaber, 1119 Packard, 662-1113.
- 2013 May: Nancy Leff (email): We've been very happy with Nick Greashaber, on Packard across from the Buddhist temple. He is young and has completely updated his office, equipment, and techniques. Great assistants and hygenists.
Allie Westfall.
- 2015 January: Anne Berggren (email): I'm very happy with Allie Westfall, at the corner of Packard and Platt.
Susan Haddock.
- 2016 November: Ruth Scodel (email): I've been going to Susan Haddock on Stadium for 20 years. I like her a lot.
Robert Stevenson.
- 2015 January: Justin Winger (email): There are a lot of recommendations here; I'll throw out one more. I have been to five different dentists over the years. Robert Stevenson on Huron (just east of 7th) is the best one that I have been to. He is very personable, spends a lot of time with his patients, and is technically excellent. He keeps up on the latest innovations in the field but is analytical and discerning about which innovations that he adopts. He was trained at U-M and is, I think, the sort of dentist who sees dentistry as his calling, not just a job.
Wurtzel Family Dentistry.
- 2016 November: Van Hunsberger (email): Wurtzel family dentistry on Washtenaw.

DOCTORS, PHYSICIANS, PEDIATRICIANS

Jane Klaes, 4350 Jackson Rd #200, Ann Arbor; 734-761-2581.
- 2016 December: Fiona Chamness (email): I recommend Dr. Jane Klaes of IHA; she's been great for me, asks good questions and has solid knowledge of evidence-based complementary medicine along with the regular kind. She takes BCBS & BCN; not sure about other insurance providers.
Liberty Pediatrics, 3200 W Liberty, Ann Arbor; 734-994-5858; (website):
- 2016 December: Julia Seng (email): I highly recommend Liberty Pediatrics, with their three doctors and three FNPs. I'm happy to say more if you email me.
- 2016 December: Rachel Erdstein (email): I second the strong recommendation for Liberty Pediatrics. They've been wonderful for us, too.

DRAIN & SEWER CLEANING

Michigan Power Rodding.
- NOT recommended by Marylee Dalton (email): We were EXTREMELY unhappy with Michigan Power Rodding last spring when we had our first backup in 30 years. Roto Rooter saved the day for us--as well as thousands of dollars worth of work which Michigan Power Rodding told us we needed.
- NOT recommended also by Jessica Sendra (email): Michigan Power Rodding was messy, unreliable and expensive for us. I've heard some horror stories from other friends as well.
- NOT recommended also by Jackie Byars (email): They also do not clean up after themselves.
Pat Martin (email) (Valco Plumbing and Heating), 1082 Dowagiac, Mt. Morris MI, 48458: cell 989-714-0313 or 1-810-955-9271.
BUT: Pat seems to have retired, according to Pam Hoffer
- 2014 June: Pam Hoffer (email): While I have sung the praises of Pat Martin before, for his plumbing expertise, he and his son have just taken care of our annual sewer cleaning today, and he is much more thorough than the RotoRooter service we used to use.
Dave Downey (email) (Renaissance Construction & Remodeling Co.), on Granger, 216-0925.
- Dave is a neighbor. He recently replaced his own water supply line from the street to the house.
Roto Rooter.
- 2011 October: Marylee Dalton (email): Roto Rooter saved the day for us when we had our first backup in 30 years. They also saved us thousands of dollars worth of work which Michigan Power Rodding told us we needed.
- 2009 September: Pam Hoffer (email): We've been well served by RotoRooter over the years. They have given terrific service; we have them come once a year for preventative purposes since we have such a deep basement that the sewer line is almost flat. Just want to let others know how good they are.
- 2013 January: Cherry Westerman (email): We have used Roto Rooter with great success several times over the past 40 years. They have the equipment to do this job well. The last fee I remember is $75, but I expect it's gone up as that was a while ago.
Sinks to Sewers (website).
- 2011 October: Jessica Sendra (email): I had a bad problem with roots in the sewer line of my first home, and after several years finally found a plumber I was comfortable with. Sinks To Sewers is a small, dependable, quick, family-run business. And they actually clean up after themselves, which is very important when dealing with sewer lines. We eventually signed up for a yearly maintenance plan, which saved us a bundle on visits.
- 2011 November: Victoria Green (email): We always call Sinks to Sewers for plumbing.
- 2011 November: ???. A small, family-owned and run business. They have helped us with a flooded basement, a broken toilet and most recently a leaking kitchen faucet. They are very responsive and have reasonable rates (as reasonable as plumbing rates can be). Can't recommend them highly enough.
Al Walk Plumbing, 994-5610.
- 2011 October: John Teeter (email): I recommend Al Walk Plumbing. If you're having persistent sewer problems, it's a good idea to have a camera run through your drain line to see if it is failing. Al Walk can take care of that for you.
Edwards (no further info).
- 2014 January: Alan Gorris, 1116 Henry (email): Some plumbers specialize in drains. 'Edwards' local plumbers seem to specialize in sewer drain plumbing and are very nice and helpful with first televising your sewer drain and letting you watch as their camera video tapes your sewer drain to find any blockage or breaks. They then can power-auger or power-snake the drain and televise it again if necessary. Their quotes on repairs are reasonable.

DRESSMAKING, SEWING, TAILORING, ALTERATIONS

Marie Krull, 1507 South Blvd, 417-7671 (oldnum 761-8638).
- 2010 March: Anna Beattie-Massey (email): She did a fantastic job shortening curtains for me, and is great if you need a tailor.
- 2012 June: Karen Florka (email): Marie Krull is wonderful! She is on South Blvd, off Packard.
- 2015 March: Elizabeth Haas (email): Marie Krull altered my wedding dress and did a great job.
- 2015 March: Jessica Novak (email): I absolutely love Marie Krull! She did a fabulous job on my wedding dress and is just a few blocks away
Nonpareil Studio, 208½ Fourth Ave, Ann Arbor; 327-1837; website.
- 2016 March: Lauren Benson (email): Michelle at Nonpareil is the best! I believe a few gown shops in A2 exclusively use her as well!
- 2016 May: Cherry Westerman (email): My out-of-town daughter needed a bridesmaid dress alteration but had very limited time in town for fittings. Michelle worked around our schedule and was pleasant about it. The job got done, the dress worked very well, maybe a little pricey, but she had to re-make the seams of the lining, add a waist decoration, hem both lining and outside, re-hem after checking fitting, add a snap or two in the back — so it made sense. All well done in a timely manner. I would recommend her to anyone. Very easy to work with for us. Interesting side note — Michelle's degree is in engineering! She calls herself a fabric engineer, and it actually makes a lot of sense.
Heather at "Heather's Place", 706 Miller, 995-5378.
- 2012 June: Margie Teall (email): Check out Heather at "Heather's Place", around the back of the house. Call her first for a fitting appointment. We just had Gillian's prom dress altered by her, and she is wonderful!
- 2012 June: Jessica Sendra (email):
Vahan's Clothing and Tailoring, on Liberty.
- 2012 June: Victoria Green (email): My husband had a leather coat relined at Vahan's, and they re-lined a wool coat for me once. Mr. Vahan (Vahan is actually his first name I think) does the tailoring himself and he's an excellent old-world tailor and a very nice man.
Ojen and Krista, at Ojen's Alterations, 734-663-0121.
- 2012 June: Ann Hanson (email): Ojen's is in the basement of Bivouac on State Street. Open Monday-Friday 11am-5pm. I have altered and rejuvenated many garments with them over the last year. Ojen specializes in men's clothes, while Krista is excellent at women's tailoring. The prices are fair, and they are very concerned about excellent service and results - several garments required mid-process fittings to ensure satisfaction for both them and me (more them - I knew they would make anything fit).
Elegant Tailoring, 1964 S Industrial, 665-6220.
- 2015 March: Elizabeth Haas (email): For smaller jobs and when I don't want to make an appt with Marie Krull, I go to Elegant Tailoring on South Industrial. They have taken in dresses and hemmed pants for me. They have done a great job and I will keep going back. Their turn around time is good and their prices seem to be fair as well.

DRIVEWAY REPAIR

Craig Henry, 810-459-2590.
- 2012 June: Chris DeRuyver (email): Craig has done work for a few clients and for my brother. He did custom stamping on my brother's driveway.
Donna Malski, 657-7447, email.
- 2016 March: Bailie Imber (email): Donna Malski, our neighbor on Ferndale, does concrete driveways, and I just found out she also does asphalt driveways.

DUCT CLEANING

Ductz, 734-973-7777 or 517-499-6692.
- 2010 November: Graydon Krapohl (email): We've used Ductz; they are very good and well worth the money.
- 2010 November: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): Eduardo Mendez of DUCTZ did a good job for us a couple of years ago. It did make a difference, but it was rather expensive; $418 for ten vents. Be sure to get an estimate.
- BUT: 2017 July: Jessica Anderson: (email) said: We had a really poor experience with Ductz this past winter — maybe a dud crew. The company did reimburse us and took care of the issues but we won't be using them again.
Dalton Environmental.
- 2009 September: Sue Gillett (email): For duct cleaning, I used Dalton Environmental recently and was very happy with the quality of their work.
Sears.
- 2009 September: Michele Rivette (email): I used SEARS for duct cleaning and it was easy to schedule on-line; they did a fine job as far as I can tell!
Amistee.
- 2014 September: Joe Adams (email): I used Amistee. You'll need to get an estimate because they price by the number of vents. Definitely worth the $450 I paid. The dead mice and old pet hair that came out made me a believer.
Airduct Clean (Chris Agius, cell phone 734-368-5584).
- 2014 September: Vince Massey (email): We used Airduct Clean which is a local company and they did a terrific job. It's unbelievable to see all the debris and filth that is caught in the ducts.

ELECTRICIANS

A2 Electric (Nate Richardson), 734-834-1107, (email):
- 2017 December: Vince Massey (email): Nate Richardson at A2 Electric does great work!!
- 2017 December: Kwun and Courtney Ng (email): We second A2 Electric. Just had them out to put in a bathroom vent yesterday. Plus the owner lives on Granger across Packard.
- 2017 October: JP Pagán (email): Nate and Mara Richardson are a local couple that have done good work for us over the past couple of years.
AJ Leo, 734-368-6945.
- 2017 September: Mike Limmer (email): I recently had AJ Leo replace an electrical panel for me and was pleased.
Dan del Zoppo (Dan's Electric), 930-1630 (email).
- 2015 January: Brad Clinger (email): We've used Dan Del Zoppo with good success. He seems to be well thought of, even among the City Inspectors. Their comment when we had the work done: "Oh good, it's Del Zoppo, this will be fine and good." At the time I didn't think much of it, but the more work we have done by others, and done ourselves, the more I realized the value of this comment.
- 2015 January: Jackie Byars (email): We've used Dan Del Zoppo, too, and he knows what he's doing and is also willing to offer suggestions if you know what you want but not how to get it (that's how I ended up with photosensitive lights on my front and back porches (so they are always light when it's dark out, with no effort on my part--better than a timer).
Bremray Electrical, 734-216-9437, website.
- 2015 August: Bret Hautamaki (email): We had them out 3 times to rewire our house, install recessed lighting, and install ceiling fans. Every time they were extremely polite and knowledgeable of old houses. They took great pains to clean up and repair any damage to plaster. Their quote was slightly lower than the other quotes we received and they were great at describing everything they were doing and why. They're a father-son business, originally from South Africa. They were extremely easy to work with.
- 2016 March: Alicia Stevers (email): We had recessed lighting put in by Bremray as well, and they were great! We have since had them back to do other electrical work. They are nice, have a great senses of humor, strong work ethic, and are reasonably priced. We strongly recommend them!
- 2017 May: Baillie Imber (email): Bremray Electrical.
George Snider, 260-0113 (email).
- 2017 December: Deanna Cook (email): We've had good luck with Snider Electric.
- 2012 February: Bill Ingram (email): George runs a small service out of Belleville, but does 90% of his work in Ann Arbor. His men have done electrical work for us, and they are quick and efficient.
Vedder Electric, 662-6220 (website).
- 2012 August: Eric Straka (email): We got good service from Vedder Electric yrs ago.
- 2012 August: Robert Florka (email): Bob Vedder, the son has done excellent work on our house on two occasions. He's very knowledgable about the old knob and tube wiring and very clever about how to fix it or improve the wiring.
- BUT: 2014 August: Bill Ingram (email): I used them this month to diagnose and fix a switch problem; the electrician was very efficient, the job took thirty minutes, the bill was $100. That strikes me as high.

EXTERMINATORS, INSECT CONTROL

Orkin, 734-330-2838.
- 2013 September: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): About 30 years ago we had good experience with Orkin for an infestation of carpenter ants.
- 2013 September: Bill Ingram (email): Ditto; Orkin treated us about ten years ago for termites, very successfully.
InsecTech, 487-7024 (website).
- 2013 September: Pam Hoffer (email): I heartily recommend InsectTech of Ypsilanti, and their guy 'Bill' is just wonderful!!! He loves the critters, knows their hearts and minds and how to get rid of them.

FENCES

All Arbor Custom Fence (Richard and Scott Mankowski), 477-0323, website.
- 2017 April: Katherine Lawrence (email): I have been happy with All Arbor. Wood fences are not inexpensive, but the All Arbor people are careful and experienced. I got quotes from other fencing companies that were not in A2, and they did not appear to be familiar with the permits and regulations here, even though they presumably do business here, so I was reassured by All Arbor's familiarity with working in town. Their prices were not that different from the other quotes.
- 2017 April: Joe Adams (email): We've used All Arbor Fence with good results. In contacting them about the recent storm damage, they advised that new or replacement work is going to be scheduled out a few months. Repairs are getting fit into the schedule as they can.
- 2016 March: Jan Dowling (email): They do fences, they do a meticulous job, and put everything together by hand, board by board.
- 2016 March: Andrea Zemgulys (email): All Arbor Custom Fence did a great job on our yard. Scott is now the owner; Richard passed away. It takes persistence in the busy season to get on their schedule, but is worth it.
- 2016 March: Nancy Leff (email): They did a great job at our house too, and we share the fence with Jan Dowling! Highly recommend. So sorry to hear that Richard died. He was so nice.
- 2016 March: Alicia Adams (email): We are also happy All Arbor Fence customers; we highly recommend them.
- 2016 March: Jackie Byars (email): All Arbor put a fence around part of my backyard some years ago, and they did a very good job.
Jade Fence, 734-449-9840.
- 2016 September: Kwun & Courtney Ng (email): We recently added a four foot black aluminum fence on Golden Ave side of our house. It was installed by Jade Fence through Salisbury Landscaping Group.

FIREWOOD

Brian Koval in Dexter, 734-395-5449.
- 2014 September: Katie Oppenheim (email): I have spoken with Brian and his product sounds great - he delivers AND stacks. $75/ face cord.

FLOOR INSTALLERS AND REFINISHERS

Nate Harkness, 734-368-8232.
- 2016 May: Michael Gross (email): This is a father-son team that a friend used to refinish his kitchen hardwood floor. The results are beautiful and the cost was reasonable.
John Gilbert, 475-3888.
- 2013 November: Sari Mills (email): We have worked many times with John Gilbert of Gilbert Floors. He's done everything from adding new wood floors to our kitchen, refinished floors, and floor repairs. He's reliable and reasonably priced. I have referred others to him. I highly recommend him!!
Kevin Krzyzaniak (KJK CRAFTSMEN flooring refinishing), 10680 Saline Rd, Ann Arbor 48103; 734-973-1066; cell 734-323-0337.
- 2010 August: Bill Ingram (email): We used Kevin some years ago to do our downstairs, and he did such a good job that we had him do our upstairs a few years later, an equally good job. He's neat, clean, and efficient. He's terrific. He also has a brother Tom who is a handyman: 248-933-2119 for Tom.
- 2016 May: Paula Doering (email): Kevin Krzyaniak did our floors and we are very happy with them.
D & J.
- 2011 June: Ruth Scodel (email): D&J did my downstairs a couple of years ago, they've just done my upstairs, and they're going to put in a new bamboo floor in one room. They are reliable and reasonably priced.
Champion Flooring.
- 2011 June: Van Hunsberger (email): We had ours done by Champion Flooring and were very satisfied.
C.J.'s Hardwood Floors (Chris Gutusky).
- 2011 July: C. Catherine Kendall (email): I highly recommend Chris for refinishing. He was hired to sand and then put down several coats of polyurethane. He threw in moving all of the furniture out of my living and dining rooms and then returning it all three days later. His price was about 60% of that of two other bids and his work here was exceptional.
Jim Watkins (1-810-559-2267).
- 2013 April: Joe Vas (email): Jim watkins does our floors.
Diedrich Floors, Gregory, MI, 313-449-8844.
- 2013 November: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): Diedrich Floors did a nice job refinishing our floors in 1999. Perhaps they are still in business.
Fred (no surname), 734-649-8766.
- 2014 February: Xin Guan (email): I highly recommend Fred. Actually he's working on refinishing my floors right now — he did my floors in 2009 and I was very satisfied. Very reliable, charge is very reasonable, and he communicates with me really well.
Ann Arbor Hardwoods, 734-709-1023.
- 2014 October: Justin Schmidt (email): Michael at Ann Arbor Hardwoods. Despite the name, they do all types of flooring. We just had him put stone tiles in our kitchen and bathroom, and he did an excellent job.

FURNITURE REPAIR AND REFINISHING

Heirloom Furniture Restoration (Anita Mahronic), 5007 Jackson Rd; 994-5154.
- 2012 June: Lynn Drickamer (email): I have seen beautiful work done by Anita Mahronic of Heirloom Furniture Restoration.
- BUT: 2016 December: Helen Giordani: (email): I tried Heirloom Furniture Restoration, but it sounds like they're no longer in business
Hofmann's Furniture, 1643 S. State St; 734-665-5422.
- 2012 June: Lynn Drickamer (email): Years ago I had nice work done by Hoffmann's out State St.
- 2016 December: Spencer Thomas (email): We used Hofmann's once (must be about 20 years ago now) and were satisfied with the result. It wasn't cheap, though. Admittedly the piece in question was an antique bed frame with painted roses and gilding. I think they're still in business.
Furniture Menders, in Milan, Michigan; 734-439-1902.
- 2016 December: Ruth Scodel (email): I recently used Furniture Menders, not for an antique, but they did a good job at a reasonable price, and I think they'd tell you whether they could do your job properly or not.
Littlefield and Sons, 251 Jackson Plaza, suite K, Ann Arbor; 734-668-1700.
- 2016 December: Pam Hoffer (email): Littlefield and sons are really good folks. Off Jackson Road on one of those side streets, maybe Aprill drive, or the road near Habitat Restore.
- 2016 December: Eric Straka (email): I agree; Littlefield does good work!
- 2016 December: Tish Shapiro (email), recommended with reservations: I have experience using both Littlefield and Heirloom Furniture Restoration. In my opinion, Heirloom was better and I used them multiple times over 15 years or so. I also used Old Brick (now closed). Heirloom was better than Old Brick, as well. I have not used others. I have not used any wood finish restoration services in 15-20 years. Littlefield did not do a good job stripping the finish off a wood chair, so I decided long ago not to return. It is possible that they might do a better job with other sorts of furniture repair.
Phil Dewey, 734-277-3805; (email); website:
- 2016 December: Jeff Monchamp (email): Phil Dewey is a local furniture maker and artist who can make, fix and repair any type of furniture. He has worked for many folks here in lower Burns Park. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Check out his site and give him a call.
Cantelon Finishers, Inc, 734-320-9377.
- 2012 March: Bill Ingram (email): We used them to refinish all our kitchen cabinets, and our butcher-block table, and they did a wonderful job. They'll work in your home if necessary, but prefer to work in their shop, where they can do refinishing better. For our kitchen cabinets, they took the doors and drawers to their shop, and did the frames in our kitchen. They clean up after themselves, and are very efficient.

GARAGES, GARAGE DOORS

Crawford, 334 E Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti, 734-483-4563.
- 2014 July: William Ingram (email): When we replaced our garage doors we used a company called Crawford; the door they installed is now at least 30 years old, works fine, and they are good with service calls.
- 2014 July: Mike Limmer (email): Crawford is very good, they are out of Ypsilanti.
- 2014 July: Pam Hoffer (email): Crawford is who we used. they were just fine.

GUTTER INSTALLATION & REPAIR (see also Gutter Cleaners

Gutter Champ (website).
- 2017 October: Maria Lasonen-Aarnio (email): We've had Bill Arnold from Gutter Champ do a really great job with our gutters.
All-Season Gutters (website), 734-426-7960.
- 2015 September: Bill Ingram (email): The work crew fashioned a specialized downspout junction for me in their shop, inserted it in place of an earlier defective one, cleared another downspout, and installed splash guards, all very efficiently and at remarkably low cost.
Richard Mascotto (email), 734-327-1333.
- 2010 August: Bill Ingram (email): Richard's main business is painting, but he has a machine that rolls out seamless gutters to any length and in a variety of colors. He replaced several gutters on our house, and installed new larger downspouts, which he painted to match our house. Now all our earlier gutter problems have disappeared.

GUTTER CLEANERS

Scott's Enterprise Roofing, 734-474-3583.
- 2018 June: Lilly Cordova (email): Scott's Enterprise Roofing does a great job on our gutters.
The Gutter Doctor, website).
- 2018 June: Bill Goeman (email): We've always had good luck with The Gutter Doctor.
- 2018 June: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): We have too.
Simply Amazing (Paul Vanderwood), 734-755-9793, website).
- 2018 June: Jackie Byars (email): I recommend Paul Vanderwood. He does gutters, window cleaning, power washing, deck maintenance. We have had them do all but deck work. Very good.
Helpful Handyman Services (David Witherspoon), 734-323-0722.
- 2016 October: Richard Coffey (email): I have had David Witherspoon clean my gutters the last few years. He does what he says he will do. I like him.
- 2016 October: Ruth Scodel (email): I had David Witherspoon last year and he was great.
Lenny Bass (Odds and Eaves), 734-668-0961, email.
- 2014 July: Jill Halpern (email): My friend Lenny Bass of "Odds & Eaves" is terrific.
- 2010 November, 2014 July: Tim Richards (email): He has cleaned our gutters for years, is totally reliable and his fees are reasonable.
- 2010 November: Graham Blake (email): He has done our gutters for several years, spring and fall; he's been very reliable and we're happy with his work.
- BUT: 2011 August: Jackie Byars (email): Bass came by and refused to even give us an estimate because he thought our small, 2-story house was too high. It's no higher than most of the houses around here! Go with Paul's Window Cleaning.
Paul's Window Cleaning, a.k.a. Simply Amazing LLC, 734-755-9793.
- 2016 April: C. Catherine Kendall (email): Paul — of Paul's Window Cleaning — also does gutters. Paul started his business in early 2015. He is sincere about serving people well because of his "new business" status. This small company does gutter cleaning, windows and power washing. Just now, in Spring 2016 he'll give you a great package deal. Paul's company cleaned my gutters and I watched them work. It was the best cleaning my Ann Arbor gutters have ever gotten. We are completely satisfied and will hire them for a package deal this season.
- 2016 September: Jackie Byars (email): Paul and his people are very good and nice. They also clean windows.
Kirk Gordon, 604-4040.
- 2015 July: Ann Munster (email): Kirk Gordon at 604-4040 did mine late last fall and did a good job. I think it was around $90 or $100 but do not remember for sure.
Philip Cartman, 734-649-2962.
- 2015 July: Rachel Erdstein (email): My partner, Philip Cartman, does an excellent job on our gutters and our next door neighbors' as well. He's also a licensed builder. I'm sure he'd give you a fair deal and do an outstanding job. Plus, you'd be keeping it "super local". Call or text if you're interested.
Helpful Handyman Services (David Witherspoon), 323-0722.
- 2014 November: Paula Doering (email): David has cleaned my gutters for years now - he uses a leaf blower, he inspects my roof, hauls stuff away and has very reasonable rates. In 2012 he charged me $40 for gutter cleaning and $20 to haul away unwanted stuff. He is very kind and very affordable. He's a Pioneer grad. I told him I wanted to share his name and good work ethic with the group and he was happy about that.
Kenny, of Kenny's Services in Saline; 944-0070.
- 2014 November: Jill Halpern (email): Kenny is kindly, honest, and competent. He climbs ladders.
Scott Sutfin, 734-474-3583.
- 2014 November: Bailie Imber (email): I recommend Scott Sutfin.
- 2014 November: Marylee Dalton (email): Scott did a good job for us when we couldn't get Lenny Bass.
Charlie Tingley (formerly Progressive Pruning, now Living Landscapes LLC), 734-646-8113.
- 2010 November:Jackie Byars (email): He did some yard work (shrubbery trimming, a tree removal) in the spring of 2010; also cleaned gutters. Nice guy, good work, knows plants. Gutter cleaning, including second story gutters and both a front and back porch and a garage, cost $150. They leave everything clean.
Dale, 260-0436.
- 2010 November: David Deloof (email): Dale and his partner did 85 feet of second story gutter for $60. Used a leaf blower to blow debris out of gutter. Cleaned up ground afterwards. Satisfied.

HANDYMEN

Phil Dewey, 734-277-3805; (email):
- 2016 September: Jeff Monchamp (email): I pass along most all of my carpentry jobs to Phil Dewey. He is a local artist off Packard who is a furniture maker and handyman. He has done many jobs around the hood, including built-ins, chain link fence, interior doors, kitchen eat-in nook, garage fix up, etc. Everyone is very pleased with his work and skill.
Bill Samborn, 320-0461;
- 2016 April: Judy Steeh (email): Bill Samborn has done a lot of work around our house, both in and out, and we've always been happy with the result.
Bill Yadlosky, 734-645-1247;
- 2016 April: Joel Dalton (email): Long ago, Bill assessed our foundation and could have easily talked us into needing the work done — but after a lot of inspection, he instead declined the business and told us we didn't need it done. Seems like a pretty honest contractor/family business. I've heard him recommended often over the years, and see his truck around a lot.
The Fabulous Mr. Fixit, 203 W Michigan Ave #303, Saline MI 48176; 734-944-3121; website).
- 2016 January: Mike Limmer (Mailman Mike) (email): I have had The Fabulous Mr. Fixit do repair work to my satisfaction.
Matt Bledsoe, (email), 734-674-0462.
- 2013 June, 2017 April: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): We recently had Matt Bledsoe do some work for us and he did an excellent job at a very reasonable price. We're glad to have the opportunity to recommend him.
- 2013 June: Joel Dalton (email): I second Matt Bledsoe. He's worth having for a comparison and may hook you up with someone else for anything he doesn't do. Good guy, reasonable.
- 2014 September: Bill Ingram (email): Based on these earlier recommendations, we had Matt do some work for us this month and were very pleased. He's as advertised: competent, efficient, personable, and reasonably priced. We'd hire him again.
Lee Brown, (email).
- 2013 July: Christopher Matthews (email): We have a great contractor/handyman we work with named Lee Brown. We're renting our house, actually, so I can't speak to Lee's rates, but he is smart, very experienced, and highly trustworthy, and he does excellent work.
- 2013 July: David Steinhauer (email): Lee Brown has done a lot of work around my house. He's repaired plaster walls, run new electrical and put new shingles on my garage. Every time he has worked around my house the work was done on time and on budget. I highly recommend Lee.
Bill Callahan, 248-342-0080 (cell).
- 2009 September: Pam Hoffer (email): Bill is a wonderful friend, retired from Ford, who is very very skilled and has been doing home remodeling of all kinds and size projects for people, and some for us as well...and he is looking for more work to do at this time. He is meticulous in his work and a peach of a guy.
- 2014 September: Bill Ingram (email), recommended with reservations: Based on Pam's recommendation I phoned Bill and described what I needed done; he demurred, saying he was too old for that sort of work. So he's probably fine for simpler jobs, not for difficult ones.
Paul Pulcifer (for stairs), website.
- 2015 October: Matt Toschlog (email): During our renovation we put in one new flight of stairs and repaired another, and we thought the subcontractor, Paul Pulcifer, did a great job. I don't know if he takes on smaller repair jobs, but you could ask.
Laura Wolf, 994-3306.
- 2009 September: Ed Vielmetti (email): We've had Laura Wolf help us out with a number of small projects around the house, she's been great.
Dave Melow, 734-277-3920.
- 2012 June: Vince Massey (email): We have a great handy man, Dave Melow, who only charges $25 an hour for any job plus materials. He's saved us thousands on home repairs and does great work. Dave installed a window for us a few years back for about $400 less than the other 5 quotes we received and he used the same materials. He also saved us at least 2K on our patio. He has also done plumbing work, cut out cabinets and installed our dish wash, and we're also planning on using him to move and rearrange our duct work.
Ken Hall, 734-434-0234.
- 2010 September: Graham Blake (email):
Helpful Handyman Services (David Witherspoon), 323-0722.
- 2012 November: Paula Doering (email): David has cleaned my gutters for years now - he uses a leaf blower, he inspects my roof, hauls stuff away and has very reasonable rates. For instance, he charged me $40.00 for gutter cleaning and $20.00 to haul away unwanted stuff. He is very kind and very affordable. I told him I wanted to share his name and good work ethic with the group and he was happy about that.
Johnny Alexa, 810-923-7014.
- 2012 November: John Prescott (email): I recommend Johnny Alexa, he's been a wonderful handyman for us on a whole variety of projects, including a recent repair to our oven door.

HEATING & COOLING (see also Duct Cleaning)

CMR Mechanical, website.
- 2017 July: Sarah Croake (email): We've had good luck with CMR Mechanical.
Four Seasons.
- 2016 September: Joel Dalton (email): We are currently talking to Four Seasons. They seem to be pretty reputable and honest. We may get a couple of quotes, but they came highly recommended. I'd recommend having them check your old system out before buying a new one; you may have options. Their evaluation was very fair and thorough.
Walters and Sons.
- 2016 October: Cherry Westerman (email): Walters and Sons installed a new Lennox natural-gas furnace for us in 2010 and it's working very well.
Pat Martin (email) (Valco Plumbing and Heating), 1082 Dowagiac, Mt. Morris MI, 48458: cell 989-714-0313 or 1-810-955-9271.
BUT: Pat seems to have retired, according to Pam Hoffer
- 2014 June: Pam Hoffer (email): While I have sung the praises of Pat Martin before I now hear from a friend that he is doing all the maintenance for her airconditioning, furnace and plumbing, and she is totally happy with his work. I have often left off the "and Heating" in my email kudos about him, but thought I would note that Pat and his son Jeremiah work on all the infrastructure! And they are incredibly responsive and honest. He and his son just took care of our annual sewer cleaning today, and he is much more thorough than the RotoRooter service we used to use.
- 2016 October: Mike Taylor (email): I got the name of Valco heating and plumbing from this list, and can't praise them enough. They installed two new heating/ac units in our house and did so at a very reasonable price. My experience with Hutzel is that they do good work, but are substantially more expensive than many of their competitors (at least in my case when they did new heating a/c at a previous residence).
Bob Brooks, 313-414-4328.
- 2014 May, 2015 February: Michele Rivette (email): I have used Bob Brooks twice now, at the recommendation of a neighbor, and he is an old-time heating and cooling guy who is fair, reliable and gets the job done. He is very reasonable on pricing. Very happy with him!
Robertson Morrison.
- 2015 February: Nina (email): Robertson Morrison has been great and very reasonable with our furnace.
Hutzel's, 2311 South Industrial Highway, 665-9111.
- 2014 February: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): For the past 30+ years, we've been going to Hutzel's for all our plumbing and heating problems. They are pricey, but we have found them quite reliable. Furthermore, they will guarantee their work for 6 months.
- BUT: 2014 February: Michele Rivette (email): Hutzel's is WAY too expensive and there are other plumbers just as good with more fair prices. They charged me over $600 to install a new kitchen faucet (offered to get me the faucet from their supply place and picked one of the most expensive ones apparently), which I found out later could've been done for much, much less. I was in a bit of a tizzy because water was leaking into the cabinet and I trusted blindly.
Indoor Comfort.
- 2016 October: Katherine Lawrence (email): We've been very happy with the service provided by Indoor Comfort. In 2003, my heat exchanger cracked right before the Xmas holidays. I got several quotes and had Indoor Comfort install a Bryant furnace in between Christmas and New Year's. They have been servicing it annually ever since, and they also service my A/C. They have a nice annual maintenance plan that includes the services that you need (e.g., heating and/or cooling) and gives you a discount on replacement parts. Plus, they call to schedule the annual checkup so I don't have to remember!
- 2014 August: Pam Hoffer (email): We too have used Indoor Comfort and been very very happy with their service.
Modern Mechanical Heating and Cooling, 662-6644.
- 2011 November: Pam Hoffer (email): We have a maintenance contract with Modern Mechanical heating and cooling for our yearly furnace/hotwater heater/humidifier check. They put in our equipment which has been terrific. The service person just finished his work today and I wanted to let others know what reallllly fine service they provide.
- 2016 October: Tish Shapiro (email): I bought my 92% efficient gas forced air furnace from Modern Mechanical in 1999. It was sized thoughtfully for my home and the (large) size of my air ducts. Modern Mechanical has taken good care of it since then. Nowadays Modern Mechanical has some sort of relationship with Koch and White, so sometimes Koch and White people will service my furnace. They're very good too. My furnace is not going to last forever. My air conditioner — very efficient in 1999 — is not particularly efficient compared to new models. I will definitely be getting a bid from Modern Mechanical when it comes time to replace my heating and cooling equipment. Both Modern Mechanical and Koch and White now stock Carrier brand equipment. I think Consumer Reports rated Carrier as the top manufacturer (or one of the top?) the last time they evaluated furnaces.
Mitch the Plumber, website.
- 2011 May: Chris DeRuyver (email): They did a great job! They were very considerate and clean. The job was priced competitively and completed on schedule. I would definitely recommend them! He's been in business 30+ years, too.
Haley Mechanical in Dexter, 734-424-9170, website.
- 2017 September: Robert Florka (email): Haley Mechanical installed a Unico high-velocity ventilation system to provide air conditioning in my steam heated home. The installation was done very neatly (took an entire week). The system works well. Highly recommended.
- 2011 May: Chris DeRuyver (email): They did a great job! They were very considerate and clean. The job was priced competitively and completed on schedule. I would definitely recommend them!
Phil Myers (email), at Accurate Comfort Systems, 734-483-0731.
- 2010 September: Ed Vielmetti (email): Good work, reasonably priced, and a very nice person.
Koch & White.
- 2015 June: Sarr Blumson (email): We've always been happy with Koch & White.
- 2015 August: Marty Mung (email): I have used Koch & White for many years in three different houses. Their prices aren't rock-bottom but they are honest and they have always done excellent work.
- 2016 August: Joe Adams (email): We've just had our central AC replaced by Koch & White. They delivered as promised and came at a reasonable rate. They clean up after themselves and are professional.
- 2016 August: Jackie Byars (email): We got our central AC from Koch and White in 1999, and it is still doing fine, with only periodic checkups.
- 2016 October: Tish Shapiro (email): [See above under Modern Mechanical.]
- BUT: 2015 June: Kwun & Courtney (email): If we were keeping an unofficial blacklist, Koch & White would be first on the list.

HELPERS

Craig Jones, 734-223-6356.
- 2014 August: Ann Schreiber (email): A couple weeks back I had asked the group if anyone knew of someone who might help us move some furniture. I found a great guy who was wonderful to work with and very reasonable. His name is Craig Jones. His business is called 'Mr. Lawn Care' but he's willing to do much more. I asked him if I could pass his name along, and he was most agreeable.

HOME (KITCHEN, BATHROOM, ETC) REMODELING (see also Tilers)

Ambient Construction.
- 2016 September NOT recommended by Eloise Maun (email): Do not use Ambient Construction. We used them this past spring for our bathroom project, and it has been one fiasco after another. And at some point, they just abandoned the project altogether with no communication at all.
Daniel Rohn, 312-659-4167
- 2016 September: Eloise Maun (email): Our highest recommendations go to Daniel Rohn, without whom our project with Ambient (above) would never have been completed. He came in half way through and had to undo/work around/fix all the mistakes made by the Ambient people. Immensely professional, dedicated, and thorough, he did a fantastic job in terrible circumstances.
Luke Johnson Construction (email), 517-740-9781.
- 2015 January: Chris DeRuyver (email), 734-646-2694. Luke re-sided a portion of my former house at 902 Rose Ave, finished the basement, and put a new roof on my garage; and then when I moved to Dexter he did a complete renovation including building custom cabinetry, full kitchen renovation and Laundry room, removed interior walls, new hardwood flooring, and built a new deck and shed. Our building inspectors complimented him on being the best deck contractor they had seen in over 32 years on the job and the inspectors for the work inside agreed. So obviously he is an amazing builder. For further info please call me at 734-646-2694.
Nick Durrie, 734-223-5153.
- 2015 January: Gianna Lete (no email). Nick Durrie has been working on our kitchen. We love him! He's really smart and creative, is honest and resourceful. I recommend him highly!
- 2015 January: Linda Dabrowski (email. We also recommend Nick.
Forward Design Build (website).
- 2015 January: Cherry Westerman (email): Jeff Forward of Forward Design Build has just finished our kitchen redo and did our roof/chimney/entryway project two years ago. He also does bathrooms and more. We know him personally as well. He stands behind his work. High quality. Not cheap but absolutely reliable.
Dawn Zuber (Studio Z Architecture), (email), 734-394-9400.
- 2012 December: Jessica Sendra (email): I cannot recommend Dawn enthusiastically enough. We met her on the home renovation tour last year, and were immediately impressed with her. We had no idea how to approach a renovation project either, so I just called her and said: "Help!" She brainstormed project ideas with us, helped us bid out the project once we decided on a plan, and has worked as an intermediary between us and the builders and the kitchen designer. She does site visits every week or so and has caught a couple of mistakes. She is, in short, the whole reason we're not losing our minds in the middle of our project right now. Dawn has done many houses in Burns Park. The Norton house on Olivia is especially impressive.
David Haig (email, website), 476 Hilldale, 734-995-6730 (office), 761-3669 (home), 313-461-3800 (cell).
- 2012 December: Pam Hoffer (email): David Haig is a wonderful remodeler, he hires really good people who show up and don't have 'problems' as many in construction do. David has tremendous integrity and is just a lovely person to deal with. We have known him since he was in highschool. He has taken leadership roles in the building industry in Washtenaw County.
Cardea Construction (Patricia Haroun).
- 2013 June: Jackie Byars (email): Cardea Construction is very good. They remodeled our bathroom and kitchen, added on our 3-season back porch, and did a variety of other things when we first bought the house (1999). She (Patricia Haroun) helped my husband when he wanted to be the contractor for a new garage, and her people did the carpentry (for a competitive rate). A couple of years ago, she was our contractor for having insulation installed in all our outside walls, and her people installed a number of other insulation/energy-saving features. Patricia is great. She returns calls promptly. Her people show up when she says they will. They do excellent work, and they leave everything clean.
Mary Kalmes.
- 2012 December: Shelly Webber (email): I worked with Mary Kalmes (architect) who was wonderful. I highly recommend her — she was easy to talk to, really listened to what I wanted and seemed to have a amazing eye for working with smaller/older homes. She also helped with the bidding process and introduced me to Brian Robards who eventually did the work on our house. Feel free to ask me any questions, or just come over to talk about the process.
John Bugar from Northville, 734-420-4120.
- 2013 June: Paula Doering (email): I had great luck with John Bugar from Northville. John did my kitchen remodel two years ago, he is very nice, fast, and his rates were reasonable.
Pascucci Marble (website).
- 2012 December: Elizabeth Haas (email): We just did some bathroom granite with Pascucci Marble. They have a showroom on Jackson Rd by the movie theater and their warehouse is in Wixom. They were so nice, they did not get annoyed that we were there right up to their closing time (some days they are open to 7pm). They have a remnant area and a full slab area. We ended up purchasing pieces from their full slab area because the pieces were small enough that the prices were comprable to the remnant pieces. The guy that came out to measure was nice and answered all of my annoying questions. The guys who installed our granite were nice and did a great job, they were quick. Overall we are very satisfied and the granite transformed our existing cabinets.
Perma-Glaze, 248-425-8909.
- 2013 December: Nina (email): For bathtub resurfacing use Ron at Perma-Glaze. He really has been wonderful and 2 years later came to fix a few minor chips at no charge. They give a 5 year warranty.
- Daniel Zahn (email) adds: Home depot sells a reglazing kit in white only for $50. It takes about 3-7 days to cure but looks great! Works for toilets and sinks too.

HOUSE CLEANING (see also Carpet Cleaning)

Rozzano's Quality Cleaning, website.
- 2017 November: Brian Ferguson (email): We have been very happy with Rozzano's. They do deep cleans.
Patricia, 734-277-5770. (email):
- 2016 August: Shoshana Hurand (email): My house was the cleanest I'd seen it in a while after Patricia (friend of a friend) came and did a deep clean (including the blinds!).
Ariel, 810-210-0150. (email):
- 2016 September: Julie Kabanuk (email): We use a young lady named Ariel. She told me to pass her info along.
Gloria Waugh, 734-829-9312; email.
- 2015 August, 2016 August: Nicole Beattie (email): Gloria Waugh has been cleaning for us every other week. She is a bit on the slow side and takes her time cleaning, but because of it she also does a thorough cleaning, and has a great disposition. She is from El Salvador but is a legal resident in the US. The only thing is her English is not so good. She is not the fastest cleaner, but she is thorough, I highly recommend her.
Blue Sky Cleaning (Theresa Schmidt), phone 944-8707, cell 320-6476.
- 2009 September, 2016 August: Jackie Byars (email): Theresa Schmidt owns Blue Sky Cleaning, a small (her and 3 others) cleaning company. She's cleaned my house since 2008 and does a really good job (and has high standards for the people who work for her). They use good non-toxic cleaners, though I am sure they would use yours if you want. Her business is not at all like Merry Maids, etc. (which I finally got rid of a few years ago when I found Theresa). I never got the feeling from Theresa that she felt rushed like the Merry Maids. Better quality cleaning, too. I recommend her highly.
The Cleaning Express, 734-644-6978.
- 2016 September: Ross Kinder (email). We use The Cleaning Express, a small business like Blue Sky, and are quite happy. Randy is the owner and does the work. He is super reliable & responsible.
Marais ("Ma-ray") Macknick, 734-686-4640.
- 2014 November: Amy Thomas (email): I have a wonderful friend, Marais, who has openings for house/office cleaning, as a housekeeper and/or plant maven. I have known Marais for years, and she has done a huge variety of tasks for me. I can recommend her for either a single deep cleaning or for cleaning as a regular gig. In the area of housekeeping, if you create piles (as I do) she is very capable of sorting them per your instructions. She helps maintain my orchids and other houseplants, and has also worked on some landscaping tasks for me. Marais is smart, knowledgeable, efficient and fast. Most importantly, Marais is honest, honest, honest! I have entrusted her with my key, my dog, my money (for errands), my checks & credit cards. You absolutely can put your trust in her. If you would like to talk to Marais, please contact her at 734-686-4640. If you have questions for me, I can be reached at 734-347-2385.
Magda's Cleaning, 734-476-9464.
- 2014 May: Kay Connelly (email): I highly recommend Magda's Cleaning. Magda's team has been cleaning my house since 2011. Magda treats her employees well and they do an outstanding job and are very detail oriented.
Complete Classic Cleaning (Mary), email?, 734-341-1827.
- 2014 May: Lauren Benson (email): Affordable cleaning service. Mary always arrives on time and does a through job. She carries a Blackberry and is always accessible by email and cell phone.
Diane Shepanski, 734-276-0027.
- 2014 May: Lauren Benson (email): Independent business. Friendly and thorough. Have been using her service weekly since December '09. She does bi-weekly as well.
Squeaky Green Cleaning, website, 734-788-8852.
- 2014 May: Lauren Benson, 734-788-8852. Serves Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit. Run by 2 sisters. They use all plant-based cleaners which is nice if you have little ones in the house. They can come weekly or bi-weekly (come bi-weekly for me). They do a great job and are incredibly reliable. They take cash, check and PayPal, which is convenient. Based on some of the other quotes I got, they are also quite reasonably priced.
S & L Cleaning (formerly Juanita's Cleaning), 734-477-0022; email .
- 2011 May: Anne Kubek (email): I highly recommend Juanita Umana. I and several others in the neighborhood have used her company's services for many years. Her team does a lot of work in LoBuPa and Burns Park. They are quick, efficient and really good at truly dusting, cleaning, scrubbing, etc. You really know your house is clean when they leave and they are reasonable. I think they're fantastic.
- 2014 May, 2016 August: Michele Rivette (email): I've really appreciated Juanita's Housecleaning service. I'd heard mixed reviews, but I've had very positive experiences with them. The manager's name is Lily.
Heather Malone (email), phone 734-323-9080.
- 2011 September: Kathleen Kryza (email): Heather is reliable and trustworthy and a quality cleaner.

INSULATION

Farmers Insulation, 1373 Jewett, 769-0066; (website).
- 2015 January: Tim Richards (email): I recommend Farmers Insulation. They did our house many years ago. Local family owned business, kids went to Burns Park, Tappan and Pioneer.
- 2015 January: Linda Dabrowski (email): We used Farmers as well, and would definitely recommend them!
- 2015 January: Spencer Thomas (email): Farmers insulated our house over 25 years ago — they've been around for a while. Our experience with them was very positive.

LANDSCAPING, LAWN AND GARDEN CARE (Lawnmowers in subhead below)

Marais ("Ma-ray") Macknick, 734-686-4640.
- 2017 April: Amy Thomas (email): I have a wonderful friend, Marais, whom I've known for years, and she has done a huge variety of tasks for me. Mainly she does housekeeping, but she also is very happy to do gardening as long as it isn't heavy work. She helps maintain my orchids and other houseplants, and has also worked on some landscaping tasks for me. Marais is smart, knowledgeable, efficient and fast. Most importantly, Marais is honest, honest, honest! I have entrusted her with my key, my dog, my money (for errands), my checks & credit cards. You absolutely can put your trust in her. If you would like to talk to Marais, please contact her at the number above. If you have questions for me, I can be reached at 734-347-2385.
Fall Leaf Pickup: TJ's lawn Care LLC, PO Box 970422, Ypsilanti 48197; 734-913-9846. (email), (website)
- 2016 September: John Teeter (email): This is a leaf pick up service I used last year that I was pleased with.
Tranquil Surroundings (no contact information).
- 2016 October: Jan Dowling (email): I recommend Tranquil Surroundings. They did an exceptional job with my backyard. You can come take a look any time. 1514 Montclair Place.
Reid Hollowell at Hollowell & Associates (no contact information).
- 2016 November: Jessica Anderson (email): We really enjoyed working with Reid Hollowell. They had great vision, listened and incorporated my ideas, were capable of executing the whole scope of our huge project and was a decent price after consulting 2-4 companies. The crew was also very kind to my children who loved to watch them work. (FYI this was at our previous BP home, we haven't touched our landscaping here yet!)
Gene Ridenour Landscaping; 734-274-1836 website).
- 2016 May: Danielle Loosbrock (email): Gene at Gene Ridenour Landscaping will work with you to ensure that his design meets your needs given your space and what you are hoping to accomplish. We have a very large black walnut tree in the front yard that spills over into the back, and he worked with us to reseed the front yard and ensure that we had plants that would be able to survive under the tree given its toxicity to most other plants. Also, he re-worked our back yard with hard-caping patios and walkways, and also reseeded the yard, building a large raised garden bed, planting 2 trees and several other plants to get our yard back on track. He has also come back this spring to ensure everything was taking as expected. He ended up overseeding the back yard to make sure that the grass was taking okay. He was very reasonably priced, and delivered high quality work in very short time. I can't recommend him highly enough! He and his team were top notch! We have planned to work with him to keep our yard in shape too. Feel free to tell him that Gail and Danielle (on Packard) sent you, as I'm sure he'd love to know how you got his name. Also, feel free to reach out if you have any questions at all or want to stop by to see his work on our yard.
Dynamic Lawn Care (Rob Petraska); (email); 734-829-8931.
- 2016 April: Katherine Lawrence (email): We have been satisfied with Rob Petraska of Dynamic Lawn Care (he also does snow removal and can haul yard debris).
Jeff Monchamp (email) (Green Wheel Lawn Care), 358-6747.
- 2009 November: Bill Ingram (email): Jeff arrives on his bicycle, towing his battery-powered machines. He's totally green, a hard worker, and thorough; I recommend him without reservation.
- 2013 April: Jackie Byars (email): Jeff is very good and he knows plants, but I don't think he has the equipment for heavy duty work like shrub/tree stump removal (though he can take down most of a smallish tree). I do love working with Jeff on my small yard, and because his overhead is lower than these other folks, he is able to charge less. I do my own design work, so I don't need that. For planting, trimming, maintenance, etc, Jeff is great, and he seems to have access to a truck and does know people who can do stuff he doesn't do.
- 2015 January: Pam Hoffer (email): Jeff Monchamp does a wonderful job; very green! And lovely to work with. You may have seen him on his bike with all the gardening equipment. He also does painting in the off season, as I recall. Loads of folks in our neighborhood can vouch for him.
- 2015 January: Ann Clinger (email): Jeff Monchamp is a great person to work with. You will be very pleased with the results.
- 2015 May: Kimber Stamm (email): I cannot say enough positive things about Green Wheels! When we moved into the house, had twins, and realized that the lawnmower didn't work, I panicked. I knew I could fix the lawnmower (if I found time) and didn't want to commit to a summer-long service. I flagged down one of Jeff's guys, two babies in my arms, and asked if they could just do it right now so I didn't have to stare at the jungle attracting all of the neighborhood wildlife. Jeff was prompt to answer my frantic request for service and flexible to come on a fixed schedule or more intermittently. He and his crew did a great job, better than we are doing ourselves now that the lawnmower is running again.
Mr Lawn Care (Craig Jones), 223-6356.
- 2015 May: Judy Steeh (email): Craig Jones is inexpensive, reliable, and good at his job.
- 2015 May: Oksana Malanchuk (email): I agree that Craig Jones is all of those things and has been for all the six years he's being doing my lawn care.
Jonathon Flick, 734-507-6828.
- 2014 May: Michele Rivette (email): I really like Jonathon Flick, who has done my lawn for years and he is very reasonable in pricing. I can't recall if he also does snow removal, but I think he may.
Canopy Landscapes (Gregory Wilson) (website).
- 2015 March: Bill Ingram (email): We've known Gregory and used his service for years. He does patios and pavers as well as lawn and garden care.
- 2015 May: Jackie Byars (email): I just had a small patio (and some steps from my garage down to it) installed by Greg at Canopy Landscaping. His people do very good work. His communication skills are not the best, though. I had to call repeatedly to find out when they were going to actually show up. Still, I am pleased with the work and will use him again (and, with a masters in landscape architecture, I am something of a snob).
CJ Services (website).
- 2015 April: Jennifer Lamb (email): If you need a new lawn, I'd highly recommend CJ services. They came out, evaluated our yard and needs, came back, removed our old lawn, prepped everything and laid beautiful sod. They even encouraged us to do things like put mulch rings around the tree (for which I was worried); it turned out fantastic. The foreman was even detail orientated enough to swap out the mulch in our front beds to match what they used around the trees.
- 2015 October: Curtis McFall (email): CJ Services turned our unusable back yard into a great play are for the kids. They spent three days hauling out old concrete blocks, bricks and weeds, then installed sod and new pavers! The work was done well and on time. We'd use them again.
Ecological Edge LLC (Rick Meader), 734-576-5355; (email); (website).
- 2013 September, 2015 January: Jackie Byars (email): Rick is a licensed Landscape Architect who has lots of knowledge about native plants (he used to write a column for AnnArbor.com). He's also an all-around great guy.
- 2013 September: Jessica Sendra (email); Agreed! Rick is also a former Borders colleague and an all-around great guy.
Ann Arbor Gardens (Crystle Gale-Partington), 313-274-1356.
- 2015 January: Miriam Meisler (email):
Margolis Nursery.
- 2015 January: Heather Maun (email): We had a beautiful patio installed at our old house by Margolis Nursery. They did a great job!
Gene Ridenour, 734-274-1836, (email).
- 2013 April: Libby Robinson (email): We used Gene Ridenour for our latest bout of landscaping and are very pleased with his design and his work. He does some fairly heavy-duty stuff, including creating the brick pathways and planting a new tree. He did all the brick/stone work in our yard, including an effective drain between our house and our neighbor to the south. He planted the sugar maple that's in the front and much of the other vegetation. We have really liked his work. He's about the 4th landscaper we worked with and I've been more satisfied with what he created than any of the others. If you want to check out his work, walk by 1409 White.
Insite Design, 995-4194; (website) and
Mike Appel (Appel Environmental Design), 395-1060.
- Both 2013 April: Jackie Byars (email): If you want a landscape architect, go with Insite Design or Mike Appel. They both work extensively with native plants and are extremely "environmentally sensitive." Mike Appel has a degree (as do I) in landscape architecture, but he has not gone the licensing route and opened his own business. Mike used to own half of the Native Plant Nursery, too. Both Mike and the Insite people have access to nursery wholesalers.
Abbott's Nursery, on Scio Church.
- 2013 April: Cherry Westerman (email): I would like to recommend Abbott's Nursery, located on Scio Church. Owned and run by a local family (whose children I taught in school). They do a lot of landscaping in addition to running the nursery. Our son worked for them for two summers — he worked hard but always felt good about the work they did and I've seen some of the results. He was also impressed by the other men working there. You could ask about their environmental awareness.
Elizabeth Olenzek, 734-741-3110, (email):
- 2015 May: Abby Dart (email): I have just had a garden designed and put in my home at 1331 Sheehan. Elizabeth Olenzek did the work; she's a young woman just starting her own business, and she's excellent. Stop by and take a look. She can work with any budget, different spaces etc and is a delight.
Charlie Tingley (Living Landscapes LLC), 734-646-8113.
- 2011 August: Jackie Byars (above) and David DeLoof (email): Charlie Tingley is a small business landscaper who does a lot of work in Burns Park. He now has a person on his crew who does design/build hardscaping. He gives a detailed free estimate. He's a nice guy and knows a fair amount about native plants (and their cultivars). His crew removed old yews and planted some fairly good size oak leaf hydrangea right in front of our porch for me earlier this summer, and also seeded some grass (Jackie). I've used him for pruning only; but he also does planting, weeding, etc (David).
Nature and Nurture
- 2011 August: Ruth Scodel (email): You can look at my front yard (1108 Brooklyn), which is native plants — probably some like it, some think it's a blight — and the more sedate backyard.
Meg Gower, 734-433-0150 (email).
- 2011 May: Ryan Dibble (email): For gardening care, you should talk to Meg Gower at 734.433.0150 or even better email her. I know her and have seen her work.
Ryan Goodwin (email).
- 2011 May: himself: For anyone who wants a gardener but doesn't want to hire a professional service, I'll be happy to garden for you. My hours are flexible, I generally ask for $10 an hour, and I provide my own tools and transportation. I've been gardening for many years, but this is my second year working for pay. If you're interested, or want more information, email me.

LAWN MOWERS

Carpenter Brothers on Plymouth Road at Nixon.
- 2012 December: Mike Limmer (email): If you want your lawn mower tuned and sharpened correctly go to Carpenter Brothers on Plymouth Road. Mark Willie will make it run better than new.

LEATHER REPAIR, SHOE REPAIR

Ann Arbor Shoe Repair (Jesús Valdez), 619 S. Main, 222-5077; (email).
- 2012 December: Bill Ingram (email): The repair shop is in the South Main Market plaza, next to Copernicus. Good service, fast, and reasonably priced. They repair luggage (including zipper problems), purses, golf bags, and of course shoes.

LOCKSMITHS

Vogel's.
- 2012 June: Chris DeRuyver (email): I always use Vogel's on west Washington St. They are 1/2 block off Main Street.
- 2012 June: Eric Scheie (email): I second Vogel's! They were able to make keys for some ancient locks in a time crunch, and they have every possible lock and key there is. They have been an Ann Arbor institution since 1913; a wonderful small local business.
Ann Arbor Door and Lock Service, 734-944-4704.
- 2012 June: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email), We have had good results from Ann Arbor Door and Lock Service (734 944-4704). Vogel's is good, too.
Laura Wolf (email), 734-994-3306.
- 2012 June: Julie Cohen (email): I recently used Laura Wolf, a longtime friend and handy woman previously recommended by others on the list, to change out our locks. She quickly identified a problem that we had with locks I'd purchased at Fingerle and dealt with the issue on our behalf, resolving the problem in no time. She is very responsible, reasonable and responsive.
BUT: 2012 June: David DeLoof (email): I've always found it cheaper in the past to just go buy a whole new lock and install it myself. Also, the newer lock sets (like Schlage) now feature self-rekeying. On the other hand, if there's multiple locks, labor charge isn't going to increase by the same multiple, so may be cheaper to have locksmith do it.

MASONS AND MASONRY

Kish Masonry (Kevin Kish), 734-531-8680.
- 2018 May: Daniel Zahn, (email): I fully endorse and recommend Kish Masonry in Milan. Extremely professional work and very reasonable estimates based on other estimates I had received. He replaced the lintel over my window a number of years ago and he was able to re-use the brick to maintain the consistent look of the home. His estimate was about 1/3 of what another contractor quoted me. I had him do some tuck point work on my new home once I moved and he re-did the cement on the chimney cap to improve the structural integrity of the chimney. If you would like further information, please feel free to reach out to me. Also, feel free to tell him that I recommended him.
Hearns Concrete.
- 2012 December: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): Hearns Concrete.
Chalfant Construction, 734-368-1696.
- 2013 October: Helen Giordani (email): I highly recommend Chalfant Construction. He has done a lot of work on my house, my brother's, and my parents'. Chimney repair, stonework, basement water damage...he's helped us with everything.
Michigan Hardscape, 734-365-3094.
- 2013 October: Victoria Green (email): We love Dan Morris from Michigan Hardscape. He rebuilt one of the short stone walls next to our porch stairs, did some repair work on our paver driveway after the first contractor did a crummy job and just built a granite wall, brick steps and brick patio in our backyard. We love the work he's done and also really appreciate how generous he is (e.g., he gave us the bits of sod left over from another job for free and he even loaned us equipment and helped us get started when we decided to do some bricklaying ourselves). He's done other work in the neighborhood, including stone wall repair and paver driveway installation. He's a great guy.

MOVERS

Two Men in a Truck.
- 2016 March: Barry Fish (email): "Two Men in a Truck" did a great job for us.
Handle With Care.
- 2016 March: Bill Goeman (email): We've used Handle with Care several times now, and it's worked out well.
All Directions Moving.
- 2016 March: Ben Chess (email): We used "All Directions Moving" and went fine. There are a bunch of good options on Yelp.

MUSIC INSTRUCTION

PIANO

Rachel Common email.
Lynn Zwinck email.
- 2016 January: Ryan Dibble (email): I played piano and as an undergrad I was originally dual degreed in music and engineering. I think both Rachel Common and Lynn Zwinck are amazing piano instructors.
- BUT: 2016 January: Michele Rivette (email): Rachel Common is very good, but I had the experience where her schedule changed and she couldn't keep teaching my daughter, and she just disappeared despite my request that she offer my daughter a new time when one opened up. She added a friend's child later, so I don't know what happened, but I didn't find that to be very professional or kind.
Steve Osborn at Oz's Music, 1920 Packard, 734-662-8283.
- 2016 January: Miriam Meisler (email): Steve Osborn at Oz's Music is a marvelous teacher for young children! He does private lessons on several instruments including piano. My granddaughter Rosie loves her piano lessons, and her sister Sadie loves her ukelele lessons. Oz's Music is in the same set of stores as Morgan and York, a great community resource.
Julie Yurconis email.
- 2015 March: Monica Blair (email): Julie Yurconis has been a great teacher for our kids — I believe she lives near Brighton but she is in Ann Arbor 1-2 days a week. She teaches our 3 children, and our oldest started about 5 years ago.

OTHER

See Steve Osborn above.

NOTARY PUBLIC

Your Bank?
- Suggested September 2016 by Jennifer Leider (email): Our bank did notarizing for us for free because they have one in the branch and we're customers. So you might call your bank and ask. We did have to make an appointment, but other than that it was simple (and free!).
Jorn Court Associates (Penny Corbett), 734-355-1221, email.
- 2012 September: Pam Hoffer (email): My sister, Penny Corbett, is a notary public.
Heidi Alward, 369-2654 or 734-660-0013 or email.
- 2015 July: herself: I'm a notary, if anyone needs one in the future.
Robert Florka, email.
- 2015 July: himself: I'm a notary.
Arbor Pack N Mail, 734-677-4477.
- 2016 September: Jackie Byars (email): There is usually a notary at the mailing place in the small shopping center that also houses Trader Joe's.

OPTOMETRISTS, OPTICIANS

Dr. Rautio.
Ann Arbor Optometry.
- Both 2016 September: Cherry Westerman (email). I go to Dr. Rautio on West Stadium (in the little plaza with Little Caesars and Baskin Robbins). Not cheap, but he seems thorough and my insurance helps. My husband goes to Ann Arbor Optometry on Oak Valley and is happy with them.
- 2016 September: Graydon Krapohl (email). We go to Ann Arbor Optometry and have been very happy with the service and care from the entire staff.
Cunningham Vision Center, Saline.
- 2016 September: Chris DeRuyver (email). While I second Dr. Rautio, the engine behind his practice is Cunningham Vision Center in Saline. There you can see either Dr Tom Cunningham or his daughter, Dr Clare Cunningham. They also have a larger selection of glasses.
Bennett Optometry (Dr. Erica Johnson Carder).
- 2016 September: Marc Buchanan (email). I've worn glasses since the first grade and I've always hated going to the eye doctor. For me Dr. Carder is the best. I believe she works out of the Main St location. They validate parking.

PAINTERS

College Works.
- 2013 April NOT recommended by Chris DeRuyver (email): Don't use College Works. While you feel you're doing the right thing by hiring the young college kid who shows up at your door, what you end up getting is a horrible paint job. And then you have to hire someone else to fix it.
Thomas Brothers (website).
- 2015 May: Matt Beauchamp (email): Thomas Brothers Painting did our house last year. They did an excellent job and cost about half what the big Ann Arbor names wanted (Tribble, etc). They are a family operation and very honest and trustworthy as well.
Stohl Painting (website).
- 2015 May: Jill Halpern (email): I had a great experience with Nate Stohl of Stohl Painting. it was a three person crew: Nate, his son, and a long-time employee. All three were honest and skilled and Nate is quite a character — very jovial with a good eye for color too. their estimate for the main house painting was comparable to others I received (and somewhat cheaper for extras like painting the shed and staining the deck). It was the busy season and i do remember having to check in a couple of times about keeping me in the queue but everything unfolded smoothly from there.
- BUT: 2015 May: Mary Welliver (no email): In reference to Nate Stohl of Stohl Painting, we were really disappointed. The interior painting he did for us looks great until you notice the vacation spots, all of the locks were removed from the windows, a number of the outlet covers were left off, and we recently noticed tape left on in various places. Nate said he would pull the carpet and sand and seal the floors. He did pull the carpet for us, and removed all the baseboards which are still off. The floor was sanded but never sealed, the baseboards were never put back on. The hard part of this whole experience was that we were living in Chicago, and had given him the job because he had done a good job for someone else. We phoned, we wrote, and complained but were not able to reach him until after we had moved in, and then he said he would finish the floors. Sorry to sound so negative, but if I had to do it again, I would not.
Rodrigo at RG Painting, 734-277-9487 (facebook.com/RGpainting734).
- 2015 March: Julie Braunlich (email): My son-in-law, Rodrigo is a meticulous painter of homes and businesses! He painted our dentist's home, inside and out and comes highly recommended. He is a small business owner with reasonable pricing.
Mark Murrell, at "Avery Goode Painter" (geddit?), 734-255-8681.
- 2015 March: Jaime Magiera (email): For both indoors and outdoors, Mark Murrell is my go-to. He's been painting in Ann Arbor for several decades.
Osamah, with Arborland Painting, 734-717-8889.
- 2015 March: Chris DeRuyver (email): Awesome painters! Great price!!!
Tribble (website), 252-9982.
- 2014 May: Libby Robinson (email): We've been very satisfied with Tribble. Competent, professional, friendly. Good advice on colors, too.
- 2014 May: ??? (email): Ditto!
- BUT: 2015 March: Matt Beauchamp (email): Way more expensive than Thomas Brothers (see above).
Jeff Monchamp (email), 358-6747.
- 2009 September: Pam Hoffer (email): Jeff Monchamp, the GreenWheel Gardener who has all his lawn care equipment in his bike trailer, and who is very very nice, does interior painting in the seasons he is not busy with lawn and garden care.
- 2013 January: Deborah Fisch (email): LoBuPa neighbor Jeff Monchamp, of Green Wheel Lawn Care, did some interior painting for us a couple of winters ago, and did a very fine job for a reasonable price.
Tom Kern (Kern Painting), 734-740-1867.
- 2012 May: Joan Rose (email): I like Tom Kern of Kern Painting. He has done great work for me! His telephone # is 734-740-1867.
Matthew Kerwin (email), cell 734-649-8081.
- 2009 September: Pam Hoffer (email): Matthew lives in Chelsea and has been with Anderson Paint for 16 years, and is available as a painter. He was, according to the home remodeler we know, the best person there when it came to color mixing and matching. Before he was at Anderson, he ran a painting business for 5 years, and has continued with this on the side. On temporary layoff, due to the economy, he is looking for painting work. I know him thru Friends Lake Community...a good guy.
Fred Bryant (website), 216-6140.
- 2008 October: Bill Ingram (email): Recommended to us originally by Theo Polley, we used Fred to paint the exterior of our house, and are very pleased with the result. Fred and his crew were wonderfully thorough and efficient, spending two full weeks washing and scraping and sanding and caulking before they even began to paint. No previous house painter has ever done this for us; the others have simply arrived and started painting. I now know why those other paint jobs didn't last.

PEST CONTROL (bats, rodents, etc)

BATS

Wildlife Control 911.
- NOT recommended by Monica Blair (email): DO NOT use Wildlife Control 911. They said that we needed fumigation, that bats had tunneled all through the insulation, and gave a very high quote. The two companies above agreed with each other and refuted what this company said.
BATS: A useful caution
- From Jessica Anderson (email): I was not aware of this until recently: a friend and her whole family awoke to a bat in their house/bedrooms. They proceeded to chase the bat out of the house, but APPARENTLY that is the wrong thing to do, especially if you were sleeping! They were told that bat bites are not always painful and if you are sleeping (and we know how soundly children sleep!) you may not feel a bite or detect it on your skin. SO if you have a bat in the house, suspect a bite or were sleeping, you really need to capture the bat so that it can be tested for rabies. Her whole family had to go through a lot because they chased rather than captured that bat!
Michigan Bat Removal, 734-794-3986 and
Garret Bats & Mold, 810-625-2485.
- Both 2016 September: Monica Blair (email): I can give you our experience with a few Bat companies. We did not have a colony but a couple of bats. However, one company told us we had a huge problem that would cost well over $2000, and the other two companies said it was minor and the quote was under $1000. My son was actually bitten in his sleep, so we all had to get the shots, because you can't always tell if you have been bitten if they are in the house with you at night. I recommend Michigan Bat Removal and Garret Bats & Mold.
Critter Control, (website), 669-0055.
- 2013 June: Jackie Byars (email): A few years ago we had a bat in our attic. My husband thinks we used Critter Control. The guy identified and closed very small gaps that it could have used to get in.
- 2013 June: Vince Massey (email): We used critter control a few years ago too and got a bat-exclusion done at the same time and we haven't had a problem since.
- 2013 June: Tim Richards (email): We had a bat invasion a few years ago. Critter Control took care of the problem quickly —we have had no repeat bat aeronautic performances.

RODENTS

Holey Moley (Doug Valentine), 734-636-0930.
- 2016 July: Mike Limmer (Mailman Mike) (email): My friend Doug Valentine does skunk, mole, woodchuck removal. Good guy, very dependable.
Griffin Pest Solutions, 1-888-547-4334.
- 2016 September: Elizabeth Haas [no email]: We use Griffin Pet Solutions and they seemed to have reduced our mouse problem considerably. They advised where to plug holes and put in some traps, and they also spray for spiders and ants, etc. The one thing that they did mention, and told us there was basically nothing we could do about it, is breeding grounds in the neighborhood. So for instance, if someone near your house is keeping a lot of textiles or old soft furniture in their garage, it is a good place for nesting and then in the winter they find a way into your house for food and warmth, etc.
Critter Control, (website), 669-0055.
- 2013 June: Pam Hoffer (email): We had Critter Control seal some gaps because of a red squirrel a couple years ago. Indeed, they are a great group! And we also had a stray bat, but the guy closed that gap, in case a raccoon or a squirrel could get in.
- 2013 November: Alex Uribe (email): We recently had a good experience with Critter Control. Not inexpensive, but good and friendly. In retrospect the charges seem fair, they came many times. We had squirrels coming into the walls.
- 2013 November: Bailie Imber (email): Critter Control. When they retrieved a possum from a window well they told me they return the animal to the wild.

OTHER

All Seasons Pest Control (Tim Gamble), 734-285-3200; (website):
- 2016 September: Judy Steeh (email): We had yellowjackets, so we called Tim Gamble. We don't know exactly how he did it, but from the time he came down the ladder, we haven't seen one single yellowjacket. We highly recommend Tim; he can handle critters of all sizes, from insects to large wild animals.

PET CARE (cats, dogs, dog-walking)

Karnik at Maple Village, 734-327-6920, website.
- 2018 February: Michele Rivette (email): For dog boarding I've used Karnic Lodge out on Maple (near Plum Market and behind Dunham's Sports) for years. Super positive people and our dog loves to go there.
Animal Medical Services, 734-646-0741.
- 2017 December: Spencer Thomas (email): Animal Medical Services provide 24-hour emergency service transportation to/from a veterinarian. They work on donations and cover 6 counties.
Ypsi Arbor Petsitters (Carolyn Fullerton).
- 2017 November: Jackie Byars (email): Carolyn Fullerton at Ypsi Arbor Petsitters did a great job while we were away on a short vacation. She sent us daily emails about our cats. She is extremely organized, and has considered contingencies like making sure she knows who our vet is and has us sign a permission letter in case she needs to take the cats to the vet.
Ann Arbor Mobile Vet (Dr. Annie Staebler), 734-719-0555.
- 2017 April: JP Pagán (email): Annie Staebler is local and she does house visits, but I don't know if she does emergencies. If not, the Ann Arbor Animal Hospital (see below) on Liberty and West Stadium is open 24hrs. We've taken our pets there several times.
- 2017 April: Vince Massey (email): I second Annie! She's an awesome vet and makes house calls.
- 2013 June: Jessica Sendra (email): We've just started using her services and we're very impressed.
- 2013 June: Michele Rivette (email): I also highly recommend Dr. Annie Staebler! She takes care of your cats and her assistant is also terrific with animals! It's so convenient and non-stressful for all involved to have them come to the house for vet visits.
Ann Arbor Animal Hospital, 2150 W. Liberty (at Stadium); 734-662-4474.
- 2017 April: JP Pagán (email): [see above]
- 2017 April: Spencer Thomas (email): Ann Arbor Animal Hospital is good, in our experience, but also expensive, especially for emergencies.
- 2017 April: Michele Rivette (email): Annie Staebler (above) will refer you to Ann Arbor Animal Hospital after hours. She used to practice there and uses them as her emergency back up! They are on Liberty near Stadium. I've had really good experiences there.
- 2014 December: Kathy Wolcott (email): We have had good luck with Ann Arbor Animal Hospital.
Brenda Green, 734-649-2378. (email).
- 2016 November, 2017 January: Nancy Leff (email): Our dog sitter is terrific. For $30 a day, she will house sit and take great care of your dog. We have used her for several years. she is terrific, incredibly honest, dependable, and great with dogs. She also house sits overnights with our dogs when we can't take them with us. She takes on temporary assignments too, and walking doesn't have to be daily. She is super flexible. If anyone is in need of dog walking, etc., please consider giving her a shout.
Rover.com. (website).
- 2015 May: Shelie Miller (email): We've used Rover.com (it's a bit like airbnb, but for petsitting). The dog can stay at someone's house, and it is a pretty well organized affair. You can see sitter profiles, read reviews, set up a meet & greet, etc. before committing to a sitter.
- 2017 January: Josh Guillot (email): We've had luck finding dog sitters using Rover.com. Our dog definitely prefers staying at someone's home instead of a kennel. You can meet and talk to the people beforehand to make sure the situation is ideal for both parties. And there are ratings and testimonials for each sitter. Some even offer services to stay in your home overnight with the pet, Which is great for nervous dogs.
BreedAbove on West Liberty. (website).
- 2015 May: Jessica Webster Sendra (email): We always board our dog with BreedAbove. They're a little on the expensive side, but they take very good care of our Amos and he really loves the staff there.
- 2017 January: Karen Hale (email): I agree with Jessica; we LOVE Breed Above, where Amos has been spending every Wednesday and every vacation for the past five years. They are a little pricey, but well worth it for an anxiety-prone dog.
Pittsfield Pet Care.
- 2017 January: Joan Rose: I take my three dogs to Pittsfield Petcare. Dr Karr, my dogs' vet, owns the kennel. The dogs love Dr Karr and Sid Karr. They are very happy at this dog hotel!!
Susan Karp, 734-945-7882. (email).
- 2017 January: Lorrie Shaw (email) via Ed Vielmetti (email): I can confidently recommend Susan Karp. She is a wonderful pet sitter who serves this area. I would recommend that anybody who needs a service call right away as pet sitters book up quickly.
Carla Morabito, 248-219-0397. (email).
- 2017 January: herself: I'm an experienced pet sitter. I don't (yet) have a website (something I've been putting off far too long)! But I've dogsat for many friends and friends of friends over the last six years, and could provide many references. I also had the sweetest Golden Retriever for 12 years so I know all about doggy care. I charge $30 a day which includes all walks and extra snuggles. If the dog likes it — I'll include pet photography and pet relaxation massages too. I've always done pet sitting in combo with house sitting — as in coming to the dog's house and staying with them there in their comfortable environment. I work retail at REI so my shifts usually aren't very long and we're now in a slower time. If it sounds like I may be a good fit to watch your dog just contact me, or stop by the blue and yellow house at 1433 East Park Place if you see my Subaru in the driveway. I'd also be happy to come meet your dog and spend time together to make sure we understand each other. I'll understand if you prefer a kennel, but I wanted you to know you have a dog lover and experienced pet sitter in the neighborhood!
Synergy Animal Hospital, 734-944-1640.
- 2016 October: Bailie Imber (email): I recommend Dr Linda Fung at Synergy Animal Hospital.
Snagglefoot boarding kennel (no phone number given).
- 2015 May: Jackie Byars (email): I haven't used them (I don't have a dog) but I know them. They love dogs.
- 2015 May: Renee Nilan (email): I use them and they do a nice job.
Happy Hearts Pet Care (website).
- 2015 May: Kevin Cheek (email): I really like Happy Hearts Pet Care. I've been using them for a few years. They seem to really like what they do, and they've always been extremely accommodating. They've happily taken care of special things like twice daily subcutaneous fluid injections for a cat with kidney disease. I've never had any issues with scheduling or availability even when I've had to leave town suddenly for family emergencies. I know I can count on them and trust them to take excellent care of my pets.
Saundra Bailey, 734-761-4839.
- 2015 August: C. Catherine Kendall (email): I recommend Saundra Bailey.
Barb Stratman, 734-761-2976, email.
- 2015 August: C. Denise Koslowski (email): Barb is looking to add clients to her dog walking service. If you need a dog attended to during the day, contact Barb. The fee is negotiable, depending on what the owner wants done, how much time she is directed to spend with the dog, and the commuting distance.
Creature Comfort (no phone number given).
- 2015 May: C. Catherine Kendall (email): I've had a multitude of bad experiences with kennels. Currently, however, I find Creature Comfort to be the very best. They are south on Ann Arbor Saline road and then left at Wagner. I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't feel good about them because I really love dogs. A good dog sitter is always a better bet.
- 2015 May: Gail Epstein (email): When we go out of town, we board our dog at Creature Comforts. They are reasonably priced and amazing with our pup. We also use Creature Comforts for our dog grooming and they do a great job.
Jana K. (no phone number given).
- 2015 May: Shelie Miller (email): We've used Janna K. in the past (northwest Ann Arbor) and she was great.
Juli Pinsak (no phone number given).
- 2015 May: Jessica Webster Sendra (email): There's a great pet sitter — Juli Pinsak — who seems to do a lot of work around our neighborhood. We've never used her, because we've been happy with BreedAbove, but I know her well from all of the arts and music non-profit volunteering she does.
Marais Macknick, 734-686-4640.
- 2014 November: Amy Thomas (email): Marais is a good friend. She has openings for routine housekeeping and petsitting. She's smart, hard-working and honest. I have entrusted her with my key and my dog.
Ann Arbor Area Pet Sitters. (website).
- Noticed June 2014 by Bill Ingram (email): I noticed a young woman walking dogs and wearing a T-shirt with the group's name on it. I enquired about it and was directed to this website which appears to be useful.
College Heights Pet Sitters (website).
- 2013 January: Joel Dalton (email): I can definitely recommend College Heights Pet Sitters. I know Kriss has had clients in our neighborhood. I honestly don't know what it costs - probably says on the website. She's great and owns a couple of rescued whippets, I believe.
Carol at Your Service (Carol Rodriguez), 734-663-2127.
- 2012 December: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): For several years we have had Carol at Your Service look after our cat when we are away. She is very reliable. She is also very good with dogs. We would enthusiastically recommend her.
Lorrie at Professional Pet Sitting (email).
- 2012 December: Jessica Sendra (email): Lorrie at Professional Pet Sitting is great.
Happy Hearts Pet Care (website).
- 2012 December: Kevin Cheek (email): I've been using Happy Hearts Pet Care, and I'm very happy with them. They've been able to easily take care of special needs like subcutaneous fluid injections for a cat with kidney disease. They've also been great when my travel plans have changed suddenly and also when I was worried about the pets during last summer's power outages.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Melanie Maxwell, (website).
- 2017 June: Jessica Webster Sendra (email): For senior photos, Melanie Maxwell does great work. You can see her senior photo gallery on her website, which says that senior sessions start at $425.
PopShot Photo (Emily Popchock), (website).
- 2017 June: Ann Hanson (email): Emily Popchock at PopShot Photo is very easy to work with and creates beautiful, innovative photos for headshots and family events. Her gift cards for photo shoots start at $250 — I spent that for my latest professional headshots.
Jen Geer Photography, (website).
- 2016 September: Casimir Cook (email): We recommend Jen Geer of Jen Geer Photography. She's a family photo wizard!
Tobi Hollander, (website).
- 2016 September: Miriam Meisler (email): Tobi Hollander specializes in family portraits and does a beautiful job.
Susan K Photography, 773-575-1709.
- 2016 September: Julie Braunlich (email): Susan Koman is wonderful! She is local and likes to be contacted on her Facebook page: Susan K Photography. She loves doing family photos.
Myra Klarman (website) and
Jen Profit Geer (website).
- 2016 September: Michele Rivette (email): Myra Klarman or Jen Profit Geer.
Whitney Wilkes-Krier, 248-762-3167; (email).
- 2016 September: Jan Dowling (email): I have a friend in the area, Whitney Wilkes-Krier, who does exceptional photography.
Michelle Massey Barnes, (website).
- 2016 September: Katherine Lawrence (email): I recommend Michelle Massey Barnes, who is based in Chelsea but can come to you. She is very talented as well as a delightful person to work with. You can read more about her approach and philosophy on her website to see if she is a good fit.
- 2016 September: Mike Taylor (email): Michelle just took some lovely shots of our girls, and has done some family photos of us in the past, which have been great. She does an outstanding job and is really good with kids.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS

Healing Hands Therapy, 734-222-8515.
- 2016 June: Scott Merwin (email): Amira Tal-Henig, owner of Healing Hands Therapy, FABULOUS!
Rehabilitation Health Center, 2008 Hogback Rd #3, 734-971-9790.
- 2016 June: Jackie Byars (email): Rehabilitation Health Center. All three therapists are very good.
- 2016 June: Linda Dabrowski (email): I would also recommend Rehabilitation Health Center.
- 2016 June: Van Hunsberger (email): I'll 3rd Rehabilitation Health Center. Good people. Plus I helped them re-design their space :)
- 2016 September: Bill Ingram (email): I've been very impressed with the level of care and professionalism by the staff, and the facilities are quite comprehensive.
Physical Therapy in Motion (Dave Oliver), 3256 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor; 734-975-9100; (website):
- 2016 June: Robert Florka (email): I can recommend Dave Oliver of Physical Therapy in Motion without any reservations and with complete confidence. He's done amazing things for me. Careful, considerate, professional, effective. He's made it possible for me to remain as active as I wish and relieved me from considerable pain. And he's also just a great guy.
- 2016 June: Eric Straka (email): I strongly recommend David Oliver (our neighbor on Henry) from PT in Motion.
- Addendum June 2016 by David Oliver: We also do free PT consultations at Physical Therapy in Motion.

PLUMBERS (see also Drain/Sewer Cleaning and Water Heaters)

JTW Pipes, 734-506-1027, website.
- 2017 September: Robert Florka (email): I've had good experience with JTW Pipes.
Sinks to Sewers, 1583 S. Maple, 668-8433; (website).
- 2017 May: Bill Ingram (email): A family business; Ed and his sons do the work, his wife handles the phones. I thought we needed a new upstairs toilet; Ed explained that we didn't, and did some tweaking that fixed the one we have. He clearly knows his business. On another occasion I needed the innards of a downstairs toilet tank replaced; Gabe came and did it in five minutes, very professional.
- 2016 March: Linda Sattler (email): We love Sinks to Sewers; they're family owned, very reasonable, competent and they give good free advice too. You can tell they love what they do.
- 2011 November: ???. A small, family-owned and run business. They have helped us with a flooded basement, a broken toilet and most recently a leaking kitchen faucet. They are very responsive and have reasonable rates (as reasonable as plumbing rates can be). Can't recommend them highly enough.
- 2009 September: Ed Vielmetti (email): We've used Sinks to Sewers several times for small plumbing jobs. They are really good on the phone to help figure out what is wrong, so the person who shows up at the door knows just what to do to get the job done.
Paris Plumbing, 7096 Stonebrook Court, Canton, MI 48187; 734-354-6430.
- 2016 January: Denise Kozikowski (email): We recently had Gary Paris out to help with a plumbing issue. He's the Canton School District Plumber and does calls in the late afternoon and evening. He was wonderful! Stopped by at 8pm, I didn't have to take off work, completed the work and was very reasonable (no after hours charges).
JTW Pipes, LLC (Jayson West), 734-635-0499, website.
- 2015 February: Mike Taylor (no email): I trust Jayson 100%. Amazing how little he charged to dig a ten-foot trench and put in a new sewer line to the street, speaking of plumbing misadventures...when it was 7 degrees out no less :)
Pat Martin (email) (Valco Plumbing and Heating), 1082 Dowagiac, Mt. Morris MI, 48458: cell 989-714-0313 or 1-810-955-9271.
BUT: Pat seems to have retired, according to Pam Hoffer
- 2013 January: Pam Hoffer (email): You will be delighted if you call Pat Martin of Valco Plumbing (and heating too). He and his son are wonderful, fair, reasonable, prompt, skilled and really sweet! He helped us solve a difficult problem with skill and creativity and saved us a bunch!!! Many in our neighborhood now use him. I keep giving his name out to friends and his network expands ... and I get thank you feedback every time.
- 2009 September: Bill Ingram (email): Pat and his son Jeremiah work together. They're prompt, efficient, thorough, and not overpriced. Pat has been our regular plumber ever since we first learned about him from Pam Hoffer.
Old Town Plumbing.
- 2016 March: Eric Straka (email): Old Town Plumbing - amazingly honest!
Mitch the Plumber (website); 995-50636.
- 2014 February: Michele Rivette (email): We like Mitch the Plumber; reasonable, fair, honest.
Hutzel's, 2311 South Industrial Highway, 665-9111.
- 2014 February: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): For the past 30+ years, we've been going to Hutzel's for all our plumbing and heating problems. They are pricey, but we have found them quite reliable. Furthermore, they will guarantee their work for 6 months.
- BUT: Michele Rivette (email) says: Hutzel's is WAY too expensive and there are other plumbers just as good with more fair prices. They charged me over $600 to install a new kitchen faucet (offered to get me the faucet from their supply place and picked one of the most expensive ones apparently), which I found out later could've been done for much, much less. I was in a bit of a tizzy because water was leaking into the cabinet and I trusted blindly.
- AND C. Catherine Kendall (email) says: Hutzel's Plumbing has been thorough, successful and expensive for me for years. However the woman who handles appointments and often answers the phone is more than annoying because she is so rude. For my most recent plumbing need I hired them and the plumber disassembled the faucets on my bathroom sink and explained to me how to fix it, directed me to Stadium Hardware for parts, and left me with everything disassembled. I phoned them 3 times during the reassembly process to get verbal instructions on how to do it myself and was promised return calls by the plumber. The calls were not returned. Hutzel billed me for the service. I paid a portion of the bill and told them I would not hire them again. I have reviewed this bad experience and found that I did nothing to warrant kind of service I received.

RADON ABATEMENT

ProTech Environmental; 734-761-3595 or 888-677-2366; (website).
- 2016 February: Ross Kinder (email): The previous owner of our house had ProTech Environmental do our system. I recall being told that they are the main firm that does this kind of thing. It works okay, although they (or the previous owner, or someone) did slightly substandard electrical work to get power to the fan, which we had to fix.

REALTORS

Dick Mattie (of the Reinhart Company), (743) 730-6301.
- 2012 August: Pam Hoffer (email. He was incredibly helpful in helping us sell a house in this difficult market. He was on top of the situation all the time, which was necessary because of all the CRAZY hoops the banks are now currently making buyers (and sellers) jump through in order to get a loan! I think this deal would not have been possible without Dick's willingness to 'do battle' with the bank/underwriter regarding some of their inappropriate demands at the last minute.

ROOFERS (see also Gutter Installation

Omega Construction, proprietor Al Poisson.
- NOT recommended by Andrea Zemgulys (email): They botched a job and didn't fix it; beware they do NOT stand by their work.
Mr Roof.
- NOT recommended by Thea Fish (email): Stay away from Mr Roof. Expensive, pressure sales and it did not last much over 10 yrs even tho they said it was a 50 yr roof when we got it.
Radford Roof Repair.
- NOT recommended by Jessica Sendra (email): Stay far, far away from Radford Roof Repair.
Sherriff Goslin.
- NOT recommended by Thea Fish (email): Sherriff Goslin replaced our roof, but the final cost was more than the original estimate. They did good work and cleanup. BUT when the gutter pulled away from the roof, I called them immediately. They did not respond to my call. A week later the entire gutter fell off the roof. Still could not get the roofers to come out! I called a gutter place that came the next day. $475 to replace the gutter! The gutter people said the roofers from Sherriff Goslin used the wrong type and size screws on the gutter. I still have not heard back from them.
- NOT recommended also by David DeLoof (email): Sherriff Goslin certainly had no regard for keeping a neat work area at the Henry and Packard site when they were working there. Despite the large parking lot that they had at their disposal to stage their re-roofing, there was trash and a tarp heap on the sidewalk, a truck totally blocking the sidewalk, and no yellow tape despite debris still coming off the roof.
Renaissance Roofing, 734-495-0996.
- 2015 August: Marty Mung (email): Owner-operated. They did a fantastic job for us at a very competitive price. On another occasion, they replaced our leaking skylight, and the new one has been perfect. They are consistent award winners on Angie's list.
Neighborhood Roofing, 994-6500; (website);.
- 2014 July, 2016 August: Jill Halpern (email): Neighborhood Roofing in Saline did an all-around nice job installing a new roof for my shed, and came highly recommended for larger projects too. I also had a good experience with them. The workers were prompt, honest, and skillful in replacing a shed roof — and good humored too, even when I started getting a little neurotic over the possibility of debris in my nice clean organic garden dirt.
- 2013 December: Jessica Sendra (email): After several bad roofing experiences, we had good luck (at a previous house) with Neighborhood Roofing.
- 2013 December: Tim Richards (email): Jessica has it right — Neighborhood Roofing. We have had great experiences with them.
- 2013 June: C. Catherine Kendall (email): Neighborhood Roofing gives excellent service. I had four estimates come in, all the same price to a dollar, except Neighborhood Roofing; they cost an extra little bit (less than $100). I was referred to this company by four people. I hired them especially because their warrantees were the best of the group and everything was spelled out clearly in writing in a contract. I examined the contract and its parameters with a fine tooth comb and questioned them a lot and they were never impatient with me. The job was overseen by the owner Andy who makes sure his specialists in flashing and mortar add the finishing touches to what looks like excellent work. I recommend Neighborhood Roofing. I'll post here again if I ever need to call the company in on any of the warrantees.
- 2011 November: Victoria Green (email): We had a great experience 5 years ago with Neighborhood Roofing, repairing the terrible roof job someone else did. They're in Dexter.
Mark Hansen, 761-7314; cell 476-1278; (email).
- 2016 August, 2017 March: Deanna Cook (email): We used Mark Hansen for our roof just a couple months ago. He was excellent; eWe were very happy with his work and he gave us a great price compared to several other companies we got estimates from. He even patched a leak above our dining room for free during the winter to hold us over until we decided to have the full roof repaired in spring.
- 2017 March: Casimir Cook (email): Mark Hansen was easily 1/3 to 1/4 the price of the other five estimates we received. They did a free repair a year in advance that bought us an additional year. Took them three days. Clean, done and out.
- 2010 November: Bill Ingram (email): Mark has been taking care of our roofing problems for years, and is not only dependable but resourceful, finding scarce items like specialty skylights when no one else can find them.
Bronni's.
- 2014 February: Cherry Westerman (email): Bronni's did our roof two years ago. We had a general contractor (Forward Design Build) and he subcontracted the roof portion out to Bronni's. Nice job. No problems, though the contractor handled the communication for the few small issues that came up during the project. Our roof has some challenges, so it needed someone good, and the fact that a Builder used them says good things too.
- 2014 July: Brad Clinger (email): I have also heard great things about Bronni's. Some say one of the best in Ann Arbor. We have personally never used them.
- 2014 July: Andrea Zemgulys (email): We've had good experiences with both Neighborhood and Bronni's. Neighborhood did our full roof, great to work with. Bronni's did a repair job on our flat roof that stumped everyone else, so we are big fans. (They fixed a job botched by Omega Construction, proprietor Al Poisson, beware they do NOT stand by their work. We should've sued, but life is too short!)
Burke's Roofing (website); 734-662-5556.
- 2011 November: David DeLoof (email): Four (I think) brothers who grew up in Ann Arbor, several of whom attended Burns Park school. The point being their long term reputation in the community. Did a bit of repair work for me recently. At least worth getting a free estimate and discussing materials options and warranties. Also, 734-320-3166 is personal number for Mike Burke.
- 2010 November: Anne Berggren (email): I like Tim Burke; he went to Burns Park School.
Efrain Vega, 734-216-2398.
- 2011 October: Chris DeRuyver (email): Efrain does great work!!!!
Scott Sutfin, 734-474-3583.
- 2017 March: Baillie Imber (email): Scott Sutfin is excellent and honest.
- 2014 January: Graham Blake (email): For ice dams, give Scott Sutfin a call. He helped Bailie Imber with his ice dams a few years ago.
Diversified Roofing in Saline, 734-429-5840 or 1-800-668-1928 or (email) or website.
- 2014 July, 2017 March: Pam Hoffer (email): We really liked Diversified Roofing from Saline. They were very good, reasonable, and we found them to have really good integrity when a couple issues came up. They made a couple small repairs that were not expected without rebidding, just because they saw a problem in an area they were not going to be fixing. They did a great job quickly and the clean up left no nails in the drive!

SNOW REMOVAL

Ann Arbor Snow Removal, 677-1677.
- 2010 December: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): we've used them for almost 30 years. They are not inexpensive (this year they will charge USD 81.00 to clear just our public sidewalks), but they do show up fairly reliably. They will also clear walkways and driveways for an additional charge.
- 2013 December NOT recommended by Erdstein (email): We've never hired them, but our neighbor has. On multiple occasions they backed onto our sidewalk, compacting our snow and making it much more difficult for us to clear our sidewalk. They drove over our flower beds/planters and grass. We had to contact them multiple times regarding this. Ultimately, they did stop coming onto our property but only after a series of unpleasant phone calls with the owner, who was very arrogant and rude. Your neighbors (and you) may also not appreciate the middle of the night beeping sounds from their plows as they reverse.
- 2013 December NOT recommended also by Bill Ingram (email): I agree about Ann Arbor Snow Removal. Twice in two successive years their jeep broke part of our fence. I phoned both times to protest, but got little satisfaction. I mended it after the first break, but when they did it again I decided to stop using them. Donna Malski has been our mainstay ever since.
- 2013 December NOT recommended also by Pam Hoffer (email): We also had a negative experience with AA Snow Removal. They drove into our hedge and broke a significant branch, leaving a big hole in it which has not grown back. Simple carelessness. When I contacted them to say what had happened, there was not even an apology.
- 2013 December NOT recommended also by Sandra Gregerman (email): I believe they are the folks that make a mess of our yard every time they come down Golden. We don't hire them but they must use our driveway to turn around. We would love it if whoever hires them on Golden would hire someone else.
Donna Malski, 657-7447.
- 2013 December: Bill Ingram (email): Donna has been maintaining our winter sidewalk for some years now, and does a fine job. We switched to her after Ann Arbor Snow Removal kept hitting our fence with their jeep.
- 2013 December: Ned Staebler (email): I second Donna!
- 2013 December: Bailie Imber (email): Donna does a great job for us.
Helpful Handyman Services (David Witherspoon), 323-0722.
- 2016 December: Paula Doering (email): I'd like to recommend David Witherspoon for snow removal work and many other jobs you may need done. I've found him to be an excellent handyman for just about any job. I've recommended hime for gutter cleaning and snow removal but he can do just about everything. He is a Pioneer grad, very kind, does great work with reasonable rates.
Jeff Monchamp (email) (Green Wheel Lawn Care), 358-6747.
- 2013 December: Tim Richards (email): Jeff Monchamp does a fine, environmenally friendly job of snow removal.
- 2013 December: Pam Hoffer (email): Donna and Jeff are both great.
Dynamic Lawn Care (Rob Petraska), 734-829-8931, email).
- 2015 October: Katherine Lawrence (email): If Donna is too busy, for the last couple of years, I've been very happy with Rob Petraska of Dynamic Lawn Care. He's been very conscientious, affordable, and keeps me updated during bad snow storms.
Rent-a-Rower (email.
- 2016 February: Victoria Green (email): This is the U of M crew team; they dug me out from a big storm one time; they had somebody here within an hour.

TAX PREPARATION

Sigler Accounting, 2900 Packard Rd, Suite 3, Ypsilanti 48197; 734-434-3444; Fax 734-434-7895; email, website.
- 2017 December: Pam Hoffer (email): Nicole Sigler is a wonderful accountant; I can't sing her praises enough. Lovely person, smart smart smart, and efficient with all questions; she just recently quickly dispatched a mistake the IRS made (the IRS had misdirected our taxes sent directly to them from an RMD; and much quicker than we expected, we received a thank-you letter(!) from the IRS for providing them the correction and documentation they needed to fix their mistake. Her office is on Packard, half way between Ypsi and Ann Arbor, nice and local.
- 2018 June: Bill Ingram (email): We've been using Nicole Sigler for years. I agree with everything Pam says.

TILERS

Extreme Tile and Stone (Fred Peters), 313-929-0221.
- 2015 February: Mike Taylor (email): I would recommend Fred Peters, his company is called extreme tile and stone. He did the tiling of a new bathroom for us and it looks great, and his rates are very reasonable.
R C Martin Builders (Bob Martin), 734-646-0745.
- 2015 February: Tracey Metry (email): Bob Martin and his crew did our addition and since then has become a close friend. Tile is his personal specialty.
Ann Arbor Hardwoods (Michael), 734-709-1023.
- 2015 February: Justin Schmidt (email): We used Ann Arbor Hardwoods to install a travertine tile floor in our kitchen in the fall. Michael has a special contractor's price with Tile Shop, so we were able to see all the tiles they had in their store on Carpenter and pick one out, which Michael was able to get a good discount on.
A2 Tile (Adam Ettlie) (website).
- 2014 January: Bret Hautamaki (email): We had a leak around our bathtub. I figured a tile expert would be better to deal with grout and caulk than a plumber. So I called Adam Ettlie of A2 Tile. His responsiveness, etiquette, price, demonstration of expertise, everything, was out of this world. I can't imagine anyone handling our bathtub leak any better than Adam handled it. He's working on a custom tile installation project somewhere else in Burns Park right now, too. Highly recommended and a pleasure to deal with!
- 2014 September: Bill Ingram (email): We've also used Adam Ettlie. He does a good job, is thorough and neat, is reasonably priced, and cleans up his workspace when he's done.
Derek Hane, 734-340-5700 or 734-223-4076.
- 2014 October: Siobhan Donnelly (no email). Derek Hane re-grouted our shower. He's good and reasonably priced.

TRASH REMOVAL

Roy [no surname] (Master 2 Kleen), 21 Edison Ave Ypsilanti MI, 48197; 734-323-4515.
- 2011 October: Chris DeRuyver (email): Roy is great! He has hauled material from my house during various construction projects 4 times. Everything was swept clean. He was referred to me by a friend. He has not only hauled stuff away to the dump, but also helped put some stuff in storage. I hired him once to haul material for a client too. He is a great person to work with. Very kind and accommodating.
Paul Willis, 1014 Woodlawn, 313-915-7763; (email):
- 2016 September: Beverly [no surname] [no email]: Paul Willis was recommended for some light hauling and he really helped me out using the blue truck. Very reasonable in price.

TREE SERVICE

Shady Tree, 734-994-5233.
- 2017 April: Jackie Byars (email): Shady Tree has done Tree trimming and removal for us for years. Good work, tidy.
Green Street Tree Care, 996-9020.
- 2017 March: Anne Berggren (email): We lost a huge tree at our office downtown and Greenstreet Tree Service sent guys with chain saws right away to get it off the driveway and sidewalk. I recommend them!
- 2014 August: Sari Mills (email): I'm a fan of Green Street!
Lumberjack.
- 2017 April: C Catherine Kendall (email).
The Davey Tree Expert Company, 8250 Ronda Dr, Canton Township, MI 48187; 734-459-8690.
- 2017 April: Lisa Adams (email): The Davey people were very quick, thorough, and courteous, and billed us afterwards (meaning we didn't need to be home with check in hand when they trimmed the trees.)
Arrow Tree Experts, 734-662-2655.
- 2016 September: Tish Shapiro (email). Last year I used Arrow Tree Experts for a big job and was very happy. After I made my initial call, the owner made an appointment and came out promptly to give a free estimate. At the time he mentioned that he's open to doing smaller jobs. I got the sense that he fits them in late in a day, but I could be wrong. The business is based in South Lyon and crews are in Ann Arbor regularly. They're fully insured. I liked how well the employees treat each other: they've all known each other for years. They're very careful to avoid injury and damage and they clean up debris afterwards. I will definitely use them again!
MLS Tree Service (Jeff Doyle, owner), 734-564-4260, 800-299-2214, (website).
- 2016 May: Bill Ingram (email): Jeff has a degree in forestry and he and his family have been in the tree business for over sixty years. He grew up in Ann Arbor; he's very knowledgeable, prompt, and reasonably priced.
Guardian Tree Experts, 734-786-1688, (website).
- 2014 August, 2015 May: Oksana Malanchuk (email): I strongly recommend Kris Adler of Guardian Tree Experts (kris@guardiantreeexperts.com). Kris actually climbs trees. They did an excellent job on trimming the large and small trees in my backyard and Kris lives in the neighborhood!
- 2014 August, 2015 May: John Teeter (email): We have been using Guardian quite a bit recently at work (First Martin) and have been very pleased with their work. Kris Adler is an ISA Board Certified Arborist. They are local and do high quality work with good pricing.
- 2014 August: Renee Nilan (no email). I really like Guardian Tree service.
- 2016 October: Carla Morabito (email): We just had Guardian Tree Company out and they did an outstanding job! Definitely easy to schedule as I'd only moved in about 2 weeks prior! They were very professional.
J's Tree Trimming & Removal, 3322 Jennings Road, Whitmore Lake 48189, 734-260-0497; (email; website).
- 2014 May: Pam Hoffer (email): We just had some tree work done in our back yard, and can really recommend this group who did it. They were already doing work for Janelle, whose property abuts ours, and we asked over the fence if they would contract to do some for us while they were already on site. They worked it out, got an estimate/invoice and the insurance docs sent immediately by email, and were able to do the work right after completing Janelle's. They did a great job taking down a large limb from the tree that I had previously thought would be inaccessible; but they used their cherry picker from Janelle's driveway where they had already parked it for her tree work. They did it efficiently and skillfully, making no divots in the lawn, and they were very reasonable price wise.
Don Packard (Packard Tree Service; 734-484-1232 (office), 734-883-3552 (cell).
- 2012 December: Eric Scheie (email): Don has been an arborist since 1980 and he does great work, at the lowest prices I have seen. He came over immediately while I was still waiting to hear back from the better-known local competition, he worked quickly, and cleaned up everything. I've had some serious problems with trees causing problems with adjoining neighboring yards, and all the affected neighbors were delighted with his work. He's also good at general yard cleanup, gutters, etc.
Arbor Valley Tree Service (Carl Loomis), 734-662-8245.
- 2014 August: C. Catherine Kendall (email): I recommend Carl at Arbor Valley Tree Service.
Rick Van's Stump Removal, 734-395-9324.
- 2015 May: Katie Oppenheim (email): I just had a large dead spruce removed from my backyard. Rick was precise (bucket truck wouldn't fit through to my backyard so he had to climb and was perfect!), complete cleanup and half the price of any Ann Arbor company.
- 2015 May: Robert Florka (email): After high winds snapped off a large bough from a dying tree, I hired Rick to remove that tree from a difficult location in my backyard, trim a neighbor's tree and remove another small tree. He did everything as promised, took care not to damage any property and all for a very reasonable price. I highly recommend him over the other service companies recommended which quoted more than twice Rick's price. He has excellent equipment and took the time to figure out a money saving strategy.
- 2015 August: Bret Hautamaki (email): We had 3 trees removed from our back yard and the stumps ground down. Their quote was less than half of Davey's Tree Service, and Rick was extremely communicative, easy to deal with, and they did all the work in less than 3 hours, even though the pines were all over 20 feet high and near power lines. Rick is a really nice guy and wonderful to do business with. The price was a pleasant surprise.

VETERINARIANS

Annie Staebler (Ann Arbor Mobile Vet); website.
- 2012 May: C. Catherine Kendall (email): Annie lives on Westminster and comes to your house to take care of your pet. She has not charged her trip fee for neighborhood calls. You can avoid the long wait and uncertainty about diagnoses when going to a clinic. A very important service she will provide is euthanasia when needed for your pet in your home.
Ann Arbor Animal Hospital.
- 2009 October: Tim Richards (email):

WALLS (plastering, drywall, wallpaper) (see also Handymen)

Jim Miller, 248-504-8347
- 2016 January: Anne Berggren (email): Jim Miller is great at drywall work and repair.
The Fabulous Mr. Fixit, 203 W Michigan Ave #303, Saline MI 48176; 734-944-3121; website).
- 2016 January: Mike Limmer (Mailman Mike) (email): I have had The Fabulous Mr. Fixit do drywall repair work to my satisfaction.
Ann Arbor Wall Repair, 734-972-8922, (email; website).
- Noticed March 2015 by Bill Ingram (email): I came upon their website while searching for something else, and thought I should include it in this listing. They say "We focus only on repairing walls, which means that not only do we fix cracks, splits, or sags, we also paint, remove wallpaper, and re-grout tile. Our focus on wall repair ensures that you'll get the utmost in quality. Small jobs are our specialty."
Kennedy Santos (email).
- 2013 January: Cherry Westerman (email): Highly recommend Kennedy Santos. He did both painting and drywall for us a year ago, subcontracted by Jef Forward of Forward Design Builders. Kennedy usually works by himself, high quality work and very good with some difficult plaster issues, as well as putting in a new dry wall ceiling.
- 2013 September: Eric Straka (email): Kennedy Santos did a great drywall job for us.
Don Hoffman Plastering, 9540 Sandpiper Lane, Saline, MI 48176-9483; 734-663-5262
- 2013 April: Tim Richards (email): Hoffman Plastering did a great job for us for what I consider an extremely reasonable price. We are absolutely delighted with their work.

WALLPAPER

John Campbell, 734-845-8265
- 2015 March: Bill Ingram (email): John does wallpaper repair. He repaired some peeling paper in our house and did a good job at a reasonable price.

WATER HEATERS, including tankless

Haley Mechanical in Dexter.
- 2011 August: Chris DeRuyver (email): Haley Mechanical in Dexter serviced my tankless water heater. Amazing!
David DeLoof (email)
- In an August 2011 email to Julie Ridenour, he offered much useful advice about tankless water heaters.

WATER SERVICE (from the street to the house)

MasterCraft.
- 2011 October: Spencer Thomas (email): We had our water supply pipe replaced last fall. We got bids from Mastercraft and Hutzel. Hutzel proposed to pull the new pipe through the hole left by pulling out the old pipe, but if that didn't work, they'd have to dig (for an extra $1100). Mastercraft just proposed to dig a trench. Their bid was more than Hutzel's (without digging) but about $1000 cheaper than if Hutzel needed to dig. We went with Mastercraft. They did the job in a day, bringing in a new 1" copper pipe, despite the fact that they had to knock off for a couple hours when the contractors working across the street cut into a gas pipe. We're generally happy with the result, (ecstatic about the improved water pressure) except that the lawn settled significantly over the winter, and we had to regrade the lawn in the spring. I think they didn't compact it well enough. We didn't follow up with them, just fixed it ourselves (well...we paid Jeff Monchamp to fix it for us.) Both our bids came in around $3600.

WINDOWS, installation and repair

Antil Window and Door, 4242 Eleanor Drive, Troy, MI 48085; 248-892-4248; (website):
- 2018 March: Andrea Zemgulys (email): This firm built a few really solid, wooden and wool felt storm window inserts for us (internal not external, hanging). They worked and looked great, a snug, custom fit, really improving thermal insulation. In 2005, it was about $800 for three windows, and they do require a good size storage area. They don't list Washtenaw county as in their service area, but I don't recall them complaining about coming out here.
- 2018 March: Tish Shapiro (email): I second Andrea's Antil recommendation. In 1999 I hired them to fashion a set of four wooden storms and four wooden screens for the very antique French windows that face the street. I think the whole job cost $1200 or $1600. I could be wrong. The storms and screens hang on the outside of the second story windows and can be installed from the inside of the house. I found these storms and screens were an immediate improvement over the aluminum ones from the 1950s. The rooms are now warmer in winter. If I choose to open windows in the summer, the whole-window screens allow for much air movement. The Antil owner told me that they have the original forms to duplicate my French windows. I'm thinking of having them build me modern versions. There are two or three other LoBuPa houses that also have these windows. The last time I checked, Fingerle couldn't build custom ones to match. P.S., every storm and screen pair they crafted is slightly different in size because of slight differences in the window openings. Antil did meticulous work for me!
- 2016 June: Tish Shapiro (email): Antil Window and Door Company used to sell and install window screens custom made for your windows. They'd been in business since the 1920s. I used Antil almost 20 years ago to fashion wooden storms and screens for the French windows on the second story of my house. Ray Hanson, the owner, drove from Troy to measure the window openings. He returned with storms and screens a few weeks later. He fit them to my house; they fit perfectly. They used to be in Detroit, are now in Troy.
- 2016 June: Andrea Zemgulys (email): I can second the high quality work of Antil. They made two custom inserts for our old steel casements (now replaced). It would have been in about 2005.
Rob Heroux, email.
- 2018 March: Abbe Eaton (email): Rob, a local builder, does exterior wood storms, those ones you see that lift up from the top at an angle, often people do not remove in summer, popular on west side, I do not have them (no need) but have had builder do other work for me, recommend him.
Adair Restoration (Robin Adair), 734-369.4236.
- 2017 December: Vince Massey (email): Robin Adair at Adair Restoration might be able to restore your existing windows. He lives in the neighborhood.
George Meyer, 769-7330.
- 2017 December: Monica Blair (email): We selected George Meyer based on recommendations from both a colleague at work and another neighbor on Henry. The George Meyer company was willing to work to maintain our original marble window sills (which they successfully did on Henry), whereas Home Depot and Lowe's indicated that this would likely be an issue for them. The George Meyer people did a great job. Ask for Tim at George Meyer if you call them.
- 2017 December: Abbe Eaton (email): I'm a big a fan of George Meyer Co, had several windows replaced by them. They carry many brands, can do anything, especially older homes, excellent installation/craftsmanship.
- 2016 February: Eric Straka (email): We also bought Windows thru George Meyer because they were the only ones who said could save the original marble sills, which they did very nicely!
Marvin Windows (brand name).
- 2017 December: Andrea Zemgulys (email): Marvin windows are fabulous, and most lines are made in USA. Have some good contractors lined up; major dealers can get you the full line of products, while independent contractors can't, and I recall that was an issue when we were looking for the retro style. As of a few years ago, George Meyer didn't carry Marvin. My recommendation is to really go over the orders with a fine tooth comb to make sure the specs check out. We did a new door last year through Fingerle/Marvin, and the salesperson altered the grille/mullion style, thinking she knew better because of current trends, but we caught it in time to get a better match with the house; there are also details about hardware that can get lost in the shuffle but you'll want to have thought out; you might also be asking about cost/pricing. Generally it's costly, but worth every penny for sound proofing and thermal insulation; "oil rubbed bronze" hardware, which is most perfectly retro, is exorbitant and cutting that out will lower estimate significantly.
Mike and Jeff Gransden (Windows by Gransden LLC), 734-216-2543, -2544.
- 2011 June: Bill Ingram (email): Mike and Jeff installed some windows for us this month, as contractors for Andersen Windows, and I was impressed by their thoroughness and competence.
WindowPro, ActiveOne, George Meyer, Fingerle, Cardea, Omega.
- update July 2015 by Andrea Zemgulys (email): We had our windows installed by Pullum a few years ago, but that firm no longer deals in Marvins. The salesperson and installation crew moved to Window Pro, and he says he can do the same work he did for our house that he did with Pullum (that is, for "historic" style casements). Related to other recent post on this topic, I recall this crew were not excited to preserve original terrazzo ledges, but were willing to do so if we wanted them to. Mike Durow is the salesperson (cell 734-341-6740); Aaron the installer. A factor in considering noise-proofing and insulating "Low E" windows is that your house plants will die (but you will sleep better). It's not supposed to happen, but it did for us! At the time, we also interviewed Active One, who dealt in Marvins, and did nice work on old houses in The Hills, but were reluctant to come out and inspect our site. George Meyer did (does?) not install Marvins, which was a priority for us, as they are mostly crafted/sourced in USA and very highly rated. Our neighbors in the coral house near Granger on our block are happy with their George Meyer's Andersen installation. We interviewed Fingerle, but they came out at much higher total cost (they were subcontracting with Wilderness, I think I recall). We also interviewed the general contractor Cardea, but they could not obtain the right window (because of restricted Marvin distribution) and even then came out at exactly twice the total cost of window companies. Nice people, though, which is definitely worth a lot in my opinion. Which brings to mind my warning for general contracting NOT to hire Omega.
...but more on Cardea.
- 2015 July: Jackie Byars (email): Cardea may be expensive (though we have found them competitive with other contractors, if not specialty folks, like window companies), but Patricia Haroun, who owns and runs Cardea Construction, is nice and extremely competent. She returns calls promptly (yes, a contractor who does!), and the people who work for her are also prompt and good at their jobs. She remodeled much of our house (and added on a 3-season porch) when we bought it in 1999 and has done several jobs for us since then (the last was a major insulation/weatherization project). When my husband wanted to be the contractor for the garage we had built the year we bought the house, she helped him with the permitting process and then bid on the carpentry. Her bid was competitive, and since she is so dependable and trustworthy, we went with her for that, too. I can't recommend her highly enough.

WINDOW CLEANING

Paul's Window Cleaning, 755-9793.
- 2016 April: C. Catherine Kendall (email): I highly recommend Paul's Window Cleaning. Paul started this business in early 2015. He is sincere about serving people well because of his "new business" status. This small company does gutter cleaning, windows and power washing. Just now, in Spring 2016 he'll give you a great package deal. Paul's company cleaned my gutters and I watched them work. It was the best cleaning my Ann Arbor gutters have ever gotten. We are completely satisfied and will hire them for a package deal this season.
- 2016 May: Jackie Byars (email): Paul and his crew did a great job on our windows, and they also power washed much of the outside of the house. He is not inexpensive, but it was worth it. Our windows are shockingly clean. Every time I look at or through them, I am happy we had them do the work. They take their time (5-6 hours), and they move what needs to be moved (and put it back) and clean up after themselves.
See Windows (Gloria and Lee Willard), 734-677-1000.
- 2016 March: Nancy Leff (email): We just had See Window do our screens and inside and outside glass of 34 windows and four doors with glass. All for $375. They are terrific. I trust them with a key to the house. Very nice couple.
  [BUT: six months later, in September 2016, Nancy had them back and] They did a terrible job. I don't know what happened and haven't been able to contact them since. They actually gouged half of the window frames. I could not figure out what has happened to them. Try someone else. Sorry for the earlier dud referral.
A-1 Seasonal Services.
- 2015 July: Hattula Moholy-Nagy (email): For years we had ours done by A-1 Seasonal Services, but the quality of their work has been very uneven.
Fish Window Cleaning.
- 2015 July: Paula Doering (email): I'm going to try Fish Window Cleaning — they do a nice job at the Jazzercise studio on S. Industrial.