What kinds of artisan?

[Ivan]

I have a few urgent jobs around the house that I don't feel qualified to tackle but I'm not sure what kind of company or artisan I need to contact for help:

1) Two main-floor and one basement window have rotted sills. The basement window is especially urgent, as water's leaking in.

2) My bedroom closet opening is about 10' wide, and the header has sagged so that the height of the opening is less in the center than the ends, making it hard for the four mirrored closet doors to track properly. I had a carpenter prop up the center a few years ago, which at least stabilized the situation. One door jammed recently, and its frame opened up when I tried to move it. I've taped it together, but where should I go for a permanent fix? (Also, another door's mirror is cracked and needs replacing, but I figure the same type of person would fix that.)

3) Heavy double-glazed sliding patio doors now stick, probably because dirt has gotten into the tracks and from there into the rollers on the bottom of the doors. A handyman said "lubricate the tracks," but even I can see the pitfalls in that. Where do I go to hire help for this?

[hrhofmann]

Ask your neighbors for a good carpenter!!!!

[Don Phillipson]

Any construction carpenter should be able to repair these, perhaps any handyman: but it would be best to get someone who can also check your vapor shield and insulation for damage by damp.

This could be dangerous, if a sign of sagging floor structure: if so this may involve the Building Code where you live.

First, you can yourself clean visible dirt from the tracks and lubricate with something you can remove if unsuccessful (e.g. soap or candle wax.)

If you know a handyman well enough to get free advice, we do not know why you did not ask him to estimate (in writing) cost of these repairs and whether you need building permits to execute them.

[DD_BobK]

If you;re in Orange County California I have I guy I use to help me or do jobs I can't get to.

If you're not....a "good" handyman or a restoration / renovation contractor.

If you cannot find someone, tackle the jobs one at a time with advice from this newsgroup.

cheers Bob

[Hustlin' Hank]

It sounds like you have a old house and it hasn't been maintained properly. The lack of maintenace will cost you plenty to get it in shape.

Your problems also seem to be mostly structure related. Have you checked for termites/carpenter ants? You may have more damage than you realize.

If you haven't had an inspection done lately, maybe that should be where you start.

Hank

[jamesgangnc]

Check the internet. There are a lot of sites that have sprung up to provide contacts for home repair, etc. My wife found some guys to fix the clothes washer and the garage door when I was out with a bad back. Both were pretty good guys, did a good job, and I felt charged a reasonable amount. Some of the sites follow up with you on how the job was done.