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9/3/08 -- After checking with Home Depot and another Craig's List vendor, I found an ad for Bill Rix Carpet.  (727) 409-2827. This long-time carpet installer and his brother (both retirement age) have a small warehouse unit full of carpet (and tile) from a chain that had gone out of business.

We needed carpet for two rooms totaling  45.4 sq yards if you include the cut-out areas. The total cost for carpet, padding, installation, remove old carpet, move furniture -- the whole works was $580.  ($12.78 a sq. yd for everything) That compares with a price of over $1200 from Home Depot. (not the same exact carpet, just one that looked good when we were shopping)

Good news, bad news. --  They are NOT Home Depot. No money up front, no long delay to get the work done like the Depot. For now they have a smaller selection than the Depot, but quick service if you need it. Our process started Saturday at the Tarpon Springs warehouse and ended before noon on Wed. and we had said "no rush".

Bill Rix is best for people who know their carpet. We do NOT know our types and prices, but wanted a quality carpet, neutral color. Bill had some Frieze ? -- looked like shag to us, but he said it was the latest great thing.  We didn't want that.  There was a lot to select from, but all different sizes. Bill, of course, tried to steer us toward pieces that were close to what we needed, but we could have had any that we wanted.

Prices -- it was hard to figure out how he was pricing things, but I had the feeling that even if you spotted a top end piece of carpet, you could get it very inexpensively, with or without installation. The end result for us was that there turned out to not be enough on the roll we liked for both rooms so he brought a piece that was very similar, only a slightly different color. Had we not liked it, I feel like we could have had ANY other carpet in the warehouse instead at the same price (as long as it did not destroy a large roll).

In our case, the alternate was perfectly fine.  The padding was some 8 oz, 1/2 inch in one room and 6 oz in the other room. -- had we wanted the same, we could have, but he brought along the piece of better padding since it fit the smaller room.

Bill and his brother are "characters" and the process was very informal and hap-hazard (with our approval).  $40 ($20 per room) was in the price for the furniture moving, but we ended up moving a lot ourselves - for our own convenience. They moved and replaced what we didn't move. The terms were CASH, and our "deposit" was a token amount - $80, but could have been $20 if we had wanted. Good faith money.

We were unskilled in carpet selection EXCEPT we knew we wanted good carpet and had a lot of ideas of things we didn't like. We wanted only neutral, beige carpet and would not have picked a "color" no matter how upscale the carpet was. The guys got lost coming here but still showed up 3 minutes BEFORE their scheduled time.

My wife and I enjoyed the experience with these to guys totally. Bill wants to get RID of that carpet he has, so you should be able to do very well. He also has small bunches of tile in several different styles, again, at bargain prices. -- from "free" on up. Measure your smaller project before calling them.

Don and Mickey -- used to live at 2448 Saddlewood Ln. (727) 789-2252

7/2007

4/29/04 - Scott's Lawn Service.  I used them for a couple of years after the original mom and pop company had sold out who in turn sold to Scott's. I found them unsatisfactory for several reasons. Primarily, my lawn looked worse than most of my neighbors'.

The route man was supposed to contact the supervisor to talk to me about curious dead spots that looked like chemical burns on the lawn.  The supervisor did not call, nor did he return my call to him a week later. -- Feel free to contact me for details as to why I would not use their services even if it was free.   Don Davis 789-2252 -- 9/9/04

On the recommendation of a neighbor, I got a quote from Lennie Lozier, a guy who's company does a number of lawns in Bridlewood. He was highly praised, with special mention of his reasonable price for extra jobs, such as tree trimming. I was quoted a price of $55 per month, about what I was paying before, only Lennie included trimming several hedges that I had previously done myself.  Since signing on with them, they have always showed up and the hedges are regularly trimmed back -- they never looked this good when I did them.  --  Don Davis (727) 789-2252 -- 9/12/05

In summer, 2006 Lennie sold out to I. Rose. The service and prices remained the same, although Rose is not great on return phone calls. Rose can be reached at (727) 712-1121

9/2008. Tree Trimming, Tree removal, Landscaping, Hauling.   That is what the card for We Do It All West Coast, Inc. says. This small company had done some work in the neighborhood, so we called them for similar trimming as the paragraph above, PLUS, trimming back two largish oak trees, a couple of crepe myrtle trees and a lot of weed trees along the property line in our back yard. The cost was $600 and the guys were here 5 or 6 hours and did a great job. If you have time, I would recommend a couple of bids since I STILL do not know if the price was a bargain or not.

The chief, Mike (not to be confused with his younger helper, Mike) asked us several times during the day if we were happy with what they were cutting - we got to make minor changes and select areas where we wanted more emphasis as they did the work. They cut everything we wanted and cleaned it up and hauled it away well. Mike showed up for the quote on time, and the next morning was here when he said he would be. We were pleased with the results.

Like most small merchants, he wanted cash on completion. I don't know what provisions he had for check or other methods of payment.

We Do It All West Coast, Inc, -- call Mike for free estimate (727) 534-3454 (I left a message that was returned toward the end of the work day)    Don   

(Side note: A few years ago I had my lawn people at the time send a "team" on Saturday to trim my oak trees, and, in that case, they trimmed about 3 branches and asked for my approval. I said "no" and they trimmed some more, and again tried to get an "ok" This happened several times before they did what I had wanted done.  And, if I had not spoken Spanish, I could not have made clear the problems.  The moral is that "tree trimming" is not a precise term, and subject to mis-interpretation by vendors, especially lazy vendors, and when the person quoting the job and the ones doing the job are not the same people. That oak tree job ended successfully but not without a lot of perseverance by me.

Acts Pest Control -- We have used the owner of this company, Jimmy, to handle our pest control services for the four years that we have lived here. He does an excellent job, is very responsive, is personable and reasonably priced. He can be reached at 560-7428. Tell him Ken and Suzanne (784-2250) recommended him! --  9/11/05

You may want to read an article in the Weekly Planet of 9/15 to 9/21 2004 BEFORE contracting with Orkin.  You can try searching their website for "Orkin", or if you can't find the article, I kept a copy.    Don Davis 789-2252 -- 9/19/04

Trash Service

4/29/04 - Most people in Bridlewood use Solar Sanitation, as do I. Grade A. They have old trucks, but appear to be cheaper than the competition and over several years, I have had no complaints with their service. To my knowledge they have never missed a pickup in the 7 years that I have been using them. I have seen two other trash companies in the neighborhood, but only see them pick up at one or two houses. Don Davis (former Bridlewood resident) -- 9/9/04

We have had a number of different sanitation companies over the years. We started using Solar Sanitation several years ago and have been nothing but extremely satisfied since day one. They collect anything and never miss a pickup.

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Previously we had Waste Management, which I can definitely NOT recommend.
Jerry Goldin 781-9354   9/8/06
 

5/7/07 - Affordable Re-screening in Clearwater 774-9163. Researched fully a few years back (she got references and actually checked them) and used by Helen Knox, 772-8621 .  She said they were outstanding and did several extra, necessary chores when re-screening her area. She said the installer found a possible area for a leak and patched in while he was up on the roof.