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We have a fairly small lot in a bungalow neighborhood of Chicago (25' wide). We have a 14' x 20' garage, aka a 1-1/2 car garage. The garage was in sad shape when we bought the house eight years ago. The shingles have shrunk up, the roof leaks, nothing is quite square about the frame, much of the siding on the south side hs fallen off, the concrete floor is cracked, it sits below the alley so it tends to collect water. The garage door motor switch broke, so I have become the garage door opener. Time for a new one. jd |
Monday, May 7, 2007
Some background
Intro
I live in Chicago, and I am getting a new garage.
The purpose of this blog is to record my experiences with the process. When going into the decision process, I couldn't find much substantive information about the companies -- consumer feedback type information -- hence this blog. Hopefully it will be helpful to others in the Chicagoland area considering getting a new garage.
I think my wife and I went into the process being reasonably alert consumers. We looked around our neighborhood to see what companies built garages recently, talked to neighbors about their garages, obtained two quotes (a third might have been better), checked the companies out on the Chicago Better Business Bureau website, looked at the company's web sites. But even doing everything a responsible consumer should do did not prepare us entirely for the whole process.
I am starting this blog a bit into the process -- we have already decided on a company -- Garage King of Glenview, Illinois, and signed the contract.
In part this blog is just reporting on the process close to its unfolding -- not exactly real time but with some delay and reflection. Even at this early stage it is part cautionary tale, lest others who follow make the same mistakes. In part this is a rumination on the process getting small scale routine construction projects done. In part it is an effort to even up the imbalance between vendor and consumer, to share the knowledge and transfer a bit of power to the purchaser, those things for which the Internet is so good. And in part it is blog-therapy, a working through of my thoughts and feelings about the whole process.
I hope its helpful...
jd
The purpose of this blog is to record my experiences with the process. When going into the decision process, I couldn't find much substantive information about the companies -- consumer feedback type information -- hence this blog. Hopefully it will be helpful to others in the Chicagoland area considering getting a new garage.
I think my wife and I went into the process being reasonably alert consumers. We looked around our neighborhood to see what companies built garages recently, talked to neighbors about their garages, obtained two quotes (a third might have been better), checked the companies out on the Chicago Better Business Bureau website, looked at the company's web sites. But even doing everything a responsible consumer should do did not prepare us entirely for the whole process.
I am starting this blog a bit into the process -- we have already decided on a company -- Garage King of Glenview, Illinois, and signed the contract.
In part this blog is just reporting on the process close to its unfolding -- not exactly real time but with some delay and reflection. Even at this early stage it is part cautionary tale, lest others who follow make the same mistakes. In part this is a rumination on the process getting small scale routine construction projects done. In part it is an effort to even up the imbalance between vendor and consumer, to share the knowledge and transfer a bit of power to the purchaser, those things for which the Internet is so good. And in part it is blog-therapy, a working through of my thoughts and feelings about the whole process.
I hope its helpful...
jd
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