Eric in Warrenton

We have a stone patio on one side of our house that had several damaged stones and areas that we wanted to extend the patio. The Stone Center has a large variety of stone and we were able to match pretty closely the older existing stone and are really happy with how the patio project turned out. It was the first time I'd tried my hand at masonry, but the combination of what I learned on Internet searches and the advice I got from Stone Center everything worked out well. It's hard work but I would encourage people to give it a try--it's definately doable.

We used Weakley's Electric Plumbing to replace a leaking toilet gasket (water everywhere yuck!) and they (Floyd) came when he said he would and did a clean and professional job. His pricing is very reasonable and when you combine that with their reliability you can't ask for much more.

Northland Forest Products have a good selection of lumber, they're not cheap but you can save a lot of money by purchasing their raw lumber stock and milling it yourself. I've always found it's better to spend a little more on good stock instead of getting the cheap stuff at the big box stores and regretting it later. We were buying wood for exterior use so quality was even more important because it had to resist weather damage. They are knowledgeable and helpful if you need assistance in choosing the right wood to use for your project.

We always love going to Meadows Farms even just to look and plan out our gardening projects. We've been clearing out a lot of areas along the perimeter of our yard, bringing old garden beds back, and have had to do a lot of mulching. They have a wide variety of plants and they are always running specials so you can find some real bargains. They also sell a variety of stone for garden masonry projects--they're a great local resource.

I had a hard time choosing a category to list Wayne in because he has been invaluable in a variety of painting and repair projects for us. He was recommended to us by the sales agent for our house and it was the best recommendation we ever got. Wayne is a self-starter, he reliably completed all of the painting work before we moved in. He didi it on time and is a real perfectionist. The interior job included removing old wall paper, repairing the surface and repainting. Wayne is a real craftsman and a very nice person as well--you couldn't find a better person to work on your project.

We had tornados going through our neighborhood and what we think was a micro-burst downed a very large mulberry tree in our back yard, damaging both our car and one corner of our roof. We couldn't drive in or out of the driveway and needed it attended to right away. Barlett came right out and got to work cutting down and removing the tree. They even took extra care to save as much of the old Rhododendron that was damaged too. They are very-well equipped and safely solved what was a tricky removal as the tree was also very close to out neighbor's roof.

Foley Plumbing and Heating switched out our 75-year-old gas boiler for a new high-tech Buderus. We were very happy with their expertise and they did a clean job of removing the old boiler and installing the Buderus. Before we had the new boiler installed, our old one went out and they came out quickly on an emergency basis (it was in the Winter so we really needed them). We plan to use Foley again in the future and would recommend them to anyone.