[Recommendation submitted via e-mail] I have recently been involved in remodeling an historic home located half block from the northern border of the Sherman Hill Historic district. The house was in very poor condition when I started. Brian Smith was instrumental in saving several original plaster and lath walls. Unfortunately the original ceilings and a few walls were to far gone to save but, Brian installed and finished new wall board and has brought the home up to a very high standard.

Leonard Tinker does complete system installation, emergency troubleshooting, and seasonal maintenance. Call first thing in the morning when he is near his computer to schedule an appointment. Not the least expensive contractor, but he's been around the block and really know what he is doing. Very liberal politics and loves to talk - lots of opinions, so if your politics lean right and you don't want to talk about it, seek someone else.

[Via the RenovateDSM e-mail group] We had Jim replace some rotten window sills for us last fall and we were so impressed with his attention to detail, we decided to ask him to bid our main bathroom. His bid was very reasonable -- about the same as what we were charged to renovate our much smaller half bathroom a few months ago.

[Via the RenovateDSM e-mail group] Jeff is the owner and electrician of Extreme Electric. Has worked for a contractor friend, is trying to get his own business going.

[Via the RenovateDSM e-mail group] I have seen some work that Zac Bunkers of Z painting has done in the Drake neighborhood. It looks fantastic.

[Via the RenovateDSM e-mail group] I work with Central Iowa Hardwood Floors and Mike is the owner/operator. He has done 3 homes for me so far, including fingering in to patch holes and also refinished floors in a friends house. With all these jobs he arrived when scheduled, finished when planned and met his bid price.

[Recommendation submitted via email] Joel finished the two larger areas of stucco work today, he did a great job. I think he came pretty close to matching the texture and was a pleasure to work with. He showed up on time and got back to me promptly when I called him. His name is Joel Barton, 515-202-5753. I would recommend him to anyone in need of stucco work.

We had Marc and his brother Mitch paint our house recently and we couldn't be more happy with the results. Their bid was excellent as was their work. They scraped, primed, and painted everything between rain showers and in oppressive heat. They also gave us some tips on other painting projects inside the house which was also helpful. This is the happiest I've been with someone we've hired to do work at our house and I wouldn't hesistate to do it again. I checked three references before we hired them which were all very positive as well.

[Via the RenovateDSM e-mail group] The plaster walls of our 1924 English Tudor were definitely showing their age. We found it difficult to find a component person to repair the cracks on our walls, not just cover them with drywall. We found Steve on CraigsList and had him repairs cracks in our 2nd floor hallway and master bedroom closet. We were beyond impressed with the results. We asked him back to repairs the cracks in a guest bedroom. He has been a union plasterer for 20 years and is a master of his craft.

[Recommendation submitted via e-mail] I was a lucky recipient of Don Curry and his crew from Loki's Garden.

Not only did they do a great job with solving my drainage problems, they offered advice on renovating the garden and surrounding area and followed through on every facet of the job with polished results. They were happy to work within our budget and they came through beautifully.

They were on time, did what they promised and made us very happy. We'd hire them again without hesitation.