I have a friend in Bellevue who has just bought a great old craftsman house and is scheduled to move in a couple of weeks and needs several things done before she moves. Specifically she needs a plumber who specializes in replacing sewer lines and also an electrician. Does anyone here have any first-hand knowledge of anyone they can recommend? Thanks.

Because our membership is scattered all over the globe, your chances of a specific referral are pretty slim.

If you look up the Better Business Bureau website for your area, you can search out BBB members,see how long they've been in business, if there have been complaints and if so, how those complaints were resolved.

Always ask any contractor for their license information and there's nothing at all questionable about asking for references.

Good luck

Bought a house? Usually this means through a real estate agent who is tied in with an office or company that company should have a general contractor that they work with - meaning they have years of experience with the Gen Contractor.

Most agencies have one on hire to not only inspect a house they are trying to sell, but also do do general work on a building to make it sell. Most areas require many things to be done and inspected - if a house needs work the Agency will send out their guy to get it done quickly and cheaper (for them) so they can still turn a profit. Further in the 'good faith' department of post sales, agents will still tend to the need of their new home owning clients.

There may be rules or fine print governing who can and can not work on the house - if you have say a warranty on the house for a year you might have to go through the company that issued this warranty - they have their own contractors.

Things like plumbing and electricity are usually subcontracted out - meaning a General Contractor (who usually does organization of the various labor trades in a project) has 'people' from those various trades that s/he has worked with on many jobs.

As Mrs. S suggest the BBB is a good place to look. So to is the building commission/zoning commission/building inspectors office - who ever gives out not only the permits but the licenses to contractors have a list - at the very least they have a "naughty" list - one which will steer you clear of the known 'bad boys' the area.

For electricity and plumbing it is always best to go through their respective plumbing and electrician companies - There are plenty in the phone book - look for the ones that have a license number, do not be afraid to ask for references and don't be afraid to call the building inspector's office and ask point blank about the number.