How did you find YOUR contractor?

December Update
12/10/2007

The KEEP OUT signs I posted on the dumpster two weeks ago seem to be working. No new trash in the dumpster, as far as I can tell. I talked to one of my neighbors on Friday and she hadn't seen anything. Apparently they did their deed while she was a work. It was nice talking with her; she's always one to come out and speak to me when she sees I'm working over there. She's very glad that someone bought the house. It had been empty for a while and she candidly told me the last tenants there had made it into a 'drug house'.

I went over to the house on Friday because I managed to get off of work early and wanted to take advantage of the daylight to do a walk-through of the property. I do have the electricity turned on over there, but only in one apartment, on one side (the power company was going to bill me for service to both apartments, since that is how they are wired). But it's not a big deal since they are separate apartments no more--- the walls are stripped down to the studs. Running an extension cord is no problem. But there are no lights. One used to work but... err... the wall switch may have been accidentally hit with a hammer, causing the actual 'switch' plastic part to break off. Don't know how that happened...

So I was walking through in the daylight, getting a feel for the space. I'm trying to modify my new floor plan to use the existing walls are they stand now. Since most of it is stripped down to the studs, I have a better feeling of the flow of the space and where the original doorways were in the house. I know what I want, but I'm trying to figure out what will work best and where compromises will have to be made.

I still haven't heard anything lately from my contractor. But I did hear through the grapevine that he's been working on another project for someone--- turning their existing carport into a den and adding on a new carport. But from him, I have not heard a word. No estimates, nothing. While I was at the house for the walk through, I could tell that no one had been there, so I know he's not properly getting estimates and taking subcontractors on a tour of the home. Which has led me to this:

Even though I love his work, I'm not going to wait on him any longer. It's been five months since he told me he'd be at my house in two months. And at this point, I've determined that either he's not interested, not truly interested working with me, or that he just thinks I'll wait on him indefinitely. I'm not going to do that. Aside from having owned the house for seven months now and not being able to live in it, I am also paying a hefty builder's risk/vacant house insurance policy that I have to renew every six months. And then there's always the interest accruing at the bank on the draws I've made on my construction loan. It's costing me more than time at this point, it's costing me money, too.

Plus I'm just ready to get it started, to get even more excited about it. I have a vivid imagination and when I'm in the space I can see very clearly what it could be, what it will be. The other kicker is that yes, it's a entire house renovation, but it could very easily be completed in two months, if every job is scheduled on time (which I know it won't be, but follow my logic here). For such a small house and not that extensive of a project, it's inane to have waited five additional months for work to even begin.

My question to you is this: How did you find your contractor? I'm actively hunting a new one. I have one in mind, but have yet to talk to him, and have gotten other companies' names off signs in the yard of houses being repaired/rebuilt since the tornado. I know I'll have to wait for a new person, too, but maybe they will be more actively interested in my project than my current guy, who happens to have worked both for my sister and parents.

Lately my weekends have been filled with helping my parents' decorate their house for Christmas. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some pictures up of some of the stuff we've done.