Do Uknowa?

Wouldn’t you know it?

Our mothers were right.

Ignoring a problem won’t make it go away; it usually makes it worse. That sage advice applies to house repairs too.

Maintaining a healthy relationship with your home and your ‘I’ll-get-to-it-next-week’ spouse just got easier with Uknowa, a new-to-Calgary service that launched in late March but has been tried and tested in Toronto for over a year. The service offers a streamlined solution for finding a reputable contractor or service person to do the job you need, for a fair price.

Uknowa is an online auction site where tradespeople go to bid on a job you post. Looking for built-ins for the bedroom? Need the basement rewired? Post a description of the work that needs to be done and wait for interested trades to bid on your job. Within hours, your posting is sent out to hundreds of local individuals and companies (some areas have a larger base than others) who have signed up with Uknowa.

Each service request allows for up to eight bids, and you can review the potential hire’s work history on the site.

The website verifies service providers’ credentials (when posted by the contractor), the amount of liability insurance they carry, and requires two references which are checked before they can sign up with the site. Even better, Uknowa ensures all customer reviews posted on the website are legitimate feedback from real customers.

Trying to track down the friend of a friend’s friend who used a contractor four years ago is one strategy. Another is saving time and money by using Uknowa’s wide net of service providers.

Only you know-a what the right choice is for you.