Describe the symptom and let the screening pick the trade.

Why the trade is often the wrong starting point

Symptoms cross trade boundaries constantly. Water on a ceiling is the obvious case — roof, supply line, drain, or a blocked air-handler condensate pan all produce the same stain. So does a hot upstairs room, which might be duct design, insulation, a failing unit, or west-facing glass with nothing shading it.

Picking a trade first means picking a diagnosis first, and if the guess is wrong you pay for a visit that ends with somebody telling you to call somebody else. Describing the symptom leaves that decision to the screening step instead of to the search box.

What this page is for

This is a single intake for homeowners who are not sure what they need. There is no contractor list to sort through because sorting an unclassified problem into a trade is the part that is actually hard.

Whatever the screening concludes, the request goes to one contractor who does that trade here. It is not broadcast to a bidding pool and it is not resold.

What makes an unclassified request useful

Describe observations, not conclusions:

• What you can see, hear or smell, and where in the house.
• When it started and whether it is constant, seasonal, or weather-triggered.
• Whether anything changed just before it began.
• Anything already tried, and what happened.
• Age of the house, and property type.