Diamond Certified Blog

I was lucky enough to spend 10 days in Richmond, Virginia a few weeks ago for our son’s wedding. Everywhere we went, we encountered warm hospitality. For example, one morning in the hotel, as I left my room and walked toward the elevator, I heard the maid down the hall call out, “Have a nice day, y’all!” I turned around to see to whom she was speaking…and realized she was talking to me! I heard that phrase again and again during our stay.

People of all ages held open doors for each other and offered unsolicited help with directions. The waiters and bartenders spent extra time explaining local foods and menu recommendations. Read more

Parents, get ready, for they are coming.

Remember last September? Just after Labor Day, you sent them off with new lunchboxes, pointy pencils and extra-long pants. The classrooms unto which they were delivered smelled of fresh paint. They cried a little, and so did you. You went home to an empty house and drank a well-deserved, oddly uninterrupted cup of coffee.

Well, parents…eight PTA meetings, seven slumber parties, four music recitals and one soccer tournament later, your precious bundles of joy are coming back. Read more

You already know you can use diamondcertified.info and the quarterly Diamond Certified Directory to find all types of service companies that have been independently rated Highest in Quality…but do you know how a company becomes Diamond Certified in the first place? Here’s a breakdown of our 12-step certification process and what it means for you, the consumer.

1. APPLY
The company must apply to begin the rating process.

2. SAMPLE
A random sample of typically 400 past customers is collected from all customer files of the applicant company. Read more

This article originally appeared on the blog of Sungevity, a Diamond Certified company.

Guest post by Leslye Penticoff

In April, California’s Governor Jerry Brown imposed mandatory restrictions on the state’s water use for the first time in history. The announcement coincides with the end of another disappointing winter season for local skiers, who looked on enviously as snowfall set records in New England. The evidence is clear: the drought in California is serious, and it’s getting worse. So, why is solar energy making us hopeful? Because solar energy requires little to no water to generate electricity, Read more

Good customer service isn’t always a given, but there are simple steps you can take to ensure you receive it. Watch this video to learn more. Read more

Owning a home requires a fair amount of maintenance to keep things looking and functioning optimally. While some maintenance tasks are best handled by professionals, there are plenty of others you can perform yourself, even if you’ve never done them before. To highlight a few of these, we asked four Diamond Certified Expert Contributors to share their home maintenance how-tos.

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We’re so excited about the publication of our 2015 Diamond Certified Directory! (If you haven’t received your FREE copy in the mail yet, click here.) The 11 county-specific versions began arriving in Bay Area mailboxes last month, and the response has been great. “It arrived the same day that a tree fell in my yard,” writes Louisa K. in Albany. “I found a tree service professional who came out right away.” Calvin G. in Palo Alto keeps the Diamond Certified Digital Directory on his smartphone so he can always find a quality service provider, and Cassandra C. from San Francisco says, “I love the directory. I don’t trust anybody but Diamond Certified to work on my house.”

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For years, I’ve lived in a San Francisco neighborhood where you can’t get a taxi without a long and frustrating wait. The taxi phone number is always busy, and when you finally get through, you’re on hold for 10 minutes…and it might take another 30 minutes for the driver to arrive! You’ll never find a taxi that’s just waiting for a pick-up.

Now, thanks to alternative taxi services, I can hail a ride with my smartphone and it arrives in less than 10 minutes. Read more

Congratulations, you’re getting married! Now it’s time to get to work.

Unless you’re headed to the courthouse, weddings are complicated events. Maybe you spent your childhood dreaming of tulle, or maybe you’ve never really thought about it before. Either way, it’s important to start your planning process off right. Before you start selecting cake fillings and dress colors, use the information below to help you understand what you really want out of your wedding day—and how to turn those wants into reality. Read more

If you’re like most Bay Area residents, as the long days and balmy evenings of summer set in, you’ll want to be spending as much time as possible outside. An outdoor living space can serve a variety of functions, whether an ambient setting to entertain guests or a relaxing oasis for lounging during your annual staycation. In order to get the most enjoyment out of your space, however, you’ll first need to get it clean and functional again after having sat unused all winter. Here are a few aspects likely to require your attention:

Swimming Pool
Following its winter dormancy, your swimming pool needs a bit of maintenance to get it ready for summer use. Read more