I'm George Herlth. For most of my life I've been the guy friends, family and neighbors call when something stops working. The call usually starts the same way: "This thing broke and I have no idea where to start." Then, a little later: "I got a quote and it's so expensive. Do I really need this?"
I don't mind those calls. I like them. Helping people solve real problems is why I got into maintenance in the first place. Nadir Home is my way of answering those calls for more people than I could ever pick up the phone for.
I started as an apprentice plumber in 1993. I ran my own small contracting business, worked as a construction foreman, and spent eight years maintaining airport facilities, from passenger loading bridges to baggage systems. In 2010 I moved into multifamily as a service technician and worked my way up to managing maintenance across regions. Today I'm a facilities and maintenance lead at a large multifamily operator, and I hold the Facilities Management Professional (FMP) credential.
Along the way I've triaged thousands of work orders and reviewed hundreds of contractor quotes. Those are conservative numbers.
A friend called because their air conditioning had quit. Over the phone we narrowed it down to what sounded like a refrigerant problem. I couldn't get there for a few days, so they called a contractor. He looked for a few minutes and said they needed a new system.
They got the quote, panicked and called me back. When I finally got there and pulled the cover off the outdoor unit, the capacitor was visibly swollen. We picked up a new one, I swapped it in, and the system started right up. The coils were also dirty, which is likely why the capacitor failed in the first place, so I showed them how to clean them.
That was years ago. The system is still running, with filter changes and a quick coil cleaning every year.
Two lessons from that one. First, look before you sign: even my own phone diagnosis was wrong until someone opened the unit. Second, I swapped that capacitor as someone who has done it many times. Capacitors can hold a dangerous charge even with the power off. That part is a job for a pro.
I'm not against contractors. I hire them all the time. Anything on the high-voltage side, or anything involving refrigerant, is a call for a licensed pro. A loose thermostat wire, a filter or a tripped breaker is something I can talk almost anyone through.
When a quote comes in with honest diagnostics that show the repair or replacement is really needed, I tell people to move forward. If you get two or three quotes and they all find the same problem and recommend the same fix, that's not even a question. Nadir exists for the times the paper in your hand doesn't add up.
Nadir has no contractor relationships, no referral fees and no paid placements. No one pays to appear here, and no one pays us when you hire them. It's a FixGrid product funded by the people who use it.
We never sell your data. We use it only to run and improve Nadir.
The idea started as a diagnostic assistant for maintenance technicians inside FixGrid, a tool to help identify an issue and walk through the likely fix. Once that became a plan, I realized the same knowledge could help homeowners directly. So I built a public version, open to anyone.
Found something wrong in a guide, or have a question about how Nadir works? Email support@nadirhome.app. I read it.