> That said I just had my floors refinished and the contractors we lucked into finding for that 2 week job went above and beyond even my level of attention to detail.

It's funny you mention this, because I also have generally had good luck with flooring contractors.

> I’ve tried to find local contractors who will just take pride in their work and get it done right (or overkill I suppose by my standards) the first time. Even old mainstays that are regularly double the cost of everyone else have been slipping lately. Companies I used to single bid for jobs knowing I was overpaying but didn’t care since I didn’t have to come behind them to audit or fix anything. They have all devolved.

You nailed it. I think most of the higher bid folks these days are deliberately quoting an inflated price because they either don't want to do the job or are trying to charge commercial rates. I'm sure the commercial jobs are much more lucrative and you won't get people complaining about a crooked pipe. They generally don't care, as long as everything works