If you’re thinking about doing a home improvement project, beware of scam artists who are more than ready to take advantage of you. That is a scary number that calls for some added attention to who you hire. Remember to find and research your own licensed contractor....
Want to find out if your county is in the Top 25 for Remodeling in 2011? Hanley Wood has put together their top 25 U.S. counties with the most potential to see a big jump in remodeling and replacement work in 2011. According to data collected by the outlet, these 25...
The good people at this handy little online resource shared a list of 20 Ways To Spot if Your Contractor Isn't Complying with Code. A few of the ways that stood out for me included: 1) Your contractor doesn't give you a detailed quote. This is often because he's not...
True or false: We've reached the bottom of the home remodeling decline? Harvard says it's true, so it must be, right? 2010 is the Year of the Hammer, particularly by the second quarter, the study (released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for...
With the new year upon us, Stephanie Zimmerman has a resolution for all of us to follow: Let's not get scammed this year. Many points on her list apply to homeowners. Among her suggestions: Do research on contractors before hiring, and never pay for a remodeling job...
Having a phone book land on my doorstep is like receiving 1,000 pieces of junk mail at the same time. A tremendous waste of paper and resources. I try to be green. But I wonder how many trees were taken out of doing their job of producing oxygen for the Earth so I...
With hurricane season upon us and a report of home repair scams up 60 percent over the past five years, now is the time to be wary of the old roofing repair scam. According to this page, roofing contractor scammers often target the elderly. They also heighten their...
Are homeowners getting more gullible? According to the Council of Better Business Bureaus, home repair rip-offs are on the rise–up 60 percent over the past five years. Reader's Digest lists the five biggest scams as: Leaky Roof WranglingBasement BoondoggleTermite...
Homeowners have no shortage of complaints about their contractors. But contractors have feelings, too, and according to this New York Times article, one belligerent homeowner drove the contractor to therapy. It's an often-overlooked issue—that homeowners can drive...
I stumbled across an interesting discussion on the Consumerist message boards. A man called a contractor to schedule an estimate for a project. The scheduler asked if his wife would be present and refused to come out unless she was there during the estimate. The...
