As a professional remodeler I see the good, the bad and the ugly. Being an educated buyer is your best defense against inheriting someone else’s problem. Common problems that I see regularly are that low quality materials were used on house flipper projects and low quality installation practices were used. This is not to say…
Read MoreI receive at least one call a week from frustrated homeowners, house flippers or investors asking me to re-pitch poorly installed gutters. Their thought is that it will be a cheap and cost effective way to make improperly installed gutters function well. They are mistaken. Here’s why: Gutters have a piece of flashing that is…
Read MoreI’ll start by saying that there is no such thing as a legitimate review of gutter protection done by climate. I’ve seen many review sites, the best known is Consumer Reports. Unfortunately in their assessment, they did not control for climate. Here is Wisconsin the main thing that people overlook is quite possibly the most…
Read MoreAs a contractor I’m often asked by friends what they should look for in a contractor. Of course I always joke with them that they should find someone just like me, but since I specialize in certain products, that’s not always possible. So here’s the scoop. Spend the time to check out your contractor before…
Read MoreOccasionally I run into a customer who is afraid of giving a downpayment for work that they want done. They may have been burned in the past or just don’t trust themselves enough to have adequately checked out a business. If, for any reason, you do not trust the person who is trying to sell…
Read MoreDid you ever hear the saying, “buy cheap, buy twice?” That saying is very important when considering purchasing a door. I get calls all the time from customers who thought they were saving money by buying from a big home improvement store only to be frustrated when it comes time to get their doors or…
Read MoreThere are plenty of contractors out there that will tell you what you want to hear — they have an unbelievably low price, they’ll do a great job for you and you’ll be a happy customer. Wouldn’t it be awesome if that was always true? It’s not. I often hear customers tell me that they…
Read More“Yeah, I can do that” has become a commonplace phrase as unemployment has soared and the market has generated a surplus of unlicensed handymen. One day they are installing carpeting and the next day they tell you they’re an expert installing soffit. So how do you know what is the right way to do things…
Read MoreYou’ve heard the stories. Contractor wins job. Contractor takes down payment. Contractor disappears. How do you know how to find a great contractor? Unfortunately there are no guarantees. What’s worse, some of the rating organizations and agencies sell high ratings to contractors. Smart consumers approach their home improvement projects with knowledge of what the do’s…
Read MoreThe economy is just starting to rev back up and you need new windows. How can you make sure you get a good value for your money? Many people believe they have done their research because they did what some TV personality has said, “get 3 estimates”. Does that assure that you will get…
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