Construction Contracts Get Complicated

Venture onto your state’s licensing board website and you’re bound to stumble on a list of the recently punished. It’s made up of contractors who’ve been found guilty of contracting sins, such as substandard workmanship, working without a license, attempting to defraud customers, or not providing the required notices in their contracts.

It seems many states have recently adopted new consumer protection policies that require the contractor to hand the customer addendums, attachments and small flyers that educate the homeowner on what’s required of the contractor. Forget these extra pages in your contract, and you chance tangling with the state licensing board for a contract violation.

Each state has different rules on what they require. Some states are much more stringent then others. Nevada has extremely strict contract requirements for swimming pools and spas. Texas requires that contractors deliver a two-page disclosure statement before the contract is signed. Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires that a long list of disclosures appear in the contract – like start and finish dates, names and addresses of subs, insurance coverage, and a phone number for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection. Florida requires you include the Homeowner’s Construction Industry Recovery Fund notice in your contract, or risk a $500 fine. In California, forget to include disclosures on your insurance, and you risk discipline by the Contractor’s State License Board.

Each state now has its own unique, and sometimes peculiar, contract requirements. If you use a pre-made contract form and don’t include your state’s requirements, you might get away with it for a while. But if a disagreement occurs (and eventually one will), you’ll be sorry that you didn’t use a good, legal contract – especially since you can now make one in minutes, for less than what you’d spend on one excruciating visit to a lawyer’s office.

And, you don’t have to know contract law to draft a good contract. Construction Contract Writer walks you through the process. Leave something important out, and the program reminds you why it’s important for your state. Can’t decide what choice to make? The program explains the results of your choices – making it clear.

Download the program and create hundreds of contracts. Keep them on file. Print them out. Save them as PDFs and e-mail them. The Construction Contract Writer program includes free updates for one year. You can subscribe to future updates for only $25 a year to keep your contracts current with your state’s laws. State laws do change (and rather abruptly). To stay in compliance, your contracts should change also.

If all this makes you twitch with legal unease, at least download the trial program for your state. It has all the features of the real program – it just has the print function disabled. Try it and see if this program isn’t all that it’s touted to be. With the trial download, there’s a promotion code that will save you 15% should you decide to buy the program. And here’s a secret: That promo code is good for 15% savings on anything listed on the Craftsman web site.

Construction Contracts Get Complicated

Venture onto your state’s licensing board website and you’re bound to stumble on a list of the recently punished. It’s made up of contractors who’ve been found guilty of contracting sins, such as substandard workmanship, working without a license, attempting to defraud customers, or not providing the required notices in their contracts.

It seems many states have recently adopted new consumer protection policies that require the contractor to hand the customer addendums, attachments and small flyers that educate the homeowner on what’s required of the contractor. Forget these extra pages in your contract, and you chance tangling with the state licensing board for a contract violation.

Each state has different rules on what they require. Some states are much more stringent then others. Nevada has extremely strict contract requirements for swimming pools and spas. Texas requires that contractors deliver a two-page disclosure statement before the contract is signed. Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires that a long list of disclosures appear in the contract – like start and finish dates, names and addresses of subs, insurance coverage, and a phone number for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection. Florida requires you include the Homeowner’s Construction Industry Recovery Fund notice in your contract, or risk a $500 fine. In California, forget to include disclosures on your insurance, and you risk discipline by the Contractor’s State License Board.

Each state now has its own unique, and sometimes peculiar, contract requirements. If you use a pre-made contract form and don’t include your state’s requirements, you might get away with it for a while. But if a disagreement occurs (and eventually one will), you’ll be sorry that you didn’t use a good, legal contract – especially since you can now make one in minutes, for less than what you’d spend on one excruciating visit to a lawyer’s office.

And, you don’t have to know contract law to draft a good contract. Construction Contract Writer walks you through the process. Leave something important out, and the program reminds you why it’s important for your state. Can’t decide what choice to make? The program explains the results of your choices – making it clear.

Download the program and create hundreds of contracts. Keep them on file. Print them out. Save them as PDFs and e-mail them. The Construction Contract Writer program includes free updates for one year. You can subscribe to future updates for only $25 a year to keep your contracts current with your state’s laws. State laws do change (and rather abruptly). To stay in compliance, your contracts should change also.
If all this makes you twitch with legal unease, at least download the trial program for your state. It has all the features of the real program – it just has the print function disabled. Try it and see if this program isn’t all that it’s touted to be. With the trial download, there’s a promotion code that will save you 15% should you decide to buy the program. And here’s a secret: That promo code is good for 15% savings on anything listed on the Craftsman web site.

Home Building Labor Costs -- Controlling Them.

Most home building construction projects are estimated based on the prevailing cost of materials and the hourly wage to repair, install, or construct the project. Most contractors know their crews’ production rates and can estimate with accuracy.

However, some conditions that affect building costs are out of the contractor’s control. Material prices, for instance, rise and fall in accordance with the nationwide or worldwide supply and demand of lumber, cement, and raw materials. Production will also change with jobsite conditions, which can change by the hour (in the case of bad weather) or by the job (if there’s a shortage of materials, or if part of the work must be done from scaffolding or ladders).

Working conditions have a major effect on labor. If you’re lucky enough to be working with highly-experienced tradesmen on a perfect jobsite in ideal weather conditions, you should have an easier time estimating labor costs. But if the weather is constantly changing, new workers are being added to your crew, or if you have to match materials to what’s already installed, your crew isn’t going to perform at their usual rate. Before you estimate the cost of labor on your next home building project, look over this list to see if any of the conditions shown could affect your labor output.

1. Hot or Cold Temperatures: Add 10 to 15 percent to labor when working temperatures are above 95 degrees or below 40 degrees F. People just can’t work as efficiently in extreme temperatures.

2. Confined Work Spaces: Add 15 to 25 percent to labor when work needs to be performed using ladders, scaffolding, or in a crawl space.

3. Height Factor: Add 1 percent for each 10 feet of height that material must be lifted above ground level.

4. Tradesmen Skill Level: Add 5 to 40 percent for tradesmen with below-average skills.

5. Small Jobs: Add 30 to 50 percent to small jobs where fitting and matching of materials is required, adjacent surfaces have to be protected, and the jobsite is occupied during construction.

6. Major Disaster Work: Add 25 to 50 percent for work done following a major flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, or hurricane. Skilled labor may be in short supply and you’ll have to settle for whatever’s available – and pay more for it too.

7. Difficult Conditions: Add 10 to 35 percent for demanding specs, rigid inspections, a demanding owner or an inexperienced architect.

While estimating construction work is a difficult skill, identifying workplace conditions can help you in determining a realistic labor cost of a job. Never make your estimate solely from the plans. Always visit the jobsite to determine actual conditions.

For other varibles that affect the cost of construction look through the practical estimating guides available at http://www.craftsman-book.com/ .

Electrician's Exam -- Tips for Passing

Most communities now require that any electrician working without supervision must be licensed. For larger electrical construction projects, many states require the certification of journeyman electricians as well as specialty electricians, such as splicers of high-voltage cable. This licensing trend is increasing as more states recognize the need to protect homeowners from incompetent electricians.

The Electrical Exam
Just about all states now require that electricians pass a demanding exam. These exams are a good test of the electrical knowledge of each examinee. The exams usually center on, and make reference to the National Electrical Code and questions in the exam often include many obscure code references that require genuine Code knowledge, not just common sense. These are hard tests to pass, but there are secrets to studying that can offer you an edge.

The first stage in preparing for your electrical exam is to check with your state board for the requirements, recommended study material, and how to apply. If you meet the license requirements follow the links to find out where the exams are given and the study material required. Often the whole test application process can be done "on line" thorough your state licensing board. To find your state licensing board go to: http://www.contractor-license.org. It gives licening information for all states and lists web sites of where you can apply and sometimes it lists what is required.

Once you have set your exam date you will probably want to prepare for the test. There are probably plenty of schools in your state that will be happy to take your money and spoon-feed you electrical knowledge to help you pass the exam. But you may be able to save your money, study on your own and pass the exam with flying colors. Most electricians who fail the exam, know the material, but do not know how to study properly.

By spending a few nights a week studying for the exam you will quickly find yourself growing more familiar with the statutes of the National Electrical Code. Getting a license should be a goal that you set for yourself; it is a key to your future -- a satisfying, steady, well-paying career in the electrical industry. As you study the NEC and the other required references, highlight important points with a marker. You may want to buy tabs that mark the important sections of the NEC so that you can find them quickly during the open book exam. Speed is important; as you may be able to spend only have two to four minutes for each test question, so you will want to stay focused. You can find these tabs at: http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_tool_info&cPath=10&products_id=466

Effectively studying the NEC Learning to read and understand the NEC is like learning a foreign language. You need to understand the basic structure of the language, study the words, and how those words are used in phrases, as well as the pronunciation. Having learned the basics, you try your hand at communicating, but at first, all you can manage are short phrases because you don't know how to put the words together in a complete sentence. For that, you need to study the rules and understand the subtle nuances of the language -- and then practice.

What to expect on the Examination
Most electrical exams will include questions on the NEC, general knowledge of electrical practice, theoretical questions, and questions on local ordinances. The questions on the NEC including rules and design calculations comprise from 70% to 80% of the exam.

The people compiling the examination maintain a bank of several hundred questions covering each test subject. Questions are selected at random. The format of the actual exam and the reference material allowed into the exam room may vary with each locality. Typically, an applicant is allowed six to eight hours to complete the exam. Applicants are usually required to report to the examination room at 8 a.m. where the proctors explain the rules of taking the exam. Once the exam begins it continues until lunch -- when there is usually an hour break.
Sometimes it may seem like several of the answers could be correct, but only one of them will be. Use the process of elimination to find the actual correct answer.

Tips on scoring higher A good way to score highly is to pace yourself. As the exam starts, take a few minutes to look over the number of questions given in the exam and figure out approximately how much time you will have to spend on each one. When answering the questions, if an answer you are not sure of, skip the question and move on. Once you complete all the questions in the exam booklet that you know the answers to, return to the difficult questions that you skipped. When you have finished these, take a few minutes to review all your answers.

Using this method should help you increase your score and keep you from fixating on one question while the time passes, and the exam ends, and you're not finished.

Anyone who installs wiring should consider making more money as a licensed electrician. You can find more helpful information on passing the electrician's exam by going to:http://www.electrician-exam.com/ .

Contracts that are Almost Legal in all 50 States

Browse the Web for “construction contracts” and you'll see braggadocio about some boilerplate contract being "legal in all 50 states."

Claims like this show up on Web sites run by savvy companies with good credentials -- who should know better than to make these claims. Every state has the right to set unique requirements for construction contracts. And nearly all have. It's simply foolish to claim any construction contract is "legal in all 50 states."

You can take this to the bank: There's no home improvement contract that's legal in all 50 states. I'll go one step further: There's no contract for residential construction that's legal in all 50 states. You won't even find a contract for commercial construction that's legal in most states. That's not the way it works.

Construction contract law varies from state to state the same way income tax law varies from state to state. Imagine the reaction if you tried to file a New York or Texas income tax return with the Montana Department of Revenue. You'd probably be breaking the law in two states.

It's the same with construction contracts. Nearly all states require specific disclosures, set unique limits or void certain types of clauses in construction contracts. No two states are alike. And most states impose heavy penalties for doing construction work under a contract that doesn't meet state code. Fines up to $1,000 are common, as is the threat of jail time.

Even if you aren't concerned about fines and jail time, consider the impact if you get into a dispute before collecting final payment. The attorney for your client won't be impressed with your "legal in all 50 states" contract. More likely, you'll discover that the contract is either partially or totally unenforceable under state law. Game over! You lose. Run, don't walk, to the nearest exit. You're not going to collect another dime on that contract. If opposing counsel is charitable, you'll escape discipline from the state board. Persist and you'll get an invitation to do the perp walk at a state hearing.

When you see the claim, "legal in all 50 states," I recommend thinking "probably not legal in any state." The latter is far more likely than the former.

So how do you judge if some boilerplate contract is legal? If you're paying the $10 to $150 that most vendors change for a download, you've got the right to know: Is it really legal in my state?

I can recommend a Web site. It's free. Construction-Contract.net has a good selection of state-specific home improvement, residential and commercial construction contracts. You can download the contracts in Rich Text format and change them on your word processor to fit the specifics of your job. Even better, the site lists laws in each state that set minimums for construction contracts. Before buying any boilerplate contract or contract package, compare what the law requires in your state with what the vendor is offering. If the vendor's contract comes up short, save your money.

California Accessibility Standards Define Litigous Grounds

Have you ever walked into a public restroom in California and wondered about the odd placement of a mirror on the wall or the unusual spacing of fixtures? If so, you’ve gotten a glimpse of what California builders, remodelers, owners, developers, architects, as well as planning and code officials, are required to address every time they build, remodel, or repair a public facility – any building open to the public.

By law, they must follow the most-current accessibility requirements in California’s Building Code (Title 24), the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG), and related materials. These California requirements, which are much stricter than those in the Federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), apply to all commercial and public buildings and public areas in the state. This includes restaurants, theaters, factories, hotels, motels, just to name a few.

These accessibility standards require that all members of the public, virtually without exception, have access. The design must be approved by local zoning boards before the plans are approved. Accessibility standards apply not only to new construction, but may be applied to remodeling or renovation of existing buildings.

The 2000 Census identified nearly 6.2 million Californians as having a disability. By the year 2010, this number is expected to increase to 11 million. California state government is responsible for providing service to all citizens, and accessibility laws ensure that these services are extended to those with disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 to improve access for the disabled to almost every public business. Buildings are required to have barrier-free entryways, toilet facilities designed for wheelchair access, signs in Braille, low countertops, obstacle-free passageways, reserved parking, and numerous other features. Despite the enactment of the ADA, many in the disabled community report that a majority of businesses have made little or no effort to comply with this 15-year-old law.

For this reason, many people with disabilities have made it their cause to ensure that the law is followed. While most disabled customers are motivated by a sincere desire to ensure access for all, there is a small group of opportunists who have partnered with a few law firms to track down and file suit against any business where they can find even the most trivial violation. These law firms appear to be responsible for the majority of ADA lawsuits – in fact, there have been over 1,000 ADA accessibility suits filed by just one plaintiff.

Maybe California’s fertile litigious society is providing fuel for this wildfire of lawsuits. Two California ADA statutes provide either $1,000 or $4,000 in minimum damages, plus attorney’s fees, for each successful claimant. An especially-aggressive claimant can maximize these awards by individually listing each condition he finds. Some file for damages against dozens of businesses at a time. This is the plight small business owners find themselves in. Many of them, when faced with such a lawsuit, end up just handing thousands in cash to the complainant, rather than fighting a court battle that will likely cost them even more.

Part of the problem is, ironically, that California’s standards are higher than those mandated by the Federal ADA. In some cases, state and federal regulations are in direct conflict. A business can follow ADA requirements to the letter and still be in violation of California law. It’s estimated that only 5 percent of California’s public buildings are in complete compliance.

Few building inspectors and architects are fully informed on every nuance of state compliance standards. The ADA and California requirements for building accessibility are given in intricate, technical detail in state pamphlets. However, without any illustrations or diagrams, where the contractor can see how to build to those requirements, many are just making their best guess. Add to the misinformation and flawed interpretation the law firms that make their fortunes by sending clients in wheelchairs to find accessibility violations, and you have a big problem for California businesses and the contractors who build for them.

There is a book that explains all of California's Accessibility Standards. It is filled with large, clear illustrations and descriptions on what is required to meet these standards. You can find it at:

http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&products_id=550

California Construction Contracts

What's required in a California Construction Contract?

A heck of a lot.

In 2006 California Construction Law changed and became much more complex. A California construction contract has to be in 10 point type, has to include the name and address of the owner, the contractor, and the lending agent, and the contractor's license number. It has to list the contract price, the downpayment, the estimated start and completion dates, the general liability insurance coverage, a note about how extra charges will be handled and a disclosure for the owner on Mechanic's Lien Waivers. This is just a start of the requirements.

For free California construction contracts that you can download and use go to:
http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=CA

For more easy-to-understand information on California construction contracts visit:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=3011099

Contractors Affected by Illinois Laws

New Illinois laws intended to protect homeowners are making it really tough on contractors.

The Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires that contractors provide a written contract for every residential remodeling or repair job over $1000. The contractor, as well as the homeowner, are required to sign and date a contract, as well as a State brochure Home Repair, Know Your Consumer Rights.

If contractors operate a business under an assumed name they're liable for a $2,500 fine and a year in prison. If contractors take on a home improvement project and don't finish it on time, the homeowner can demand a refund on any money paid. If the contractor doesn't pay this money, he faces a suspension of his business license and a fine up to $50,000.

Illinois contractors must be careful what they say to their customers. False promises can get them up to a year in jail under the new Illinois Home Repair Fraud Act (HRFA). Under this law contractors are also liable for making false excuses for non-performance, failing to employ qualified personnel (forget about your brother-in-law), or violating the building code.

What can contractors do to protect themselves? They can write contracts that comply with the State of Illinois requirements. Unfortunately, contracts that cover these requirements can't be found in the local stationary store. Contractor's can consult a lawyer and have a new contract drafted for each job -- but that's an expensive option for small remodeling contractors.

Only a few contract writing programs even offer options for these Illinois requirements. One of them, Construction Contract Writer contains all of the options needed to protect the contractor

as well as provide the ability to list and cover all the possible problem areas of the job -- before work begins. Contractors can find sample Illinois contracts that they can download and use for free at http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=IL.

New State Laws Effects on Construction Contracts

Construction Contracts –Unusual State Laws Stack the Deck Against Contractors

New state consumer-protection laws are making it really tough on contractors by requiring specific disclosures and statements in their home improvement and construction contracts. The days of “hand-shake” agreements, or boiler-plate contracts are over. Failure to include state-mandated disclosures or statements in a construction contract can result in fines, or make any construction contract null and void.

Most contractors may be unaware of these state changes in the laws affecting their construction and home-improvement contracts. Contractors typically run small businesses and put their emphasis on building to state codes rather than keeping track of legal changes required by state contract law. Many contractors still do business on a handshake or use a simple “boiler-plate” one-size-fits-all contract that may omit specific state requirements.

Some of the toughest states on construction contract requirements are Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Florida, California and Hawaii.

Pennsylvania requires that a long list of disclosures to appear in a construction contract – such as start and finish dates, names and addresses of subs, insurance coverage and a phone number for Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection. Omit these disclosures and your construction contract is unenforceable in Pennsylvania. Also, any Pennsylvania construction contract that includes one of the eleven clauses commonly found in most home improvement contracts, renders the contract unenforceable. Failure to comply is a misdemeanor – if the contract is for a small job under $2000. But if the job is a larger job – for over $2000, a violation is a felony. The only contract writing program I've found that contains the disclosures required by Pennsylvania law is Construction Contract Writer. http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_software_info&cPath=43&products_id=548.

I've also found that there are even free samples of the Pennsylvania contracts that you can download as RTF or PDF format at http://www.construction-contract.net/.

Texas requires that contractors deliver a 2-page disclosure statement before the construction contract is signed. Texas Property Code requires a notice in contracts for building or remodeling a residential property that qualifies as a homestead. Forget this notice and you are liable for up to three times the actual damages – plus attorney’s fees. Arbitration clauses in Texas construction contracts have to be in 10-point bold type, or they’re void. These type of stringent requirements are hard to find in most boiler plate contracts. You can find some free sample contracts made especially for Texas at http://www.construction-contract.net/. If you download the RTF format you can customize the contract in MS Word to fit your job requirements and be fairly confident that you're complying with Texas laws.

New York requires a long list of specific disclosures in contracts for home improvement, home repair, construction of custom homes contracts Failure to comply brings a fine of $100 to $2,500. If you head to http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=NY you'll find a plethora of contracts for home improvement, custom homes, public works, and more that you can customize for your needs with the help of your word processor.

New Jersey requires all home improvement contracts for more than $500 be in writing. Failure to comply can result in offering the property owner a full refund, or awarding three times any damages caused. What a pain. Every small job requires a contract. Luckily, there a number of these posted on the Web that you can customize on your computer. Find them at:

http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=NJ .

Florida requires a 3-day right to cancel in your contract or you’re subject to a $1000 fine. Omission of the construction industry recovery fund notice in a contract risks a $500 fine. Florida also requires that contractors update their license with additional study. You can avoid the fines listed above by using a free contract downloaded at:
http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=FL

California requires specific disclosures in every contract. Omit these disclosures and risk losing your contractor’s license. Without these specific disclosures, the contract becomes completely unenforceable. In fact, leaving out some disclosures can bring disciplinary action by the California State License Board. Yet, many contractors go blissfully on their way using boilerplate contracts from the stationary store -- not realizing that their license could be revoked should something go wrong. To get the disclosures you need to comply with California contract law go to: http://www.construction-contract.net/list.php?state=CA

How can contractors protect themselves? Many large construction companies hire or retain lawyers to keep their contracts within the legal boundaries of state law. Smaller contracting businesses may just try and keep the customer happy to avoid trouble and potential disagreements. This may work if you don't mind working for free. Chances are, some day you'll do a job for the customer who knows contract law, or consumer protection law, a little bit better than you. Hopefully, they won't use that knowledge as leverage to take advantage of your laxness in not keeping your contracts current with your state laws.

My mom used to tell me that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. Keeping your construction contracts current with your state's consumer protection acts may save you plenty.

Renovate an Older Home For Less

Renovate an Older Home for Less

Renovating an older home doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. There are many parts that the astute contractor or remodeler can fix, patch and re-use in renovating. This is often called "maximum value remodeling". By keeping your overhead low you can practically guarantee your profit. If you are renovating or remodeling the home as a spec project it is in your interest to keep costs low. If you have a homeowner who wants to update every fixture, it may be more difficult to keep costs low as they may not care for the "rustic" look.

A great, but somewhat unknown book Renovating & Restyling Older Homes explains for the spec remodeler how to inspect the exterior, interior, plumbing, electrical and heating systems of an older home so that you understand just what you're getting into before you buy an older home for renovating and repair.

Then there are the great chapters on repairing -- along with the author's own antedocal stories of his encounters in dealing with mysterious problems in renovating . There are chapters covering emergency repairs such as gas leaks, plumbing leaks, and electrical problems. Then the book goes on to explain how to repair roof and siding problems, then window and door repair -- yes repair, not replacement! When was the last time you repaired a window or door? This book shows you how to make an old one-of-a-kind junk door look brand new.

Then it covers complete porch repair, garage repair, plumbing and electrical repair, and finally a huge chapter on repairing concrete work, foundations and drainage problems. It also explains how to easily solve structural problems that other builders will roll their eyebrows and run away from. It shows how to repair floors, and walls and ceilings. It even covers how to remodel an old bathroom without replacing the fixtures. Special chapters show how to rework Victorian and Craftsman style homes.

The author of this little gem actually makes a living buying and renovating older homes so he has put to use all the tips he spells out here in his book. These are tried and proven techniques to help any contractor or spec renovator save money.

The book can be found at http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&cPath=19&products_id=136

Check out the table of contents or a sample chapter. I think you'll agree.

Estimating Home Improvement Work

Estimating Home Improvement

Estimating home improvement costs requires specialized skills. You just can't price home improvement work the same way you'd price new construction. The proportion of labor expense is greater. There's far more risk in estimating costs as there are more varibles and unknowns. For example:

Hanging doors in new construction is a 1-2-3 affair. You know ahead of time exactly what's required. You can buy pre-hung doors and cut your labor costs significantly. If your framer did a good job, installing the door should only take an hour or two.

However, if you are removing an old door and installing a new as in home improvement work, chances are the homeowner will want to to install the doors into the existing jambs. The frame may have shifted or gotten out of square over the years requiring extra time to re-plane the new door to fit, and what happens if you discover termites or wood damage in the frame. The job can easily take half a day. With so many unknowns you can easily see why it's hard to estimate the cost of home improvement jobs.

A great book that may help you estimate home improvement work is the National Home Improvement Estimator. It includes the prices of just about every item you could ever run into in a home improvement job and gives the price of the item as well as a labor cost for installing the item. You can find more information at http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&cPath=22&products_id=174

Painting Rooms

Painting Rooms

Painting rooms can present some of the most boring work imaginable. As a professional house painter I've painted a lot of boring rooms. In this post I’ll try and share some tricks I learned to help you almost enjoy painting rooms.

1. Always, always, have the woman of the house decide on the color. No matter how it looks to us men, women notice the subtle variations of colors in other people’s home. Thay are often likely to be anxious to apply those colors to your own rooms. So empower them here — or pay the price and paint the room twice! If the color combination they chose appears really wacky, find one on those little card board sheets at the hardware store where you’ll be buying the paint. The little samples often show recommended color combinations. While these recommendations may not be entirely original original, they’re usually proven as esthetically-pleasing combinations. And are great tools for supporting an argument against an “unproven” color combination. Painting rooms is not fun but painting a room over is even less fun.

2. Prepare the surface and the floor of the room you're going to paint. If you are painting over semigloss paint (usually used on trim, kitchens, and bathrooms) wash the surface of the wall or trim with TSP. It eliminates grease as well as etching the surface of the old paint. It’s great for preparing kitchens — where grease has a tendency to stay in hard to reach corners.

If you feel like you’d like a little more stick power, a fine sandpaper can be used to help prepare the surface of the room. Sand paper is especially good on preparing doors for painting as they are large and flat. Once you’ve sanded or TSP’d your surfaces, you’ll need to take those hard-to-get areas where you just know that you’ll be making a mess. Be careful with the tape. It can make the job better — or a whole lot worse — especially if you are trying to create a smooth seam from one color to another. Sometimes a good sash brush is a whole lot better for making a sharp edge than taping and untaping a wall only to find that the paint bled under it.

3. Use a good drop cloth. Sometimes buying the cheapest, thinest plastic is not the best idea. You might actually be better off with newspapers. Cheap plastic is slippery and rips easily and if you’re not careful you’ll fall on your ass. Good cloth drop cloths can be used over and over and show that you care to buy the best because you're a professional. Cover the floor of the entire room, you don't want anyone to find dried paint somewhere on a nice rug after you've painted the room and left.

4. Buy the very best paint. Buying cheap paint usually means that you’ll be struggling to cover, and often painting the same room twice. The job is not much fun the first time, and usually gets worse as it ages. If you have bid the job in advance you don't want to be working for free. Best to paint the room with one coat by buying the best quality paint.

5. Tools: at least one good 4" brush (expect to spend around $10), as well as one really good sash brush (ditto). A weenie roller and tray for painting in small places and “in place” hanging doors. Buy a traditional roller with an extention pole for walls and ceilings. A ladder for ceiling sash work and hard to get corners of the room.

6. Making work pleasureable: Get a boom box portable style radio and either find music on the radio that you enjoy and can sing to, or play CD’s that you haven’t heard in a while. The importance of music is that it helps to relax and ease your mind during difficult and boring painting jobs like painting rooms. Avoid alcohol or coffee. One makes you sloppy and one makes you jittery. That’s not where you want to be while painting rooms. It's not professional and it's really not as fun as it may seem.

7. Get a helper to lay down the paint in front of you.You can finish up behind him and get what he misses. This pushes him to work faster and you to keep up with him while finishing up. It creates comradarie and you'll enjoy the work more when you have someone's mistakes to criticize and fix up. It also helps you paint rooms a lot faster than you would otherwise.

8. Prepare your work ahead of time, look over the room before you begin and see the completly painted room in your mind’s eye. Know that you can do it within the time frame you've bidded on. Anyone can paint. But not everyone can paint well and enjoy it!

If you want to check on painting prices for different types of paint and room sizes, check out the website http://www.get-a-quote.net for free prices. Select "painting" from the drop down menu and check the estimates for painting rooms.

Painting Doors -- Estimated Time

Painting Doors -- Estimated Time
Painting interior doors can be quick or slow, depending on the painter, the quality of paint, and the type of door to be painted. How can you accurately estimate the time? According to the manhours listed in the 2005 National Painting Cost Estimator painting an interior flush door should take 12 to 25 minutes per coat. This is probably a good rule of thumb. Remember though most doors seem to require two coats of paint to thoroughly cover. The tack coat on a door should also be counted as a "coat" as it requires the same amount of time.

The figure of 12 to 25 minutes is for painting all six sides of the door, doesn't include prep or masking time. This figure is for painting flush doors with a brush and roller. For spraying doors, the time goes down to around 5 minutes per door. That time doesn't include the time of cleaning out the sprayer or eliminating clogs that plug the spray head. French doors it should take from 15 to 28 minutes per coat to paint by roller or brush. Louvered doors should take from 22 to 30 minutes per coat. No estimate is perfect, and everyone works at a different level of speed. These figures are supposedly actual estimates from painters who paint doors for a living and should give you some kind of a estimated time baseline as to what you can expect painting doors to actually take.

Construction Costbooks -- Why Use Them?

Why use construction costbooks?

After all, the most accurate construction prices will be based on the manhours our own crews or subs used in the past. If we keep these construction costs we should be able to make accurate estimates of future costs -- provided that material prices haven't increased significantly and that crews productivity is the same.

But if you bid on a job that you've never done before then it becomes trickier. Instead of pulling figures from your head on what you think it might take, take a look at a few figures from a published construction costbook. Usually they breakout material costs, labor costs, and a total installed cost. See how they compare on jobs you have already done before before. If the prices are on the high side you can pretty much guess that the jobs you have no comparison for will be on the high side also.

You can find construction costbooks at most major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble. There are many types of constuction costbooks -- some for general construction, some for remodeling. Publishers include Saylor, Means, Craftsman and BNI. Usually, these books are published yearly. You can view the contents of the Saylor costbooks online at http://www.saylor.com The craftsman costbooks can be viewed at http://www.get-a-quote.net .

Site License -- What the heck is it?

There's been a lot of hoopala lately on site licenses. Many of us may not even know what the heck a site license is. It sounds like a driver's license for a web site.

Generally, a site license is a license to download software for multiple users at a discount. Most software manufacturers offer some form of a software license. Microsoft offers one, Adobe offers one and even Craftsman Book Company offers a site license.

The downside of a site license is that if your computer crashes you will have to look up your license to download the software again and it may be more troublesome and timestaking than just sticking in a CD-ROM with the program on it. But sometimes you can save plenty by purchasing a site license. It's worth looking into if you want to save money or if you have a group of people who want to use the same software program.

For more information check the website http://www.sitelicense.net It explains the site license in more detail.

Keeping Good Subcontractors

Most of the subs I've worked with are like brothers to me. I can count on them to be there when I need them and to get the job done for the price they've bid, and within the time frame they claimed it would take them to finish.

I can also count on their work to be top-notch. Nothing is worse than an electrician who skimps on material resulting in problems a month later. Or a foundation sub who hasn't figured out the access resulting in the concrete arriving late to the site and a cold joint forming in the foundation. Or a carpenter who fights the code inspector in the expansion requirements on roof sheathing.

Solving these types of construction problems always create headaches and take you away from creating or bidding on new jobs. Plus there's the added embarresment factor if a homeowner gets involved.

Keeping the best subcontractors means paying them on time, when the job is complete. And showing them how much you appreciate the work they've done. Take the time to point out where they used ingenuity to ocercome a problem and acknowledging their creativity. It'll go a long way towards the next job you have them bid on -- especially if they remember you as the one who noticed something special about their work.

Electrician's Exam

Electrician's Exam

If you've been installing electrical systems as an apprentice, helper, or unlicensed electrician, you may want to consider becoming a licensed electrician. More and more states are requiring licensing for electricians, and to become licensed you usually have to pass an electrician's exam. You can find the requirements for your state at http://www.contractors-license.org Just click on the state to find the licensing requirements and the electrician's exam requirements, where to apply for the exam, and what study materials you'll need.

There is also an excellent book with over 1000 typical questions from electrician's exams. It covers questions on electrical systems, electrical calculations, branch circuits and feeders, electric services, distribution equipment, overcurrent protection, measuring and testing, electric motors and controls, transformers and capacitors, electrical drawings and more. It also contains an interactive CD-ROM that gives electrician's the questions for the exam on the computer. They claim that the book is guaranteed to help you pass the electrician's exam or you get your money back. Not a bad deal for $39.50. You can find it at: http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&cPath=10&products_id=210

Studying for an electrician's exam is never fun, but with the help of a book and an interactive CD asking the questions, it can become less of a chore and help to prepare you to pass the actual exam.

Markup and Profit

Markup and Profit

A typical formula for a contractors markup to apply to all your construction jobs, according to the book Markup & Profit: A Contactor's Guide is: Markup = Total Volume Sold divided by job costs. This is supposedly a time-tested formula that's been proven again and again.

To establish an effective markup, you need to combine your job costs, your overhead and your profit into one final figure called "Sales Price" or "Volume Sold".

Use that figure to come up with a markup that's right for your business. Then use the markup number you arrive at. The trick is to use the number that you arrive at on all jobs -- if you want to make a profit and stay in business.

To find out more, check out the book. It tells how to understand markup, write contracts, how to establish markup, sliding scale markup, problems to watch out for in markup and much more.

You can find it here. http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&cPath=4&products_id=117

Free Construction Legal Forms

FREE Construction Legal Forms

Free Construction legal forms and contracts for contractors exist out there on the Web. You just have to know where to find them.

If you're looking for free construction forms that include the following:
Contract to Build a House
Lein Waiver
Notice of Commencement to Start Work
Addendum to Contract
Notice of Intent to Stop Work
then check out the little-known part of the craftsman website: http://craftsman-book.com/downloads/download.php?download_id=5

These construction legal forms and contracts were written by a lawyer and author: Quenda Behler Story, who has written many legal articles for Journal of Light Construction Online: http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconline.storefront . She also wrote a book filled with legal advice for contractors titled Contractor's Plain-English Legal Guide http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_info&cPath=15&products_id=72 The book also contains a CD-ROM filled with legal forms and contracts that you can load on your conputer and use at will to protect yourself and your business.

Construction Estimating

Construction Estimating

Good construction estimating is being thorough. Always check over your plans for things ommited by carelessness, or mistakes the designer may have included. Begin estimating in your mind-- step-by-step, as though your crews were about to do the work. It's good practice to write everything down as you follow through the sequence from the ground up. Imagine each construction task and the time it would take your crew to complete it. Make notes of any complications or areas likely to bog you down.

If you are remodeling or doing insurance repair work, construction is likely to start with removing or demolition. Are you going to be able to salvage any materials? Are you providing hauling or a dumpster?

If you are replacing you'll need to figure the amounts of material from the estimate. Calculate the lineal and square foot measurements. Many online pricing services can give you replacement material prices at no charge. Check out http://www.get-a-quote.net . Here you'll find prices for just about all materials you'll need on most construction or remodeling jobs. Of course, you can always call your local building material dealer and get a quote over the phone. But if you are like most of us, your construction estimating may be getting done after your building material dealer has gone home for the day.

Another site I've found with construction estimating software at a great price is http://www.craftsmansitelicense.com . It does cost about $55. But offers the best buy on construction software I've seen. The program is a little clunky, but the construction database is top notch and abundant. Just about any job your likely to tackle has been estimated there. I've even heard that they have plans for creating a back up disk with everything the download offers for only $10 -- to people who have already downloaded the program.