Interviewing Your Contractor: Get It Right! It’s a bold title, and it’s meant to get your attention. There are a lot of fly-by-night contractors around. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories. But at the same time, there are also some very good contractors in business with an ongoing commitment to quality construction and good customer service. You just have to know how to find them.

The purpose of this guidebook is to start your process of selecting a contractor that will give you what you want and need.

Virtually all homeowners approach the contractor selection process with anxiety and dread. Some feel prospective contractors won’t be completely honest about cost and worry about being tempted by appealing promises or low-ball estimates. The abundance and variety of construction horror stories leads others to believe Continue reading →

Simple & Easy Home Maintenance Tips

There’s an old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is especially true in your home. Preventative maintenance takes just a few minutes of time, but can keep your family safe and minimize costly repairs in the future. If you want to avoid unpleasant situations like a flooded laundry room or a thermostat that roasts or freezes everyone inside, check out these easy tips, compiled as part of Professional Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractor Awareness Week:

Toilet:

• Is your toilet leaking? To find out, add a small Continue reading →

Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, toxic gas created when fossil fuels are not burned completely. Causes of CO-related incidents can include blocked furnace/boiler vents and chimneys or improperly adjusted or inadequately maintained appliances.

Warning signs of CO in your home Continue reading →

LESS THAN 1% OF ALL WATER ON PLANET EARTH IS READILY AVAILABLE FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Water conservation is everybody’s responsibility. Here are a few sobering statistics:

• Of all water on earth, 97.5% is salt water, and of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, some 70% is frozen in the polar icecaps. The other 30% is mostly present as soil moisture or lies in underground aquifers. In the end, less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily Continue reading →