On September 5, 1882, some 10,000 workers assembled in New York City to participate in America's first Labor Day parade. Originally, it was viewed by many not only as a means to celebrate their accomplishments, but also as a day to air their grievances, discuss strategies for securing not only better but also safer working conditions for everyone. Fast forward, a hundred plus years and many simply see Labor Day as the end of summer and the start of football seaso

Hurricane Season - 5 Steps to being prepared

Today is the start of Hurricane Season that has been predicted to be busier than usual. Based on the ocean temperatures and the changing weather conditions, they might just be right this year. With that in mind, below is our 5 steps to being prepared. If you happen to own pets, we added an additional bonus step just for them. While this list is geared for those faced with hurricane evacuations, this is a good list for anyone that may be in areas that maybe affected by ea

September and Early Fall Maintenance Checklist

Summer is slowly winding down; the dog days of August are quickly going to fade into a distant memory as the leaves start changing. The kids are back in school, which gives you some time to make sure that your home is ready for the winter. Why worry about it, fall doesn't officially start until the 22nd right? Well starting next month, you are probably going to end up wanting to use your heater for the first time this season when the Average Minimum Temperature at night

There’s no such thing as a free lunch – Roofing

Knock, knock – Hello? Hi, I’m Mike & we were just looking at your neighbors’ roof and thought we spotted some damage to yours, would you mind if we performed a free roof inspection? It will only take a few minutes, you see we do lots of insurance repair jobs and most of the time we can get you a completely new roof and it won’t even cost you a cent. Really, why that sounds great. (Man, this must be my lucky day)… What’s even better is we have contrac

Renovations & Insurance - What is covered & what isn't

The idea that an article like this was needed was made abundantly clear to me on a recent project I completed. This project required us to completely remove and reframe an existing roof, while leaving the existing walls & floors untouched. During the consultation phase of this project, we covered all the normal items like material choices, options, budget, contractors insurance, the necessity of them reviewing their insurance policy, etc... They were quite shocked on

25 Conservation Tips & Tricks

In our last article, “Energy Efficiency vs. Conservation – what is the real issue?” we covered plenty of the issues that involve your actual house while it is being worked on. While we have also had several articles on making your house more energy efficient, money saving tips & tricks, air sealing, green cleaning, and many others, we have not had an article on just conservation. In order to rectify that, and seeing everyone likes top ten articles, etc... we wo

Energy Efficiency vs. Conservation – what is the real issue?

I have to admit, I was originally confused by some of the attitudes or opinions given about those in the Energy Efficiency fields. I grant you that there are quite a few individuals in the green community that are five cans shy of a six pack, but the following quotes come from some of the “respected” experts. One of my favorite quotes is, “What an awesome presentation! I called Energy Efficiency fanatics "the Sith Lords of Green building"!” Another one is, “T

Designing your Dream Kitchen – One common mistake you can easily avoid

Wow, what in the world is that? Well, before we get to that, I would like to first thank Bill Conley from Northwest Kitchen & Bath in Tacoma Washington for allowing us to repost these pictures. These are pictures he took at a homeowner’s house that wanted a new kitchen. She had apparently spent a lot of time reading articles on kitchen design and she followed one of the best pieces of advice we can give anyone – create a mock up. I have to admit, I am impressed b

Tag Archives: Legal Requirements

LEAD, the EPA, and You – The Process of Remodeling a pre 1978 house

By Sean | Published: December 16, 2009

In the prior two articles on the new EPA Rules on Lead aka RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) rule being implemented by the EPA, we covered the Renovate Right brochure and a quick primer on the EPA’s RRP requirements. In this article, we are going to delve into the typical process that must be followed
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Posted in EPA Lead Regulations | Also tagged Certified Lead Renovator, EPA RRP Rule, Lead Regulations | 15 Comments

LEAD, the EPA, and You – a quick primer for Home Owners, Rental Owners, and Contractor’s regarding Renovation’s of pre-1978 houses

By Sean | Published: December 11, 2009

As I mentioned in a prior article, the EPA has released new regulations concerning LEAD in houses built before 1978. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of confusion out there on the subject and many contractors still don’t know this is coming. One quick example involves an ADECA class on weatherization projects for the Department
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Posted in EPA Lead Regulations | Also tagged Certified Lead Renovator, EPA RRP Rule, Lead Regulations | 16 Comments

Another hotel, another city – Why?

By Sean | Published: December 7, 2009

Well, here I am sitting in another hotel room. Why? Two words – Continuing Education; this time I am down here in Montgomery to take a three-day class on Weatherization. Back in October, I was in Indianapolis to take a government mandated Lead class and to attend the Remodeling & Deck Expo. Then there were
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Posted in General Articles | Also tagged Consumer Awareness, Education, Lead Regulations | 9 Comments

EPA Lead notice requirements for houses built before 1978

By Sean | Published: December 8, 2008

Effective Dec. 22nd, 2008, federal law requires that individuals receive certain information before renovating six square feet or more of painted surfaces in a room for interior projects or more than twenty square feet of painted surfaces for exterior projects in housing
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Posted in EPA Lead Regulations | Also tagged Consumer Awareness, EPA RRP Rule, Lead Regulations | Comments closed

Labor Day Safety