“What You Should Know Before Hiring Any Contractor!!!”

Roofing is Not Brain Surgery. There are many Wrong ways to roof a house. But…There is only…One “Right Way”, By Following All of the Manufacturers Specifications.

Over 90 % of All Roofs Done - DO NOT Qualify for the Manufacturers Long Term Warranty!!!

( According to studies by GAF Roofing Corp., Air Vent Inc., & Alcoa, etc… )

10 Tips On “What You Should Know Before Hiring Any Contractor!!!”

By: Ed the Roofer

1) RELIABILITY: Verify that the contractor you call has been in business in your area for At Least 10 Years. Over 85 % of all roofing contractors are out of business in less than 5 years, way before the warranty expires and before many roofing problems begin to show up and cause problems. 85 % of those remaining do not last till the 10th year. (Department of Labor Statistics)

2) INTERVIEW: Make time to meet with any contractor you call, in person, at your home to review the proposal and detailed specifications. Try to select a Knowledgeable, Organized, Experienced, and Locally Established contractor who will take a personal interest in your roofing project. Choose one who has an established track record of many similar roofing projects done in your local area. If they will farm out your roofing job to an unknown subcontractor, you should interview them as well.

3) REFERENCES: Insist on a minimum of at least 20 - 50 recent job references & also several from each year they say they were in business. Ask for customer testimonials. Drive past several of the jobs to check for proper venting, flashing details, and general appearance. Ask previous customers if they were satisfied and if they would use them again. Contact your local building inspector for verification. Be wary if all of the references are very recent. Check out their work from several years previous.

4) BUYER BEWARE: Be suspicious if any contractor requires you to get the roofing permit. The party who applies for the permit is responsible for building code compliance. What happens when the roofing specs do not conform to the local codes? Why won’t they be responsible for it? Also, Do Not Ever pay more than 50 % when paying a deposit.

5) ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER: Make sure that the contractor actually has a physical location that you can find if you need to locate them in the future, not just a mailbox etc., drop box. Do they have an actual office and material storage shop or just work out of the back of their pickup truck. Make sure they have an actual local telephone # and not just a cell phone. When problems occur, it is much easier to find someone if you already know how to, in advance. Check out his driver's license address.

6) LICENSE, INSURANCE AND BONDS: Insist on receiving a copy of the Contractors State of Illinois Roofing License, General Liability Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance and their Roofing Bond. Don’t just assume they have it because they tell you so. They should have enough pride in themselves to include a copy for each customer.

7) PROPOSAL AND/OR CONTRACT: Insist on a very thorough and detailed written proposal and examine it for complete descriptions of the work and specifications, including approximate length of the job and payment procedures. Verbal agreements should be added to the written agreement. You MUST, by law, be advised in writing of your 3-Day “Right To Rescind” if you change your mind and receive all of your deposit money refunded to you.

8) EMPLOYEES OR SUB-CONTRACTORS: If your contractor farms out the job to a sub-contracting crew, they too must supply you with their Roofing License, General Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance and Roofing Bond. If they don’t and someone gets hurt, you may be liable. The sub-contractor should be interviewed as well. Dedicated trained experienced Employees are more desirable due to continuing training and experience rather than the lowest paid new start-up subcontractor.

9) CONTRACTOR TRADE ASSOCIATIONS: Quality control begins with dedication, the amount of proper knowledge and previous training from past projects and from advanced learning through many contractor trade associations. Memberships in any related trade association and certificates of completion from manufacturer’s product training classes authenticate the more dedicated professional.

10) USE YOUR NOGGIN: 85 % of all construction lawsuits involve roofing related problems. You only have one chance to make the “Right 1st Choice”. If one contractor tells you something extremely different than another contractor, then, either do your own research, or have the contractor provide documentation to justify and support his analysis, especially about Intake & Exhaust Ventilation, Plywood vs. OSB Particle Board, Ice & Water Shield & Flashings.

You need to be concerned with the initial price only once… But you are going to be  concerned about Quality…for many years to come!!!

Ed is the owner of:

Right Way Roofing Company

The Impact a tool can have!

It seems like there are new tools coming out every day. How are we to know what is a good buy and what is going to sit on the shelf laughing at us as it collects dust and rusts away. Tasks & Tools is here to help.

The question is what tool is the next to invest in? Let's first list a few tools that are must haves for home maintenance and repair.

Hand Tools:

• Set of screwdrivers (Philips, Flat and Torx)
• Set of Allen Keys (Great for putting together furniture and toys)
• Framing Hammer
• Tack Hammer
• Socket Set (Metric and Standard)
• Wrenches (Metric and Standard)
• 12' Tape Measure
• 25' Tape Measure
• Torpedo Level, 2' and 4' Level
• Pliers, Needle Nose Pliers and Channel Locks
• Diagonal Cutters, Tin Snips, Wire Strippers and Scissors
• Hand Saw, Coping Saw, Drywall Saw (Key Hole Saw) and Hack Saw

Power Tools:

• Circular Saw
• Jig Saw
• Corded 1/2" Drill
• Cordless Drill (Min 12v)
• Palm Sander
• Disc Sander
• Belt Sander

What next? How about a cordless impact drill? I know what you are thinking, they are too expensive, and I already have a cordless drill. Why do I need an impact drill?

The impact driver is one of the most valuable tools made today. A drill /driver is made to do two things, drill and drive. One of which does it well, and the other it gets the job done. An impact driver does one thing and it does it well, driving fasteners.

There are three factors that make it such a great additional to the home tool box, power, diversity and size.

The power, also known as torque, is double or even tripled in some impacts versus there drill counterparts. What does this mean to you? There is something called camming out. It simply refers to that annoying skip that our bits make when it falls out of the screw head and can strip the screw head. Camming out can happen when the bit is not in line with the fastener, not enough pressure is applied to the tool, or the screw has torqued out in the material it is being driven into. Impact drills use a cam system to create a hammer like action to assist in driving fasteners. This action reduces the amount of force needed by the operator to drive the fastener. This  also reduces the speed of the driver, thus reducing the amount of cam out that can occur.

Diversity is also a great benefit. Impact drivers allow you to drive anything from a #8 drywall screw to a 1/2" lag bolt in a variety of materials. Most drills do not have the power to drive this range of fasteners.

Impacts are also much smaller than drills. This allows you to drive fasteners in areas that drills just cannot go. How often have you only been able to get one hand in a confined space, but just couldn't get the drill in the space to get the fastener driven all of the way in. Impacts are small and easy to use with one hand in most applications.

You can pick up a good impact from any home improvement warehouse starting at $150. An impact driver and drill combo kit can save you several hundred dollars. You also will have two tools that run off of the same batteries. Choose one of the top brands such as DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Rigid or Bosch. These companies make their products to last. Most design them to be used by contractors, so they are built job site tough.

Also look for the new all in one impact/drill combo tool. There is a selector switch that allows one to choose drill or impact. It's the best of both worlds. The only issues that I see with this design is if your impact driver breaks, the drill goes along with it.

If you have more questions concerning impact drivers, visit your local tool dealer or home improvement warehouse.

Storage Space?

Well January is over, and before we know it, Spring will be here. With all the stuff that we got at Christmas and with the way things pile up throughout winter, it is time to think Spring Cleaning and Organization. Why do you want to spend the first warm days of Spring cleaning and organizing? Start today. Here are a few tips on getting started.

Inventory

What do you have? Begin by splitting your list up into three categories: "REGULAR USE"; "SEASONAL USE" and "I didn't know that I had that?"

• "REGULAR USE" is anything that you use on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. These items need to be readily available. So you will want to organize these items last.

• "SEASONAL USE" are items that you bring out for the holidays, seasonal sports, and other annual activities. These items need to be stored out of the way, but organized and accessible. You don't want to have to move a thousands boxes to get at the Christmas decorations every year, but you also don't want to look at them in July.

• "I didn't know that I had that?": And the last category are the items that you forgot you had but you are not sure what to do with them.

Organize

Once everything is separated into categories its time to organize. This is the most difficult part of the process.

• First: Go through the "I didn't know that I had that?" pile and begin to remove your clutter. Separate these into two categories: "KEEP" and "DON'T KEEP".
• Second: Take the "DON'T KEEP" items and determine if each items is in good enough shape to donate to a local charity or needs to head to the dump or recycling center.
• Third: Take your "KEEP" items and sort them out into "REGULAR USE" and "SEASONAL USE"
• Lastly: Organize your "REGULAR USE" and "SEASONAL USE" items into categories such as:

• Outdoor
• Fun
• Work

• Indoor
• Fun
• Work

And in each category further separate as needed. You may want to separate your seasonal items into the four seasons. (If you are lucky enough to have four seasons.)

Storage

This is my favorite part of the process. It is where you will begin to see the most progress and finally see the end.

You now need to ask yourself where am I going to store all of these items. My advice is to first exam your home and property for storage areas.

1. Attic
2. Basement
3. Closets
4. Garage
5. Shed or other Out Buildings
6. Public Storage
   

Each area will have unique storage characteristics which need to be considered when choosing a storage location. Here are a few tips and hazards to keep in mind;

1. Do not store items that are sensitive to high or low temperatures in areas that are not climate controlled. If you have a lot of Christmas candles, you do not want to store them in: the garage, attic, shed or non climate controlled public storage. Chemicals should be stored in the garage and or shed where there is a lot of ventilation.
2. Make sure that your attic is set up for storage. You do not want to disturb insulation or air flow in your attic. This can cause severe damage to your roof. Do not install boards or sheets of plywood that will compress your insulation.
3. Consider a shed to store out of season items as well as your lawn maintenance equipment. This will free your garage from unnecessary clutter throughout the year and restore it to it's designed purpose.
4. Basements are a great storage location. You will want to make sure that you run a dehumidifier in humid climates in order to reduce the chance of mold and mildew on your storage items. 
5. Rubber and plastic storage bins are your friend. They are easy to stack and maneuver when trying to organize and utilize your storage space. Labeling is as easy as masking tape and a permanent marker. These containers will also help keep your items protected in case of a small flood or water damage.

I hope that this article has helped you in your quest to stay organized and clutter free.

Rob Estoll

Task and Tools Blog