Q. Speed bumps, and I need some advice. Here's the short of it: I hired a company to do my remodel job, siding, windows, new roof, new heat and air unit, remodel kitchen, bath, refinish hardwood floors, and lay new tile throughout. I do not have to sign anything or pay anything until all work is complete. The hardwood floors looked like kids finger painted them, literally, and the kitchen cabinets looked almost as bad. The only thing I was happy with was the siding, windows, roof, and the central h/a unit. So, they agreed to redo the floors, and said the kitchen cabinets would have to be painted instead of stained and varnished for some reason. I really didn't want to paint the cabinets but finally agreed, and picked a color. I had already chosen my tile floors, and couldn't change that, my walls were already painted and didn't want to change that, and the new countertops were in place and I was happy with them. So I was just hoping the color I chose for the cabinets would blend. Luckily, it did, but they hung some of the cabinet doors wrong, to open the wrong way, and a corner door especially won't open because of the handle on it. It should open from the other side. When they were redoing the wood floors, the sander was parked in a corner and must have been hot because in the night, a fire started and burnt through the wood floor. Now, the floor had to be replaced. The wood floors look beautiful this time around. They had to hire another crew to redo them. The tile floors look great. But, they still have so much to do. A few kitchen cabinets are missing. Pulls on some of them are missing. Some are still hung crooked. They need to finish placing the sinks and toilet in the bath. The kitchen sink is yet to be installed. They haven't even wiped the walls down from the soot from the fire, and the walls that the sander was parked by when it burned need to be sanded and repainted. The contractor is pushing me to sign and saying, "These are minor details, and we can finish them after you move in." On top of all this, I was told we would be in the house by Dec 1, and told it was safe to give my notice at my apartment. I gave a tentative notice, which my apt. mgr. interpreted as a final notice. The fire happened on Nov. 28, and when I went to tell them I needed to stay at least another month, I was told I had two days to move. So my kids and I moved our belongings into a rental storage and moved into a motel. The remodel company is paying for this. My legal question is: If I move into the house unfinished, am I in a way saying I accept it as it is? and if they do not finish it, can I do anything? OR Should I refuse to move in until it is complete, and demand that they continue to pay for our present accomodations, which are really pathetic, considering it is Christmas? Should I contact my attorney, and let them know we will do what we have to do to get the job done? We are having to eat out every meal, and the room is getting smaller every day!! HELP! What should I do?!

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Q. Can you give me practical tips on selecting and dealing with contractors: carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc.? This is for house renovations, not new construction.

A. 8 Tips for Dealing With Contractors There seems to be a communication gap between homeowners and their contractors. Too often, homeowners are suspicious of contractors, worrying that they're about to be taken advantage of. Meanwhile, contractors have been known to roll their eyes at the naïveté of some of their clients. Both parties could benefit from trying to speak the same language. Here are a few tips for dealing with contractors and home improvements -- they may help you when it comes time to repair or renovate your home. 1. Know what you want This is critical. Too many people sign up with a contractor to have a certain job done, but in the middle of the job, they realize that they want something else. Maybe they wanted to expand a living room, for example, but later decide they'd rather devote some of the new space to an expanded kitchen. That's a big deal, and can wreak havoc in a contractor's plans, perhaps causing him to have to undo some of what he's done, or to spend more time than he'd budgeted on your home. It can also end up costing you a lot more than it would have if you'd been more sure of what you wanted at the outset. 2. Expect messes, then work to minimize them Contractors often scratch their heads when they run across clients who are surprised that working on a house can be messy. ("How come there's so much dust?") If you're going to have work done on your house, take some time to find out from your contractor what you can expect, mess-wise, and how you should prepare the work areas. You'll save yourself from some unpleasant surprises and you can minimize the pain, too. For example, if a wall is going to be torn down, you can prepare for that by removing as many objects in the room as possible and covering as many things in that room and nearby rooms as you can. (Clouds of dust don't know to stop at thresholds.) You might also want to find out ahead of time about any safety issues. When certain kinds of work are done, there may be fumes or dust that's best to stay away from. If you have asthma, for instance (and even if you don't), you might want to sleep somewhere else for a few nights while some work is being finished. 3. Don't assume the world revolves around you It's easy to forget that the world doesn't revolve around us, but trust me, when it comes to home repairs and renovations, you're probably not the only client in your contractor's life. Some contractors may be able to work only for one client at a time, but many will be juggling a few while they work for you. Part of the reason for this is that they may have promised to start work somewhere at a certain time, while work at another site has dragged on a bit longer than originally expected. Think about this: If your contractor is a cooperative one, she might oblige you when you enlarge the scope of the job over time. ("Actually, we now think we'd like a new sink as well as a new toilet." "Before you paint, could you change all those light fixtures?") But if she's doing this for you, she's probably doing the same for other clients -- and that can consume extra time. 4. Be prepared for delays Have you been watching a lot of HGTV? If you're a devotee of the many home-improvement television programs out there, don't let them lead you to believe that major projects can be completed in half an hour -- or even a day. And remember that on these programs, the craftspeople often have plenty of assistants working with and for them, behind the scenes. Simply installing a door or sink can take much of a day if there are a few unexpected developments, which isn't unusual. Don't forget the role of weather in all this, as well. If you're having outdoor work done, rainy days will likely delay things. Temperatures also matter -- it might be too cold to paint, for example. Even indoor work can have such delays -- sometimes wood that gets installed indoors (floors, cabinets, etc.) needs time to dry out or warm up or otherwise get comfortable before being locked in place. A final timing consideration is one of language. Make sure you're on the same page with your contractor. If he estimates that the job will take "10 days," don't assume that that means two weeks. It could end up taking 10 days of work over the course of a month, due to the weather or the contractor's schedule. 5. Your help can hurt Sometimes clients like to hang around contractors while work is being done, helping out. This can be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing. Find out from the contractor exactly what kind of help is and isn't welcome. If a floor is being torn up, you might offer your brute strength in tearing up some tiles. But think twice before attempting to install Sheetrock or change an outlet. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and if you do certain things on your own initiative, you may end up causing damage or generating more work for the contractor who may have to undo what you did. 6. Your job may cost more than you expect You're on a budget, right? Well, make sure your contractor is fully aware of it. (A good one will probably discuss this with you, anyway.) Expect some variation between the estimate you get and the final cost. You might even want to plan to spend 15% to 30% more, in total, on the job. Why? Well, things happen. Over the course of a few months, the price of lumber may skyrocket. In the course of renovating your home, there may be some expensive discoveries, such as lots of rotten wood under vinyl siding that's removed. The cost can also rise if you keep adding to the scope of the work, or if you opt for more expensive materials, many of which are good to opt for, as they may last longer or look better. One good way to discuss your budget with a trusted contractor is to say something like, "We'd like to spend no more than $X on this job, but if need be, we can spend an extra $X -- and absolutely no more than that." This can help him decide where he can upgrade materials and where he must be as frugal as possible. 7. Not all contractors are shady Many of us are used to thinking negatively about contractors, having heard horror stories about inept ones or, worse, scam artists. Perhaps not too surprisingly, the home-improvement area received the second most consumer complaints in 2002 (after automobile sales), according to a recent survey. Still, remember that bad experiences are typically shared more often than good ones. While there are certainly more than a few dastardly contractors out there, preying on unsuspecting homeowners, there are also lots of skilled and honest ones. You've probably read about various contractors ripping off clients -- but believe it or not, contractors get ripped off, too. After doing all or part of a job, they may end up with a check that bounces or a client who refuses to pay. Don't assume that your contractor is automatically an adversary. He may well be a valuable ally in your quest for a lovelier home. 8. Find a good contractor Now that you're ready to hire a contractor and spiff up your house, here are a few tips on finding a good one: Do try to find a contractor you really like, one you feel you can trust and whom you'll be comfortable communicating with. You should be able to ask questions and get answers you understand. Don't just rely on the Yellow Pages in your search. If a contractor has been working for more than a year or two and is good, he probably doesn't need to advertise. He likely gets offered much more work than he can take on. Ask around. Find people who have had done to their homes what you want done to yours. See who had good experiences with their contractors. If need be, try asking for referrals at your local hardware store. Yes, you might end up with a mediocre professional this way -- but possibly not, since the store should want to keep its customers happy. Make sure she's licensed and insured. (Yes, she -- there are some female contractors out there.) You don't want someone uninsured working on your home. If your state requires any licenses, make sure your contractor has them.

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Q. The house i am purchasing was built in 1991 and is in Jacksonville, FL. it is 1700 sq feet, one story, with a vaulted ceiling in the living room. The roof is asphalt shingle,15 years old now and in pretty good condition w/ no leaks but there are some repairs that need to be done, there are some small bald spots, a few puckering areas where they added a screened porch, and the home inspector reccomended the pvc gutters be replaced with metal ones. The siding is Lousianna-Pacific and there are some wood rot issues, especially around the bottom. I am curious how much it would be to replace it with hardi-board or cementious siding or aluminum. The rest that needs to be done to this house is not such a big deal. No lectures on why I'm buying this house please, I've got my reasons, too many to state here. I'd really appreciate any advice from roofers and or general contractors. Thank you!!

A. To replace the roof w/ the least expensive asphalt shingles you are looking at $225/square (100 sq ft.) the shingles that are on your house now could have a warranty of 20-50 yrs. depending on the type. they rarely last that long. when the granules are missing the uv rays from the sun breakdown the mat and it will crack causing leaks. have a roofing contractor come out look at it. a home engineer may not know.

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Q. I have a red brick house with wood soffits and eaves. Instead of painting, I am wanting to replace the wood with vinyl siding. What color siding would go better with a brick house? I also need to know what color to paint the front door, shutters, and small concrete front porch. The windows frames are bronze colored. Any suggestions?

A. OK, since most of what is on the facade of your house is red or red based in nature (brick, bronze window frames), let's move with a complimentary color also on your house but one I'll bet you didn't even notice. I believe that the brick is the primary visual element of your house, with accents such as doors and shutters being secondary. Holding all those bricks together is mortar...up close, you can see it is a greenish gray. The size of the mortar joints is small however in relation to the size of the house. Knowing this gives us some latitude when picking a siding color to compliment the bricks. Your eye will want very badly to believe that a "putty" type of color matches the mortar. A very nice neutral, not too light and not too dark to go with the brick would be Benjamin Moore's HC-95, Sag Harbor Gray, another would be HC-111, Nantucket Gray. Both will be complimentary to the brick and will show it off. See if you can find a siding that comes close to one of those colors. Then I would steal a note from the brick and paint the door a lucious dark reddish brown as an accent, HC-64, Townsend Harbor Brown. Ordinarily I would pick another color for shutters but in this instance you have enough going on, paint the shutters the same as the siding. Voila! a tasteful and long wearing color scheme with sophistication. You didn't mention your roof color but unless you have a green roof, this will work marvelously with just about any other color. Best, Rodd http://www.exterior-house-paint-colors.com

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Q. My husband and I found one we'd like to look at that has wood siding. It looks like cedar but much darker. I was just wondering what some of the things are to consider with wood siding.

A. If you mean "shingles", they're fine unless the house is in a high fire danger area. Shingles, generally made from soft wood and with airspace behind and around each shingle, tend to ignite more easily than other forms of wood siding.

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Q. The yard along the side of my house slopes down from front to back. I would like to build a couple "step down" retaining walls so that we can put in some nice shrubs and flowers. Problem is the painted wood siding slopes down parallel to the ground and building a wall would mean resting dirt against the siding. I know this is a bad idea as it can cause rotting/water damage/mold. What can I do to protect the siding and still make the step down walls look good?

A. There is more to be concerned about than just the wood rotting. You could be opening your self up to termites and possible moisture inside your walls. If you are going to do a step down you need to do it so all of the wood is still exposed. Make the top of each step down start below the siding and then dig down. I would like to repeat this. Do not try what you are talking about all you will get is grief. You should keep all of your wood and hopefully a couple of inches of foundaton showing.

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Q. We want to remove our old crusty wood siding (which only makes up a quarter of our outside walls) and the rest is stucco. We would like to have the "stacked stone" look instead. How do I install this stacked stone as siding? We don't really want to go with the fake stuff but instead would rather have the real stone. I have all the time in the world right now to do the job but I don't know where to begin and I can't seem to find any resources on the internet. If anyone can help please let me know where to start. Thanks!

A. First of all find the supplier, then ask them on books or places of instruction how to start working on the job. The best place to get information is where you buy it. They usually are very well learned on the products that they supply and sell.

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Q. SmartSiding, Cement Fiber, or real wood. We are looking at replacing existing wood 4x8 panels with lap siding for a building. Siding would be above the ground by about 8 feet. Would like to use LP Smart siding. Have not heard anything bad about it.

A. Hardi panel, is in my opinion the highest quality product out there, installed correctly, it will last forever

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