Costco Connection - February 2011

for your home

How to hire a
good general

PHOTODISC

contractor

Compare the cost of getting your own loan versus contractor financing.

•Don’t make a final payment or sign a final release until you are satisfied with the work and know that subcontractors and suppliers have been paid. Some state laws allow unpaid subcontractors and suppliers to put a lien on your home for bills the contractor failed to pay.

•Pay by credit card when you can. You may have the right to withhold payment to the credit card company until problems are corrected.

38 ;e Costco Connection FEBRUARY 2011

By Will Fifield

CHOOSING A GOOD contractor (such as Mike Holmes, on page 36) is often the most important part of a home-improvement project. A good contractor can make the entire process smooth; a marginal one can leave you drained, financially and emotionally. The following tips can help you choose a good contractor.

•Get recommendations and references. Talk to friends, family and others who have used the contractor for similar work.

•Get at least three written estimates. Insist the contractors come to your home to evaluate what needs to be done. Be sure all the estimates are based on the same work so that you can make meaningful comparisons.

•Check contractor complaint records. Your state or local consumer protection agency or Better Business Bureau can provide this information.

•Make sure the contractor meets licensing and registration requirements. Your state or local consumer protection agency can help you find out what these requirements are.

•Get the names of suppliers and ask if the contractor makes timely payments.

•Contact your local building inspection department to check for permit and inspection requirements. Be wary if the contractor asks you to get the permit—it could mean the firm is not licensed.

•Be sure your contractor is insured. A
contractor should have personal liability,
property damage and workers’ compensation
insurance for workers and subcontractors.
Also check with your insurance company to
find out if you are covered for any injury or
damage that might occur.

Be especially cautious if the
contractor:

• Says the job will be a “demonstration.”

•Offers you a discount for finding other customers.

• Quotes a price that’s much higher or much lower than other estimates.

• Pressures you to make an immediate decision about proposed work. C

Source: The Federal Citizen Information Center ( www.consumeraction.gov)

Alarming situation

YOU CAN’T SEE IT and you can’t smell it, but carbon monoxide (CO) can kill you. Each year hundreds in the U.S. die from CO poisoning and thousands more are hospitalized. That’s why the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA, www.nfpa. org) recommends placing at least one CO alarm on each level of a home and one in or near every bedroom or sleeping area.

A recent survey conducted by First Alert, a leading supplier of CO alarms, found that nine out of 10 U.S. households are not in compliance with the NFPA’s carbon monoxide alarm recommendations. In fact, the survey showed that 40 percent don’t have any working CO detectors in their homes at all.

To address the problem, close to 30

states in the U.S. now require carbon mon-
oxide alarms in new and existing homes,
condos, town houses and dwellings where a
portion is used for sleeping (www.
systemsensor.com/co/pdf/State-
CO-Code-Summation.pdf).
Often called the silent killer,
carbon monoxide is created when
fuels such as gasoline, wood, coal,
natural gas, propane, oil and
methane burn incompletely.
Stoves, furnaces and other resi-
dential heating and cooking
appliances that burn these fuels
are potential sources of carbon
monoxide. Vehicles or generators
can also produce dangerous levels
of carbon monoxide when left
running in an attached garage.