Beautiful Restorations in Detroit

Every once in a while, those of us who live and/or work in Detroit get the rare opportunity to see lovely images of our city that are neither 70 years old, nor so-called "ruins porn" (of which there has been a nauseating glut in both print and online media over the past few years). There's a Detroit-area blogger and photographer who's been posting photos of the city since 2004, and has now got an amazing gallery of photos collected on his/her (?) Blogger site, called Faded Detroit. I was paging through some of the many beautiful images when I came across some really cool home restoration before-and-after photos taken in a couple of different areas of Brush Park, which were posted a few years ago and were recently updated. Now if we could just get every property owner in Motown to undertake projects like these! Click here to see the restoration projects.

How to Avoid Bad Home Improvement Contractors

Remember: some are bad,
but others are very good.

Everyone knows that home improvement companies are not a good lot, taken generally, but there are many right in here in the Detroit area which are absolutely nothing short of superb. Here's the big problem: a quick web search won't tell you much of anything at all. Why? Because the search listings at Google, Bing and Yahoo are filled with bogus complaints (at least most are) from dubious would-be consumer protection sites like Rip-Off Report, Consumer Online Protection, Complaints Board and similar. These sites take any complaint at all and post it to the web, and even if the complaint is nonsense (many seem to be posted about company X by someone working for company Y across town), or if it has been fully addressed by the contractor. You have to remember that some people are not very reasonable; they sign a contract to get a service and it costs them more than they'd like (but not more than quoted), and then they go and post a nasty complaint. Moreover, some people just don't know what they're talking about--people claim that condensation on a window (which is a function of the dew point in the home and the temperature of the glass) is evidence of "leaky" windows--no, seriously. No one is immune to this in the Metro-Detroit/Ann Arbor market: Hansons, Majic, WeatherGard, Wallside--no one.

So how do you get the right contractor when you're looking to have that new roof installed, or those new windows put in? Your first stop is the Better Business Bureau. I grant that the BBB doesn't walk on water, but it's surely better than totally unfiltered fake complaint sludge. So, do three things: (1) check if the contractor is accredited, (2) if accredited, ensure that the rating is 'A+' and absolutely no lower, (3) read the reviews. If a contractor fails either (1) or (2), look elsewhere. If (3) reveals a preponderance of dissatisfied customers, look elsewhere. Otherwise, keep the contractor on your list of possibilities.

Next, get some quotes, and test the salesperson's honesty in the usual way. For example, when the salesperson shows you a great, high quality window or siding product, and then offers you a price that seems low, verify which product the quote specifies. Salespeople often show off their highest quality product and then quote the lowest quality product, giving the customer a false impression that they're getting a sweet deal. This kind of thing is common, but not universal in the home improvement industry. You could also ask about the product warranties when the salesperson is in your home, and inquire about whether a particular kind of problem (call it problem P) is covered. Later, call the company as if you're a former customer and ask what your options are now that your window has got problem P. If you get anything less than a firm assurance that the problem is indeed covered, hang up and forget about the company in question.

If you really cannot find a good contractor for your project, give Glenn Hagee a call.

What's the Best Home Improvement Book?

Readers who're new to home improvement occasionally ask me for advice about which books they ought to buy if they want to get a good handle on the basics of home improvement and maintenance. Well, over the past few years I've had the opportunity of paging through a number of these, and I think I can safely say which is my favorite. Here they are:

1. Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair (by Black & Decker)
   Now, the title overstates the case a bit; it is not a "complete" guide to all things home repair. You cannot, for instance, find information about how to frame a wall anywhere in the book. It does, however, do a terrific job of making very plain how things are done with high quality, carefully thought-out photos. No other publisher went to as much trouble to build realistic sets which give the reader a good idea what to expect when he or she rips open a bathroom wall, or sets about replacing a ceiling fan.
2. Complete Home Improvement & Repair (by Lowes)
   This book covers some basic construction that the Black & Decker book does not, and is in general really a pretty good resource. However, the photos and sometimes even the prose don't quite convey what a new homeowner would need to know to tackle some of the jobs discussed. Again, it's good, and I'd recommend that you pick it up if the Black & Decker book isn't available to you (although Amazon renders this circumstance pretty unlikely).

Another outstanding resource for those who are contemplating new windows is Norton's Residential Windows: A Guide to New Technologies & Energy Performance (by J. Carmody, et al.). It's a solid 200 pages of well-written, helpfully illustrated information covering everything anyone would ever want to know about everything from gas fill to low emissivity to maintaining the historical look and feel in an older house while getting all the benefits of modern fenestration technology.

If you're looking for online resources, video is the way to go, and YouTube is positively teeming with free videos shot by sharp and experienced home improvement experts. Seeing it done in live action really helps to make learning easier, since home improvement is about as tactile as anything could be.

Great Resources Available for Smart, Efficient Home Improvement

As we move into home improvement season, homeowners are looking for ways of making the smartest possible investments in their homes. Last year was big, and this year will be similar thanks to the rotten real estate market, which has made selling homes practically unthinkable for most middle class homeowners (although the latest numbers show that Detroit was the only home market in the country which didn't experience a decline over last month, and it's welcome news). The alternative to selling, and the option of which most have been availing themselves, is to improve what one has already got. But where to start?

Well, in the interest of improving the country's overall energy efficiency, the US Department of Energy has made some pretty cool resources available. For Earth Day http://energy.gov posted a cool interactive app that helps homeowners to see the variety of ways in which they can make their homes more energy efficient: http://www.energy.gov/earthday/ -- check it out. Even more can be found at http://www.energysavers.gov/, which covers everything from remodel design to energy-saving landscaping ideas (as well as standard fare heat, water, windows, insulation, etc.).

It's also worth noting here that you don't need Matthew Lesko to find information about government programs that can help homeowners with guaranteed subsidized loans and grants; just visit: http://www.energysavers.gov/financial/ see whether Uncle Sam might be willing to throw a couple dockets your way as a way of supporting good decision making regarding your energy budget.

Do you know of other great, free green-home resources? Let me know--post a comment.