Q. Hi, I'm getting vinyl siding (or shake) for my house but wanted to know if i'm better off using a siding "company" in which all they do is windows, siding, etc. or is it okay to use my own carpenter? (I can get a substantial "discount" on the siding itself, but not if I use a siding company). Do most carpenters do siding? Thanks!

A. Most carpenters do siding. Siding is one aspect of the carpentry trade. As far as whether YOUR carpenter knows how to install siding, you would need to ask him. There's more to it than just nailing the siding to the wall. Shooting a level line around the house is the first step. If he lacks the tools or know how to do this, you could end up with a mess. Also critical is knowing how to nail the vinyl on the wall. It is not nailed tight through the flange. It is left about 1/16" loose to allow for expansion and contraction. These would be good questions to ask him to test his knowledge. Good luck to you.

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Q. I wanted longer than 5 inch siding and the contractor found 8 inch with foam attached to the back of the siding and he says it saves a step by not having to put insulation. THe siding with the foam doesn't seem as thick as the big pink rolls I see but I honestly don't know a thing about insulation or siding so should I use a regular siding with reg insulation or use just the siding with the foam attachment or use both? Thanks!

A. I'm sure you are talking about vinyl siding? This works very well and is meant to be additional insulation because you should already have fiberglass insulation inside your exterior walls. As an additional help, you can use a tyvek vapor barrier between the wall and the new siding.

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Q. My house has cedar siding and most of it is either beginning to or already rotting. A contractor said he would install new siding (Craneboard) on top of the old siding. Wouldn't it be better to remove the old rotting siding first?

A. Putting new siding on the old is standard installation procedure. The only caveat is that the new must be well anchored to as sound substrate be it studs or sheathing.

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Q. I would like to use affordable green flooring, but Marmoleum is way more expensive than Vinyl and I think it is a flooring you should have professionally installed. Tile and adhesive will cost over 1300 for my 300 square kitchen area, not including installation. Also, I have read many reviews of unhappy customers who complain about the maintenance of the floor and general disgust for the lack of sheen. I do not want to even think about investing into this floor if it will be hard to clean. I do not plan on staying at this house for more than 5 years, and would not want to have troubles selling bc of the kitchen floors. Also I want to try recycled PET carpet for the upstairs bedrooms, its seems affordable. (I do need carpeting, im not putting in hardwood floors) Any experience with Beaulieu carpet or any other recycled PET carpet?? I do have to pay for school, bills, and eventually next year i need to replace the siding and windows. (more issues with vinyl versus costly alternatives) Thanks!

A. I agree with you about the Marmoleum, there have been consumer issues with it particularly with maintenance and dullness over time. However, I have used PET carpet for client applications, rental units and in my own home. I find the performance to be superior, it has stain resistance and is easy to clean, it retains its brightness and the one I used in my own home and rentals has an excellent warranty.

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Q. We are still trying to close on this house, but I'm making my preparations since we have only 2 weeks of having somewhere else to live while we get the place in a condition we can live with while we make upgrades. It has a nearly finished basement apartment that only needs a few appliances, so we plan to probably live there while we work on it. We're planning on : Ripping out the carpets & linoleum and refinishing the hardwoods Painting Buying and installing new appliances Buying and replacing most/all of the light fixtures Tearing out an inset cupboard to make room in one bathroom Re-staining the kitchen cupboards Making concrete counter-tops for kitchen cupboards Replacing the kitchen sink Replacing the kitchen flooring Moving some plumbing around in the bathrooms Tearing out bathroom cabinets Putting new tile in the bathrooms, possibly tanking and making a wet-room Replacing the bathroom sinks with wall-hung sinks Replacing the bathroom window (maybe making larger or replacing with glass block?) Replacing the rusted fireplace box and facade Paint-stripping the fireplace mantle Paint-stripping the trim, built-in-cabinets and doors and replacing mismatched trim Replacing the gutters and flashing around the chimneys Fixing the sub-standard window trimming outside Tearing off the vinyl siding, removing the asbestos siding underneath and re-siding Adding vents to the roof Removing a possibly leaky greenhouse-style sun-window Putting up a fence Ripping out a deck This list is so huge and a bit overwhelming; which should we do immediately and which should we wait on? Obviously we won't want to install new tile bathroom floors before moving the plumbing, for example; and we won't want to paint after finishing the floors, nor before we strip the trim. However, some of the larger projects, like replacing the window with glass block, we may not get to for a long time, and it would be a pity to have our external window seals leaking while we wait and plan. My fiancee is a remodeler so we're pretty sure we can tackle all the projects, but in the interest of making the place as livable as we can as quickly as possible... does anyone have any advice on getting things into good shape quickly without causing more problems for ourselves down the road? We are buying this foreclosed house very cheaply, my fiancee, as I already mentioned, remodels houses for a living. You rarely find legal duplexes in the city for $73 a square foot. The structure is sound, the floorplan is decent, there are so many good things about this house that I shouldn't have to explain why we want to make some custom cosmetic tweaks. I could buy some other house that has had $3,000 put into cheesy cabinets and ugly countertops that is selling for $10k more as move-in-ready and still want to rip the whole thing apart.

A. You are going to have to check your local laws because Asbestos Removal is heavily regulated!Also, make sure you do your floors last so you don't screw them up trying to complete other projects.

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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?!

A.

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Q. There are 80 homes in a subdivision. A realtor tells you that 50 of the homes have vinyl siding, 20 of the homes have automatic sprinkler systems, and 15 of the homes have both.

A. 80 times 0.15

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Q. FRAMERS/CARPENTERS Do you think this is a good price to build a garage? The garage is 32'x28' one story, 2x6 walls framed 16" on center, T-111 siding and roof trusses running 35' across the building.( all roof trim and soffits included) It will have 2 -10' garage doors (doors and installation are a seperate price) 1 entry door and no windows. Also to be built is a breezeway, which consists of 2- 5"x16"x14' engineered beams that have to be cut into the existing house walls, that carry roof trusses and tie the existing house roof and the new garage roof together, creating 2 valleyes on the new garage roof, no walls below.( NOTE: the garage sits at 15 degree offset from the house) Also the roof will be covered with metal roofing. There is a slab already poured. I live in New Hampshire The price is for LABOR ONLY With the breezway, the total square footage is 1088' The project will take 3-4 weeks Is 15K a good price for labor to put this building up. Too high? Too low?

A. This just seems high to me. The slab is already in. You do not mention electrical or any inside finishing (drywall). Essentially it just sounds like you are framing and finishing the exterior. For just labor with no material costs included this sounds $5-7K too high. And what you describe is only about a weeks actual work tops. I don't live in New Hampshire, but I do live in the West where construction is booming.

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