Contractors.. protect yourself!

I just added an arbitration and interest clause to my contracts to protect myself from scammers and non-paying customers. Believe it or not most fraud is done by customers or non licensed contractors. With an arbitration clause you can save yourself the process of putting a lien on a property. (I guess you still can if you want the extra work)
here is my arbitration clause:

Disputes arising out of or related to this agreement shall be resolved in accordance with this provision. In the first instance the parties will attempt to resolve such disputes through open communication and dialog. To this end if a party has a concern about an actual or possible dispute, and there is not otherwise a reason to give a Notice of Dispute, the concerned party will informmally notify the other party of the nature of the dispute and explore the possibility of reaching an agreeable resolution in writing, prior to initialising a Notice of Dispute. If the parties cannot resolve the matter by informal dialog or there is a reason to give notice immediatly, either party may give notice of dispute to the other party. The Notice of Dispute shall state the nature of the dispute and the corrective action necessary to remedy the dispute. After notice of dispute the parties shall first attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation. The contractor shall agree on a single mediator who will be The American Arbitration Association. Costs of mediation incured shall be paid by the Homeowner. If the dispute has not been resolved by mediation within 30 days after notice of Dispute then the dispute shall be resolved by binding arbitration in accordance with Michigan Uniform Arbitration Act, and judgement upon the award redered by the arbitrator may be enforced in any court of competant jurisdiction . Homeowner agrees to pay a Contractor penalty of 2% per month (apr 24%) on any delinquent monies not paid to the Contractor within three days of completion.

Back to normal

I have not been posting much as I have been sick and working at the same time. I am finally over my salmonella poisoning and back to normal. Work booked for the next two weeks so I'm hoping it will stay this way till fall.

Still sick

Im still sick since last wed. Our sink got clogged in the pipe from the garbage disposal to the trap and would not unclog or snake clean. So pressure had built up for some reason in the pipe and when I disconnected it I received a salmonella and drano facial. Yes the t part of the pipe had been packed with raw eggshells that have probably been in there a week. Well I fixed and cleaned everything up and was fine the next day, but when I woke up the next morning fever and flu like symptoms. Just had to ride it out. I feel a little better but still not normal. Sucks.

Govt. and Banking scam exposed

well some old news here particularly for anyone who has watched Zeitgeist, but big news none the less because it has finally hit mainstream media. We all know in America it has to hit main stream media before its real and not the stuff of tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists. I'm sure it will be hidden on the media back pages and what not but all you can do is keep informing everyone else and spreading the info. Remember change will not come from a politician, a political party, a government or a corporation. It will come from you.

3 way switches! FUN FUN!

well I have been doing electrical the all this week so I figured I would post about one of the most confusing concepts for an amateur electrician.Yes the 3-way switch. Rather than go into great detail about them I will just post 8 diagrams that are invaluable to have. It will make your next project a whole lot easier. These diagrams do not show retards tapping into the lines or the use of old 2-way lines converted to 3 way, so if you have more wires than this get a notepad out draw a diagram and use your brain and think about it. Ohh and remember TURN THE POWER OFF WHEN WORKING ON ELECTRICITY! Have fun and enjoy! All stairways have them, one at the top one at the bottom to control the same light.

Back to Work

Back to work tomorrow so Ill post a couple of vids of the local coffee shop i will be stopping at in the a.m. Sorry applefags wrong coffee shop!

Too Tired

Being March is the start of the construction work year, I have not really done much physical work for two months now. I have just started this job two days ago and already I feel like I was ran over by a truck. Hopefully I can finish this up today so I can have a three day weekend before the next job on Monday. I enjoyed owning a company better before Obama was elected, seeing that I had alot of employees and all I had to do was supervise to prevent any Hi-jinks or shenanigans. So thank you for destroying the economy. Im not a republican either so sorry liberals you can not hate on me. All I know is that my numbers do not lie and 2004-2007 were my best years ever.

Double standards ?

I had to delete a couple of posts for advertisers (not adsense). I guess showing a woman in a sexy dress or bikini is offensive in america. Sexuality is a no no even if the image is pg rated. It is suggestive. Amazingly these same advertisers have no problem running their adds on a tv show that has rape, murder, drugs and cursing. So women out there looking good is bad as is being sexy since people only have sex for procreation and should wear burkas all the time, but wait a minute im sure someone out there finds these suggestive and sexy.

Preparing for job tomorrow

Have to go out and get materials today for an easy paint job. Need to buy primer, and paint today for tomorrow. Should be done in 2-3 days. Just some new construction drywall and trim.

Feast or famine

Hopefully the winter slowdown is over. As everyone knows who is involved with the construction industry in Michigan, after the holidays till march is brutal. This year has been the worst year in the last 20 and has been dieing slowly since the last presidential election. No one wants work done. As a helpful tip to everyone living in a region where it gets cold in winter, this is the best time to actually have work done. A contractor will take jobs during the slow time at half the price just to have money rolling in. But as always common sense is hard to find now and people would rather pay $30000 for a kitchen remodel in the summer than $10000 in the winter. Well work has started to roll in "all at once" so we will have to turn some jobs down. What are you going to do.

How to properly mud and tape

Just remember it is all about the pressure on the knife and to make the edges as smooth as possible. You do not want globs or it to be uneven anywhere. This is the mistake most people make when attempting themselves. They figure they can just go back and sand it later. You want as little sanding as possible for several obvious reasons.

Good luck!!!

Blog Maintenance

Just going through and weeding out blogs that don't post or are leaches. Fun times ;)