Our automatic garage door would not close and I was sure that the track had been dented or the bolts had loosened.  That seemed to be the only way to explain how the door would begin to close and the garage door would come within 6 inches of the ground before it would catch, stop its decent and then start back up and open. 

This is a minor inconvenience until you are racing to work in the morning and you pull out of the garage and in your view mirror you see the door shutting… until it stops and opens up, essentially leaving your house open to anyone who wants to come in the usually un-locked side door.

I am not the most handy DIY home maintenance-type but  I tried a few things by poking around and imagined having to call the garage repairman before I thought I would give good ole WD-40 a shot.  A couple of sprays on the garage door’s wheels and the track was all that was needed.  It’s been days now and all is well.  This was just another of the many successes for WD-40.   There are thousands of uses for WD-40 all over the house, indoor and out.  Some of the garage uses that have been described on the wd40 website include:

There are five questions you need to ask before you move forward with a prospective contractor on any major home repair or remodeling project.  One of our HomeESP members did not use our Contractor Locator service and found out the hard way what happens when you don’t pre-screen your Contractor and ask all the questions.  She wants us to share her experience with you so you will avoid her mistakes.

Maria from Illinois asked this question of Bruce, our Ask the Contractor expert:  “How can I find out if a contractor has purchased windows? The contractor would not give me the place he ordered windows from, when I asked for a refund.” 

(It turned out that Maria’s question was related to a bigger issue with her contractor. Maria gave us additional background enabling us to get to the root of her problem.) 

I was in my home office last week, when I heard a rustling and scratching sound that could only be a bird or squirrel in the chimney.  It was right on the flue damper.  While it was tempting to ignore it, and let the critter die in the chimney, this is neither humane nor when I thought about it, the least smelly option.  (Who wants a decomposing squirrel in the chimney?)

Since I had no idea how to proceed, I called in the experts.  Using the contractor locator on HomeESP, I plugged in my requirements and within an hour had two calls from qualified animal removal experts.  One asked for a $275 fee, the other was $125 to $175, depending on whether or not they had to climb the roof.  I don’t always go for the lower price, but in this case I got a better feeling on the phone from the lower bidder (All About Bats & Wildlife of Norwalk CT).

After my initial call with the owner of All About Bats (where we agreed we'd wait and see if the squirrel indeed could climb out of the chimney), it seemed that the noise had abated – did the critter get out?  

Home improvement is one of those areas where the consumer is at a disadvantage: the contractor knows the value of each element of the project and where the agreement favors him over you; but you, the homeowner don’t.  You have to take it on faith that the bid is a fair value, includes everything (there won’t be any surprises) and provides you with reasonable protection.  Even if you get two or three bids, it can still be daunting to pick a contractor.  You can check references, pick the middle price, go with your gut instinct – and still not be sure the contractor you select has made you a good offer.

HomeESP Premier Members can have up to three bids reviewed by our own Bruce Woolf, expert kitchen and bath designer, builder and general contractor, and blogger on our Ask the Contractor page of HomeESP.  He’ll check your bid for completeness, price, terms and conditions and more.  After reviewing your bid, he’ll provide you with specific advice as to how to negotiate with your contractor, questions to ask, what to watch out for and more.  It’s like having a friend in the business!

Not a HomeESP Premier Member?  Just visit this link and sign up.  Contractor Bid Review is a core benefit of our membership organization for homeowners, and we’d be pleased to help!

Everything’s going great on your new project.  The contractor is just about finished with his work.  Your new kitchen renovation, addition or windows look wonderful.  All is good with the world.  Then, you get the final bill and you think, “hey this project isn’t really done, the XXX (you fill in the blank here) is still not YYY (fill in the blank again).

It’s an all-to-common mistake in contracting for improvements to your home.  You neglect to include a clause that the contractor must, “return job site conditions, inside and outside, to that which existed prior to the start of the project.” 

While it seems common sense that a contractor would clean up after a job, unless you’ve stated explicitly that the project includes such work, the likelihood is that you will have extra costs charged to return your home’s interior and/or yard to what existed previously.

Sometimes my family likes to travel to to get close to nature.  This is a story of how nature took the initiative and got frighteningly close to us.

My 10 year old daughter and I had just returned home from her soccer game on a sunny and calm Sunday afternoon.  As we casually chatted in our kitchen over a mid afternoon snack,  we were suddenly interrupted by a load 'crack' from outside. 

For a split second there was a swirl of leaves as if a hurricane had suddenly sprung up, followed by a tremendous crash that shook the entire house.  As plaster flew across the kitchen, I grabbed my daughter's arm and pulled her out of the room.