All Forum Posts by: Alfred Edmonds

Did you hire the unlicensed contractor knowing they were unlicensed or did they misrepresent themselves? Either way I agree with the realtor... if someone says they remodeled I would expect it to be done competently. I would want to see the permits too so I guess that's their bad for trusting people. If by hiring unlicensed people you were hoping to save some money then I guess you know now that it's not a good idea plus ends up costing more. I don't know what legal recourse they have but ethically I'd want to make it right. I'd also be careful as to what you disclose online as far as your knowledge of the unlicensed work. anyway, good luck with it.

Not sure why the proposed staircase would be less safe? I agree that the current one is ugly and other than the doorway to the left, have no idea why anyone would build it that way. As long as it's not going over 12' vertical, it can be a straight run. The cost would be 100% dependent on finish. Any carpenter worth anything can build it.

I know a few folks who have done time in prison for serious felonies. I work in construction and it's a fairly common scenario.... That being said, guys get hired all the time who have bad histories and some work out and some don't. I wouldn't hand keys and alarm codes over in the first few months but if a guy shows up on time and sober and puts in an honest days work I'll give him a raise and responsibility no matter what his history. Show up high, late or hanging around sketchy people and you're gone. What matters is the present to me, people make mistakes. so go get a job as a laborer, show up in person and look the foreman in the eye. Big bonus there is you get to learn all about what it takes to build and renovate which is a huge part of real estate.

I'd double check the legality of this. it's not allowed as far s the code book is concerned because of egress, natural light, and natural ventilation. I don't have time to look it up right now but you could. every city is different though and I guess it could be fine but a simple call to the building department should do it. I've come across plenty of blueprints that are full of code violations and it says right on the prints that the builder is responsible to obey code regardless of what the architect draws

wow. old topic but I would like to chime in. Holyoke is full of drugs, like I mean you could easily cop right on the street, many of the buildings get taken over by dealers and it's bad, I mean real bad. If you stay West of 391 or even route 5 which is called Northampton street, it is not too bad and there are some good people there. As for 85% of Holyoke I would stay away. In the 70s and 80s it wasn't uncommon for owners to burn their buildings to the ground at least that is the rumor... many buildings did in fact burn to the ground and believe it or not, some are still sitting there just as a shell. I lived there for a number of years so I'm not making this stuff up. Anyone interested in this area would do better to look in Easthampton or Greenfield if they want good returns though easthampton has been getting pricey. Anyhow, just about fell off my chair when I saw this post come back to the top.

for the wainscoating you could use the sheets from home depot that come in 4'x8' sheets I think they are 1/8" or 3/16 thick and pretty cheap, maybe 20 bucks a sheet. cap it on the top like traditional wainscoating. for backsplash use either tile or or linoleum. the wainscoating can be put right on top with some liquid nails and finish nails and the tile could be put right on top. traditional wainscoating is 3/4" so you wouldn't be far off with the depth. If the walls are covered to the ceiling with that stuff then I'd say adjust your offer accordingly.

@Mitchell Litam when was the house built? I ask because if it is an old house (pre-WW2) I would seriously think twice about wrapping it in vinyl. in the interest of full disclosure I must admit that I am one of those old house purist.That being said, the process of wrapping a house in vinyl many times involves hacking away details that would be considered an asset to many potential buyers in the future. Furthermore, bad installation of siding seems to be more common than not and results in damage to the structure over time from water and moisture infiltration. the best part is, you don't know it until it's beyond a simple fix because all that lovely plastic siding is hiding telltale indications of problems. I've seen this dozens of times and it is real. rotted sheathing, sill plates, studs and joists. Once that vinyl is faded and cracked it looks like he'll. Yes, painting is a pain but like most things, if it's done right it can last. Another consideration is what is the norm for the neighborhood? If it's full of vinyl and aluminum then I guess have at it. If not, I'd think twice. Again, I am a bit of an old New England purist when it comes to these things but I have done more than my share of stripping houses of vinyl and aluminum at customers requests, and found all types of garbage underneath. Anyway I know I'm in the minority here on BP when it comes to this but it is something to consider if it is an older home.

What specifically do you need? what type of foundation and what is going on with it?

@Nicholas Davila I know that when it gets very cold outside that mini splits don't really work so great. I would guess that in those times you would see a spike in the electricity as the units struggle to heat. I am no hvac guy so my comments are based more on what I've seen in the area when it gets closer to 0. I guess you'd still be using the boiler at those times as well.

Hey @Eddy Reynoso I'm a contractor in the area and work mostly in Northampton ($). I'd live to chat sometime, are you on campus in Amherst or commute from Springfield? Anything I can do to help just let me know