Go to the material supplier your prospective contractor uses and ask them if they know him.

Expect a salespitch on their membership program and training material.

Spray, or a metal device, or is there something new on the market you can suggest ?

Materials only.

What do you do when a large investor in your market is discovered to have not disclosed material defects and hidden those defects?

From a swooping roof line to a custom metal awning, this home has major curb appeal but it doesn't stop there!

I bought 3 books, which was going to be my reading material while on deployment.  

I act as the GC on my projects so I'm usually purchasing and dropping off materials at various points during the week, speaking with my subs/contractor on the phone for progress/updates, etc. 

IE: someone gets wiped out and cannot pay off barely any creditors.My guess is that Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers met all their obligations until imminent doom/death, for instance.I'd like to follow this thread if it has some contributions. 

Then you might only have material costs.2.