Q. Hi, I found documentation to the effect that the corrugated steel roofing on my house and apartment was replaced in 1983. It's never been maintained since, and of course there is major problems with it. Leaks galore, wood underneath rotted in places, and other joys. The corrugated steel roofing at Home Depot is 24 grains. I don't know what that means. What does it mean if steel roofing is "24 grains?" Is that good? Also, I see these newfangled plastic roofing products. Are they any good for a harsh tropical clime like mine?

A. Check your local roofing supplier . Don't go to Home Cheapo for advice .

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Q. I have a small 16x16 barn that has plenty of slope, not much wind or hot weather here, but plenty of rain. plan to sell the place in the near future, so just want it to not leak and last a few years. What I am trying to find out is, what fasteners are the quickest, and easiest to use??? (staples?, roofing nails?) What is a cheap, sufficient stapler to buy for a homeowner?

A. 11/2" galvanized roofing nails every 8" at the seam along with troweled roof cement with a quarter overlay lap

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Q. I had a company come out and quote me 2000.00 for about 1200sq ft. so i figured i'd rather do it myself. The roofing is about 25yrs old, not too mossy but there is some water damage.

A. Industrial Scrapers http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=05K01ddd01&bhcd2=1243997639 If you can get a skip close enough to you house, you could hire a uload skip throwing the tiles straight into the skip saving picking the tile up off the ground, in the pass we have used a sheet of metal roofing for a makeshift ram but this works better for tiled roofs.

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Q. Iam a contractor in Houston Texas. I supply all types of services to the home owner such as roofing, flooring, HVAC, Brick etc.... I want to market a package deal to a certian demografic. But these clients dont have great credit for the conventional finacing but do have equity in there homes. I need a good working outlet for financing that is easy and wont screw any one.

A. Other than banks, a possibility, I don't remember any though I used to use some old ones. Check at furniture stores. Just go in and ask about their financing. Just act as though you are thinking of purchasing. You'll get the info. Bear in mind that the ones they use offer a year or so with no interest. The catch is that if it is not paid in full to the penny in one year, interest is charged for the entire year. And legal. This should be spelled out to the customer, but "neglected" by many.

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Q. I work for a heating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, and roofing company, and I dispatch about ten people on seven calls a day, and it is exhausting. I take the call (or whoever is in the office does) and gather the customer information. This includes name, address, phone number, city, zip code, how they heard about us (commercial, radio, referral, repeat, etc.), what type of problem they are having (heating, electrical, plumbing, or roofing), what exactly is going wrong, if it is an estimate on a new unit, a service failure, what time the customer called, what date the customer called, when the customer would like the technician to come out (we try to always book them between twelve and four, and save the early times for customers with no other option). The salesman then takes the inbound call sheet over to the dispatch log. I probably should have mentioned that each call sheet has a preassigned number (e.g. 20090001, 20090002, etc.). They match the invoice number on the inbound call sheet to the number on the call log which contains the invoice number, then a place for the sales rep to fill out the rest of the customer information, including customer name, technician assigned to customer's zip code, type of call (hvac, electrical, plumbing), date of call, date scheduled, time of call, time scheduled (am or pm), time completed, revenue collected, and if it was entered into quickbooks, and then if the invoice was given to the technician. This is all if the customer wants the work done on a future date. If the customer wants the work done that day, the sales rep goes ahead and calls the technician assigned to the customer's zip code. He then fills out the call log like normal. Once they have done all that, they give the call sheets to me. I then enter all the information into quickbooks and print out two work orders. I put the call sheets into a plastic sleeve and put those in a binder starting from the lowest work order number to the greatest. Then I put the work order in Steve's folder who gives them to the correct technician. The technician's go out and do the call and collect the money unless it is a credit card. Then I call the customer, get their credit card information, and call the credit card company and charge their card (I am honest enough to be trusted to do this). The checks are deposited every day at the bank after they have been entered into quickbooks. Most of the technicians are paid by salary. I broke my windshield the other day (coincidentally trying to deal with stress from this job), and a company with similar problems came out to fix it, and I was very interested in how they overcame them. The people on the phone took my phone number, name, car type, and schedule me for 12 to 4 pm. the technician who gets paid by the job came out, fixed my windshield, entered some information into his blackberry and connected it to the safegear thing and printed out his receipt and was on his merry way. I called the company (safelite), and tole them all this, and they said to call the corporate office between eight and five, which I will do tomorrow. but fellow workers, will you please help a struggling business and let me know how you dispatch people or how we could improve? Is there any company that has software for this??? PLEASE!

A. Whew, your employer owes you big time for some mental health counseling. The really big firms around here in the midwest use a system that is identical to law enforcement. They carry a small walkie talkie and have radios in their big box trucks. I had a young man check out my heat pump just last week and I could hear the dispatcher talking talking talking. It was a woman and she'd been doing it a long time that was obvious from my first contact. Except she gave him the wrong address and he was driving around for a while until I called her back, she then radioed him right away and I had a delay of maybe ten minutes. We have quite a few one man operations around here and they are Good. The one husband of a friend that I know just gets by with a cell phone, but you don't want to face something like that you have way too many people running in and out. Here's a suggestion: check out temporary employment agencies and ask them what kind of system they use? You might even find a better job who knows? Community colleges have wonderful courses on Business Communication, check them out if you have time and if your employer will pay for all or part of it. This is tax deductible as it's to improve your performance on your job. Then, get online and check out different software companies, there are tons out there who really need the business. A local Nerd would also jump at the chance to get a system customized just for your firm. You really have a situation and I sincerely hope you get some kind of help and soon. Oh, I also know of what you call service plumbing firms in the Miami/Tampa/Cape Coral/Fort Myers areas. These people are really with it but they're in trouble now because the hotels are sitting there empty especially this time of year. Maybe you could check with some hotels or housekeeping managers as to what kind of system they use, but it would depend on how big and busy your area of the country is. Okay, there's lots more but this will keep you busy thinking and maybe alleviate some of your stress. Good Luck!

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Q. I want to get my earnest money back, and I want ALL OF IT !! I made an offer on a house with the intentions of living in it not rehabbing it. The offer was accepted, and we had the home inspected. There are a lot of things wrong with the house. It costs more money to repair these things than I can afford, and besides I'd rather buy something worth the money I would have to spend, rrather than put money into the house for major things. The house needs new windows, tuckpointing all around and a new roof. Here is a letter I wrote to the seller, tell me what u think. HELP !!!! All these problems need to be remedied before this transaction can go any further. If the issues are not addressed we will continue on our search for a home. FURNACE The furnace/central air needs to be properly and completely installed and functioning. The furnace needs a shut off valve, and a plastic exhaust pipe. Debris in the "clean out" area at the base of the chimney should be removed as part of system service. PLUMBING The old steel piping is subject to corrosion on the interior of the pipe. As corrosion builds up, the inside diameter of the pipe becomes constricted, resulting in a loss of water pressure. This piping is typically replaced when the loss of pressure can no longer be tolerated. ELECTRICAL Extension cords should not be used as permanent wiring. This wiring should be removed through out the house. Poor connections between newer wiring and the old-knob-and-tube wiring were observed. All connections of this type should be performed within junction boxes, fitted with cover plates. The installation of a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is required in the kitchen and bathroom. GFCI offers increased protection from shock or electrocution. STRUCTURE Evidence of termite damage was observed and there is risk of additional hidden damage since termites can do a substantial amount of damage. If the property hasn't already been treated, a licensed pest control specialist should be engaged to eliminate further termite activity within the home. All damaged wood should be repaired or replaced. ROOFING The downspout should discharge water at least 5 feet from the house. Storm water should be encouraged to flow away from the building at the point of discharged. Install downspout at left rear section of house. Stairs leading to basement need hand rails. Drop ceiling in same area needs to be repaired. The fireplace needs a damper. All appliances must stay.

A. Well did you make your offer based on it passing inspection or your obtaining financing? Those are two very common terms when putting down earnest money. Did you understand what Earnest Money was? The earnest money is an amount of money that the buyer puts up to show he or she is serious about purchasing the property. The money represents the buyer's commitment to buy and acts as an unofficial option on the property. After receiving an earnest money check, the seller will usually stop showing the property, and wait to see if the buyer can get a mortgage. Earnest money is important to the transaction because it shows the seller that the buyer is operating in good faith (hence the name, "earnest"). The bigger the deposit, the more reassuring it is to the seller, who thinks, "This buyer is serious.'' It also ties the buyer to the property and keeps him or her from looking for additional properties. When Do I Get The Earnest Money Back? If the sale goes through, the earnest money is used as part of the cash down payment and is paid to the seller. If the sale does not go through because of a reason covered by a contingency in the contract (if, for example, the buyer could not get a mortgage), the seller should sign a release of escrow and the earnest money will be refunded to the buyer. The earnest money should also be refunded to the buyer if the sale does not go through because of a problem on the seller's side. If, however, the buyer backs out of the deal for no reason at all, or for a reason that is not covered by a contingency, return of the earnest money may go to the seller. FSBO (For Sale By Owner) Earnest Money If negotiating directly with the seller without the assistance of a Realtor®, never give the earnest money directly to the seller. If you are dealing with a for-sale-by-owner seller who insists upon earnest money before a contract can be executed, write the check to their lawyer or closing attorney or your lawyer or closing attorney, and write fiduciary agent after the lawyers name. This money will then go into a trust, or escrow, account until the negotiations are completed, the contract signed, and all contingencies met. If the deal falls apart, you'll get it back. But if you give the earnest money directly to the seller, you may never see it again, or you may have to go to court to get it back. Good Luck to you.

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Q. I have a math project and i need help!!! Anyways my question is How do carpenters use area and surface area in their daily work?

A. They use area/surface area constantly. First off, when estimating a job, they need to know how much materials to buy. For instance you have a 10X10 foot room with 8 foot ceilings. If you are going to put up drywall, paint and primer, you need to know surface area of each wall and the entire room. Drywall comes in 4x8 and 4x12 sheets and deciding which to use depends on the area to be covered. When a carpenter does a job estimate, he's bound by that figure, so any additional materials that he didn't plan for comes out of his profit. Flooring is the same deal... need to know square footage of a room to install the floors. Roofing... three bundles of shingles covers 100 sq ft of roof. Area calculations are extremely important for carpenters and they use this constantly. I hope this helps out at least a little bit.

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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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