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Murphy Bros. Designers & Remodelers has been selected as a 2011 Guildmaster with Distinction!
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“Fix-up” season is nearly upon us and many homeowners are planning projects to be completed over the warmer spring, summer and fall months in our region. One of the most common and seemingly simple projects is to replace an old and failing roof. While there are literally thousands of roofing contractors to choose from, there are very few who have the overall construction knowledge and design experience to explore the related opportunities to consider when replacing your roof. Most companies that specialize in roofing can be very good at removing and installing shingles and focus their attention on creating a water tight lid. While this is critical to a good job, it is only part of the big pictue.
Beyond the obvious inspections that should be done to the roof sheathing, gutters, chimneys, wall runs, kick-out flashings, etc. there are the bigger picture opportunities, like lowering your fuel bills and putting an end to destructive ice dams associated with snow and cold weather.
Opportunities of the situation–
When planning any roof or siding replacement Read More
As with most people, you probably have a list of “To-Do’s” around the house that you are meaning to get to; replacing the roof, replacing a door or some windows, upgrading the bathroom, painting the siding, etc.
Then, just as you were about to seriously start investigating how to get one of these projects done, a sign goes up in a neighbors yard, or the phone rings and a young lady asks you about the condition of the windows in your home. What to do? While telemarketers, door knockers and job signs do not disqualify a home improvement company from being good and trustworthy, neither should it give them much credibility.
Being in the residential construction industry for over 30 years has allowed me many opportunities to see the good, bad and ugly of the industry. Many times clients and fellow contractors are eager to share their “war stories” in regards to poor design, poor workmanship, poor communication, improper use of materials and other missteps of an unscrupulous or under-qualified contractor. In comparing many stories, I have observed what I would term some common characteristics that might help you identify a risky contractor before the papers are signed. While this is not a substitution for your gut feeling and common sense, these contractor practices might help you assess your chances of a good construction experience vs. a poor one:
Often these types of contractors are disgruntled former salesmen who often just sell a job and hope that their subcontracted installers will take care of all the production and quality control, with little to no oversight by an accountable Production Manager. Others might be installers that are marginally capable technicians but have the guts to go knock on doors. You will find most of these new (less than 3 years old) companies to be very competitively priced but have no ability to solve complex problems or even recognize them. They typically lack in design and selections experience and are often not able to warrant their work.
As with all purchases, you need to do your home work before signing on the dotted line.
If you don’t, you only have yourself to blame when things go wrong.
The Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo is at the Minneapolis Convention Center, January 14th – 16th. We would like to see you there. Complete the following survey to recieve your own complimentary tickets to the show! Click for your tickets!!!
Our clients charged us with the following: Create a beautiful new kitchen with increased functionality without changing the footprint of the existing space.
To meet this challenge, we targeted a few key elements. We relocated the refrigerator to make room for a side by side full size refrigerator and freezer. We added a Read More