Tips for getting a contractor,
materials & what to avoid
Written by R. Locsin
Before even canvassing for a contractor, you should know exactly what you want. This will not only help the contractor quote, but give you total control of your project.
1. What is your time-frame?
2. Make a list of specific things you want (Cut and paste pictures from magazines of things you want in your construction)
3. Set a maximum budget and a contingency fund (If you have set your maximum budget, you may declare this amount to the contractor less 30%, as your buffer or contingency fund should things go unplanned)
4. Make a rough sketch of your desired floor plan.
5. Without considering budget, what are the things you want?
6. Considering your budget, what are the things you could let go?
7. Pay a small fee to an Engineer, Architect or better yet a Project Manager to get his/her professional opinion on the contract your about to sign.
Be aware of contractors who:
1. Those who quote prices before seeing the job.
2. Knock on the door because they happen to be in your area doing some other work and can give you a "special price".
3. Demand more than 40% deposit "to buy materials". Reputable contractors maintain charge accounts with their suppliers and large deposit is not necessary.
4. Will not supply you with a detailed written contract specifying what they say and what they will do.
5. They don’t have a permanent address nor have stayed in a permanent office in the past year. Chances are, these are bogus contractors or worst, they’ve just changed their name and location to avoid previous project disasters.
6. The lowest price is not always the best price. Check works they have recently done in the past.
7. Contractors who gives you low rates but uses inferior materials.
Materials you should not scrimp on:
1. Tiles – Never buy cheap tiles. It may look nice but its luster will disappear in few months and cracks easily. You can never go wrong with branded tiles.
2. Steel gauge in your foundation. When strong earthquakes happen, your house can actually collapse.
3. Exterior paint – Be sure that your paint are all-weather when painting the exterior.
4. Wire gauge – Your investment could literary turn to ashes with sub-standard wires.
5. Water proofing compounds – Always get the brand your contractor recommends
6. Wall paper quality – If you cannot afford quality wall paper, settle with ordinary paint. You will only be peeling away your money within the next year.
7. Cement – In most third world countries, there are unscrupulous cement supplier that actually repacks cement mixed with clay. These produce brittle cement work that eventually chips off or caves in.
Look for warning signs such as (a) Cheap pricing, (b) delivered by a truck that has no company logo or signage that it came from a legitimate supplier and (c) observe curing time - Quality cement hardens quickly while adulterated ones take time.
Remember!
Check for at least three contractors to bid. Asking for referrals is a good way to decide. Lastly, never sign a contract on the first few meetings with the contractor, even though you’ve gained confidence with this contractor. Excitement to start your construction may get on the way of right- thinking.
You may reproduce this article with the following credits – R. Locsin, www,constructionphils.com
Reasons for sleeping and waking up early :
Reasons for sleeping and waking up early :
Evening at 9 - 11pm: is the time for eliminating
unnecessary/ toxic chemicals (detoxification) from the
antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration
should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If
during this time a housewife is still not in a relaxed
state such as washing the dishes or monitoring
children doing their homework, this will have a
negative impact on health.
Evening at 11pm - 1am: is the detoxification process
in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep
sleep state.
Early morning 1 - 3am: detoxification process in the
gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.
Early morning 3 - 5am: detoxification in the lungs.
Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for
cough sufferers during this time. Since the
detoxification process had reached the respiratory
tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as
not to interfere with toxin removal process.
Morning 5 - 7am: detoxification in the colon, you
should empty your bowel.
Morning 7 - 9am: absorption of nutrients in the small
intestine, you should be having breakfast at this
time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for
those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very
beneficial to those wanting to stay fit .
Those who always skip breakfast, they should change
their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast
late until 9 - 10am rather than no meal at all.
Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt
the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside
from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the
bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good
sleep and don't sleep late.
The top five cancer-causing foods are:
Hot dogs - Because they are high in nitrates. The
Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat
no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live
without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium
nitrate.
Processed meats and bacon Also high in the same sodium
nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed
meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated
fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.
Doughnuts Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble.
First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and
hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures.
Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can
possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.
French fries Like dough nuts, French fries are made
with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high
temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl
amides which occur during the frying process. They
should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said
Adams .
Chips, crackers, and cookies All are usually made with
white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels
claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small
amounts of trans-fats.
BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS
No Breakfast People who do not take breakfast are
going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to
an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain
causing brain degeneration.
Overeating It causes hardening of the brain arteries,
leading to a decrease in mental power.
Smoking It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may
lead to Alzheimer disease.
High Sugar consumption Too much sugar will interrupt
the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing
malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
Air Pollution The brain is the largest oxygen consumer
in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the
supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a
decrease in brain efficiency.
Sleep Deprivation Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long
term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death
of brain cells.
Head covered while sleeping Sleeping with the head
covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide
and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to
brain damaging effects.
Working your brain during illness Working hard or
studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in
effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the
brain.
Lacking in stimulating thoughts Thinking is the best
way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation
thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
Talking Rarely Intellectual conversations will promote
the efficiency of the brain.
The main causes of liver damage are:
Sleeping too late and waking up too late.
Not urinating in the morning.
Too much eating.
Skipping breakfast.
Consuming too much medication.
Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food
coloring, and artificial sweetener.
Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible
reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes
even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not
consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the
body is very fit.
Consuming overly done foods also add to the burden of
liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5
parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one
sitting, do not store.
We should prevent this without necessarily spending
more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and
eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits
according to schedule / time and condition are very
important for our bodies to absorb the proper
nutrients and get rid of unnecessary chemicals.
DO TAKE CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.
Evening at 9 - 11pm: is the time for eliminating
unnecessary/ toxic chemicals (detoxification) from the
antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration
should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If
during this time a housewife is still not in a relaxed
state such as washing the dishes or monitoring
children doing their homework, this will have a
negative impact on health.
Evening at 11pm - 1am: is the detoxification process
in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep
sleep state.
Early morning 1 - 3am: detoxification process in the
gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.
Early morning 3 - 5am: detoxification in the lungs.
Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for
cough sufferers during this time. Since the
detoxification process had reached the respiratory
tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as
not to interfere with toxin removal process.
Morning 5 - 7am: detoxification in the colon, you
should empty your bowel.
Morning 7 - 9am: absorption of nutrients in the small
intestine, you should be having breakfast at this
time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for
those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very
beneficial to those wanting to stay fit .
Those who always skip breakfast, they should change
their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast
late until 9 - 10am rather than no meal at all.
Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt
the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside
from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the
bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good
sleep and don't sleep late.
The top five cancer-causing foods are:
Hot dogs - Because they are high in nitrates. The
Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat
no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live
without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium
nitrate.
Processed meats and bacon Also high in the same sodium
nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed
meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated
fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.
Doughnuts Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble.
First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and
hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures.
Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can
possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.
French fries Like dough nuts, French fries are made
with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high
temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl
amides which occur during the frying process. They
should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said
Adams .
Chips, crackers, and cookies All are usually made with
white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels
claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small
amounts of trans-fats.
BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS
No Breakfast People who do not take breakfast are
going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to
an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain
causing brain degeneration.
Overeating It causes hardening of the brain arteries,
leading to a decrease in mental power.
Smoking It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may
lead to Alzheimer disease.
High Sugar consumption Too much sugar will interrupt
the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing
malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
Air Pollution The brain is the largest oxygen consumer
in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the
supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a
decrease in brain efficiency.
Sleep Deprivation Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long
term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death
of brain cells.
Head covered while sleeping Sleeping with the head
covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide
and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to
brain damaging effects.
Working your brain during illness Working hard or
studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in
effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the
brain.
Lacking in stimulating thoughts Thinking is the best
way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation
thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
Talking Rarely Intellectual conversations will promote
the efficiency of the brain.
The main causes of liver damage are:
Sleeping too late and waking up too late.
Not urinating in the morning.
Too much eating.
Skipping breakfast.
Consuming too much medication.
Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food
coloring, and artificial sweetener.
Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible
reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes
even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not
consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the
body is very fit.
Consuming overly done foods also add to the burden of
liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5
parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one
sitting, do not store.
We should prevent this without necessarily spending
more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and
eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits
according to schedule / time and condition are very
important for our bodies to absorb the proper
nutrients and get rid of unnecessary chemicals.
DO TAKE CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.
Mistakes made by start up micro businesses
In my work life, I come in contact with a lot of start up micro businesses and have discovered some of the mistakes they have made. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to learn from them, and hopefully avoid the same mistakes ourselves.
Here is a collection of mistakes made by start up micro businesses that I have seen firsthand. I hope by sharing them, you can avoid them on your solo journey.
1 Making decisions based upon advice you heard at the pub rather than paying for, listening to and acting upon specialist advice.
2 Advertising beyond your business’s capacity to serve.
Providing discounted or free work for friends/families/charities and not leveraging off it.
3 As discussed in the article on five tips for naming your business splurging on branded stationery, and then changing the business name, structure or contact details and the stationery has to be thrown away.
4 Designing a website with no contact details, and pages which do not link pack to the home page.
5 Incorrect contact details on anything!
6 Not understanding property insurance – what is insured and under which policy? Check with your insurer as sometimes home insurance will extend to the home office, however you will need to let them know about it.
7 Focusing on the parts of the business that you enjoy to the neglect of the parts of the business that don’t interest you.
8 Purchasing software when similar freeware is available to download from the internet.
9 Using a spam filter that treats potential new customers email as junk.
Delaying issuing invoices because you are too busy earning money and have no time to bill clients.
10 Not chasing payment of invoices in a timely manner and continuing to work for a client when payment is overdue.
11 Registering for GST, and all the paperwork that comes with it, before it was economically necessary to.
12 Confusing your bookkeeping records by not having a dedicated business account, or by paying for personal expenses through the business.
For better of worse, those were just a few mistakes made by start up micro businesses in the journey of growing their business. What mistakes did you make in your first year in business?
Heather Smith, an MYOB Certified Consultant and Specialist Trainer, provides business management software solutions which generate accurate and timely financial information that the business owner can use and understand.
Here is a collection of mistakes made by start up micro businesses that I have seen firsthand. I hope by sharing them, you can avoid them on your solo journey.
1 Making decisions based upon advice you heard at the pub rather than paying for, listening to and acting upon specialist advice.
2 Advertising beyond your business’s capacity to serve.
Providing discounted or free work for friends/families/charities and not leveraging off it.
3 As discussed in the article on five tips for naming your business splurging on branded stationery, and then changing the business name, structure or contact details and the stationery has to be thrown away.
4 Designing a website with no contact details, and pages which do not link pack to the home page.
5 Incorrect contact details on anything!
6 Not understanding property insurance – what is insured and under which policy? Check with your insurer as sometimes home insurance will extend to the home office, however you will need to let them know about it.
7 Focusing on the parts of the business that you enjoy to the neglect of the parts of the business that don’t interest you.
8 Purchasing software when similar freeware is available to download from the internet.
9 Using a spam filter that treats potential new customers email as junk.
Delaying issuing invoices because you are too busy earning money and have no time to bill clients.
10 Not chasing payment of invoices in a timely manner and continuing to work for a client when payment is overdue.
11 Registering for GST, and all the paperwork that comes with it, before it was economically necessary to.
12 Confusing your bookkeeping records by not having a dedicated business account, or by paying for personal expenses through the business.
For better of worse, those were just a few mistakes made by start up micro businesses in the journey of growing their business. What mistakes did you make in your first year in business?
Heather Smith, an MYOB Certified Consultant and Specialist Trainer, provides business management software solutions which generate accurate and timely financial information that the business owner can use and understand.
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