Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Katie Aberbach October 26 at 8:15 AM

In his 15 years of working as a home contractor, Michael Holmes has heard it all including the tale of a homeowner who was blindsided when a basement renovation she had submitted an $8,000 down payment for turned out to be a scam.

The contractor dropped off his tools and never came back, says Holmes, the owner of Northeast Washington-based Holmes Handyman. In his toolbox were a brick and a rusty hammer.

Theres always risk involved when you hire a stranger to work in your home. Residential contractors individuals who do repairs and renovations to properties, often with a special focus such as electrical work or plumbing are hired on a job-by-job basis, so its sometimes difficult to predict what the experience might be like. When selecting someone new, a few key considerations will help you choose the right person for the right purpose.

Research and plan

Unless its a simple repair or appliance fix, figure out exactly what type of work you want and need, before you contact any professional, says Joe Normandy, executive director of the Metro D.C. chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. A plan in your head wont cut it (nor will a collection of Pinterest photos). You have to sit down and sculpt out the project on paper, Normandy says.

Be as specific in writing down your plan (or even sketching it) as you can. Get answers ready for the questions youll inevitably be asked, says John Biechman, an Alexandria homeowner who is currently in the middle of a home addition.

The size of your windows, the size of your doors, which wall you want the shower head on, Biechman says. The contractors not going to make it up. Hes going to ask you.

Having everything written down on paper and agreed-upon in advance is also crucial when putting together a contract the more details you have outlined, the less chance of disappointment (and the better protected youll be if things dont go as planned).

You can use online resources to estimate the amount of materials that will be needed and their cost; itll be helpful as you compare bids.

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Confidently pick home contractors with these tips

Architects - "Naysayer" (Vocal cover by Doppler )

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Architects - "Naysayer" (Vocal cover by Doppler ) - Video

A Tribeca condo board threatened to stop Ground Zero mosque worshipers from renting space in its tony building, sparking charges of discrimination.

Park51, the organization behind the controversial Islamic prayer space and community center proposed for Park Place, leased the condos 49-51 Warren St. storefront in August.

But by Sept. 18, before any prayer services were even conducted there, the condo where apartments sell for $1 million and up and one features a bowling alley posted a legal notice telling Park51 to get out by months end.

Park51 needs the space because its planned mosque near Ground Zero is under construction.

Christophe Cornaire, the owner of the Warren Street retail space and a former Cantor Fitzgerald managing director, has hired a lawyer to make sure the condo board does not evict the mosque.

The unit owner is rattling sabers at us, said Richard Menaker, a lawyer for the condo board. Hes been accusing the board of misbehaving here ... [of being] discriminatory.

Menaker says bigotry has nothing to do with it that the condo is simply holding Cornaire accountable for failing to fully disclose how the space would be used and how many people would use it.

The key thing is, theyre talking about using the basement space which is not allowed to be used by people, Menaker said.

Developer Sharif El-Gamals Ground Zero mosque has been shrouded in controversy since it was unveiled in 2010.Photo: Splash News

In the past, hundreds of Muslim worshipers crowded a makeshift prayer space on Park Place for Friday services, many spilling over into the basement of the building.

Excerpt from:
Condo board trying to evict Ground Zero mosque tenants

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP Chief Medical Writer

Starting Monday, millions of people who have avoided colon cancer screening can get a new home test that's noninvasive and doesn't require the icky preparation most other methods do.

The test is the first to look for cancer-related DNA in stool. But deciding whether to get it is a more complex choice than ads for "the breakthrough test ... that's as easy as going to the bathroom" make it seem.

On one hand, the test could greatly boost screening for a deadly disease that too few people get checked for now.

On the other hand, it could lure people away from colonoscopies and other tests that, unlike the new one, have been shown to save lives.

It might even do both.

"It looks promising," but its impact on cancer risk and survival isn't known, said Dr. Barnett Kramer, a National Cancer Institute screening expert.

David Smith, 67, a retired teacher from Northfield, Minnesota, shows the test's potential. He has never been screened for colon cancer and his doctor ran through the options, including a barium enema or a scope exam.

"He pulled out one of those really colorful brochures they have for all those procedures," Smith said, but he had suffered an infection from a prostate biopsy years ago and didn't want another invasive test. When the doctor mentioned the new DNA test, "I said, well, sign me up."

The test was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month and will be offered by prescription at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where it was developed, and soon nationwide. It's called Cologuard and is sold by Exact Sciences Corp. of Madison, Wisconsin. Mayo Clinic and one of its doctors get royalties from the test.

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New home test shakes up colon cancer screening

(Reuters) - Public approval of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government slumped after the resignation of two high-profile cabinet ministers last week, according to a poll published on Sunday, adding more pressure on Abe as he struggles to turn around the Japanese economy.

Japan's biggest daily the Yomiuri surveyed 1,059 people by telephone on Friday and Saturday and found support for Abe's government had fallen to 53 percent from 62 percent in less than a month.

Of those surveyed, 37 percent said they disapproved of the government, up from a 30 percent disapproval rating in a previous poll on Oct 10.

In the biggest setback since he took office in December 2012, Abe lost two cabinet ministers on one day last week, complicating tough decisions on key policies, including whether to proceed with an unpopular sales tax hike and restarts of nuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Japan's economy is floundering and analysts polled by Reuters have cut their annual growth forecast for a fifth straight month.

Yuko Obuchi, the daughter of a former prime minister, quit as trade and industry minister on Monday after acknowledging doubts over whether her support groups misused political funds.

The Yomiuri survey found 73 percent agreed that it was right for Obuchi to quit.

Midori Matsushima also stepped down as justice minister on the same day over allegations she violated election laws by handing out paper "uchiwa" fans to voters.

Obuchi and Matsushima were two of five women that Abe appointed in September in a move to win the backing of female voters by challenging the male domination of politics in Japan.

Abe hopes to contain the damage through swift replacements of the two, but other cabinet members including Defense Minister Akinori Eto, Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa and Health Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, also face questions over finances.

Continued here:
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's Public Support Slumps In Wake Of Scandals, Cabinet Resignations

TOKYO: Public approval of Prime Minister Shinzo Abes government slumped after the resignation of two high-profile cabinet ministers last week, according to a poll published on Sunday, adding more pressure on Abe as he struggles to turn around the Japanese economy.

Japans biggest daily the Yomiuri surveyed 1,059 people by telephone on Friday and Saturday and found support for Abes government had fallen to 53 percent from 62 percent in less than a month.

Of those surveyed, 37 percent said they disapproved of the government, up from a 30 percent disapproval rating in a previous poll on Oct 10.

In the biggest setback since he took office in December 2012, Abe lost two cabinet ministers on one day last week, complicating tough decisions on key policies, including whether to proceed with an unpopular sales tax hike and restarts of nuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Japans economy is floundering and analysts polled by Reuters have cut their annual growth forecast for a fifth straight month.

Yuko Obuchi, the daughter of a former prime minister, quit as trade and industry minister on Monday after acknowledging doubts over whether her support groups misused political funds.

The Yomiuri survey found 73 percent agreed that it was right for Obuchi to quit.

Midori Matsushima also stepped down as justice minister on the same day over allegations she violated election laws by handing out paper uchiwa fans to voters.

Obuchi and Matsushima were two of five women that Abe appointed in September in a move to win the backing of female voters by challenging the male domination of politics in Japan.

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Japanese PM Abes public support slumps in wake of resignations

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Pic: AP.

On Oct. 22, we looked at women in Japans work force. Now we look at politics writes Todd Crowell for Asia Sentinel.

In an effort to burnish his avowed policy of empowering women, sometimes known as womenomics, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed five women to his cabinet in his September 3 re-shuffle.

It is not the most women in a Japanese cabinet former premier Junichiro Koizumi also had five women in one of his cabinets, but it is unusual for Japan, which also lags most every democracy in the world for female MPs.

The well-intentioned move has turned into a major embarrassment for Abe. Japan has never seen the spectacle of two cabinet members, both of them women, resigning their posts in one day.

Yoko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima both resigned their cabinet posts on Oct. 20 to take responsibility for public fund accounting mistakes made by their staff and support groups that some say verge on buying votes.

In Matsushimas case, the staff handed out free tickets to a famous singers concert. Her mistake apparently was handing out handheld fans with her profile on printed on them.

Known as uchiwa in Japanese, they are the kind of thing that stores hand out for free to advertise their wares. Since the resignation story broke, hand fans with Matsushimas profile on them have been selling for US$100 or more on eBay.

The ink was hardly dry on Obuchis resignation letter than her replacement was in trouble. Yoichi Miyazawa had to admit that some of his staff took supporters to a Hiroshima S&M bar and listed the US$170 expense as political entertainment.

The new and possibly soon to be ex- minister told reporters, It is true that such expenses were made, but I did not go there at all. He said that sadomasochism is not my hobby.

Excerpt from:
Shinzo Abes push for women in Japanese politics

Public approval of Prime MinisterShinzo Abe's government slumped after the resignation of twohigh-profile cabinet ministers last week, according to a pollpublished on Sunday, adding more pressure on Abe as he strugglesto turn around the Japanese economy.

Japan's biggest daily the Yomiuri surveyed 1,059 people bytelephone on Friday and Saturday and found support for Abe'sgovernment had fallen to 53 percent from 62 percent in less thana month.

Of those surveyed, 37 percent said they disapproved of thegovernment, up from a 30 percent disapproval rating in aprevious poll on Oct 10.

In the biggest setback since he took office in December2012, Abe lost two cabinet ministers on one day last week,complicating tough decisions on key policies, including whetherto proceed with an unpopular sales tax hike and restarts ofnuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushimadisaster.

Japan's economy is floundering and analysts polled byReuters have cut their annual growth forecast for a fifthstraight month.

Yuko Obuchi, the daughter of a former prime minister, quitas trade and industry minister on Monday after acknowledgingdoubts over whether her support groups misused political funds.

The Yomiuri survey found 73 percent agreed that it was rightfor Obuchi to quit.

Midori Matsushima also stepped down as justice minister onthe same day over allegations she violated election laws byhanding out paper "uchiwa" fans to voters.

Obuchi and Matsushima were two of five women that Abeappointed in September in a move to win the backing of femalevoters by challenging the male domination of politics in Japan.

Abe hopes to contain the damage through swift replacementsof the two, but other cabinet members including Defense MinisterAkinori Eto, Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa and HealthMinister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, also face questions over finances.

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Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's public support slumps in wake of resignations-Yomiuri poll

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