The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

3 Simple Do-It-Yourself Appliance Repairs

Appliance repair technicians do not know the exact details of every appliance they work on. They know the fundamentals and refer to the manufacturers manuals. While appliance repairs can be expensive, some can be done by those who understand the basics of working with plumbing and electricity. If you have rewired a lamp or replaced a […]

Of Blogging Contests (and a humble request or two)

As scary as it sounds I remember when blogs where originally called V Logs or weblogs and the idea of them actually being anything more than just entertaining or sad was almost ludicrous. Nowadays it seems like almost every site out there has a “blog” and if it doesn’t the marketing &/or SEO folks are […]

Of sales tax holidays, disaster preparation & others of interest…

Alabama is one of three states that have a “severe weather” sales tax holiday. This year the “holiday” is set to start tomorrow (February 22nd) and it runs through Sunday.  Unlike Virginia & Louisiana which both occur in the later part of May (to get people ready for Hurricane season), Alabama has chosen the last […]

Estimating 101 – Trust but Verify

If there is one thing that throws many new construction companies for a loop (and even some more established companies), it is estimating. Just last week on one of the forums an owner was asking; who should eat this cost? The issue, he dropped a set of plans off for his supplier to estimate not […]

Construction Defects: An Owner’s Perspective

This week I would like to welcome Mr. Christopher Hill whom I have had the pleasure of meeting via Twitter approx. 4 years ago. I have always been impressed by Chris’s take and advice on legal and policy issues that affect construction professionals, especially as it relates to “green” building. This was ratcheted up a […]

RRP Refresher Training (Alabama)

This week I had the “pleasure” of attending one of the first “refresher” training courses for the RRP. Ah but wait, per the EPA one shouldn’t need to take a refresher course until 2015 (based on the extension given to those that completed training before April 22nd 2010). Well, welcome to the State of Alabama […]

BS4D: 10 simple rules to remember

Whether you are tradesmen, builder, architect, designer, or… there are a few simple rules that if you remember & apply will help keep you out of trouble not only now, but well into the future… Hot moves to cold Wet moves to dry Everything expands & contracts Water is like Murphy’s law & it wants […]