Hiring a Contractor For Your Home Renovation

Renovating your home is a large undertaking, and you want it done right. If you have decided to hire a professional contractor for the job, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to protect yourself as well as your most valued investment, your home.

First and foremost, research your state's legal requirements for contractors regarding insurance, licensing and workers compensation, so that you can eliminate any contractor who does not comply. Visiting the Contractor's License Reference Site is one way to learn about licensing requirements in your area and find out whether a particular contractor holds an active license.

Asking friends and family for references is usually a good starting point for finding a contractor who will perform quality work. Many contractors and home renovators agree that the best way to research a prospective contractor is to contact past clients, ask detailed questions and if possible, visit one or more work sites to check out the quality of the work. Tom Silva, general contractor at This Old House, shares a couple of other excellent ideas for finding good contractors in his article How to Hire a Contractor(1). Tim suggests checking with a building inspector to learn whose work is typically up to code or consulting with a local lumberyard about which contractors purchase quality materials and stay current on accounts.

Each contractor who will be quoting your project (typically at least three is advised) should be given the same set of specifications to ensure that your quotes are comparable. Though it may be tempting to automatically hire the contractor with the lowest bid, price is not always the best criteria for deciding which contractor to hire. The contractor you ultimately hire will be spending considerable time in your home, and the work performed will likely impact your home's value. Selecting a contractor with the skills and professionalism to deliver quality work can help ensure that the effect of your renovations on your home value is a positive one.

Once you have selected your contractor, ensure that every detail of the project is outlined in the contract, including projected start and finish dates, procedures for changes, a payment schedule, labor and material charges, a lien waiver and any specific agreements you have made with the contractor. Do not count on verbal promises alone; even if the contractor has a standard contract for most jobs, provisions may be added to the contract upon agreement between both parties.

(1) www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,199776,00.html

Maria Polidoro is the President of Ace Tool Online, a leading distributor of over 70 quality power tool brands. Headquartered in Wantagh, New York, Ace Tool Online also offers over 40,000 genuine power tool parts and is an authorized service center for over 50 manufacturers. Please visit Ace Tool Online for industrial cutting tools and the latest products from Milwaukee Tools, Festool and more.

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Homemade Facial Mask Tutorial Using Nature's Most Moisturizing Ingredients For Skincare

Sometimes when we buy and use commercial facial masks, we tend to get some adverse results if we have sensitive skin. But, you also need facial masks to pamper your skin every week to keep your skin in tip top condition. What is the next best alternative? To create a home made facial treatment mask with natural ingredients of course! You need to feed your face with the right nutrients to nourish it back to beauty. I have just the most pampering homemade facial mask that is au natural. It leaves your skin soft and supple and abundantly moisturized. You will love it as much as I do. Apart from that, the ingredients are really simple and easy to find

Hydrating Oatmeal Mask

This mask is infused with the goodness of oatmeal, honey, wheatgerm oil and yoghurt. All these ingredients are key to your beauty. Plus, it's really simple to make and you probably already have all these ingredients in your own kitchen.

Ingredients:

3 tbs of plain yoghurt

4 tbs of oatmeal

2 tbs of honey or beeswax

2 tsp of wheat germ oil

Directions

Mix all ingredients until you achieve a rich paste. Apply it generously over the face. Do not worry if the mask is runny. The honey will eventually help the mask to stay on the face long enough for the ingredients to do their magic. For best results, keep the mask on for at least 20 mins till when you're ready to wash it off with water(you don't need to use a cleanser). If the mixture is still runny, apply gauze over your face to hold the mask face.

How the ingredients will benefit you?

Yoghurt - Yoghurt is popularly known for its beauty properties. It's very moisturizing and pampering to the skin. Even during Cleopatra's time, she would also soak herself in a bath full of sour milk or in this case, yoghurt as one of her favourite beauty regime.

Honey - Honey is an emollient and leaves skin pampered and moisturized. Also, it helps to adhere mask to skin

Wheat germ oil - Wheat germ oil is rich in Vitamin E, essential to help fight off free radicals that break down the collagen formation on our skin

Oatmeal - Oatmeal is very soothing to the skin. Plus, it helps to purify skin and has a wonderful skin softening property

To optimally pamper your skin, use this facial mask twice every week. In conjunction with eating the right face foods for beauty, a good beauty regime that you adopt religiously and the right facial massage, you will have enviable glowing radiant skin in no time.

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The Uses and Benefits of a Facial Mask

A facial mask has many different applications and benefits. More commonly just called a facial, getting a facial mask involves covering your face with a creamy mask that smooths and cleans the face. While there are different masks from different manufacturers and for different purposes, they usually all contain some type of fruit extract and a combination of vitamins and minerals. The mask is then worn for a certain amount of time, anywhere from three to thirty minutes and is either washed or peeled off depending on the type of mask.

The main purpose of a facial is to clear off the outer layer of dead skin cells on your face. Removing the outer layer of skin cells helps to even the tone of your face, smooths out your skin, and gives your complexion an overall brighter, younger look.

Facial masks also remove much of the dirt and oil from your face. This ensures that your pores stay clear, which in turn helps fight acne and breakouts. On top of this, facials also help to improve circulation to your face. Improved circulation helps tone the facial muscles and both prevents and removes signs of aging. Finally, in addition to the physical benefits, getting a facial is just a relaxing feel-good experience that leaves most people feeling energized and rejuvenated afterward. This is good for you both psychologically and physically, as not only do you feel better and less stress, but also much of the tension you might hold in your face and on other parts of your body is released.

A facial mask has many physical benefits. Most people may get them done for the feel good psychological effects of the facial, but there are many different physical benefits as well. These benefits include evening the tone of your face, smoothing out your skin, and keeping the pores on your face open which ensures a clear complexion.

A great way to get more out of your facial mask is to combine it with different Facial Massage Techniques to give your face an overall great feeling. If you want to give relieve tension everywhere above your shoulders, you can also buy a home Neck Massager to complete the experience.

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