It’s started; just yesterday a 6-person jury and a judge awarded $2.4 million to a Coconut Grove, Florida family. The drywall distributor, Banner Supply Co., is responsible for delivering half of the settlement. This case will probably send them to the poor house; what about all the other litigation cases against them? But in all fairness, they rolled the dice and lost.

And what about the carpenters who installed this tainted Chinese drywall in the first place? The media hasn’t even mentioned them yet and all those vultures in suits are still busy settling mesothelioma asbestos cases.

Hanging drywall is a dusty job. Hangers use either drywall saws or Rotozips to cut out rectangles circles, squares, and rectangles for can lights, electrical outlets, and things like that. My contention is that if merely the presence of this stuff will corrode copper, what’s the dust from it doing to carpenter’s lungs? The culprit is high sulfur content.

The only parties involved that we can be reasonably sure aren’t going to sue are the poor workers in the Chinese factory. I’m pretty sure they just go with the flow like the guys that put the lead paint on all the exports.

So what’s likely to happen? It’s fairly obvious that a building supply distributor can’t fund all the claims. They’re just not in the same fiscal league as big oil, big tobacco, or big pharma. It smells like another government bailout orchestrated by Obama and his band of Chicago thugs.



Related articles:

• How to Tape and Float Drywall
• How to Hang Drywall
• Residential Wood Frame Construction Explained
• Craftsman #21807 Table Saw Review

Solar panels seem to be one of those home improvement topics that rotates in and out of popularity. Kind of like efficient cars, eh? When the price of gas goes up everybody wants them. When it drops, here come the SUVs.

Solar panels are like that too. I don’t thing it’s so much a green thing than it is an economical issue. It might be a good time to give it a thought.

Part of Obama’s economic stimulus bill altered available tax credits. One of the changes was that the cap for solar panels went from $500 to $1500. That’s certainly an incentive.

That change also applies to fuel cells, geothermal heat cells, and electricity-producing wind turbines. Don’t try it with a solar water heater for heating your swimming pool, though; they didn’t make the cut. Obama wants to reduce your carbon footprint, but not when it comes to recreation.

Here’s another consideration as well. The administration is keeping it under the radar just now, but when they push in Cap and Trade legislation, your utility bills are going up. Way up. The Heritage Foundation estimates as much as 50%.

So, my outlook is that folks will start taking these things more seriously. And that means a bright business outlook for solar panel manufacturers and electrician installers.

Sounds like conspiracy theory, doesn’t it. Don’t go all aluminum-foil hat on me now. No, it just struck me this morning as I was brain-storming for a new article to write.

See, Obama likes to compare himself not only to Honest Abe Lincoln, but also to FDR. So much to FDR that he’s sort of following his New Deal set of programs with his overblown stimulus package. For an academic, he has missed the point that socialism failed while the Reagan doctrine succeeded.

But since this isn’t a political blog, I won’t recount that history here. So let’s talk about Michelle Obama. I think it’s pretty cool that she’s doing that big organic victory garden on the south lawn of the White House.

And that’s where I see the connection between her and Eleanor R. The Michelle O.-Eleanor R. Victory Garden Connection. As the first lady during WWII, Eleanor established her own victory garden at the White House.

Those were hard times just as these are. And that garden concept was a rallying call for millions of other Americans to pull together and pull themselves up by their collective bootstraps.

I think Ms. Obama is symbolically doing the same thing. Pretty clever. And it’s a good possibility that she’s also establishing her First Lady agenda. Good chance that it will be good nutrition and charitable giving (part of her harvest goes to a local soup kitchen).

That second part might be a not-so-subtle bit of publicity to combat the rising ire over Barak slashing tax deductions for charitable contributions.

Be that as it may, it’s a win-win. How’s that for a conspiracy theory. Snopes-proof!

On a smaller remodeling project chances are that you’ll be working with one contractor or handyman. But in larger jobs you might end up hiring a general contractor.

General contractors are used quite often on commercial jobs and by subdivision developers. They make the entire construction project easy to manage because they pull permits, coordinate subcontractors, and handle all the payroll.

In short, they take the headache out of the work. Think of them as job babysitters.

But when you get a sour apple and they cash your check and fail to pay the subs, you might find yourself with a lap full of mechanics’ liens. This means you’ll have to pay them again to get them off your back. Ouch!

There are things you can do to avoid mechanics’ liens. Get a detailed contract and file a “Waiver and Release” form.

A lien against your property is serious doo-doo. It you have one on the books, you might not be able to sell your home until it’s satisfied. Not that you could do that in the current Obama real estate nightmare.

What’s that you say? It’s Bush’s fault? Nay, nay; Barak was the guy that opposed Fannie Mae reform and took their lobbiest money when McCain was pushing for it.

But that’s neither here nor there.

I’ve been in the situation of almost filing a lien myself while operating my construction company, Reliable Construction. But I didn’t. Instead I made a pest or myself to the general contractor until he paid me. It was more fun, I must confess.

No, I wasn’t really going to break his kneecaps. OK, not both of them

The window in my living room looks out on the back yard. It’s a big window. Actually, it’s three butted up to each other. My issue is that it’s contractor grade, and so, not that bug on energy efficiency. So I would really like to replace it with something a bit beefier, say, krypton or argon-filled with a low-e coating.

The window frames make a big difference too - more than I thought. Mine are aluminum which is good for maintenance but bad for energy. Heat and cold goes right through it. High thermal conductance is what the energy gurus call it.

The problem? They’re too dang expensive. Quite the conundrum. Upgrading would save money through lower utility bills, but I don’t have the cash in pocket just now to do the deed. Perhaps I should ask Obama for a window bailout.

That might work. I should send up a trial balloon. Makes sense; if I use less energy, I make less of a carbon footprint. What a green point of view. Think he’d go for it? Nah. Sigh.

I could always go for some solar window film. A bit of research informed me that it hinders heat transference, both going out in the winter and coming in during the summer. Not too shabby.

It also minimizes UV rays, which must be a good thing or they never would have incorporated it into my contact lenses and sunglasses.

Sunglasses. Now, that’s an interesting topic. They’re not only functional, people also use them to make a fashion statement. For some reason only known to eyeball fashionistas, the current trend seems to be towards big frames. Big white frames. Windows to the world.

But I do not mock. I paid over $100 for mine (tortise shell, NOT white) but they’re well worth it. Yep, they’re made by Costa Del Mar and they’re just right for a day of kayak fishing out on the bay. Which is what I should be doing now.

I hope you found this post interesting. I invite to read more of my fascinating writing

The answer to this question can boil down to a simple yes or no, but what might motivate you to go one way or the other? I do everything myself, partly because I enjoy it but here’s a few more reasons:

• I have the time to do it. As a self-employed freelance writer, I can pretty much make my own schedule.
• I don’t want to contribute to the illegal alien problem. No politicians will address the issue, not the Bush administration, and certainly not Obama or any of his cronies. The whole extended Houston area is a “sanctuary city” and very few lawn care service employees speak English.
• I’m cheap; uh, I mean thrifty. That’s still a virtue, right?

But if hiring a landscaping or lawn care company is for you, I recommend Angie’s List: Ratings, reviews and sometimes revenge. See what local homeowners say about the service companies they hire. Join now.
Last summer when my lawnmower finally gave up the ghost, I bought myself a Brill Razorcut reel lawnmower. You know, the kind with no motor? It works just as well and drinks no gasoline. And it’s quiet.

Recently I put in an organic raised bed garden and I can’t wait to get some homegrown tomatoes. I’m also going to put in more basil than I did last year. I just didn’t harvest enough to make as much pesto as I wanted. I wonder why fresh basil is so expensive in the store? it’s easy to grow.

In fact, I started some from seed a few weeks ago and I need to get them in the ground today. The 10 day forecast tells me that the temperature isn’t going to colder at night than 55 degrees F.

Since the weather has warmed up, I planted the tulips I gave my wife for out 15th anniversary. They’re just starting to bloom today. Purple ones.

And now that I think of it, I think I’ll wander outside and see if any more asparagus has come up…

I hope you enjoyed this post. Bookmark this blog and check out my free home improvement articles.

I usually write about home improvement, but at times I get off on a tangent. Which happened this week. Growing up in Panama, I ate empanadas all the time. That is some good eating.

Now I live in South Texas, or is it Mexico? It’s hard to tell, with all the “guest workers” roaming around. Anyway, it’s a good thing I speak Spanish. I wish I could say that Obama is going to do something about the border but he probably won’t do any better than President Bush in that regard.

But I digress. The point is that when I get a hankering for empanadas, the only ones I can buy are the Mexican variety, which are stuffed with fruits. So I make my own from my Panamanian-style empanada recipe.

They’re not hard to make at all. The only thing I change from the original is that I make my own crust using a whole wheat pie crust recipe that I invented. I just like whole wheat as opposed to wimpy overprocessed wheat products.

Speaking of  food, I recently recieved two batches of frozen meat, both buffalo and deer. Delicious. Honestly, I tried the vegetarian thing years ago and it didn’t work for me. I know it’s the way for some people, and more power to you if you fall in that camp.

Not to say that I don’t enjoy vegetables as well. I’ve got my vegetable garden all set up and I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so I can plant.

OK, back to the work. Ready for more free home improvement articles?