Other than hiring myself, a couple of my friends and family, I don’t know.

Here’s the second roof in a year I’ve looked at because shingles are falling off.   The shingles were not very old on either roof, they were just installed incorrectly.   I feel bad that some homeowners have paid / are paying for very poor quality work.

  My older brother asked me the other day,  when he buys a house – how does he hire a contractor to work on it ?    Word of mouth was the best thing I could think of.  Get recommendations from other homeowners, and ALSO ask lumber yards who they hear good things about.  This probably won’t work at a Menards or Home Depot, etc…the big chains, but if you are in an area with a small lumber yard – they know who pays their bills, and who has a good reputation to them anyway.  Most of all, Ask if how the contractor is about honoring their warranty?   Does their warranty cover 30 yr Shingles that fall off the house within a couple years ?

I hope everyone is able to find the contractor they like and can work with, who does quality work!

I’ll be honest with you, the idea that something is “Made in America” doesn’t impress me anymore like it did before the Chevy -General Motors  bailouts from the US Government/american people. 

  What Does impress me still about a product or a service, etc… is the Customer Service and Warranty !   If I know that a product I buy will be repaired quickly, in a location near me, and gotten back to me quickly, that is impressive!   I spent a day last week sitting by this coputer I’m using now, watching as a person in India move my curser around and try to get my computer running correctly again.  Granted, it’s impressive that someone in India CAN get in my computer virtually and fix things, it’s still frustrating when I have problems Again, with a 9 month old computer.  I have spent several times the cost of this computer, if I added up the hours of work I have missed while sitting on the phone to India with computer repair problems, and the ammount of “warranties and virus protection” they have talked me into buying.

    Again and again I have seen that a Low price does NOT equal a High Value.   It sounds like if I had spent more  money on processors and virus protection when I bought the computer, I might have lost less work time by not having as many repair issues.

With the sub-contractors I work with, I have found the same thing.   On top of doing a good job, the ones who answer their phones and make my life easier are the ones I call.  The idea of a person or business standing behind what they do or sell is SO important.  I have seen many times, and especially after the Ham Lake Fire, that a lot of carpenters from out of the area were bought in to help re-build.  I’m sure some of these buildings are fine, but I have seen a few of these “New” cabins with Major problems.  And now where are the contractors who built them ?  In Minneapolis?  Iowa?  Illinois?   Are they driving up after work to fix a problem with the cabin they built?

I live and work in Cook County.  But MORE than that, I stand behind the warranty on the projects I build in Cook County.  I have found that price and value are closely related.  Sure, there’s always someone who will work for cash, work without a license, or Insurance, or whatever it is they are doing to be able to work very cheaply.  But the lowest price, in the long run, often does not offer the highest value.

It sounds like the Gunflint Trail Garage Sale was a success for everyone involved.  It’s interesting and kinda cool – the things that end up becoming Events , on the Gunflint Trail.   I went down to Trail Center for a burger in the afternoon, and it was like a party down there. Thank you for everyone who checked out the sales !

   My book got a fantastic  3/4  page review in the Cook County News-Herald   on May 8, 2010.  Review by Jane Howard.

 ”Nace Hagemann’s book, You Gotta Get Out of the Woods…, must be one of the best books ever written about life on the Gunflint Trail.  Not because it’s idyllic, but because it’s real.  Self-published this year, it’s a collection of photos and musings bound to become a classic.”

    Thank you Jane  and  Cook County News-Herald.

We’ve been working on several different types of projects lately.  Drywall on one, re-building a deck and installing a new kind of composite decking on another, and are just about to start on a garage near Grand Marais.  Summer is looking busy and I’m working on estimates for projects for the winter-and spring.

            Thank you and I hope everyone has a great summer and gets to spend a little time playing on or near the Gunflint Trail !

GUNFLINT TRAIL’S FIRST ANNUAL TRASH AND TREASURE DAY! Saturday May  
29th 8 am-5 pm 60 miles of Bargains 26 Businesses and all the  
homeowners that want to join in. Please post this anyplace you can!  
Blogs, press releases, website. Help make this a big event for the  
Gunflint Trail/Cook County Homeowners please join in!

I think this is a great-fun idea.  I have collected plenty of things myself that will be for sale. 

Scaffolding, tools, winter gear, et….

Should be a fun Trail event.

We’ve built several docks in the past.  This one we built about 2 years ago.  In the summer it’s attached  to a crib dock on a part of the lake that gets quite a bit of wind.  In the fall we move it around this point to a protected bay to wait for ice out in the spring.  Still feels like there should be lawn chairs and a cooler along for the ride!

After finishing a quick chimney repair this morning on Gull Lake, I swung by the Seagull River / campgound to see if walleye were running in the river yet.  We didn’t see any running and the water levels are very low this spring, they may even have trouble getting very far upstream.  Was still a beautiful day to be in the woods and on the edge of the river, even if only for a few minutes.

Here are a few pieces of advice I found on blog posts, other constructon sites, etc..  The articles were all much longer, these are just a few of the highlights.

    The following is from mcclurebuilders.com

“The biggest reason for remodeling should be that the homeowner loves his or her location and percieves the home to have inherently high value.

Remodeling is often a more expensive proposition per square foot than building a new home because there are demolition, tie-in and structural considerations.  Often problems are revealed during the remodel process that are critical and need to be fixed.

  …      Recovery costs are an important consideration if you intend to sell your home in the near future.  Typically, according to national statistics, kitchen remodels represents an 88%  recovery cost, two story additions  84%, and bathrooms  82% .

….

If you recently did costly but necessary home repairs ( replacing roofing, Heating / Air conditioning, etc. )  that is considered homeowner maintenance, and not something you should expect to recoup in the sale of your home.

If you get several bids, it makes sense that the lowest is probably not the one you would necessarily choose.  If a contractor wants your business, he or she will bid competitively and fairly.  The hardest part of this scenario is comparing “apples to apples”.  A good way to do this is to draw up the project specifications yourself, and give each contractor a copy to base their bid on.  Upon selection of a contractor, the project specifications should then become part of the contract, so no variance can occur.

FROM :    hometips.com

                Chemistry with your contractor is critical – this person may be in your midst for several months, and there may be times when you have to haggle about difficult issues.    …

FROM:    thisoldhouse.com

         The best ones are worth waiting for.  The best contractors tend to be the busiest ones.  Build your schedule around the GC  (General Contractor )  of your dreams, not vice versa.

….         (  If you talk to references, ask )  Did anything go wrong?  And if so, how – and how quickly – was the crisis resolved?

FROM  Another Article at     thisoldhouse.com

GET Recommendations.    Start with your friends and family …  or pay a visit to your local lumberyard, which sees contractors regurlarly and knows which ones buy quality materials and pay their bills on time.

Meet face to face.     A contractor should be able to answer your questions satisfactorily and in a manner that puts you at ease.  … it’s crucial that you two communicate well because this person will be in your home for hours at a time.

On my way home from looking at a project near Grand Marais, I spotted this calf moose in the swamp to me left and wanted to film it crossing the road.  I wasn’t expecting the cow ( mother ) to be nearby and come out from the right side of the road and follow it’s calf into the woods.

Some times of the year you can see moose every day on the Gunflint Trail.  Then there are times you don’t see any for a month or more.  They are always fun to see, everyone just has to be careful where you stop your vehicle to watch them because there still will be other traffic on the road that doesn’t have time to view them and needs to get around you.  I wish everyone a great spring!

The Cook County News-Herald  is reporting that 

“The Board of Commissioners resolved to extend the effective duration of the land use permits issued to properties within the Ham Lake fire area from the existing one-year timeframe to a three-year period.”

    They make it sound like the permits still had to be applied for within 180 days of the date the structure was destroyed, but I think it is a very good thing to extend those building permits.

     I’m sure it was a horrible experience for people to go through, having their cabins destroyed, so I like that the county passed this effort to give a slight break to some people still trying to rebuild.  I heard that some of the cabins were not able to be insured at a value high enough to allow a full rebuild.  We ended up being able to help a few people with their new structures.  It feels good to help people enjoy their cabin again, their lake again, and to start really getting past the destruction of the Ham Lake fire.

“On the positive side for builders, Americans remain invested in the concept of homeownership, according to the survey, which was released this week. Seventy percent believe that buying a home is one of the safest investments they can make. Eighty percent say that homeownership is important to the economy. And they definitely see the value of lower prices, low interest rates, and the soon-to-expire federal housing tax credit: 64% think it is a good time to purchase a house, with 31% saying now is a “very good” time to buy.”

                        –   This is from a blog by Builder Magazine   –    builderonline.com

Now, they do go on to say that things are still tough, but I like this was quote.   It’s good to hear some positive news on the topics of home building and home ownership.