Finding the Right Contractor for Your New Hampshire Construction Project

How do you find the contractor who's the best fit for your project? Here are a few tips:

• Price: It's a good idea to do a little research and get an idea of about how much jobs like yours
  
  should cost. Then, when you get estimates, you'll have something to compare their prices to. Beware of estimates that come in significantly underpriced. While it's always possible that the contractor simply made an arithmetic error, it could also mean that she doesn't understand what's involved in doing the job.
• Experience: Talk with the contractors you're considering hiring. Ask questions about the work they've done in the past, and ask how they've overcome the type of problems they might reasonably come across in your project. Ask for the phone numbers of a few satisfied customers.
• Communication: Sometimes a contractor will give you a good price and have experience doing the kind of work you need done, but will still not be a good fit for you. There's still one more essential area to check out, and that's communication. Does the contractor understand your vision of the project? Do you understand how he proposes to get it done? Do you have enough rapport to be happy working together?

Thanks,

New Hampshire Construction

Looks Like We're in for Another Cold Winter

The Old Farmer's Almanac is predicting another cold, snowy winter this year.

We wish we could tell you that you suffered enough last winter, so you're going to be rewarded with a mild winter this year. Unfortunately, the predictions are saying the opposite. Maybe it's like sports: win one challenge, and your reward is the chance to train for an even bigger one.

But if you're thinking of resigning yourself to another winter full of ice dams and frozen pipes, think again. Most of those problems don't actually come from cold temperatures or lots of snow. They happen when houses aren't ready for New Hampshire winters. The good news is that if a house is built right, you won't need to shovel the roof or worry about structural damage, even if we get as much snow as we did last year.

The bad news is that the majority of houses built in New Hampshire are not built like that. Sometimes this is due to the ignorance of the builders, but more often it's because they knew better and still chose to cut corners to save costs.

What can you do to help your house weather the weather this winter? There are just four major things to address:

• The roof. Make sure the sheathing and the shingles are in good shape. Check the rafters to ensure that they are close enough together and thick enough for your roof type and slope, and that none of them is cracked or rotting. Replace anything that's damaged or worn out, and shore up the structure if you need to.
• Strength of the structure. Be sure that your strong roof has a strong house and foundation to sit on. Remember that the purpose of all the structural elements of the house is to safely transfer that weight to the earth.
• Sealing up drafts. A lot of times, frozen pipes and other winter damage is due to leaks where warm air rushes out of the house or cold air blows in. Look for little cracks and holes, especially around doors and windows, and where the main house meets the foundation.
• Insulation. From the foundation to the roof, there's no substitute for insulation. Insulation, along with ventilation, prevents ice dams and dangerous icicles. It reduces material stress due to expansion and contraction, and it can protect your pipes from freezing.

While every house has different needs, most winter issues fall under one of these categories.

Thanks,

New Hampshire Construction

Shopping Tips: New Hampshire Construction Contractors

Shopping for a New Hampshire construction contractor? Here are a few tips to help you choose one you'll be happy with.

• Experience. Construction seems to be the business everyone wants to be in right now, and its popularity has attracted some people who are new to the field. It's a good idea to keep this in mind when looking for a contractor for your project. Ask questions like "How many years have
  
  you been doing this? Have you done any work in the area that I can look at? Can you give me some references?"
• Understanding and Communication. There's nothing worse than coming home to find your addition going in on the wrong side of the house. Of course, this is an extreme example, but you'll want to make sure you and your contractor are on the same page.
• Honesty. Obviously, you'd have to be a mind reader to know for sure whether a contractor is being honest. But you can watch for red flags, such as inconsistencies and stories that don't check out.
• Control. You'll want to make sure that the contractor you're hiring is actually going to do the work, or at least be fully in control of it. You don't want to go through the trouble of finding an experienced, honest contractor who understands your needs, only to have the actual work done by someone else. 

Building projects can be stressful, but if you follow these four pointers, you'll have a little bit less to worry about.

Thanks,

NewHampshire Construction

The Real Deal on New Hampshire Construction Contractor Licenses

Lately, we've been asked a few times if we're licensed, so it looks like it's time to set the record straight:

The State of New Hampshire does not require (or offer) licensing for building contractors. The only construction-related contractors who need licenses in New Hampshire are electricians, plumbers and asbestos abatement contractors.

So beware of advertisers who say they hold licenses that don't actually exist. Yup, we've seen them!

Thanks,

NewHampshire Construction

Commonly Confused Construction Terms

When you're ready to start a building project, whether you're going to hire a contractor or do it
yourself, communication is key. Knowing what to call everything can help you avoid expensive misunderstandings with contractors and suppliers. Here are a few commonly confused or misused construction terms and their meanings:

Joist/Stud: A joist is one of a set of beams that support a floor, deck, or other horizontal surface. A stud is one of a set of posts that make up the frame of a wall. The difference: joists are horizontal and studs are vertical.

Board/Plank: The difference between a board and a plank is thickness. Put simply, if it's at least an inch and a half thick, it's a plank; if it's thinner than that, it's a board.

Cement/Concrete: Cement is heat-treated limestone. Mix it with water and gravel, and you've got concrete. You can't build anything out of cement alone. It's a powerful binding agent when activated by water, but it needs something to bind. That's where the gravel comes in.

Beam/Post: These are both strong structural elements designed to support a lot of weight. The difference is that beams are horizontal and posts are vertical.

Truss: A truss is a sub-structure built to support weight without the need for a lot of posts or load-bearing walls. Trusses are often used to support roofs in buildings where a lot of open floorspace is desired. Don't confuse it with trust.

Soffit/Fascia: If you stand under the overhang of a typical New Hampshire roof and look up, you'll see a sort of outdoor ceiling called a soffit. Now, step away from the house and look for a trim board running along the roofline. That's the fascia, also called fascia board.

Tread/Riser/Stringer: These are all parts of a set of stairs. The treads are the part you probably notice the most, because you walk on them. The risers are the vertical boards that go between the treads. Not all stairs have risers. The stringers are the diagonal planks that form the main structure of the stairs.

Rafter/Purlin: Both these terms refer to the beams that form the structure of a roof. The difference is which direction they run. On a gable (peaked) roof, rafters run from the ridge (peak) to the eaves (bottom of roof/top of wall), whereas purlins run parallel to the short walls of the house. Purlins are not used in traditional-style modern houses, but are usually found in post-and-beam construction.

Sheathing/Siding: Sheathing is attached directly to the wall studs. In modern houses, it's usually made of OSB. In older houses, it may be plywood or even pine boards. Over the sheathing goes the housewrap (Tyvek is a popular brand), and over that goes the siding. The siding is the exterior finish of the house.

Baseboard/Baseboard heater: A baseboard is a piece of trim that runs along the bottom of a wall next to the floor. It's usually made of wood, but in commercial buildings, there's a popular type of baseboard called cove base, which is made of rubber or vinyl. A baseboard heater is a heater, usually electric, designed to be installed just in front of a baseboard.

Banister/Baluster: A banister is a stair rail, and balusters are closely-spaced supports that hold up a railing. A related word: balustrade, a railing with its supporting balusters.

Screw/Bolt: A screw is used by itself, but a bolt is used with a nut.

Cut/rip: Again, the difference is which direction it's going. Cutting goes across the grain of the wood, while ripping goes along the grain.

Did we miss any? Add to the list! What word confusions have gotten you in trouble?

Thanks,

New Hampshire Construction 

Buying Construction Materials? Inspect Before You Buy

It seems obvious that if you buy your construction materials from the same stores that supply professional contractors, you should be able to count on getting high-quality, professional-grade products. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works.

The pros are used to it. When we drive into the lumberyard to pick up a load of two-by-fours, we know that part of the job will be checking them for bad splits, bows, warps, knots and damage. And the same goes for everything else we buy. So if you're buying materials for a project of your own, check everything over before you leave the store.

An example:

A customer recently picked up a screen door from one of the big box stores, but when we went to install it, we realized we were going to have to take it back to the store.

Notice how there's a lot more of the bottom board showing on the right than there is on the left. Something's not right here.

Turn the door around, and we find the problem: a screw missed its target, splintering part of the frame...

...and forcing the main panel out of place.

Most stores will let you return defective products, but of course it's a lot quicker and easier not to buy them in the first place.

Thanks,

New Hampshire Construction

Renovating New Hampshire Soffits

What do your soffits look like? Are they working properly? What are soffits, anyway? Most New Hampshire houses have soffits, and if they're not working properly, that could lead to problems.

What are soffits?

On most New Hampshire houses, if you stand under the overhang of a pitched roof and look up, you'll be looking at the soffit.

How do they work? What are they supposed to do?

Soffits serve two important roles in a house. First, they block the roof off from mice, squirrels, and other creatures who may want to build their nests in there and ruin your insulation. Second, they work in combination with ridge vents to allow airflow through the roof. Without sufficient airflow, condensation is likely to collect in your roof. That could lead to mildew, mold, dripping, rotting, and possibly even ceiling collapse.

The old way

Older soffits were often made of plywood or even boards, with metal vents installed at regular intervals.

The new way

Today, soffits are usually made of perforated vinyl. They don't need to be painted, and installation is less labor-intensive because they don't need custom holes cut for the vents.

Renovating soffits

In many cases, new soffits can be installed without fully removing the old ones. In this example from a recent job, we're removing the old vents and installing the new perforated vinyl soffits over (literally, under) the old wooden ones.

Thanks,

New Hampshire Construction