Archive for the ‘News’ Category
CA 1st Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended!
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Originally set to expire this very month (March 2010), Business Week Reported this morning that CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just signed an extention of the 1st time home buyers $10,000 tax credit into law.
The new law doubles the amount of money set aside for the program and applies to purchases of both new and existing homes.
Have any more information on this program? Let us know in the comments.
Here Comes the EPA: What the RRP (Lead Law) Means to You
Monday, March 22nd, 2010If you’re planning on having your house (apartment, child care facility, or school) painted, or on doing some remodeling, after April 22, 2010, then you need to be aware of the new Federal regulations that effect that renovation. Regulations that may make that renovation or repainting job cost you more than you thought it would. In some circumstances, a lot more.
The concern is the lead content in paint produced before 1978. And it is a legitimate one. While it is of no particular hazard while on the wall (unless you chew on it), sanding turns the paint into a dust which, once airborne, is breathed and, as it settles on the toys of small children and pets, is ingested. Studies have shown that children exposed to even small amounts of lead can suffer from the effects of poisoning (don’t know if any tests were performed on pets, but I would assume a similar result): Reduced IQ, learning disabilities and behavioral problems are all symptoms. Adults are also susceptible, of course, but the dosage apparently must be higher.
So bring on the Federal Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP), or “Lead Law”. Passed in 2008, it goes into effect April 22, 2010. It requires contractors renovating more than six square feet of a home built before 1978 to a) be certified by the EPA and the work crew to be trained, and b) to treat that portion of the house being renovated as a toxic materials zone, which means establishing full containment and toxic waste control measures complete with placards, testing, and record keeping. Prior to even beginning work, the contractor must provide you with a copy of this nineteen page “brochure” (booklet would be more accurate), which the contractor must make you sign for. (It contains a lot of information. I suggest you read it carefully.)
If work is being done on the outside of the building and there is another building within twenty feet, then a containment dam must be established and maintained during sanding and/or demolition. Finally, all waste must be treated, and therefore disposed of, as a hazardous material.
Having read the heavy handed language of the actual regulations promulgated by the EPA to satisfy the legislation, I see hidden costs here too. I suspect remodeling, painting, and general contractors will see their liability insurance rates begin to climb. To try and limit potential future liability, even work sites that “test clean” may be treated as contaminated—just in case. Consider: Three years after renovating that 1950s craftsman little Johnny is found to have lead poisoning. The contractor didn’t follow containment procedures because testing showed no lead in any of the paint in the renovation area. But an investigator finds a trace of lead based paint embedded in the wood fibers of one window sill. Bammo! Lawsuit, fine, and damages.
So yes, the good news is, we finally have regulations in place to deal with one of the last remaining health hazards in the home. The bad news? The chest pounding of of Congress has produced a result that is expensive and ungainly. Every State in the Union has methods and procedures in place for dealing with asbestos, and after forty years of rubbing the rough edges off, they work well. Asbestos poisoning is by in large now a thing of the past. With one paragraph Congress could have directed the States to deal with lead paint in the same way. The States probably would have simply then rolled lead paint mitigation into their existing systems at little cost to the tax payer, contractor, or customer. But that would have denied the Congressional bulls an opportunity to bray come election time.
Got an opinion about “the lead law.” Let me hear it!
US Commerce Says Alternative Building Services is The Best
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
I’m pleased to announce that Alternative Building Services has been awarded the “Best of” award in the Building Contractors category by the US Commerce Association (USCA).
I’d like to thank the USCA for the honor. If memory serves, this is the second time it has awarded Alternative Building Services the award. All of us here are very proud of the quality of work we do and the service we provide to our community.
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Deconstruction Catches On — Sort Of
Sunday, November 1st, 2009It’s no secret that here in California’s Pacific Northwest the idea of deconstruction is a pretty foreign concept. What little recycled lumber there is around has usually been salvaged from rotting rail road trestles or old barns. The idea of actually un-building a house to reuse the lumber in a new house just hasn’t caught on.
But as Erin Golden reports in Central Oregon’s The Bulletin, a little further north the idea is catching on. Read “Want to build green? Demolish with care here.
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