Green construction is a growing trend that I believe will soon become the standard in home construction and not just a trend. Lewis Estates incorporates many green building methods and products into our homes to reduce the long term maintenance and on going costs for our clients. I don’t see reduced maintenance or long term energy savings as a trend. Everywhere you look you see green, green and greener and I don’t mean money. People are starting to understand that you don’t have to wear Birkenstocks and live in north Boise to think green. Going green makes sense for everyone no matter your income or lifestyle. I think a big misconception that people have in going green is that they have to drastically change their lifestyle or spend more money on green products. This is simply not true, for example, in new homes Lewis Estates uses an on-demand ignition gas fireplace (no pilot light) which saves homeowner’s approximant $59.00 per year at current gas prices not to mention the added life of the fireplace because of less usage.

 If you have an older home built by someone else you will not have this feature but if you where to manually turn off the gas to your fireplace, so the pilot light is off during  the summer months, you would save approximately $23.00 from April to September. That’s enough to pay for 6 compact fluorescent bulbs for your home and by replacing all your lights with compact fluorescents the average homeowner would save approximately $250.00 per year. See how starting out small and using one savings to pay for the next can grow intro huge savings. Its like a good diet plan when you start seeing results it becomes easier to eat healthy and a good diet becomes more of a way of life.  Seeing results by lower utility bills is as good as putting money in your pocket. Going green to me, means doing a little something everyday to reduce waste or save energy consumption. Start out small and your savings and environmental stewardship will grow from there. The key is to start doing something.  What little something do you recommend? Please share your ideas with us.

                                                Steve Lewis 

   I was recently asked a question by someone I met at my daughter’s school; I thought I would share Kim’s story and my answers with you.  I suspect that with the construction market slow down and the money woes, this blog will be helpful to many people in a similar situation or more preferable help keep you out of this situation. 

Kim hired a contractor to install a new roof on her home. The roof was completed a couple of months ago and she paid her contractor in full. Today she received notice that a lien has been filed on her home by the supplier of the roofing material, because the materials had not been paid for.  Her question was how this can happen? And what should I do know? Well unfortunately Idaho state lien laws are, in my opinion very outdated and not always fair to the home owner. The first thing a competent attorney will ask you is, Is the contractor registered with the State of Idaho? If not they have no right to file a lien. The second thing to be asked would be has it been more than 90 days since the material had been delivered?  Idaho law says that a contractor or supplier has 90 days from the date of substantial completion or delivery. If the answer is yes they are registered and it has been within 90 days, the supplier has a right to file a lien on your property as a way to recover the unpaid material bill. It is obvious what happened Kim paid her contractor who intern kept the money probably to pay other bills and did not pay for the material. What now?  The first thing I would do is contact the roofing contractor and advise them that a lien has been filed and give them the opportunity to make it right by paying the bill. If the roofing contractor refuses to do so or is going out of business or filing bankruptcy it is time to contact an Attorney.  The money will have to be recovered from the roofing contractor through the court systems. The other complication is that Kim is trying to refinance her house and she was wondering how this will affect her refinancing. The answer is simple, the lien will have to be paid or she can bond around the lien, bonding means that one and a half times the lien amount will be held in an escrow until the dispute is settled. Either way, it is money out of Kim’s pocket for now. The easy way to avoid this problem is to insist upon paying the supplier directly for any material used in correspondence with the job being done. Some Contractors will not like this because they do not want you to see the material bill due to the fact they hide some profit within the bill. A reputable contractor will not care who pays for the material and will be happy to accommodate your wishes. Another option to protect yourself is to get lien waivers from contractors that are being paid, however there is still some loop holes. I suggest paying the supplier directly and having the supplier sign a lien waiver. In fact everyone you pay should sign a lien waiver. Do everything you can to protect your money.  When getting bids for work around your home, get a bid that includes labor and material as separate amounts. This will give you the best comparison from one contractor to the next and weed out any profit on the material bids. I believe that contractors that are paid in full by customers and do not pay for the materials should be criminally prosecuted, but that is for another blog.             If you need help with a home improvement project call Lewis Estates for a referral, we use only the best contractors and will stand behind our referral. I would love to hear your comments.  Steve Lewis