Where to get trainings to be a renovation contractor?

Almost three months ago, I hired a friend of mine to do about $18k worth of renovations to my condo, $4k of which is labour. However, I made the mistake of paying him in advance, and after I paid the last instalment, he started making excuses for why...

We are buying a house -yay! But the house needs renovation work done - eek! While we have previously owned a house, it was 10 years ago, in another state, and never had any major renovations. We are scheduled to close on April 30, so we are trying to...

We're converting half our attached garage into finished space. We got a single quote from a general contractor and now we're considering doing the bulk of the project ourselves. We are new at this, but want to get better. How do we start to tackle a...

I just bought a 100-year old house in Seattle. The inspector had pointed out various things that need fixing with regard to the structure, plumbing, electrical, and heating systems. A very rough estimate for all of the important fixes put together would...

As most of you know all contractor's ask you for 1/2 of the money up front and SOME of them run off with your money. I have an independant contractor working on my kitchen and we will be signing a contract tomorrow. I used to work for law firms and want...

We are undergoing a major renovation at our home. Our contractor had put the walls up but not a roof yet. We had very heavy rainfall that night and water was streaming down our kitchen, laundry, and bathroom walls. Nevertheless, we are dealing with mold...

Is there a financially advantageous way to hire a contractor based on the season? Mrs. Starseed and I have two not-insignificant home improvement projects we'd like to have done by the end of 2013. One is a tearout of our backyard deck and the creation...

I need help getting a mortgage on a property that needs minor repairs. I'm currently under contract on a house and it's a big mess. Problem #1: The appraisal came back with a value higher than what I would be paying for the house, but with conditions...

My contractor hasn't completed my renovations in the required time. I've given him notice that he's in default of our contract, and he had 7 days to get it together. He's now AWOL. Do I need a lawyer? If so, how much will that cost? If not, what do I...