Home Improvement Buyers Guide

By Clayton Mekelburg

This book contains the necessary steps to be taken before purchasing any 
home improvement products or services in order to eliminate costly mistakes 
and prevent being scammed by phony home improvement companies.

After being in the home improvement business for 15 years and meeting thousands of potential buyers of windows, doors, siding, patio enclosure and porch covers etc., most having little or no knowledge of products, contractor responsibility, the necessity for understanding written agreements and little or no knowledge of product quality.

Each year, consumers lose more than $130 million dollars to home improvement scams. Most often victimized? The rich, the elderly, the poor and the desperate. There are numerous cases on file of families losing their entire homes to these rip-off artists. 

After many told me of their having suffered serious financial losses and personal heart aches I decided to write a book on home owner scams and how to protect yourself and family from becoming a victim. 

Thus came  The Home Improvement Buyers Guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clayton Mekelburg
• Release date: May 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781520432960

Clayton Mekelburg

Husband of 1 wife, now deceased, father of 6, grandfather of 14, great grandfather of 8. Air Force veteran of Korean war 1953 to 1957. Born and raised in Colorado. Just a simple God fearing man.

Book preview

From the Author

AFTER BEING IN THE home improvement business for 15 years and meeting thousands of potential buyers of windows, doors, siding, patio enclosure and porch covers etc., most having little or no knowledge of products, contractor responsibility, the necessity for understanding written agreements and little or no knowledge of product quality.

Each year, consumers lose more than $130 million dollars to home improvement scams. Most often victimized? The rich, elderly the poor and the desperate. There are numerous cases on file of families losing their entire homes to these rip-off artists.

After many told me of their having suffered serious financial losses and personal heart aches I  decided to write a book on home owner scams and how to protect yourself and family from becoming a victim.

Thus Came Home Improvement Buyers Guide.

Do yourhomework before you start so you can avoid problems like this somewhere down the line

Introduction

HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAMS and schemes rank highly on the Better Business Bureau’s list of consumer complaints – right up there with auto repairs. Sadly, the home improvement industry, in general, suffers because of the illegal and unethical practices of some building and remodeling contractors.

The horror stories of widows losing their homes to unscrupulous roofers, or elderly couples hoodwinked by those door-to-door asphalt salespeople, make the newspapers regularly, giving my industry a black eye. Well, it’s time honest contractors took action. That’s why I wrote this book – to protect consumers from the common rip-offs employed by fly-by-night, unlicensed, uninsured contractors. It doesn’t have to be this way. It shouldn’t be this way.

Home improvement scams cost consumers close to $130 million each year. That’s a huge problem. What’s worse, the most likely victims of these rip-off artists are the poor, the elderly and the desperate – the very people who can least afford to be victimized.

The problem of home repair and home improvement schemes can be eliminated with some background information on the nature of schemes and the steps you should take to avoid them.

1.  Do you know what questions you should ask a contractor?

2.  Do you understand your liability whenever a contractor or his crew works on your home? (There’s extensive risk exposure to the unsuspecting homeowner.)

3.  Do you know what resources are available to consumers to protect themselves? You should. A knowledgeable consumer is the first line of defense against these crooks.

Ther e’s much you can do to protect yourself, and you’ve taken a good first step by reading this book. However, if you simply read how to become an educated consumer of contractor services, but you don’t apply what you’ve learned, you may be the next pigeon for that gypsy painting crew working its way down your block.

The simple fact is, no one will look out for your best interests better than you will. And, that means taking a pro-active stance against being victimized. It means doing your homework, the legwork and the research to find a contractor you can trust. It may take a little time, but it’s time well spent. In the end, your home improvement will be a life improvement rather than a nightmare.

So read on to discover how the bad guys do things and