Q. I would like to buy landscaping lights that put out some good lighting. I prefer the solar but I have seen them in action and they have very poor lighting. Does anyone know of a good quality landscaping lighting? Thank you for your answers.

A. To my way of thinking, low voltage and solar lighting should be called luminous markers, not lights. I've given mine away in favor of 115V exterior PAR floods and spots connected to dimmers, photocells and GFIs. More light and more control. I've used a few CFLs, but make sure you get those that can be dimmed. RScott

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Q. It gives me this list but I don't see Speech language pathology. My major is called Communicative Disorders emphasis in Speech language pathology. Accounting/C.P.A. Acting/Directing Administrative Assistant Advertising Aerospace Engineering Technology Agribusiness Agriculture Agronomy Architecture Artist Astronomy Athletics, Intercollegiate Atmospheric Science Automotives Aviation Banking Biomedical Equipment Technician Broadcast Engineering/Technology Broadcast News Broadcasting/Cable Production Business Management/Administration Child Care/Day Care/Child Development Christian Service Club Management Coaching Communications, Wireless Community Service Computer Analyst Computer Programming Computer Science/Information Technology Conducting/Band Direction Conservation Construction Cosmetology Counseling Creative Writing Criminology/Criminal Justice Culinary Arts Cultural Non-Profit (Zoo, Museum, Aquarium, et al) Dairy Industry Dance/Choreography Defense Industry Dental Hygienist Dentistry Die Casting Diplomatic Services Directing Drafting Economist/Economics Electrical Energy Electronic Communications Technology Electronics Employee Benefits Engineering Entertainment Industry Environmental Science Episcopal Clergy Equine Studies Exhibition Marketing Facilities Management Film Making Finance Food Service, Baking Food Service/Food Management Foreign Affairs Forensic Science Forestry Garden Center Management Geophysics Gerontology/Geriatrics/Elder Care Golf Turf Management Government Service Graphic Communications Hematology History Horticulture/Floriculture Hotel/Motel, Restaurant and Hospitality Management Hydrology Illumination Immunology Information Systems Management (MIS) Insurance Interior Design International Business International Relations Journalism, Sports Journalism/Communications Law Enforcement Law, Corporate Law/Lawyer/Attorney Lawn Care/Landscaping Library Sciences Management Consulting Manufacturing Material Handling Mathematics Medicine/Health Medicine/Health - Rural Areas Meteorology Microbiology Microelectronics Military Ministry Missionary Modeling Mortuary Science Museum Studies Music Music, Church National Security, National Defense Natural Resource Management Naval Engineering News Media Newspaper Administration Nonprofit Organization/Management/Career Nuclear Power Industry Nursing Occupational Therapy Oncology, Nursing Optician Optometry Paralegal Pediatrician Pharmacy Photography Photojournalism Physical Therapy Plastics Industry Plumbing/HVAC Podiatry Psychologist/Psychology Public Relations Public Safety Public Service Publishing Quality Control Radio Broadcasting Real Estate Real Estate Appraising Recreation Religious Communications Religious Vocation/Theology Research Research, Field Research, Medical Retailing Robotics Sales/Marketing School Administration School Counselor Science Science, Earth Social Work/Social Services Space Research/Science/Exploration Special Education Sports Medicine Stage Management Teaching, Professor Teaching/Education Textiles Theater, Design, Production Tobacco Farming Transportation Industry Travel Tourism Veterinary Medicine Victim/Crime/Substance Abuse Services Waste Management Water Works (Water Utility Management) Wood-Based Composites Industry

A. If you plan on working with adults after a stroke or head injury---Medicine/Health. If you plan on working with children---Special Education

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Q. We recently moved out due to a managment companies accessive fee's. Examples: $35.00 certified mailings when not certified, pet fee's for which we lived in a house for 4 and half years. Duct cleaning/smoke fee of $300.00( no where did it state we could not smoke, nor incur this fee), $10 for hanging of 2 detectors, $30 for lights and a/c filters(changed monthly since only .50 to put in and all lights worked), $75 labor fee ( for what not sure-not specified), $225.00 for janitorial services( i have receipt of $265 paid the week we moved), $150 for 4 rooms of carpet(only 3 rooms had carpet-figure that one out). OH! Prorated rent for June. We gave notice in April to be out by June 1st. How do we get charged for prorated rent? we wouldn't sign a lease since the owner fired the property managment co and hired anew, we attempted several times to come to terms but they wanted fee's for everything. Pet deposit for a dog we paid for 4 and half years ago, credit application-for what we lived there 4 and half years, $35 any certified mailings sent to us0-by the way were never sent certified(got 2 letters) pitney bowes, no phone numebr they charge for $25 and mileage if they need to come out to house. Anyways, here's the problem. We gave notice in April and moved out end of May. We received a letter and a bill demanding payment with 12 days or they send us to collections. I have filed a complaint with BBB but don't know what else to do. Have recipts for cleaning of house, recipt for landscaping andnow they say we should have turned it in at inspection move out at which time they refused us a copy of the checkout list. Still haven't received it. WEmailing is getting no where other than paperwork if I have to goto court. I ahve asked for dismissal of charges and if not done so, will goto court and sue for 3 times the amount they are sending to collections as well as defamamtion of my credit. The threat of screwing my credit is rediculous. ANyone have any answers. Plenty more to go on. They lost certified check and begged us for help and we have asked several times for move out checklist and thay state they mailed it but we have 2 letters-one for late fee's which they had to squach since owner was working with us husband lost juob but thankfully back to work and the other-this is a kicker they have pitney bowes right, it has no date but we received it 6/24/10 and letter dated 6/18/10. They say anyways that they mailed us the procedures the day we gave notice but on the ledger it shows all mailings but that one. Why is that you ask? I am assuming it was never sent since we got all other letters but thay say they have a copy. I have a copy of my letters i cuss em but I never sent. Get my point.... Help us We had a lease that was to expire in 1/2011 buit when owner fired her, he hired this new management co. We refused to sign a lease because we started to question the terms. They also originally had as conditions that owner would not access late fee's but when we questioned fee's they revised lease and removed the conditions. So we didn't sign a lease, gave notice in April and were there approximately til 5/21/10 and moved out and had move out walk thru which we never received on 6/1/10. Now what do we do?

A. Wow. honestly, without a lease its hard to determine what was agreed to. verbal agreements hold up in a court of law, so as long as you have reciepts for everything that you paid for, you could contest it in court. it sounds like you were painfully overcharged for unnecessary things that would not be included in a normal lease. get with a lawyer as soon as you can.

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Q. We signed the lease six weeks in advance. The place had been vacant for a week at that time. Asked at that time about insect problems and they claimed there were none. We agreed (verbally) that the home was to be cleaned, interior repairs were to be done, trees trimmed from the house and the yard was to be cleaned. We were let into the property two weeks before move in to have our new washer and dryer delivered and found that the home had still not been cleaned and yard debris had not been removed per verbal agreement. Piles of rotting wood and leaves still line the property and sides of housing structure. Trees still leaning into the structure from overgrowth. Asked property owners to clean the home (as they said they were broke and did not want to pay a service) and was rebuffed and told they "didn't have time". Told them I would hire my cleaning company at a cheap rate and deduct from rent. Spent six hours of my own time with the cleaning crew to make sure this was done one week from move in (five weeks after lease was signed and six weeks of the home being vacant). At this time myself and the cleaning crew discovered roaches in the upstairs bedrooms, air intakes and in the downstairs closets. I let the owners know and insisted this be addressed before we move in. Two days later they called and claimed they had their "bug guy" come in and spray. Fast forward to today, three days after move in. Interior repairs still not done and a lively cockroach discovered in the MASTER BEDROOM at the foot of my bed. Called an exterminator and was told that the debris (old furniture, boards, old tree stump) and rotting organic matter (at least one seasons worth of dead leaves) along the sides of the home were contributing to the issue and that the roaches were probably infesting the attic and or duct space as well. As a result a full inspection needed to be done to determine the source and insure proper eradication techniques. Also contacted a debris/landscaping company to be quoted on removal and was also told that the type of debris and it's placement was contributing to the insect issues. In addition to this, none of the interior repairs have been done. We now live and have our personal property in a house with a roach problem which is exactly what I explicitly told the property owner I did not want. I live in North Carolina. Can I break the lease with these absentee and neglectful property owners? Roaches are unsanitary and live on diseased filth which they then track into the home. I am five months pregnant and was planning on bringing my newborn into the home in August. I am ANGRY. To Linkus: Agreements were made prior to the lease signing. We were told there was NO insect problems BEFORE we signed the lease. Is it now up to the tenants to have properies inspected before lease signing? Forget the repairs, I am using it as a reference to show how LAZY and NEGLECTFUL they are. Did you read where the property owners had SEVEN WEEKS of vacancy to address every single one of these issues?

A. You have every right to be angry, but you need to understand you share some blame. The requested repairs should have been made as a part of the lease instead of an after thought. Verbal contracts are not legal in some states. Regarding the roach problem, you still need to give your landlord the opportunity to take the necessary steps to fix the problem (including everything the inspection revealed) and if the landlord does not come through you can then, at your option, pay another to fix the issues and deduct it from the rent (as you did with the cleaning crew) or sue the landlord to void the lease. You have to give the landlord a chance to fix the issue before doing anything.

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Q. Long story but, really need help. Our house was hit by lightning on 6/12. The attic caught fire but, that was it. The roof had to be replaced along with most of the trusses, duct work and ceiling of the up stairs. That day the insurance company sent out a company to put an ozone machine in to clean the air. A couple days later the insurance company sent this same company out to remove all of our stuff from the house. They took everything and cleaned it. With much influence from the insurance adjuster we hired this company to repair our house as well. We did tell the adjuster that we would be doing the painting and the flooring and she paid on the estimate from the company. Two and a half months later they started working on the house. They removed the roof that was keeping the water out. Replacing my roof took approximately 2 and a half months. The roof was not acceptable so they have hired a professional to come fix it. This is happening today, 4 months since they had the reach fork delivered. I have not paid this company a penny. I have refused to so far because of the length of time that it has taken them and the fact that most of they stuff they did was not done correctly. The roof, the landscaping, the HVAC system and replacing a gate that they ran into is all that is left to do. But, now when receiving the bill for everything minus the painting, carpeting and cleaning(at which we had to do because they kept delaying)they are charging me for a general contractor fee for the paint and carpet which they did not touch. Should I have to pay them for stuff they didn't handle??? Any advice at this point would be greatly appreciated. Our adjuster was fired. So the new adjuster says it is between us and the contractor. I told the contractor I would not pay him a contractor fee for the stuff they didn't handle and he said "oh yes you will". Thanks for all the answers!!!

A. The most important issure here is that you receive a *lien waiver, from this contractor if and when you make any payments to them. If you make a partial payment to them, you demand a partial lien waiver for the amount of the payment you make to them. Unprofessional contractors have a bad habit of not paying for any or all of the materials they use on a job (maybe your job). They also sometimes don't pay for equipment rental and other subcontractors they use on the job. I am really concerned about the boom lift truck that sat at your home for all this time. They do not rent cheap. Documentation is your best weapon. Starting now, try to recall all important dates concerning your project. Date of fire, Date adjuster came out,Date of contract,Start date of contractor,Days when no workers were present, Names of any subcontractors, Physical address,legal name of contractors on the job. Now, send letter to general contractor stating all these dates (as close as possible), then state all the work that was done that was either defective or that had to be re-done by another contractor. Include any damages that were made by any contractors, and also state that your home was not finished in a timely manner. I hope everything was done to meet local codes, * I would state that in your letter - that you plan to have the local county or city building inspector check all the work to determine if it is up to code. State that if it is not - you will be contacting your lawyer to file a lawsuit against them. * You don't have to have a lawyer at this time- you are just indicating to the contractor that you will if needed. Send this letter certified mail and pay the additional cost to get a return receipt showing that the contractor did sign and receive this letter. Include any photos you may have taken of defective installation methods or other items. This takes some time, but it is worth every minute/dollar used to prepare yourself against this type of contractor. Make sure you send it to the correct legal name of the company and address it to the the legal owner or President of this company. I would also contact the rental company for the boom truck (check for name on machine), see if the rent has been paid to date. As far as the General Contractor fee for paint and carpet, simply tell them you are not paying them for that - period. They cannot force you to pay for this. The biggest leverage you have is the money. Homeowners have more power than they think, contractors cannot just say you have to pay this or that. If worse comes to worse, throw them off the job and tell them not to come back. Tell them if they are stupid enough to take you to court - you have more than enough evidence of shoddy workmanship and extended completion time of contract to convince any jury to side with you the homeowner. It is YOUR house, and your money. I would also visit your insurance company agent, and tell them you are not pleased with this contractor that your adjuster suggested. There may be (collusion involved). This is a secretive relationship between the adjuster and the contractor, and it's against the law. If you just mention that you think there might be collusion violation with the adjuster and the contractor - that might be enough to get their attention. The most important thing here is the *Lien waiver or Partial lien waiver, then the certified letter, then the inspection by the building inspector,the talk with the insurance agent,equipment rental company. Take my advice and do all these things Now !

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Q. JOBQTY Kitchen: Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets1 New Kitchen Faucet1 Lighting: Recessed x12 housing fixtures (floodlight refletor bulbs, small halogen) Commercial Electric 6 In. IC Airtight Recessed Lighting Contractor 6-Pack (C1) HD2 Recessed x12 trims12 Bulbs (GE Smart 90-Watt Replacement Indoor Floodlight R40 6-Year Life CFL Bulbs) 4 Motion Detector Lights3 Backyard: 18 fence panels8 Doors: Replace locks with Deadbolts (Go to locksmith and get Medco Keys)4 install 1 5 rooms: Install Ceiling Fans (Harbor Breeze 52" Classic Style Dark Oak to Mahogany/Bronze Ceiling Fan )5 Bathroom: Change out Vanity (American Classics 24 in.W x 34 in.H x 18 in.D Vanity in Java Oak with Stone Fusion Top in Citrine HD)2 "Install new bathroom faucet (MOEN Touch Control Two Handle Bathroom Faucet in Chrome HD)"2 Lights (Style Selections 5-Light White Traditional Bath Bar/Vanity Light LOWES)2 Flooring: Add vinyl to 3 bedrooms, and living room (720sft)24 Trafficmaster Ceramica Shasta 12 In. x 12 In. Resilient Vinyl Tile Flooring (30 Sq. Ft./Case) HD Garage Door: Replace 1 add motor (Chamberlain Garage Door Opener 1/2 hp Chain Drive with Multi-Function Remote PD610D SEARS)1 Gutters: Install all way around Tree Removal: 2 big cypress Paint: 5 rooms (400 SF /GALLON) BEHR 1 Gal. Satin Medium Base Premium Plus Ultra Interior Paint hd5 baseboards Front Yard: "Add Fence (L 40ft W 40ft) ( 6ft x 8ft Redwood Dog Ear Fence Panel - 1x4 Pickets Item #: 60483 | Model #: 60483 LOWES)"10 Add Gate with remote open10 Appliances: (stainless steel) Washer and Dryer (Kenmore 70 series top loading Heavy Duty Washer and Dryer craigslist)1 Refridgerator1 Range Hood1 Oven range (GE 30 In. Freestanding Electric Range HD -Model # JBS55DMWW Internet # 100597011 HD)1 Landscaping: Weed and Lawn Removal Level ground lay brick and retaining wall add grass I only have a $5k budget but I am looking for inexpensive, yet looks decent, and minor things I would do myself if they are beginner and dont use too many tools. If you are a contractor or other handy man, could u work with this ? $5k includes labor and materials. Im in Contra Costa County. CA

A. Honestly I don't think your budget would hold.. but you can try checking on line with the prices of every remodeling your going to make..

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Q. ..landscaping (grass and empty planters need total makeover), bathroom remodeling, earthquake cracks in the walls, insect/dry rot inspections, the works. I live in Belmont CA 94002. 1260 sq ft residence (3 & 2) built in the '40s approx. The driveway is two large car lengths and one large car width. Has anyone in the area done any similar work lately? Can you give me just a BALL PARK on what you paid? No companies give any information over the phone, and I need these estimated totals for legal reasons ASAP. Also any other suggestions on what may need to be done to a house before putting it on the market is very welcome! Again, just unofficial educated guesses for the totals is fine! Thank you! I really appreciate your time and help. ..landscaping (grass and empty planters need total makeover), bathroom remodeling, earthquake cracks in the walls, insect/dry rot inspections, the works. I live in Belmont CA 94002. 1260 sq ft residence (3 & 2) built in the '40s approx. The driveway is two large car lengths and one large car width; I would just need it repaved. Painting would be two colors exterior, one color interior, for the living dining room, hall, and 3 bedrooms. Has anyone in the area done any similar work lately? Can you give me just a BALL PARK on what you paid? No companies give any information over the phone, and I need these estimated totals for legal reasons ASAP. Also any other suggestions on what may need to be done to a house before putting it on the market is very welcome! Again, just unofficial educated guesses for the totals is fine! Thank you! I really appreciate your time and help.

A. You need to have a contractor come out and do an estimate. I have estimated in the bay area for many years and can tell you that the work you need will vary so widely that even a ballpark will not do you alot of good. I can tell you the numbers above are way way low for this area if you use a licensed contractor. Wages are very high here. You could seriously be looking at anywhere between $10,000 and $200,000.

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Q. I have been grossing $225,000 yearly since 2001 and does not change. How could I get in with builders to get more jobs? I have join home builder association but no luck!

A. I have been in sales for over 10 years for a landscape company. I have been very successful in getting landscape jobs by calling on rental companies for strip malls and large corp. buildings. When you are driving around look for signage in strip malls that show who is the rental company that handles the leasing for that mall. In the large corp buildings go inside and usually on the directory board it will tell you who the company is that handles the leases for that building. They are the property managers that you should be calling on. You then make an appointment with that person and bring along pictures of retail jobs you have completed and also a list of jobs with references. You should have a brochure and business cards to leave with them. At that time I also inform them that we do holiday decor and I will show them pictures of the buildings I decorate at Christmas time. Getting your foot in the door to these companies is the hardest part but once you get in then it takes off. Go on Google and get on their web page and find the name of the property managers for the big leasing companies in your area such as Brandywine realty and Trust or CBRE, each of these companies are pretty big and have many property managers so you may be calling on several managers from one company . Hope this helps...go for it!

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