Were here today with Mary Battle the Co-founder and Vice President of Marketing/Sales for Exovations. Exovations is an Atlanta-based company specializing in home exteriors, from new home construction to home renovation.
Q: So describe to us what Exovations does?
MB: Exovations is an exterior installation company, we handle HardiPlank & vinyl siding, a lot of other types of building products made by James Hardie. We handle Azak which is a PVC type of product which is used to replace rotten wood trim, areas around windows, outside & inside corners, Chimneys. What we do with siding is replace what people have or recover with siding. We do replacement windows both with vinyl and a PVC window unit. We do roofing, entry doors, gutter protection systems and decks.
Q: So if someone is looking for a company like yours. People have the fear of being ripped off. Does Exovations ask for a deposit up front, is that standard?
MB: First of all companies like mine a lot of times will go and meet with a home owner. So what a consumer will start doing is a process of investigation, and the first thing they do call companies. If you call a company and you get a home type of answering machine, not a business type of service of mail box, if your calling a home or even a pager or a nonbusiness type of scenario, you really don't wont to deal with someone like that because maybe today they decided to be in the business that your calling about, but who knows where they'll be a month from now or 6 months from now. You need to actually call an office and not somebody's home. So the first thing you'd want to be aware of is who your calling and you'll be able to tell a lot from that initial call. Once you make an appointment, you'd like for a representative of the company to confirm that appointment with you, if they don't confirm it at least show up at the time of the appointment. You certainly don't want to hold traffic against someone if their late but hopefully they were courteous enough to call and let you know their running late. Then once they get their hopefully they listen to what the homeowner is looking for. With my company we try to ask a lot of questions up front to make sure that whatever were there to aid them in, were actually giving them the proper information. My company does a 12 point home inspection. What that does is help somebody prioritize the events that are going to occur on home repair or home improvement. You don't want to do siding before you do a roof. In the process of deciding who to use, you already met with a representative of the company and hopefully they've given you some good information. They've ask you questions and answered yours, but theirs a certain relationship that can be made right their, and you have a feeling about the representative of the company. So are they honest, are they pushy, are they sincere, are they knowledgeable, can they explain what happens in the process of completing the work on your home. All of its very important in making a decision. I would invite anybody who's ever in need of work on their home to meet with a few different companies. You may not know anything about what it is you need to have done to your home, but you should get a pretty good education after talking with 2 or 3 companies.
The other very important thing is that they need to be insured and covered by workman's comp. They've got to have that and it's got to be for a major amount of money, $100,000 won't do it. We have a $2 million policy. That means that is someone is at your house and their up on a latter on a rainy day, which they shouldn't be, and they fall off the latter, that employee can come after the home owner to pay or ask for the home owners insurance to pay for the medical cost. That company should have insurance to take care of that employee. A company that you deal with should be covered by insurance and workman's comp, before they ever step foot on your property. You really need to ask for verification of their insurance. You'll get a faxed copy made out to you and then one will be sent to you in the mail.
Q: Once you've decided to hire them what process should they feel comfortable with?
MB: All of the business should be down in writing. All of the details that the representative discussed with the homeowner, pretty much in detail, cause a lot of things come up that may be questionable as to whether or not their included in a proposed quote. I would be weary of any company that says I'm going to need half down before I get started. What that says to me is that they don't have the operating capital to buy the materials needed to do the job. Now in certain instances I think it's fair to ask for money upfront, for example we often order custom sized windows for a customers home. So what that means is once I place that order those windows are mine to keep, so I don't want you to pay for all of the window but I want you to be committed, so we'll require a third down and I think that's fair on a special order. But if it's something that we use all the time like vinyl siding or HardiPlank, we have it in the warehouse so no money should be required upfront. And you should be able to pay for the job upon completion when your 100% satisfied. If someone is asking you to pay money upfront I would be weary of making a decision to use that company, I would wonder why.
Q: So they could run out of money and leave without finishing the work?
MB: Yes! There are also things called lean waver releases. What happens if you hired a company that doesn't pay their bills to the vendors that they ordered materials from and the materials are on your house, you are responsible for the cost of that as a home owner. So there are sheets called "lean waver releases" that are given at the time the material is purchased. If they make the deal with the company that is actually doing the work and they buy both the materials and the labor at that company, the homeowner is only responsible for paying the bill to the company that is actually doing the work, not the materials.
Q: I'm assuming you can give references if needed and how important are references? How do you know they references are real?
MB: If a company is willing to give you a reference list without you asking about it, that's a good sign. And if they have numerous references on the list, that's great also. But just because they have that it doesn't mean a thing if you don't take the time to check it. Remember if a person or company has had 50 customers, the 3 references on their list may be the only 3 that are happy, or maybe it's a bogus list. I think it's important to take the time to go through the reference list. Call them ask them how their experience was with the company? did they feel like they got a value with what they were quoted? and what they paid, would they use the company again? You may want to ask somebody would they use them again, and if they would why? And if they wouldn't why, maybe it's something minor. You need to remember there are two sides to every story. We do a lot of jobs; we've got 50 jobs going on today and not every job goes perfectly, and as long as a company will make it right in the end. You're dealing with people, your dealing with delivery people, your dealing with materials, your dealing with insulation, weather; there are several things that can occur in our business along the process of completing a job. So if you get a bad reference on a certain name and you really like the company, ask the company about it. Tell them I called one of the references on your reference list and it was surprising the things they were saying. And just say do you want to tell me anything about that particular job? You don't have to offer anything unless you feel it's necessary to talk about it. No one is perfect and as long as you got what you paid for in the end. I'll give you an example: We sent out a door to a home owner's house and wood doors and fiber glass doors measure differently, so if we need to reframe an opening that's something that a homeowner needs to know upfront. Well our sells person wasn't aware that their was an inch difference. So we are all ways needing to reframe an opening so that we don't leave a void or air spaces in between the door and unit that's being installed. And this particular customer wasn't made aware of that and it scared and shocked them that maybe they didn't get the right size door. So we should have communicated better and we learned from that and we made it right.
Q: Do people or companies in this business need to be licensed?
MB: In most states you need a business license to operate a business but you don't need any type of certification to operate as a contractor. To be an installer of certain manufacturers, such as James Hardie Building Products you have to go through a series of certifications with them before you can become what's called a preferred remodeler with them so were a preferred remodeler with them but not everyone is. So it's not required but it certainly helps.
Q: How about financing. Does your company do financing or is it a 3rd party lender?
MB: Theirs a lot of companies out there that have their own mortgage company or they'll use an outside company. Here's what we do, we had an actual lending company and we were set up as a lender. But what happened in the end is you spend half your time calling people and do collections. So we decided what we would do is bring in a company that would help us lend money to home owners. We don't get paid anything; we do it as a service to help people get the job done. And we actually bring the paperwork with us so that we can talk with them about everything they want to do. A lot of people think it's wonderful, everything is done for them. Basically we start the job and they have the financing. They can do deferred payments 6 months interest free financing, and lets say their house is for sale you've paid for the improvement, you sale the house and pay off the loan and all you've done is borrow a little money to help sale the house.
Q: Theirs been a lot of press lately about predatory lending or loans made against peoples houses which has created situations were the homeowner losses their house. Is this a practice that your company avoids and what can a consumer do to steer clear of such bad deals?
MB: We have two separate types of contracts, and when we hand a contract to a customer we read through it. Our contracts are pretty simple, its either boxes checked for standard services or blank lines for nonstandard services to be written in. And then at the bottom it says payment is due upon completion. We don't ask for any money up front so we ask you pay for the job when it's complete. If you miss the first payment were going to charge you 1.5% interest, but theirs nothing on the contract that says were going to take your house. It says nothing about mortgaging, or titles nothing like that, and if you see a contract with those types of attachments then that's a contract you don't want to sign. Now the contract for a loan and the work contract are two separate contracts and they should be. The bottom line is if you're concerned about the wording of a contract, then have an attorney look at it.
Q: Tell me about the pros and cons of the different types of siding materials?
MB: We'll start with HardiPlank. HardiPlank is really fiber cement siding, it's like putting a piece of driveway on the exterior of your home. Its fairly heavy, takes two people to lift up a piece at times and install it on your home. It's got a 50 year warranty on defects in the material, which would be blistering, rotting or cracking, water damage, hail damage or termites, none of that should happen with this product. Termites don't like it; you've never seen a driveway eaten by termites. The thing about HardiPlank is you have to paint it, so if you're the kind of person who likes to change the color of your home from time to time, then HardiPlank is probably the product for you. In the South here, we tend to lean towards HardiPlank because it's the closest thing to wood. I'm not sure that people have become that excited about vinyl as you'd think they would. It's come along way in the past 20 years. A lot of people confuse vinyl with aluminum. Aluminum was what it was, it chipped, it dented and became chalky, it looked fake, but we've installed vinyl on homes that looks just like wood, and it has a low maintenance surface. With vinyl and the vinyl we carry has a double lifetime warranty, which covers not only material but the labor to install it. Which is really unbelievable with siding issues today. There's been a lot of news in the past few years about faulty sidings. And that was pressed board sidings that were installed incorrectly, and the nails were counter sunk, and water damage is the biggest issue. With vinyl, water can't damage it; it last forever really, it never needs painted ever.
Q: Now if you changed your mind later and decided to paint it, could you?
MB: If you paint it, you void the warranty. You really want to make sure that you're comfortable with the color of the house. However it's really very rare for people to change the color of your house unless the home ownership has changed. HardiPLank you can do some extra decorative things around windows and doors with some accessories pieces made out of fiber cement. With vinyl they do have a lot of pieces and parts that make up the whole home, but it's limited with what they have. But if you have a pretty creative company working for you its no problem, they can come up with some ideas that you're looking for to gain the curb appeal that you'd want. HardiPlank has to be painted so to get a comparison between the two you have to consider the cost of the HardiPlank, installation of the HardiPlank and the painting. With Vinyl it's the material and the installation and you're done. So when you compare the two HardiPlank is more often then not a bit more expensive because of the painting.
Q: Some companies will offer to put a new layer of shingles over top of an old layer of shingles. Do you recommend this practice?
MB: No. First of all most people have problems with the shingles they have on the house now, so you shouldn't go covering over a problem. Nine times out of ten people have problem areas in their roof. Most people know it, some people don't. We never ever do what's called a layover.
Q: So the shingles that are on the house now are hiding issues from age such as rot or water damage.
MB: or lack of flashing or years ago it was not a requirement to put underlayment down under the shingles. Now it is, building code require it. So we take everything off so we can inspect the entire roof. Flash properly were needed, especially around extrusions such as chimney's and skylights. Then an underlayment is lay across the entire roof and extra protection goes in valleys and then the shingles go on. And we may need to ad extra ventilation in some areas. So we never ever recommend a layover. A lot of people will go that way because it's cheaper. If you're going to get a new roof you can find a fine quality roof at a good price, but you need to get it installed properly because most problems come from installation more than faulty product.
Q: Briefly tell me about taking care of windows and what signs should they look for to identify problems?
MB: Even if your house is new, I know a lot of people don't know this but for instance on a door or a window frame that's a series of pieces of trim that are added together. And when they are nailed up there before it's ever even painted it's been caulked together so that it looks like its all one big piece of wood. So as your house settles, as the temperature changes, as it ages those seams or places were the pieces have been put together begin to stretch and pull and even separate. Those gaps or separation are places were water or bugs can get into the window or door frame area and cause damage. And that's damage that you can't see until it's too late. As a homeowner you need to keep the window trims and the door trims anything that's exposed to the environment sealed. What happens is caulk shrinks and expands and it breaks down. It can break down in a year or 6 months or sometimes longer. So it's important as a homeowner to know that you must keep those areas cleaned and caulked. You can't just put down new caulk without cleaning the surface; it will loose its seal in a couple of days. So it must be cleaned and caulked periodically to close those voids to prevent water from getting into the wood. When you don't do this, what happens is water gets into the wood and the wood absorbs it, and its expands a little bit. It will dry out but if it continues to happen over and over eventually it becomes like an old sponge it stays puffy and begins to decay. Well just like an old decayed tooth it has to be replaced.
Q: What are the signs that signal this problem has prevailed?
MB: You may notice that the paint in a particular area starts cracking because of the moisture. You can touch it and it will feel real soft. If you can push your finger nail through the wood, then it's probably too late. So you first replace the wood but you then have to fix the water leak, and it may not be coming from the area directly in contact with the problem area. It could be coming in some place else or from a higher gap.
Q: Of all the things people do or don't do what would be the biggest mistakes that homeowners make?
MB: If people would just clean, caulk and paint their windows and doors they could avoid major problems. Just an hour a year, could save hours and more importantly thousands of dollars down the road, but few people spend the time until it's too late. I mean a tube of caulk cost $3, and its not hard work, but people won't do it. And now days there are handyman companies or individuals that you could hire if you're too busy or afraid of ladders.
