Getting a House Built in Jamaica (or anywhere).

No house can stand the test of time without a good, sturdy foundation. That why you need to be very careful when choosing a contractor to build your home. It’s unfortunate that scammers keep popping up all the time, giving a bad name to the construction industry in Jamaica, but it’s still possible to find a good contractor if you look out for certain characteristics.

For one, find out where they get their materials–and how. You’ll want to be sure that they buy quality supplies from a reputable organization (like Stewart’s Hardware), and that they have sense when it comes to storage and weather-damage avoidance. Also, see if they can provide photos–LOTS of photos–of work they’ve done, and be sure that they send you plenty of visual updates of your own home as they build it.

A good contractor should also be able to give you low, medium, and high price estimates based on the material quality–a choice that is yours (if you suspect that differences in price mean a difference in work quality, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction).

Be sure that the contractor you choose gives a reasonable time-frame …but don’t forget to be reasonable yourself. Give some leeway for delays, and above all, facilitate good communication.

A good contractor should allow you to explain what you want, and not try to push his own personal ideas of what you should (or what he/she would) do. He or she should let you know if something you’re suggesting is unsafe, unpractical or illegal, but not try to tell you what you should like to have.

Save Money by Doing It Yourself

When you think about the time and effort it will take to repair some part of your house, you may be tempted to grab a phonebook and call the nearest professional. But is it really worth it to pay a huge fee just to have someone replace the rubber in your faucet?

Depends on your time budget, right? If you’re one of those people who works nights and weekends, then an extra hour of sleep might be worth a lot more than the money you pay to a plumber. But if your schedule is any less hectic, you mind find that changing the way you spend a “lazy Sunday” might keep more dollars in your pocket.

Many of the things that go wrong in a house are have very simple root causes. Leaking faucets, broken tiles, problem toilets, and peeling paint can all be fixed relatively easily, with a few common tools, and a good dose determination.

You don’t have to have a clue what you’re doing. There’s so much out there in the way of step-by-step guides and tutorials you can borrow from the library or discover online. You might even be lucky enough to find a relative willing to teach you–without an argument about who knows what.

Ackee: Jamaica’s National Fruit

Since Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence from Britain has just passed, we though it would be nice to do some short features on this fair land’s national emblems. We may sell hardware, but we’re human after all, and we’re as proud of our country as anyone else.

So let’s start with the most interesting symbol:  the ackee. This is the only edible emblem we have, and so I guess it tops the list (combined with callaloo and fried dumplings, of course).

Jamaicans are some of the few people who actually view this interesting fruit as a food item. In most places where it exists, particularly in Africa, it is used for decoration (ahhh, they don’t know what they’re missing…). The fruit is made up of three jet-black seeds surrounded by (delicious) yellow flesh and a tough green skin which turns red ready the fruit is mature. That skin is initially closed, concealing the seeds and flesh inside, but once the ackee is ripe, that red skin bursts open, revealing the yummy contents inside.

Now, when we say “fruit”, we’re being technical. You can just pick an ackee off a tree and eat it. No, no, we prepare and cook this thing like scrambled eggs (or tofu, if you’re vegetarian). It’s tastes divine and it never fails to remind us of Jamaica with its green leaves, black seeds and yellow flesh. Even the red skin throws in the Rastafarian element. But, that’s a topic for another time.

Stewart’s Top 10 Home Improvement Website Picks

Well, we’ve been glued to our desktops scouring the web for information. Ah … not just any old bits of information now, but good stuff–in particular, sites one can visit for home improvement tips and tricks. And guess what? We found some. Yes! Somewhere among the billions of pages out there, we found 10 sites that made it past our discriminating taste buds. We’ve mentioned some big guys (like The Home Depot) and some little guys . And now, it’s our pleasure to present them …to you:

• D-I-Y (Do-It-Yourself) Network
• This Old House
• The Home Depot’s How-To Section
• Rona Home & Garden
• Better Homes & Gardens
• HGTV (Home & Garden TV)
• Home Improvement Biz
• The home how-to section of Popular Mechanics
• Home Improvement.com
• Lowe’s Home Improvement