By Christianna McCausland

When Nora Moynihan wanted to renovate the basement of her Towson home last year, she didn't quite know where to start. "I don't know anything about owning a house," she explains. "[Hiring a contractor] is like taking your car to a mechanic." So she followed the normal rule of thumb, calling several contractors and interviewing them.

What she found was disappointing-contractors didn't show, showed up late, or didn't want to be troubled with filing for the correct building permits. So she went to her neighbor who was also doing some work on his house.

That's how she met George Waldhauser. Although she was ready to hire him on the spot, she recalls he said, "Don't take my word for it, go to my website and check it out." He sent her to buildingbaltimore.com, the site Waldhauser created as a haven for homeowners looking for skilled, professional contractors and suppliers who have proven to be honest and efficient. Now, says Moynihan, "I visit his website all the time."

According to Waldhauser, Moynihan's experience is not uncommon. "I think the industry could use a little touch-up paint," says Waldhauser, a Harford County resident who has been a contractor for more than 30 years. When personal affairs brought him back to Baltimore from California in 1990, Waldhauser got his business off the ground by passing out fliers for his services door to door. At one home, a woman took one look at the flier, said, "another contractor crook," and tore the flier up in his face. It was then that the idea to create a gathering spot for reputable contractors took shape. "I would like to be associated with a group of top-notch contractors, rather than a bunch of con artists," says Waldhauser.

Just about anyone who has taken on any sort of home repair has a nightmare story to share about the person who did the job. As Baltimore continues to undergo its urban Renaissance, the need for contractors continues to grow, but with the speed at which the city is changing, many people take shortcuts in the hiring process, not checking references or licenses - and regretting it later.

"It's incredible how much work is out there," says Waldhauser. "As a result of that, people buy these properties and they get into a bind when they need the work done in a timely fashion and they hrie somebody who talks a good game and they don't check credentials because they're just interested in getting the job done. I hear all the horror stories after the fact."

As someone who took his craft seriously, and knew others who did the same, Waldhauser started out with at talk show on WCBM, and gave lectures to community groups and in retirement communities. But with the blossoming of the Internet, he found the best forum to reach the masses. Thus began buildingbaltimore.com. "Basically, it's a resource for newcomers and people who are already established here to find a reliable source," he explains.

Although the website is still growing, visitors can search for contractors in almost every field, from tile guys to electricians to decorative painters. There are articles for homeowners about the pitfalls of working with unlicensed workers, reminders about seasonal home maintenance, and links to neighborhood groups and organizations such as Crime Watch and the Department of Sanitation. Waldhauser checks out every resource to make sure they are licensed and insured. Each person applying to be included on the site must provide references. Visitors to the site can lodge complaints against service providers, which Waldhauser then investigates. If the complaint is valid, the service provider will be removed.

Heather Macon, who lives in Reservoir Hill, learned about the site when she consulted Waldhauser about rehabilitating her home. "The website is very user-friendly," she states. "It gives good licensed contractor information as well as many more things you need to know when doing a rehab- licensing issues, home maintenance, before and after photos of previous rehabs."

While homeowners may appreciate that Waldhauser is doing their homework for them, he says he's no hero. It behooves him and his business to develop contracts with companies that are going to do good work for the long haul. Waldhauser solicits companies to apply to the website through various forms of advertising; those that meet his criteria to be listed pay an annual fee to be included.

Sam Smargissi of 203k Consultants, a building consultant and home inspector, met Waldhauser when he was inspecting a job. Smargissi says that he's been getting "swamped" with new business since he got on the site, averaging 13-15 calls a week from people who have found him through the website. He's now expanding his offices to keep up with demand. "It [the website] is very informative and well-designed," he says. "It's a quality site so I enjoy being associated with it." The site also gives many contractors something they don't have- unlike other services, contractors have been slow to move into the web-based world, and buildingbaltimore.com gives them an online presence.

Waldhauser hopes to grow the Baltimore site until it has 300-500 top-quality contractors and 40-50 of the best mortgage businesses. He has bought more than 50 domain names for similar sites in other cities and may expand in the future. As someone who has testified as an expert witness against faulty contractors, Waldhauser knows the industry's reputation and is working hard to polish it.

It's like being a used-car salesmen," says Waldhauser, chuckling. "You either take it on the chin and say, 'I'm going to be identified with a bunch of hoodlums,' or you become the best used-car salesmen you can and try to tell people how to avoid some of these scams."

Only if you like your home and want to keep it. A license does more than just ensure that the person you’re dealing with isn’t a fly by night operator, it gives you important legal protections that truly could mean the difference between keeping and losing your home. Here are just a few of the potential problems:

• Unlicensed individuals are considered your employees. That means you are required to provide them with workman’s compensation insurance. If you do not provide this insurance not only are you in violation of the law, you could be held responsible for paying them for the rest of their life should they get hurt.
• Unlicensed individuals have no liability insurance. That means no protection of your investment from faulty materials or workmanship. Theft from the job site isn’t covered and a worker’s carelessness that leads to injury or property damage could leave you holding a very large bill.
• Unlicensed individuals leave you unprotected against a mechanic’s lien. If the contractor you hired to do the work doesn’t pay his suppliers they can put a lien on your house.
• Individuals not licensed do not have bonding protection on their jobs through the state fund, which means you don’t have this protection.
• Unlicensed individuals can not apply for permits on the job you hired them for. Without a permit, not only are you again breaking the law, you are afforded none of the protections the permitting process offers you. Your job will not be covered by your homeowner’s insurance because insurance companies won’t cover bootleg work.
• You may encounter problems when you attempt to sell your house. Some counties may even require you to rework the job, costing you twice.
• Officials can, and do, even require the entire removal of the non-permitted structures.
• Permitting is done to ensure that the building codes are met. Building codes are there to ensure that the job is done correctly. The unlicensed individual probably doesn’t even know what the codes are, and is even less likely to follow them.
• If the codes aren’t followed and the job isn’t done correctly severe injury to you or your family could result from using the incorrect materials or through faulty workmanship.
• People often “poo-poo” the building codes when it comes to “simple” projects like a deck or garage but it is no laughing matter when an improperly built garage or deck collapses, leaving a family member buried under five or six hundred pounds of wood.

The bottom line is that there are lots of reasons not to hire an unlicensed contractor but only one reason to…price. We think the safety and well being of our families are worth a little extra. How about your family?

Some things you should know before you consider certain renovations:

Rooftop Decks
A permit is required and it must be signed with a seal of a registered Engineer or
Architect. A certified letter must be sent to adjoining property owners if you intend to use the party walls. Existing electrical service may have to modify to allow the additional height required for the deck. The minimum requirements are conductor clearance must be, 36 inches horizontal and 8 feet vertical.

Digging Out a Basement
A permit is required and it must be signed with a seal of a registered Engineer or
Architect. This process can be costly and labor intensive, ask for a completion date. The work must be performed by a licensed contractor. Have a certificate of insurance in your hand before work begins.

Stucco Removal & Acid Wash of Brick Face
Two permits are required, one for the operation and another for any scaffolding required. This is a particularly hazardous exercise using a highIy caustic solution.
All resultant debris and fluids used must be recovered and disposed of with certification from a qualified hauler of hazardous waste. This certification must stay in your possession until you sell the house, as you are the responsible party, it is your waste. If you have any concerns or discover a dangerous situation involving this type of activity please contact the, Environmental Services Division, David J Eick, or Maurice S Conway
410-396-9695