From the category archives:

BT Martin Contractors

FOX 5 Money: Home Improvement Nightmare

Updated: Thursday, 15 Oct 2009, 7:57 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 15 Oct 2009, 7:17 PM EDT

By MELANIE ALNWICK/myfoxdc

HYATTSVILLE, Md. – The rain is only making things worse at Marion Robinson’s home in Hyattsville, Maryland. Missing gutters are causing water to pool around the foundation. Inside, there’s exposed wires, blue tarp, dust and debris.

“When I get up and look at it in the morning, it makes me sick,” says Robinson.

The wreckage was caused not by a storm, but by an unlicensed contractor says the Maryland Home Improvement Commission.

Executive Director Steve Smitson ticks off the violations:

“This contractor does not hold a home improvement contractors license, he does not hold a master electricians license and he’s not licensed to do heating, ventilation and air conditioning work.”

He also abandoned the jobs, says Smitson, are yet another violation.
It’s not the result Robinson dreamed of when she paid $40,000 for an addition to her kitchen and dining room. The entire contents of those rooms, shelves, cookbooks, chairs, and a refrigerator are piled in her living room. The cabinets are off the walls, the sink is missing doors. She’s wiped off layers of dust, and has carved out a tiny space in the corner to sit.

“All this stuff was moved from the kitchen and the wall was torn down in January. They came out and did two hours of work every day up until the last of March, and that’s when they quit,” says Robinson.

She’s been dealing with the mess, ever since.

“I really trusted him, I thought he would finish the job,” she says.

Though the contractor showed Robinson a license, it was not valid in the State of Maryland.

That’s why Smitson says it’s so important to check, either online or by calling the Home Improvement Commission. Smitson says he’s seen this kind of disaster happen to many elderly homeowners

Article Source: MyFoxDC.com

Moral of this story? Make sure the Maryland home improvement contractor you select has a MHIC license!

BT Marting Contractors Bethesda Maryland Custom Painting http://btmartincontractors.com

301 253-1068

Maryland Home Remodeling by BT Martin Contractors serving Bethesda, Potomac and Howard County for 30 yrs. We are fully licensed and insured, with excellent references available upon request. Our team of quality-conscious professionals will address all of your home improvement concerns, treating your home and property with high regards.
Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

Green Remodeling Materials Guide
Bethesda Maryland Home Remodeling Customers want Green Materials where ever possible. This is the first in a series of articles we found on the topic of remodeling your Maryland home and keeping it eco friendly. I wish I could say I wrote this but I can not, I found it on TreeHugger.com
Your Guide to Materials for Green Home Improvement, Remodeling and Renovation (Slideshow)

green-house-green-materials-guide-teaser-photo.jpg
Image credit: Getty Images / Dieter Spannknebel

There are few simple choices when it comes to building or renovating a home. From colors to style, location to design, there’s an awful lot to consider; part of that consideration is the impact each step will have on the planet. Thankfully, you don’t have to settle for materials whose production or use has a big-time negative impact on the planet.

Enter the Green Materials Guide, a new feature over on our sister site, Planet Green. We’ve put together information and resources on the materials you might need for any home construction, renovation or remodeling job. From the building blocks of a structure, to the system you use to heat and cool it, to the decorations and decor you choose for the walls, the guide is stacked full of green info to help navigate the increasingly busy world of green home improvement; here’s a quick peek at everything the guide contains.

Maryland Home Remodeling by BT Martin Contractors

BT Marting Contractors Bethesda Maryland Custom Painting http://btmartincontractors.com

Maryland Custom Painting Contractor serving Bethesda, Potomac and Howard County for 30 yrs. We are fully licensed and insured, with excellent references available upon request. Our team of quality-conscious professionals will address all of your home improvement concerns, treating your home and property with high regards.

We understand… the importance of completing the projects in a timely manner without interrupting your daily life.

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

BT Martin Contractors serving Chevy Chase DC and Bethesda Maryland luxury home owners for 30 years with Maryland Home Remodeling Services.
Articles on remodeling:
You ve loved living in your apartment; it s convenient to your job, and it’s easy to maintain. However, your bachelor/bachelorette days are gone, you have a family, and you re finally financially ready for something bigger – meaning a house.
You ve notified your landlord that you ll be moving out on such and such date, and in the meantime you re actively looking for your dream home.

After an extensive search, you ve finally found the perfect house for you and your family regardless of home improvement needs. You ve now moved out of that apartment (funny how it seems so cramped now in comparison to your new home!) and are in the process of getting settled.

You’ve never had to do much work on a home before, or any place that you lived. At your old place, if you noticed a sink was leaking, or there was a crack in the wall, it was up to your landlord to fix it. Now, you want to experience what you think is the thrilling challenge of home improvement.

As a result, you and your wife agreed to buy a real fixer upper. What could
be better than accomplishing your own home improvement projects? You
envision yourself pointing to some pristine tiling work and proudly
declaring, I did that!

Well, before you get started on any of the many home improvement projects you want to accomplish, you should first consult people who actually know what they re doing. For example, for that painting project you have in the living room, why not talk to your nephew? After all, he recently completed a College Home Painting Class, and is well on his way to establishing a
successful painting career!

Once you ve consulted the professionals, you can then start thinking about tackling a few projects yourself. However, it s important that you stick to smaller projects – ones that don t have a high probability of getting injured.

A perfect way to start is actually not inside the home, but outside of it.
The yard looks awful, and the gazebo needs to be painted. Start by getting yourself a really good lawnmower and mowing that lawn! You might even want to add some extra color to the lawn too, but adding various flowers and decorative plants.

Then, there s the gazebo. The white paint is chipping off in clumps, and mold is growing on the side. No need to panic, this is a great job for you “Oh Home Improvement Man!” Lay a tarp down around the gazebo area. Get some clean rags, and dip them in basic household cleaning solution. Vigorously rub away any signs of mold. That step was pretty easy, right?

Next, take a paint chipper (if you have to idea what that is, just go to your local hardware store and ask for one) and scrape off as much of the flaking paint that you can. By this time, the area around the gazebo probably looks very, very messy. Thank goodness for that tarp! Gently gather the corners of the tarp, drag it over to a trash can, and dump in the bits and pieces of trash. Just think, after all that hard work, you can actually start painting.

Who said house projects were time consuming and not much fun?

Now if you’d rather hire an experience professional that’s worked in your Upper Northwest DC or Bethesda Maryland area for 30 years and you can walk to the homes of people who have previously hired:
From Maryland Home Remodeling

 

Maryland Home Remodeling by BT Martin Contractors
7130 Rock Creek Dr Frederick, MD 21702-3646
(301) 253-1068

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

Meet Dan and Ben Martin of

BT Martin Contractors

Based in Frederick Maryland home remodeling contractor serving primarily:
Bethesda, Potomac, Chevy Chase, Upper NW DC, Howard County and Loudoun County Va.
with exquisite upscale renovations worthy of the exclusive neighborhoods they serve.

BT Martin Contractors has been helping people just like you—visualize, plan and complete home improvement projects for almost 30 years. We show up on time, listen, respect your home, and complete your project on time and on budget.

Specializing in custom work, custom remodeling and custom painting, uniquely tailored for each client’s needs and tastes.

Ben and Dan Martin, business partners and hands on owners, use our years of experience to design spaces that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

We have an extensive list of satisfied customers whose referrals and pictures of remodeling projects that may be viewed as examples of our work.

We can dramatically improve your home’s first impression and value.

Just as no two homes are alike, no two customers are alike. We happily customize our services to meet your exact needs. BT Martin Contractors is proud of our top notch craftsmanship used to complete our many remodeling projects over the years.

Our pledge is to always offer honest advice, quality workmanship and fair prices. Every project begins with a free on site consultation and estimate. Please call and allow us the opportunity of serving you with any remodeling needs.


Maryland Custom Remodeling
7130 Rock Creek Dr
Frederick, MD 21702-3646
(301) 253-1068‎
Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }