I am considering starting a construction company in Massachusetts. Where should I start? What licenses do I need to have to get started? Any advice? Thanks!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/05/06/frustrated_owners_try_to_unload_their_guzzlers/

I’m gonna be frank, I dislike people who drive in vehicles that they have no legit use for or need for to begin with. The obvious culprit being housewives and teenagers who own SUVs and large-ass pickup trucks. They don’t need them, but they have them for the .. STATUS!!! The symbol that they are better than you and can buy things to showoff their importance… usually because daddy/hubby is at work making all the money for the household.

I say the downfall of large personal vehicles on the roads is a great, great thing for everyone and the world. And just so I’m not flamed unnecessary, I believe people who truly need large pickups and SUVs should have them….that being construction workers/contractors, police, military, agriculture, and so-forth…not little people with huge egos and the money to pay for the vehicle as a symbol and as quasi-aggressive vehicle

I recently noticed that the windows in my 2001 built home were installed very poorly (we moved in 2 years ago). We have a vinyl clad colonial here in Massachusetts. The windows have a nailing flange and built-in J channel for the vinyl siding. The problem is that (I believe), the full nailing flange was not used. In many windows, I suspect that only the corners of the windows were nailed or screwed. I can grab the middle of the window from the inside, push outwards and create a gap of at least 1/4" between the window and the side of the inside windown frame

Suggestions on how to fix this? Can I go after a contractor as the second owner, 10 years after it was built?

Could someone with experience, please give me an estimate for the price on the following (assume all items are modest; nothing fancy at all):

1) Installation of a new kitchen with new appliances.
2) Installation and purchase of a 2-sink bathroom counter.
3) Removal of a HUGH (3 feet across) Oak tree.
4) Repolishing of hardwood floors
5) refinishing and carpeting on stairs.
6) Some kind of "sealant" in a basement floor where there seems to be moisture and water coming in.
7) Approximate price to get a contractor in to estimate all of this for me (I live in Massachusetts).

Thanks so much!

I had a contractor install a boiler in my basement. He was supposed to have pulled a permit for this job but I don’t think he did.

I would like to know what this means to me as a consumer. I live in Massachusetts.

Am I going to be fined or penalized in any way for having this intalled without a permit being pulled?

Or worse, am I going to have the thing reinstalled with a proper permit this time?

The plumber has dissappeared so I assume it’s likely he never actually did pull a permit on the job.

I’m asking only because my friends are contractors who live in illinois, were sent out to work in Texas, got laid off and drove to Massachusetts to collect unemployment (only becas Mass. has the highest insurance rate). I’m only asking because it doesnt seem right to me.

I worked 7 months in California as a contractor. My employer is in Massachusetts but the client is in California. Based on the non-resident income tax form, only California source income is subject to income tax. I think my income is not based in California. Am I correct? My employer withheld CA income tax.
I worked 7 months in California as a contractor. My employer is in Massachusetts but the client is in California. Based on the non-resident income tax form, only California source income is subject to income tax. I think my income is not based in California. Am I correct? My employer withheld CA income tax.

Thanks for all the replies. The reason that I don’t think it is CA source income is because I never seen anyone on business trip to CA ever had tax withheld even when staying for extended period of time.

I have an existing walkway (~80 feet long) with 6 steps up a slight incline in my yard and during the past two winters (I live in Massachusetts) the pavers have started to settle – especially closer to the steps in each tier. I’m not sure if this is due to general washout or something else. The ground foundation is very rocky and solid so the contractor didn’t put down a deep base under the pavers – just a bit of poly sand. The steps are also a bit wobbly – they are made of two layers of paver stones glued together.

Questions: should I pull up everything and put down a cement base and then add sand and pavers? Should I simply pull up the sinking pavers and add base material? Should I add some type of permanent border (under ground at edges) to prevent potential washout? help please…..
More info: the original work was done by a contractor in 2007. I live near Boston so we experience freeze/thaw cycles.
What kind of border are you talking about? A flexible plastic border, cemment, other?