Renovating a home is an expensive undertaking even when things go right. When things go wrong, unexpected costs and delays can be financially devastating. “We’ve all heard the horror stories,” says Kia Ricchi, a Florida-based contractor and author of the new book, Avoiding the Con in Construction. “But there are steps homeowners can take to ensure that a construction project goes smoothly.” In her book, Ricchi teaches homeowners how to use state websites to ensure that a contractor is properly licensed, insured and of sound character. Ricchi also explains the permitting and inspection process, and how it protects the homeowner. Pitfalls such as liens, jobsite injuries, and cost overruns are explained as well as the methods to avoid them. Hurricanes are like houseguests from out of state—whether we like them or not, we can expect them to visit every year. Ricchi explains that hurricanes can cause a shortage of qualified contractors because of the abundance of repair work that must be performed. As a result, what Ricchi calls “CONtractors” show up en masse to target desperate homeowners. “Sometimes the con artist disappears with the (deposit) money and other times the repairs are worse than the damage itself,” Ricchi says. 8pm