July 31, 1998

Home improvement – whether it's adding an extra floor or just replacing a sink – can be a remarkably punishing experience, one that ImproveNet's novel bidding approach could make simpler. Log onto the site http://www. improvenet.com, list the specifics of your project – scope of work, budget and time frame – and the site will send your work order out for bids. Interested contractors from its nationwide list of 600,000 (the service says it checks each one's "legal, license, credit and job performance histories") will contact you via phone or e-mail – an intriguing concept, although inviting strangers to bug you may not be for everyone.

– Hope Katz Gibbs
hopegibbs@earthlink.net