Other stories by Cati O'Keefe

  • Green building proliferates

    The diligent remodeler launches into the vast world of green building.

  • Products for a clean site

    There was a time when a broom-swept jobsite and a few drop cloths snaking from entry to addition were about all that was expected of a remodeler. After all, his job was tearing down, breaking up, and building anew with dust-generating power tools and materials that had to be shaved, cut, and...

  • High-quality air is easy amenity to sell

    Two decades ago, no one thought people would pay a buck fifty for an element that flows freely across our planet, but today bottled water is a $10 billion industry. Now, it's air's turn.

  • Insurance claims are easier to settle if you have photos

    An earthmover tips into a foundation hole … your super backs a truck into a homeowner's car … a subcontractor gouges a glass cooktop while installing a fan. Accidents happen, and when they do a strong case made by photographs will bolster your insurance claim.

  • St. Louis remodeler redefines niche building

    Jay Simon was concerned with just two things when the construction company he worked for in 1982 was about to go bust: One, he had to ramp up his sideline remodeling business to take on the clients that his former employer would abandon when it closed its doors, and two, he'd have to use his...

  • How to manage customer backlogs

    With half the 120 million homes nationwide having been built before the bicentennial, new-home prices spiking, and built-up equity burning holes in homeowners' pockets, most remodelers have more work than they can handle. Some sit on 18-month-plus backlogs and mentally salivate as they watch their...

  • Excellence in residential building is a value worth defending

    Construction defects … overshot deadlines … miserable owners shuffling into “finished” remodels with seven-page punch lists. For a group of master builders from the Boston area, the era of “bigger, faster, cheaper” must end.

  • Final-touch services makes client satisfaction complete

    Upscale remodels must be picture-perfect the day clients move back into their space. Anything sub-par —from landscaping to lighting — will downgrade client satisfaction and endanger the possibility of repeat business. “If an owner gets a bad landscape job, it's the last thing they remember about...

  • Tract Teachers

    To even the playing field, remodelers should look at the things new-home builders do well. Here are four areas where they have something to teach:

  • Lack of professional liability insurance for remodelers

    When it comes to insurance, remodelers have fewer options than ever before. Insurance companies that haven't withdrawn from the market have hiked their premiums across the board.