Other stories by David Zuckerman

  • PVC Decking Still Popular

    Composite decking manufacturers and established PVC companies enter the growing vinyl decking market.

  • Siding Replacement Can Boost Energy Performance

    For homeowners who care about energy efficiency, siding replacement offers a great opportunity to boost a home's energy performance.

  • Cool Roofs Help Reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect

    Roofing materials with high solar reflectance help to mitigate the urban heat island effect.

  • Lien Waivers Offer Protection for Both Contractors and Their Clients

    Chances are good that most home­owners don’t know what a lien waiver is, but remodelers would do well to tell them. Subcontractors can file a mechanic’s lien on property they work on in the event of a dispute over payment, but asking subs to sign a waiver ensures that won’t happen.

  • Q&A with Michael Silverman, Criteria HiFi

    Based in Naples, Fla., Criteria HiFi is a $5 million audio/video contractor specializing in high-end integrated systems. The company has 62 employees and five locations around the country. A 31-year veteran of the A/V industry, owner Michael Silverman made a foray into the interior design industry...

  • Plugging the Talent Drain

    Attrition is always a concern for business owners, but the risk is even greater when proprietary secrets are at stake. To help guard against talent drain, some companies use legal documents such as noncompete, nonrecruit, or nondisclosure contracts to prohibit exiting employees from taking their...

  • Psychology of Space

    Key to understanding clients' remodeling needs is understanding their use of space.

  • Turning Red Tape Green

    For homeowners looking to remodel, zoning and architectural regulations can be an awful burden, delaying a project's start by weeks or even months until compliance issues are addressed and designs are approved by local officials. Working in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., where notorious bureaucracies...

  • There are thousands of companies in the U.S. that claim to know you and your staff better than you know yourselves.

    The notion that a survey can accurately describe a person and predict his or her behavior is nothing new. An early assessment tool, the Personal Data Sheet, was created during World War I to measure the mental stability of new recruits — who would be susceptible, for example, to shell shock or to...

  • Slow steady growth for Merrick Construction

    Tim Cross went into business for himself right out of high school. This was back in 1989, when a recession was wiping out construction firms like a plague in Rumson, N.J., and nationwide. Not an ideal time for a beginner to start his own company, but Cross made it happen.