FEATURES

Before and After

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    Redeeming a craftsman-style bungalow

    In a race against the calendar, Utah contractor Merlin Taylor set out to resurrect a Craftsman bungalow.Merlin Taylor found out about the house on Valley View Ave. through his wife, Joan, a real estate broker. Having succeeded in getting the house on the National Register, Taylor's tax credit came...

     

Reader Panel

  • Commercial Remodeling

    About 86% of respondents remodel commercial projects, with the top three projects being offices, retail, and health care locations. What is the biggest difference between the commercial and residential work that your company performs?

     

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

News + Notes

  • NEST: Online tool lacking vital industry information

    The customer who knows "just enough to be dangerous" now has a new weapon in his arsenal.As of now, NEST -- National Economic Service-life Tools -- consists of two features.

     
  • Yellow Pages: Major source of home improvement/remodeling leads

    According to the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (YPIMA), headings related to home improvement and remodeling generate more than 1 billion searches or references annually.Research conducted by Knowledge Networks/SRI estimates that 50 million of those references are made under the "Home...

     
  • Problems with EIFS: Driving force behind AWCI Insurance Co.

    The insurance crisis facing the construction industry has been well-documented and shows no signs of slowing down. The company offers a full-service plan, but according to Steve Etkin, executive vice president of AWCI, the "driving force" behind AIC's formation was problems related to exterior...

     

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

LINDA CASE

MARK RICHARDSON

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    Great companies have common ingredients

    Great companies have three common ingredients: First, they are led by passion; second, they believe they are the best; and third, they are guided by metrics.

     

WALT STOEPPELWERTH

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    Immigrant Labor needed for Remodeling Market

    In the past 10 to 15 years, use of immigrant labor in home building has skyrocketed. And as foreign craftsmen improve their skills and learn the building industry, many will start their own companies.

     

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

  • Prepping for a Sales Call

    Three veteran remodelers offer tips on what to do before you walk through the door.

     
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    Remodelers Council Tour: Home tours more successful than home shows

    Planning for the March tour wraps up this month, but preparations occur all year long. The effort is worth it because it brings prospects right to his latest project, a showcase for his work.Based on his success, Metke has decided to avoid home shows.

     
  • Tips for talking to local yellow page reps

    Demand special treatment. Publishers save "red folder treatment" for clients left out of the book or for those who have experienced problems.

     
  • Christmas Tree Giveaway

    Last November, over 85 Kansas City families received a unique invitation in the mail. Each family was then sent off into the woods with a special Schloegel tag to pick a tree from the hundreds of specimens available.

     

BOTTOM LINE

BY DESIGN

  • Whether hiring staff designers benefited your company

    We hired a kitchen and bath designer with 10 years of experience working in a manufacturer's showroom. Clients want better products, and there isn't enough time to do everything else and help the client make selections.

     

FIELD NOTES

GOOD FORM

Tech at Work

  • Modifying ACT! to meet company's specific needs

    A handful of companies, including the New Hampton Group (www.tnhg.com), pinpoint tools (www.pinpointtools.com), and eGrabber (www.egrabber.com), produce low-cost software designed specifically for ACT! Popular add-ons include tools to extend layout flexibility and automate data entry.

     
  • Useful, easy ACT! Tricks

    Want to track your customers' kids' birthdays or take credit card orders but can't find a place in ACT! You can add fields for any information you need to capture and custom design screen layouts with different fields for individuals in your company who perform different jobs.

     

Ways + Means

  • The Time Trap: List biggest time wasters: Time management skills

    Tom Menold, owner of Menold Construction, in Morton, Ill., a $6.5 million company with 45 employees, believes time management skills make employees far more efficient. Menold was sent a free copy by the American Management Association when he joined.

     
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    Knowing the future of your business as it relates to production

    Scott Mosby's company, Mosby Building Arts, St. Louis, generated $4 million in sales last year. "If the business is going to be $10 million," Mosby says, "the implied question is, What does your staff look like when it reaches that point?"

     
  • Using emotional intelligence (EQ) to solve problems

    There are ways to measure EQ, but the most important thing, according to Sparks, is to be aware that it does exist.

     
  • Weekly reports used to make informed future decisions

    Gary Porter surveys his present condition to chart his company's future. Porter has been using one version or another of this report for more than two decades, so within 10 or 15 minutes, he's able to determine which bills he needs to pay that week and when he'll need to sign a contract for another...

     

BIG50

FACE OFF

SOLUTIONS

  • Q+A: Employees of the Year

    In the past eight years, the two best people I hired came in different ways. In the past, my best field employees have come from knowing somebody in the industry and getting referrals from that direction, or knowing somebody's work prior to them coming with us and being able to work them into our...

     

KITCHEN AND BATH

Management

  • Special needs division: Widening doorways: Adding wheelchair ramps

    Over the past few years, Mike Miller has received phone calls about performing small repairs that would make houses accessible for the elderly and disabled. A year ago, he decided to formalize the niche by creating the Special Needs division at Apex Remodeling, Highland, Ind. One of the ways Miller...

     
  • Using PowerPoint to project kitchen and bath designs

    In his quest to offer the most professional presentation possible, Thompson Price has turned to PowerPoint and a large screen to show his customers their kitchen designs. "When someone sees their kitchen in full-scale view on the screen, they are impressed," says the president of Callier & Thompson...

     

PRODUCTS

IN FOCUS

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    Ventilation Control Systems

    The Premier line of self-cleaning residential gas water heaters includes three models: Select, Select High Efficiency, and Select High Output. The SoftSound 1400R split-system air conditioner delivers an efficiency of 14 SEER and uses environmentally friendly R410A refrigerant, which does not emit...

     
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    Trucks and Accessories

    A Quick Install Kit reduces installation time for the Rear Obstacle Sensing System, which senses obstacles up to 12 feet away. H&H Sales Co. Designed to fit Ford's E-Series utility vans, Knapheide KUV Series service bodies feature accessible outside storage compartments and adjustable interior...

     
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    Tool Storage products

    The Crawford Portable Pegboard tool and parts organizers all mount to a Peg-Board but can also be moved to the jobsite easily. Several organizers are available, including the Multi-Bin Parts Organizer, the Parts Bin, the Wrench Holder, and the Tool & Parts Tray.

     

READERS CHOICE

TRENDS

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    New Flushing Technology: Improved water flow mechanism

    After two years of studying fluid dynamics, talking with consumers about what they want in a toilet, and extensive development and testing, American Standard introduced its new flushing technology, the America's Best Flushing System, at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show this year.

     
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    Ridgid handheld corded, cordless, benchtop, and stationary power tools

    Ridgid has introduced its first-ever line of 35 handheld corded, cordless, benchtop, and stationary power tools for contractors and other professionals. "Ridgid was looking to create a best-in-class brand of contractor-grade tools that contractors would want to use on the jobsite," says Bryan...

     

LAST WORD

Bench Mark

  • End-of-Year Accounting checklist

    By Sal Alfano. The data you collect throughout the year for each job holds a wealth of information about what aspects of your business are running smoothly and what parts are costing you money. In a perfect world, you would evaluate critical numbers weekly or at least monthly, but an end-of-year...