FEATURES

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    Kitchen Design Contest

    Brenda Bryan created a more practical layout by incorporating the adjacent dining room, but she also added art and drama to the project with materials and details.

     
  • Solving cost slippage problems

    Slippage occurs when something on the job causes unrecoverable costs to extend beyond the limits of the estimate. King has since refined and implemented several processes to help her company reduce slippage, most notably instituting a "post-mortem" review of costs at the completion of every job.

     
  • Different perspectives about running a business

    Not all remodelers come to the business by way of the craft. In the examples collected here, the ability of four individuals to adapt skills and expertise from other vocations enabled them to overcome a lack of hands-on construction knowledge and build successful remodeling companies.

     

Before and After

Reader Panel

  • Generating leads: source of leads

    Remodelers have lots of ways of generating leads. Most remodeling companies we surveyed get the largest percentage of their leads the old-fashioned way: from previous customers. In addition to lead sheet screening information, gut instinct -- which comes with a trip to the house and a conversation...

     

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

  • Insider terminology causes misunderstandings

    The first day of the job, the contractor mentioned that we may have to "heavy-up" the electrical. Even with my background as a contractor, it took me a minute to figure out from the context that he was referring to the need to upgrade my electrical service to carry the heavier load.

     

News + Notes

  • increase in do-it-yourselfers: people look to stretch budgets

    A national survey sponsored by American Express shows that home improvement is high on the list of priorities for Americans. However, the results also indicated a continuing proliferation of do-it-yourselfers. Kitchens were the room of choice for these respondents, followed by bathrooms and master...

     
  • Weather effects still being felt by remodelers

    It's June, and that means, for nearly all parts of the country, that battles with snow and ice are at least four or five months away. The effects of this past winter's weather, however, are still being felt by remodelers in the nation's hardest-hit areas.Philip Busse, president of American Eagle...

     
  • Ordinance requiring toilet retrofits in Santa Fe

    Faced with an extensive drought, city officials have imposed stringent regulations regarding new construction in Santa Fe, N.M."In order [for someone] to build, they have to zero out their demand on the city's water system," says Joe Abeyta, project manager at the City of Santa Fe Water Budget...

     
  • Two well-known tool manufacturers merged

    As of 2003, S-B Power Tool Corp. and Vermont American Corp. merged to become Robert Bosch Tool Corp. All brands previously manufactured by either of those two companies -- Bosch, Skil, Dremel, Vermont American, Primark, and Gilmour -- are now part of the parent corporation.Reiner Beutel was named...

     
  • Lawsuit over mold-related illness

    A court of appeals has thrown out a significant portion of the $32 million originally awarded to Melinda Ballard in her lawsuit against Farmers Insurance Group.Only $4 million in compensatory damages remains from the award, with attorney fees -- to be paid by Farmers -- still being recalculated.

     
  • FTC Establishes Do-Not-Call List

    That's because consumers have begun registering for a national do-not-call list, part of a group of amendments to the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. Companies will be required to "scrub" their call lists at least every three months.

     
  • NAHB Courses at 2003 Remodelers' Show

    Full-day classes for the NAHB Remodelors Council certifications will precede the opening of the 2003 Remodelers' Show in Baltimore this fall. In addition to the courses shown here, the full Remodelers' Show educational program is available at www.remodelersshow.com.

     

MARKET WATCH

  • Market changes

    Compared with the first quarter of 2002, remodelers' views of current market conditions and their expectations for the future receded in the early part of 2003. Consumer confidence Consumers reacted very positively to the result of the war with Iraq.

     

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

  • Market position: sell items at higher markups

    Take Sears, a company that's been successful selling remodeling services at 200% to 300% of their cost (for a 67% to 75% gross profit margin). For many years, Sears has been selling windows, siding, and cabinet refacing in most of your markets.

     

LINDA CASE

  • Tips for systematizing your company

    The dictionary defines a business system as a procedure or process for obtaining an objective. Attend Linda Case's seminar, "Defining Company Culture," at the Remodelers' Show in October.

     

MARK RICHARDSON

  • Follow facts over fears

    These days, it's difficult to feel gung ho about our business decisions. According to the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, the total was $214 billion in 2001.* Americans lack the time and, often, the skills to tackle home improvement projects themselves.

     

WALT STOEPPELWERTH

  • Charge customers what work is worth

    Some time ago, a contractor who'd attended a seminar I gave came up to me the following year and said that while he thought I was nuts when I suggested a minimum 50% markup, he wasn't making any money. His closing rate went down somewhat after that, but three months later he was back to closing on...

     

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

  • 5 Techniques for Snagging Search Engines

    An investment of $3,600, which included setup, maintenance, and optimization, resulted in 480 new leads for Good Neighbor this past year, which turned into four jobs worth $150,000. Here's how he got Good Neighbor noticed when homeowners searched in google.com, yahoo.com, or the hundreds of other...

     
  • Remodelers' focus groups

    The best remodelers' focus groups address six issues.

     
  • Name change and marketing makeover retools company image

    A name change and marketing makeover turned into a bonanza of market understanding for a Denver remodeler. As a result, Rick Pratt, of the newly renamed Classic Homeworks, expects to continue his 25% annual growth rate. Four University of Denver MBA students each put 80 hours into a thesis to...

     

BY DESIGN

  • Lighting Lab used to demonstrate designs

    To introduce and sell lighting design to his customers, electrician Phil Blosser created a "lighting lab" in Blosser Electric's expanded Telford, Pa., office space. Rather than just talking about lighting design basics, Blosser actually demonstrates to customers how accent, task, and ambient...

     
  • Lighting used to open interior

    Island Construction owner Barry Riordan "opened up" this master bath and dressing area in a Gulf Coast/Marco Island, Fla., condominium without adding square footage or significant ceiling height. Riordan's visually cohesive design instead creates the illusion of space using clean lines, symmetry...

     

FIELD NOTES

  • Estimating change orders that minimize losses

    Change orders can be difficult to estimate because they involve items that are usually not apparent at the current stage of construction. Here are some rules for estimating change orders that should minimize your losses:

     
  • Dust-Free Remodeling

    Crews brought in a room air filter, placed dust collectors on all the saws and routers, and placed exhaust fans in the window.Company owner John DeCiantis says it was lead carpenter Dale Brown's idea to use the type of filter that typically hangs from the ceiling in wood shops.

     

GOOD FORM

  • Owner's materials: owner's responsiblility

    In a perfect world, homeowners would leave the technical side of the business up to the remodeler. Dan Kliethermes of Kliethermes Homes & Remodeling, Columbia, Mo., says that happens to him about once every other month.

     

Tech at Work

  • Customers dictate design with laser pointers

    Designer Joe Dellano extends the potential of these interactive presentations using equipment more often found in corporate conference rooms.The president of Design Solutions, Arlington, Mass., runs Chief Architect and AutoCAD on his laptop and connects the computer to an LCD projector that...

     
  • Keeping multiple computers in sync

    Know the importance of keeping multiple computers in sync. Here are several proven solutions.Step up to PeerSync, starting at $299, to sync a whole network of users (www.peersoftware.com).LapLink starts at $100 (www.laplink.com), and PCAnywhere costs $180 (www.symantec.com).

     

Ways + Means

  • Excel calendar to organize the company

    Coordinating work schedules around employee vacations and days off was never a problem for Halsey Platt -- when his company was small. But today, Walter H.B. Platt Builders and Cabinetmakers, Groton, Mass., has 29 employees.

     
  • Designers work on different jobs as carpenter's helper

    What happens in the kitchen/bath showroom on a designer's computer screen and what takes place in the field when a job's installed are often not the same. So when designers are hired at Tegeler Design & Remodeling, Hiawatha, Iowa, they're required, as part of their training, to work on three or...

     
  • Form listing products used on particular jobs

    Roughly one out of every five jobs Dutchess Building Specialists, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., does is for a client the company has worked for previously. "We'd go through this scientific process of trying to figure out exactly which siding panel was used, or which company out of three made the slate-blend...

     
  • Weekly production meetings

    Bob Sturgeon was in the middle of an employee review when the idea came up: The employee wanted to know if it would be possible to hold a monthly or weekly meeting for everyone in the company. Two weeks later, Sturgeon set up a weekly production meeting.

     

BIG50

CLOSE UP

  • Profile: Scott Barr

    The most painful part of downsizing is deciding to do it," says Scott Barr, of Southwest Exteriors, San Antonio.And Barr should know. That was three years after Barr, production manager at the then-named Southwest Remodelers, purchased the business. The business got away from me," Barr says of his...

     

FACE OFF

  • Face Off: Should you hire former company owners?

    Running a remodeling business is a complicated thing. There's the obvious stuff, of course: bidding jobs, paying bills, compensating employees.But there are also aspects to it that aren't readily apparent to a lot of people, such as calculating overhead and figuring out how much money to put back...

     

SECOND LOOK

  • Second Look: George A. Thomas

    When owner George Thomas was named Big50 in 1996, his company had an insurance restoration niche that netted $2.5 million in sales per year. He grew GTC to a $7-million-a-year company by making existing divisions into separate companies and purchasing new companies. Five years ago, Thomas took time...

     

SOLUTIONS

  • Penny Pinching

    However, if you release an employee with a $40,000 yearly salary plus benefits, you can reduce your overhead by as much as $65,000.The first was typical but with a few minor cuts; the second left just the basics; the third put us in survival mode -- cutting back on everything but absolute

     

KITCHEN AND BATH

DESIGN CLINIC

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    Hidden appliances in kitchen remodel

    When remodeler Soren Jensen was asked by his clients to hide all the appliances in this kitchen remodel, the one item that proved to be most difficult to cover was the microwave.

     
  • Range Hoods and Airflow Quality

    David McNulty uses hoods with an airflow of 600 cfm for standard cooktops but upgrades to a 1,200-cfm hood for commercial-style ranges. He cautions that hoods over 900 cfm exert a powerful pull that can cause problems with air quality. In Minnesota, if designers specify 1,200-cfm hoods, they must...

     
  • Ventilation Certification

    Designers and manufacturers recommend purchasing range hood and ventilation products that have the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) label. The label assures buyers that the certified airflow and sound ratings are the result of testing by an independent laboratory. For more information, visit the...

     
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    Range Hood's 'capture area'

    The "capture area" of range hoods should cover most of the range surface. David McNulty prefers to have the hood extend 3 inches beyond the left and right edges of the cooktop.

     
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    Proper Sizing, Designing of Range Hoods is Vital

    Designers and contractors stress the importance of correctly sizing, designing, and installing range hoods for maximum efficiency.Or make the cooktop cabinet look like furniture by adding hand carvings, scroll valences, and corbels," says McNulty.David McNulty often makes hoods the focal point of...

     

SPEC BOOK

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    Latest kitchen and laundry appliances

    The latest kitchen and laundry appliances feature improved performance, space-saving designs, and energy-efficient operation. A multi-airflow system provides each interior shelf with its own venting duct.

     

REPLACEMENT

SIDING

  • Fiber-cement siding job

    Last summer, Ralph Streano, owner of Lifetime Remodeling Systems, in the Portland, Ore., suburb of Milwaukie, began installing fiber-cement siding. To trim windows, doors, and corners, Streano uses cedar, because, he says, that's what's available from his distributor.

     
  • Dealing with negative comments from competitors

    Q: My competitor is telling prospects that we're overpriced and can't control quality because we install with subs. --Phil Rea, Phil Rea & Associates, offering professional speaking, a money-making newsletter (Sales Pitch), and a powerful monthly sales meeting by phone to more than 1,500 remodeling...

     

Windows

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    Custom windows require more effort and planning

    Ryan Schleper, owner of All City Builders, Buffalo, Minn., remembers working on a framing crew when the window shipment from the supply yard arrived. Huntingdon Valley, Pa., remodeler Reis Calfayan, of Calfayan Construction Associates, says that in more and more of the projects he builds, windows...

     

PRODUCTS

IN FOCUS

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    Sunrooms, conservatories and porch systems

    The manufacturer's entire line of sunrooms is now available with SunClean self-cleaning glass. The Easy Living Collection Sun and Shade Rooms come in straight and cathedral designs and are constructed with slim-profile aluminum frames, insulated glass, sliding windows with screens, and...

     
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    Skylight Products

    Roof Windows, featuring insulating glass and bronze tinting to reduce heat gain and increase energy efficiency, have been reintroduced to the market with vinyl frames. The new models are available in white with flat insulated glass or an acrylic glazing.

     
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    New composite deck add-ons and colors

    As competition between manufacturers of composite decking increases, and as the category itself grows and claims a larger share of the market, composites manufacturers are adding to their product lines with new coordinating accessories such as post caps and skirts and deck railings. Trex composite...

     

READERS CHOICE

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    ZipWall Poles: Window and Door Foam: Roof Windows and Skylights

    Mike Cordonnier's company is known for its jobsite cleanliness, because on every job, he specs polycarbonate ZipWall Poles to contain dust and debris. The telescoping poles are topped with spring-loaded ZipWall Jacks that clamp plastic sheets, canvas tarps, or drop cloths and brace them against...

     

TRENDS

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    Earth-friendly alternative flooring options

    The continuing interest in green building and in products that are manufactured with renewable resources has many homeowners considering alternatives to traditional building materials. Natural Cork, Artistic Tile, To Market, European Quality, and BHK all offer cork tiles and panels or planks.

     
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    Decorative Ceilings

    While most residential ceilings are left unadorned for the span of their lifetimes, many homeowners choose to decorate this surface with tin tiles; wood beams, planks, panels, and beadboard; or wood-look laminates. Using prefinished products also eliminates the lingering fumes of staining --...

     

LAST WORD

Bench Mark

  • Establishing benchmarks: Measuring performance

    The more often you measure performance, the easier it will be to make needed corrections before problems grow out of control.Compare historical with current lead counts to forecast sales for the next quarter.