The task: Take an existing kitchen and make it more usable, more beautiful, and more conducive to the homeowners' lifestyle.
Richard Forbes says older homes and kitchens are not equipped for the entertaining today's homeowners like to do.
The task: Take an existing kitchen and make it more usable, more beautiful, and more conducive to the homeowners' lifestyle. For example, says Isley, raised dishwashers are a great idea, but some designers forget to create a "landing space" on the counter between the dishwasher and the sink.
The winning entries highlight professionalism and creativity.
The winning entries highlight professionalism and creativity. Newsletters, business cards, and post-job surveys were the focus of this year's REMODELING marketing contest. And similar to the companies that won last year's top honors, the winners spent money on professional design and consulting.
This one-page survey has pertinent questions and a rating scale that helps the company track customer service information. The judges also appreciated the inclusion of a self-addressed, stamped envelope and remind remodelers to always include one with any customer survey.
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Heightened concerns about toxic mold have been spreading across Austin and the rest of Texas since last summer, when a jury awarded Melinda Ballard of nearby Dripping Springs $32 million in a suit against Farmer's Insurance Group for the mishandling of a policy claim. According to the Texas...
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As part of its continuing growth strategy, Birmingham, Mich.-based BELFOR USA entered the Indianapolis disaster recovery market with its purchase of S-K General Contracting, the company announced in December. The newly acquired offices will be known as BELFOR S-K for "probably a year," Fenton says...
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IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti announced a new rule governing cash accounting for many service-related small businesses, including contractors, with annual receipts between $1 million and $10 million. Several states are currently working with the IRS on a pilot program to create a single form...
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The Big Three in fiber-cement manufacturing became the Big Two in December when James Hardie Building Products bought the fiber-cement operations of Cemplank, giving Hardie an estimated 90% share of the fiber-cement market.""We're always looking at whatever opportunities that would present...
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The Certified Forest Products Council (CFPC) has launched a new Web site (www.certifiedwood.org) that makes it easier to find and purchase lumber harvested using sustainable, environmentally friendly methods. The FSC's certification is the only one that earns points in the U.S. Green Building...
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Liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive and is often completely unavailable to builders and remodelers in California, Mike Pattison, head of the California Building Industry Association, told state lawmakers at a legislative hearing in December.Jim Sasko of Teakwood Builders in...
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Escobar and Robb Services of Potomac, Md., uses a leased real estate and property tax database to pinpoint prospective clients. The full-service remodeling company also repairs and treats cedar shingle roofs (see www.cedarsave.com).Using the leased Criss+Cross Plus Real Estate directory on CD...
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They should have potential to progress into client management, keeping clients happy through their remodels, a function Steve Heffner of Davitt Design Build grew into. Thanks to Howard Walker of Helping Hands Construction of St. Simons Island, Ga., who hired a marketing manager two years ago for...
But Tim Britton of Tim Britton Construction Services of Falls Creek, Pa., has discovered a way to fund a third of his $50,000 advertising budget. Britton, whose construction business and showroom revenues topped $1.4 million last year, has for 15 years used cooperative programs with such companies...
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Track the quality of leads and monitor trends in weekly sales meetings. If a great lead is 80 and you get a lead worth only 45 points, prioritize accordingly.
Paul Sullivan has come up with a convenient way to spot houses needing work and then solicit prospects with postcard mailers. Sullivan, of The Sullivan Co. and maintenance repair company DOMO Inc. in Newton Highlands, Mass., has equipped his DOMO crew with microcassette recorders. At the end of...
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This check constitutes payment in full and endorsement hereof releases payer from all other claims by the payee. If you cash the check, do you forfeit your rights to collect the other $8,500?In the example, cashing the check might be sufficient to show implied acceptance of the offer.
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David Wysong, president of Trac Remodeling, Spring, Texas, says the biggest reason clients become unhappy in the course of a project is preventable: They think nothing's going on.""Let's say an electrical plug isn't straight and needs to be adjusted," Wysong says.
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A little more than six months ago, Jill Liptow, owner of The Remodeling Center, a $1.7 million remodeling company in Pewaukee, Wis., held an off-site meeting in which she asked field personnel what they found most stressful about their jobs. Liptow guesses that, on average, the walk-through results...
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Last fall, Mike Cordonnier of Remodeling Designs in Dayton, Ohio, contacted the engineering department at University of Dayton with a proposal. As for the report, Cordonnier says, "I'm just starting to digest it and come up with a game plan to improve."
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The owner of the landscape company he'd used for 15 years had decided to get out of the business, and Peterson didn't like the level of service provided by the new owners. So when clients needed landscaping as part of a job, Peterson began referring them to a short list of landscapers he knew.