Table of Contents September 2003

FEATURES

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  Advantage of second-generation companies

  Second-generation companies operate with advantages that first-generation businesses might do well to emulate.

   

REMODELING DESIGN AWARDS

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  2003 Honorable Mentions

  Contractor: Mike Patterson, Patterson Builders, Gaithersburg, Md.Designer: Norman Smith, Norman Smith Architecture, Washington, D.C. Contractor and designer: Bruce Wentworth, Wentworth-Levine Architect-Builder, Silver Spring, Md.

   
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  2003 Honorable Mentions

  Category: Old-house renovation, over $300,000 Contractor: Keith Alward, Alward Construction, Berkeley, Calif.Designer: Dirk Stennick, Dirk Stennick Design, San Francisco

   
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  Design Awards 2003

  The winners of this year's REMODELING Design Awards span the globe to showcase the best in residential and light commercial remodeling.

   

Additions

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  2003 Merit Award

  In creating this addition to a 1940s colonial, architect David Jameson was faced with the task of improving the home's circulation, restructuring a sequence of existing spaces, and providing an area for cooking and entertaining. The jewel in the design is the glass-enclosed breakfast room, which...

   
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  2003 Grand Award

  When the owners of this house asked for an addition, architect Ralph Cunningham saw a chance to save it from itself. Inside, the addition stepped down oddly and jutted out from the original volume, disrupting the floor plan.

   
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  2003 Grand Award

  The owner of this 20-year-old house in Mexico purchased the adjacent land with the idea of enlarging his existing space. San Francisco architect Cathi House was inspired by the time she spends in Mexico and the owner's art collection to create a house full of texture and color.

   

Bathroom Remodeling

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  2003 Merit Award

  When Doug Walter's clients asked him to add a master bath to their 1928 Tudor Revival house, the architect researched homes of the same period and thought a fitting remodel would be formal and restrained. The judges were drawn to his design, noting that the interior is a rational expression of the...

   
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  2003 Merit Award

  Focused solely on surfaces and details, Miami architect Barry Sugerman completely transformed this bathroom without altering the location of a single plumbing fixture or adding square footage.At the owner's request, Sugerman didn't borrow space from other rooms.

   

Commercial Remodeling

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  2003 Grand Award

  Blending Asian and contemporary flavors, Studio H+L's James Linville and Lina Husodo recast this Chinese restaurant's ho-hum patio as a hip but friendly sushi bar. Husodo and Linville devised an unusual, contemporary design to identify the new sushi bar as an exclusive, "boutique" eatery.

   

Kitchen Remodeling

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  2003 Grand Award

  This 1950s brick row house in the historic Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., had some problems -- and the kitchen was one of them. Interior designer: James Griffin, James Griffin Design, New York

   

Old-House Renovation

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  2003 Merit Award

  Not content simply to refurbish, the owner of this 1928 Craftsman-style house wanted to build, from its shell, a classic bungalow. Architect Michael Klement and contractor Bruce Curtis didn't disappoint, creating what one judge called "a total environment" that embodies authentic period style in...

   
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  2003 Grand Award

  Architect Robert Gurney's inventive design updated this early-1910s apartment with 21st-century style. In doing so, Gurney says, the design proved that modern city living can be done in a historical, Beaux Arts-inspired building.

   
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  2003 Grand Award

  The judges said the designers of this manor renovation created a "wonderful place to live." In designing the new 2,200-square-foot living space, Stephen Muse and Nancy McCarren tried to focus on the home's history.

   

Small Project-Detail

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  2003 Merit Award

  The centerpiece of its designers' stunningly unadorned modernist kitchen, this stainless steel sink and cantilevered aluminum counter system is as simply effective as it is stark. Engineered with sleight of hand by Gregory Rubbo and Rauzia Ally, the system's only structural element is the sink...

   

Whole-House Remodeling

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  2003 Merit Award

  In this house, designer David Jameson wanted to combine the client's enthusiasm for modern structures with the traditional houses of the neighborhood. The judges said the result looks like a collage of "toy blocks" that respects the scale of the original 1947 single-story rambler.

   
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  2003 Merit Award

  The homeowners gave the designers a general wish list that included a family room, entry, and deck, then gave them the freedom to create.The designers produced a plan that relocates the entry to the side of the house to link it to the garage.

   
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  2003 Merit Award

  To incorporate the owner's collection of Asian furniture, designer Scott Hommas introduced what he calls an "Asian-influenced Craftsman style" to an interior that blends redwood, rich stone, and natural fibers.

   
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  2003 Merit Award

  Marked by an obsession with grids, architect-homeowner Barry Sugerman's design aesthetic dominates every room. After stripping the drywall, Sugerman removed every second joist and doubled those remaining, then redrywalled the joists to produce both another grid and a seemingly higher ceiling.

   
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  2003 Merit Award

  Architect Charles Moore's design pulled the front of the house forward 3 feet and added a 6-foot-deep front porch bordered by tapered columns. Extending the house forward allowed Moore to move the living room to the other side of the house and add a foyer and an inglenook in its place.

   

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

• Remodeling show covers products, processes, and people

  The Remodelers' Show fills the need for reliable first-hand information about the products, processes, and people that make for successful remodeling businesses.

   

News + Notes

• Lead Dust Warning Stickers

  The National Paint and Coating Association and the attorneys general for 46 states have reached an agreement that should heighten consumer awareness about the dangers of lead paint.The stickers warn users that removing old paint can release toxic lead dust and refer consumers to the EPA's national...

   

• Bill Addressing Asbestos Claims Reaches Senate

  A bill that would change the way asbestos claims are handled in the United States has made its way out of committee and onto the Senate floor.The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution (FAIR) Act of 2003 proposes the establishment of a special court to handle all asbestos claims, as well as a trust...

   

• Fastener Industry uncertain solution

  The transition away from pressure-treating lumber with CCA begins at the end of the year. Depending on whom you talk to, CCA alternatives -- in particular, alkaline copper quat or ACQ -- either represent no change from CCA or are up to three times as corrosive as the arsenic-based chemical.

   

• Russians redecorating

  More Russians are getting into remodeling, removing the Soviet-era shackles from their homes and putting their money toward redecorating, new furniture, and other improvements.The article -- a rare look at the home improvement industry outside of the United States -- reported that homeowners in...

   

MARKET WATCH

• Market Watch (September 2003)

  A potential roadblock for the economic rebound is the skittishness of consumers in their expectations for the performance of the economy. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell nearly eight points in July.

   

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

• Bidding misconceptions

  The public is endlessly encouraged to seek out competitive bids, supposedly to compare "apples with apples."

   

LINDA CASE

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  Transform interest into major charitable outreach

  Sanborn Home Care is a local non-profit that would house and partially care for their father while they and their families provided some of the care.

   

MARK RICHARDSON

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  Three questions to frame decisions

  In your role as "sage" or adviser, you need to provide solutions not only about the remodeling project itself but also about how to make good choices in a timely manner.I have found that if I can frame the decision by asking a series of three questions, I can almost always get a yes or no answer.

   

WALT STOEPPELWERTH

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  Alternatives to operating a showroom

  Operating a showroom helps you control the selection process, but it's expensive. There are alternatives.

   

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

• Hiring based on a screen test

  Instead of putting an ad in the paper and hiring someone on the basis of gut instinct -- his past practice -- Eichhorst decided to screen the candidates first. He hired Bob Handwerk, of local human resources firm RLH & Associates, to handle the hiring process.

   

• Uncovering potential sales prima donnas

  Alon Toker of Mega Builders Construction and Remodeling has been there. Toker suggests asking the following questions to uncover a potential prima donna.

   

• Marketing areas to focus on

  Without a steady stream of qualified leads and signed contracts, you're dead. If several jobs end in 30 to 60 days, that's gut-wrenching.

   

• Presenting projects to pique architect's curiosity

  Kelly Wright, of Wright Brothers Builders in Westport, Conn., has discovered a way to pique architects' curiosity in his work while presenting his projects in high style.In his presentation packet, Wright includes photographs of homes his $14-million company has renovated or built.

   

BOTTOM LINE

• Put spouse to work: Get full health insurance

  If you own a small business and file a Schedule C, you might be able to include health insurance as a business deduction. --Howard Scott is a business writer and small business tax preparer in Pembroke, Mass.

   

• Cutting Overhead

  The following is excerpted from Alan Hanbury's 1992 seminar "15 Guaranteed Ways to Cut Your Overhead by 15%." At House of Hanbury, we're careful with our computer payroll and job costing to charge the company owner's direct job time and supervision to the job as direct labor.

   

BY DESIGN

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  How to create an award-winning remodeling design

  How better to sell a potential customer on your design skills than to tell her, "Don't take my word for it, look at what the experts said." Competition can be fierce, in part because contest winners don't simply submit quality designs; they also distinguish their entries with well thought-out...

   

FIELD NOTES

• Dashboard Frogs

  Mark Scott's crew has found a humorous way to help face difficult tasks. Scott says his estimator, Kirk Van Camp, and his production manager, Andrew Hannan, took Tracy's advice to heart.

   

• Improving safety during residential construction

  As a former OSHA inspector and a safety consultant for 29 years, David F. Coble, president of CTJ Safety Associates, Cary, N.C., has examined his share of employee injuries on construction and remodeling sites. Here are his top five tips for improving safety during residential construction.

   

• Best way to present change orders to clients

  Even though your job is in the field, when you're working with a client, you become a salesperson for the company.Otherwise, clients may assume the change is free or won't affect the schedule.

   

GOOD FORM

• Sub online bid-submittal form

  To expedite the crucial bid process, the company put a bid-submittal form on its Web site. Once they complete the form, they can download it and attach it to an e-mail to Tice or print and fax it to the company.

   

Tech at Work

• Windows Quick Launch tool bar

  The Quick Launch bar speeds you up by bringing your key applications and files within one click's reach of your desktop. If your Quick Launch bar isn't already loaded, right-click in any blank spot on the task bar (the bar at the bottom of your screen).

   

• Quickbook for Contractors not favored

  QuickBooks Premier: Contractor Edition adds a handful of contractor-specific features to the 2003 Premier Edition. At $499.95 for a single user (or $379.95 for an upgrade), the software costs considerably more than the remodeler-approved QuickBooks Pro ($279.95 new, $179.95 for an upgrade).

   

Ways + Means

• System to ensure subs are working up to service specifications

  Without a lead-carpenter system -- and lacking a stable of project managers big enough to have one at every jobsite all the time -- Paron-Wildes found there was no one to ensure that the subcontractors were working up to DreamMaker's service specifications.Paron-Wildes calls her system "Job Ready...

   

• Owners cut lowest ranked employees

  Back in 1999, the owners of Remodeling Designs in Dayton, Ohio, decided to purchase a handyman franchise. The handyman service, run separately from the company's design/build firm, would help Remodeling Designs through tough times.

   

• Doing whatever it takes to keep a good employee

  If there's one truth in any industry, it's that good people don't grow on trees. So, Maurice Forde, of Forde Windows & Remodeling in Northbrook, Ill., knew he couldn't let one of his best lead carpenters just walk out the door to go into business on his own.

   

• Remodelers learn customer service basics

  Two of the six daylong sessions were devoted to discussing the results of a survey ELI conducted specifically for the seminar. The results of the survey are proprietary and must be kept under wraps, but according to participant David Tyson, of David A. Tyson Inc., a local design/build firm, "they...

   

BIG50

CLOSE UP

• Profile: Kevin Wallace

  Kevin Wallace, president of Wallace Remodeling in San Francisco, was named Big50 in 1989. Over the years, however, Wallace has modified the form to suit his remodeling business better and added language to protect his company, based on what he's learned from past jobs.

   

FACE OFF

• Face Off: Should I seek work with outside architects?

  About 10 years ago, we stumbled by chance on a local architect and started doing work for him. Today, 40% of our work (we anticipate sales this year of $4 million) comes from architects' projects that we bid on.

   

Live + Learn

• Hard Knocks

  Anna Mavrakis of TNL Design/Build remembers the frantic call: The homeowner could hear her cat meowing but couldn't find the feline anywhere.Bill Mavrakis, Anna's husband and partner in the Canton, Ohio, firm, pulled up a plywood floor installed that day in a bathroom under renovation, reuniting...

   

• Reading List

  What we want from a house changes as our family grows or shrinks, as the times change, as technology changes, and as a house moves from one owner to the next.

   

• Looking In

  In his 10 years working in residential construction, Wichita, Kan., structural engineer Ken Schoenwald has learned a lot about the remodeling industry. Another benefit of meeting the owners is that it validates the remodeler's professionalism, Schoenwald says, which increases the homeowners'...

   

SECOND LOOK

• Second Look: Louis Tenenbaum

  I realized my important value was helping people form a strategy to live independently," says Louis Tenenbaum (Big50 1997), who closed down Access Remodeling in January 2002 to focus on this goal. Tenenbaum honors warranty requests from his 10-year-old business, but now you'll find him writing a...

   

SOLUTIONS

• Q+A: The Ties that Bind

  From time to time, someone at our office will have something worth celebrating, and we'll do a happy hour at the end of the week. They'll buy the staff lunch, and we sit down for an hour and talk about the product.

   

KITCHEN AND BATH

SPEC BOOK

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  Traditional, modern faucets

  The newest kitchen and bathroom faucets retain a traditional sensibility but sport sleek lines and modern finishes. Nickel finishes -- from brushed to satin to polished -- remain popular, but chrome and stainless steel still hold their own.

   

Management

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  Ikea European style Cabinets

  Architect Chandler Pierce says one out of every 10 kitchens he designs features Ikea cabinets. "You are limited in size because of what Ikea produces, but if you know and understand [those limits], you can put them together in a creative way," says Pierce, a partner with Cecil, Pierce & Associates...

   

REPLACEMENT

SIDING

• Finding a Siding Sub

  For many remodelers, the first and best place to look for a siding contractor is in their Rolodex, address book, or electronic equivalent. But if nothing turned up, many would do what Dennis Gehman, of Gehman Custom Homes in Harleysville, Pa., does.

   
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  Assume prospects are qualified

  How can I train my salespeople not to prejudge prospects? Phil Rea, Phil Rea & Associates, offering professional speaking, a money-making newsletter (Sales Pitch), and a powerful monthly sales meeting by phone to over 1,500 remodeling salespeople nationwide.

   

Windows

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  Laminated and glaze coated windows

  Besides controlling light penetration and reducing heat loss, the new generation of windows aims to withstand gale-force winds, filter unwanted sound, and take maintenance to a whole new level, to the point where the windows actually clean themselves. Because windows that burst or blew out led to...

   

PRODUCTS

IN FOCUS

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  Moisture Barriers: Mold Prevention

  GreenGuard RainDrop housewrap features woven water-drainage channels that move water to the base of exterior walls. Watertite Mold & Mildew-Proof Waterproofing Paint is designed to resist 10 psi of water pressure, says the maker, and to provide a waterproof seal for basements and masonry.

   
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  Paints, Stains, and Finishes

  The KILZ Casual Colors line of paints is available in latex flat, satin, semigloss, and high-gloss finishes for interior and exterior applications. The paints come in 243 "guaranteed one-coat" colors, says the maker, and in 1,050 other colors, including three premixed hues: white, cashmere white...

   
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  Ceramic Tiles: urban simplicity and comfort

  The latest trends in ceramic tiles are moving the category toward urban simplicity and comfort and away from rustic informality. The biggest movement seems to be in color. As warm, smoky chocolates, muddy grays, and other varied browns and neutrals work their way into manufacturers' collections...

   

ON THE JOB

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  Tube steel baluster for double support

  I was challenged as a finish subcontractor on a large remodeling project with building a staircase handrail for a stair with a 180-degree turn at a midpoint landing. Builder Barry Miller came up with a great solution: Make the first baluster into a secret steel newel.

   

READERS CHOICE

• The Fast Arch System: ZeeLights Under-cabinet Lighting: Polar Wall Plus! Insulated Vinyl Siding

  A custom-designed, preformed arch was what he needed, so the remodeler tried The Fast Arch System."The Fast Arch comes pre-made and can be installed in a much shorter time than [when] fabricating the arch framing on the jobsite," George says.

   

TRENDS

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  Fiberglass Insulation

  While fiberglass-batt manufacturers maintain that the levels of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their products do not contribute to IAQ problems, some have gone to great lengths to prove it through third-party testing."The EPA has listed poor indoor air quality as [one...

   

• Energy Star partners working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

  Many manufacturers of roofing, insulation, windows, doors, and skylights are also Energy Star partners, working to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by manufacturing energy-efficient products. Recently, window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen was named a 2003 Energy Star Partner of the Year for...

   
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  Custom, cultured cabinets

  Nifty storage features have long been a staple of high-end kitchen cabinets, but many manufacturers are beginning to blur the lines between custom, semi-custom, and stock. "Features that function well are important to the consumer today, and that's been a growing trend," says Sarah Reep, director...

   

LAST WORD

Bench Mark

• Defining and analyzing backlog

  Being booked a year out is a good thing -- or is it?