Table of Contents June 2004

FEATURES

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  Bathing Beauties

  The four winners of REMODELING's Bath Design Contest offer different approaches to the same goal: updating a tired family bathroom.

   

• Can the Associations Better the Industry Together?

  Can NARI and the Remodelors Council work together to better the industry, or are they just shouting each other down?

   

• Mastering the Crucial Handoff to Production

  If your design/sales/estimating team doesn't deliver a complete package to production, you're bound to lose profit through lack of information. Here's how five design/build contractors shuttle job particulars from sales to production.

   
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  A Walk-Out Basement Becomes A Rec Room

  Wild turkeys sometimes show up to strut their stuff on the deck of John and Lynn Riggs' seven-year-old ranch-style house 30 miles west of Milwaukee. The property — three wooded acres on a small lake — is also home to deer and raccoons, the occasional fox, and a feisty colony of snapping turtles.

   

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

• The Biggest Reason Employees Leave Their Jobs Is Their Boss

  The main reason employees leave their jobs is their boss. That's true not only in the remodeling and construction industries but in manufacturing, food service, banking, retail — you name it. What are you doing that's driving yours away?

   

IN PERSON

• See You at the Show

  In January, we changed the name of the Remodelers' Show to the Remodeling Show, partly because we wanted to emphasize that the Show is an extension of the magazine. At the same time, the name change signals that as the Remodeling Show continues to grow, it encompasses more and more of the diverse...

   

News + Notes

• Online Business Seminars

  At a time when most students across the country have just been let out of school, remodelers are just getting started. In May, the first course was held at Remodelers University, a phone-based training program for smaller companies that are focused on growth.

   

• Scrub Call Lists More Often, FTC Says

  Starting Jan. 1, 2005, companies must purge their telemarketing databases of DNC-listed phone numbers every 31 days, as opposed to quarterly as originally proscribed.

   

• Invasion of Space Common Consumer Complaint About Remodeling

  Opinion Research Corp. recently surveyed approximately 400 adults who had remodeled in the past few years.

   

• Self-Insuring Remodelers Group Together to Solve Problem

  Faced with a serious insurance crisis, builders and remodelers in New York are taking matters into their own hands.

   

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

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  Reconsider Your Attitude Towards One-Legged Sales Calls

  Writing off the sales call because only one party can meet is a common sales practice. But is it a dated one?

   

LINDA CASE

• Investing time, thought, and money in company culture turns success into significance

  Investing time, thought, and money in company culture turns success into significance.

   

MARK RICHARDSON

• Full-service and specialty remodelers can learn a lot from each other

  Full-service and specialty remodelers can learn a lot from each other.

   

WALT STOEPPELWERTH

• Improve Your Close Ratios

  Financing may be the ticket to bringing more prospects to contract.

   

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

• A Remodeler Borrows From Late-Night TV for Marketing

  When Terry Bennett wanted to develop a leave-behind to reinforce the message he or his sales staff convey in sales calls, he came up with something homeowners would remember: an 11-minute DVD that ticks off, David Letterman–style, the top 10 reasons to hire Terry Bennett Builders & Remodelers of...

   

• Myths and Reality About Salespeople

  If sales are lagging and your team seems like it needs a double shot of caffeine each morning, interview the person who could change it all: you. Most owners and sales managers have misconceptions when it comes to salespeople. Here are five mistaken beliefs.

   

• Washington, Franklin, Britton?

  Remodeler Tim Britton, in his latest effort at “top of mind” awareness, prints hundred-dollar bills with his likeness instead of Ben Franklin's on the bill and signs them in lieu of the Secretary of the Treasury.

   
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  Marketing Workshop: Business Card Before+After

  With this card, I trust the company as a designer. With the other card, they could be a plumber. Here, they have an eye for design, detail, and organization.

   

BOTTOM LINE

• Bonding: A Primer

  Commercial clients and most governmental agencies require contractors to be bonded to both bid on a job and complete the work. A bid bond is submitted at the time of bid. It states the contractor has financial assurance from a bonding company that the bid has been submitted in good faith and will...

   
• 

  The Formula For The Break Even Point

  If you want to calculate sales needed to cover both overhead and achieve profit goals, the formula is:

   

BY DESIGN

• 

  Desinging Exterior Columns

  The key to designing exterior columns is to proportionally relate the column to the building. Traditional designs call for a beam resting on top of the column and underneath the roof.

   

FIELD NOTES

• Tips for Handling Mistakes

  The reality of working with other people is that everyone makes mistakes. This is especially true for a carpenter, because errors made in both the office and the field affect the whole crew. Here are a few tips on dealing with these events:

   

• Warranty Work Good For Business

  Schafer Builders finds taking care of past customers is good for business. Marketing manager Faith Watson says the Crystal Lake, Ill., company has a written warranty policy for the first year. They send a letter to clients three months and 11 months after the project is complete to ask for updates.

   

• Owner Approval Checklist Reduces Change Orders and Misunderstandings

  Wallace Remodeling in San Francisco uses a form called the “Owner Approved List” to make it easier for project managers to order products and make the job run more smoothly.

   

GOOD FORM

• Weekly Feedback Form Limits Surprises at End of Job

  There are few things more frustrating than thinking you've been doing great on a certain job, only to have it blow up in your face at the end. After that happened a couple of times to Bryan Soth and Dwight Sailer, owners of HighCraft Builders in Fort Collins, Colo., they set about devising a way to...

   

Tech at Work

• Portable Data Storage Devices Pose Threats If You Aren't Diligent

  Remodelers' hard drives might not be the most tempting targets for hackers, but there are still plenty of threats to your digital security. Portable storage devices have made it easy for your data to walk right out the door with a careless or disgruntled employee.

   

• Wireless Network Makes Sense For Larger Remodeling Companies

   

• Network Your Office

  If you're primed for expansion in the office, it might be time to network your staff's workstations or to upgrade your network if you already have one.

   

Ways + Means

• How to Handle and Avoid Consumer Complaints

  Sooner or later, no matter how hard you work to run a perfect business, you're going to run into a problem with a client. Maybe one of your carpenters will slip up, maybe a product will malfunction, or maybe you'll run into a particularly troublesome homeowner.

   

• Standard Operating Procedure Manual

  There's nothing unusual about a remodeling firm that has an employee handbook. But the one given to the field crew at The Remodeling Co., in Beverly, Mass., goes beyond establishing company philosophy and safety guidelines. President Gary Moffie calls his handbook a “standard operating procedure...

   

• Preliminary Estimates Save Time

  Mark Benzel does a preliminary estimate for each job he's asked to bid.

   

• At Some Companies, Sales Reps Have Own Practices

  Each sales rep sets up their own remodeling practice, using the systems, marketing, and production staff that the company already has in place.

   

BIG50

CLOSE UP

• Profile: Geno Benvenuti

  Life's a little crazy, but interesting,” says Geno Benvenuti. Since named Big50 in 1990, Benvenuti, of Benvenuti and Stein, Evanston, Ill., has reached a goal many aspire to but few attain: He has followed his family's dream, moving to California's idyllic Monterey Bay area. From there, he runs his...

   

FACE OFF

• Should you work with your spouse?

  Respect each other's time and talents. Allow the other spouse to do what they want. If they work with you, pay them the prevailing salary — if not more. Recognize their strengths. Praise them for their contributions.

   

Live + Learn

• Looking In: An Interior Designer's View of Remodeling

  When interior designer Patsy Zakian-Greenough teams up with her favorite remodeler, their joint efforts not only create the best possible project for clients but also award-winning remodels.

   

• Reading List: July 2004

  If you are looking for a book to wake you up and make you think about how you approach your business — and life, for that matter — I highly recommend this book.

   

SECOND LOOK

• Second Look: Mike Turner

  If there's a place for remodeling on the Internet, Mike Turner thinks he's found it. A Big50 winner in 1996, Turner is now a Web impresario, hoping to lead the industry into the future with the Home Services Store.

   

KITCHEN AND BATH

DESIGN CLINIC

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  Artwork Reproduced on Refrigerator Doors

  American Forests, a non-profit conservation organization, and Danby Refrigerators have teamed up to produce “Artists for a Cool Planet.

   
• 

  Extra sinks are useful, but only if chosen and installed as part of a well-designed kitchen

  Extra sinks are useful, but only if chosen and installed as part of a well-designed kitchen.

   

SPEC BOOK

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  Appliances Becoming More Sophisticated

  Major appliances continue to evolve into more sophisticated tools. Cooktops and ovens feature commercial-style cooking systems, while washing machines and dryers treat clothing gently. Refrigerators offer the latest in food chilling and storage technology.

   

REPLACEMENT

DECKS

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  Finish Options for Decks

  What do clients expect in the way of finishing when you build a deck for them?

   

ROOFING

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  When to Hire and What to Pay a Sales Manager

  When should I hire a sales manager, and what is a reasonable salary?

   
• 

  How to Handle Low Slope Roofs

  In New Hampshire, Tom Avalone, whose company, Cobb Hill Construction, does both residential and commercial construction, occasionally gets requests from homeowners for low-slope roofs.

   

PRODUCTS

IN FOCUS

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  Room Enclosures

  Signature Collection sunrooms are designed with a premanufactured panel system that can install in one to two days, the maker says.

   
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  In Focus: Skylights

  New products come in an array of configurations and styles.

   
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  Decking: Vinyl and Composite Railings Expected to Continue to Expand

  Industry experts predict that both the vinyl and composite railing categories will continue to expand, each feeding off the success of the other.

   

READERS CHOICE

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  Reader's Choice: Airsled

  Remodeler Dan Cohen's crews have been moving heavy appliances with ease for the past year and a half, ever since Cohen discovered Airsled low-pressure air film appliance movers.

   
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  Reader's Choice: Tankless Water Heating Systems

   
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  Reader's Choice: Fein Tools MultiMaster

  For fine detail work and for quick removal of material from sensitive surfaces, remodeler and custom builder George Fritz says that many carpenters on his crews depend on their Fein MultiMaster Tools.

   

TRENDS

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  Gypsum wallboard manufacturers are starting to offer more mold-resistant products

  Gypsum wallboard manufacturers are starting to offer more mold-resistant products.

   
• 

  Cimarron Comfort Height Toilet

  A key feature of the two-piece Cimarron toilet is its installation system. The separate pieces of traditional two-piece toilets are typically attached using two to three bolts that penetrate the vitreous china tank. If the bolts are overtightened, the tank can be damaged. If the bolts are not...

   
• 

  Combination whirlpool and air-massage tubs deliver double the benefits of hydrotherapy

  Combination whirlpool and air-massage tubs deliver double the benefits of hydrotherapy.

   

LAST WORD

Bench Mark

• Don't Ignore Job Costing

  Most estimators assume that eight hours on the jobsite are eight productive hours. With no job costing, you'll never discover how misguided that assumption is.

   

OTHER ARTICLES

• Reader Panel: Quality Control

  Getting the word out about what's acceptable and what's not is different for every company.