FEATURES

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    Communication is key to working well with architects

    The excerpts above are part of a June 2007 discussion on kitchen designer Peggy Deras' blog, http://kitchen-exchange.blogspot.com/. Although the bloggers are kitchen designers and architects, the same discussion could just as well have occurred between remodelers and architects.

     

REMODELING DESIGN AWARDS

  • Remodeling Design Awards

    There's rarely clear consensus in the selection of the Best of the Year Award, but this year's discussion went far beyond the usual debate.

     

  • The 2007 REMODELING Design Awards

    The winners of the 2007 REMODELING Design Awards showcase the best in residential and light commercial remodeling across the country. From an island house addition to a log house update to a paint factory renovation, these projects highlight the work of talented design and construction teams.

     

Additions

Design-Build

  • Merit design/build remodeling design award

    Architect Kai Tong, with Hopkins & Porter in Potomac, Md., said that “the porch is doing exactly what the owners want it to: It embraces their backyard, is functionally connected to what happens inside the house, and it gives them good access through two different locations for landscaping tasks.”

     

  • Merit design/build remodeling design award

    The homeowner didn't like the visibility of the laundry machines upon entering the home; she wanted them accessible but unseen. Designer Shawn Sweeney created open “lockers” for each family member along with shelving for shoes and drawers for miscellaneous items.

     
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    Best design/build remodeling design award

    It was a "gutsy move" to replace a gabled roof with a shed roof, said the judges of this "beautiful" renovation of a 1920s bungalow. "But they made it work."

     

Green Remodeling

Kitchen Remodeling

Old-House Renovation

Small Project-Detail

Whole-House Remodeling

  • Merit whole-house remodeling design award

    By rethinking the space and maximizing sun exposure, architect Mary Cerrone and remodeler Charles Fisher transformed this dark, cramped row house into a dramatic, coherent home.

     

  • Whole-house remodeling design award

    The front porch is an enduring icon of the American Craftsman style, but the porch on this 1920s bungalow was buried by a dark mass of shingles encasing a sculpture gallery when its owners bought it in 1994.

     

  • Whole-house remodeling design award

    It all began when an interior designer friend asked architect Stephen Muse whether an interior wall could be moved to increase the size of a wet bar in this 1970s home.

     
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    Best whole-house remodeling design award

    Driven by the clients' passion for gardening and art, this home is the dazzling synthesis of a big idea and a modest slice of mid-century architecture.

     

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

  • Remodeling market positioned for steady growth

    Late this summer, The Remodeling Futures Program, part of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, released revised figures showing that in 2007 total remodeling expenditures are projected to surpass $300 billion for the first time.

     

News + Notes

MARKET WATCH

  • Figure This

    Remodeling by the Numbers

     

  • Local Forecast: U.S. Population Heading South

    Recent trends in population growth and density are continuing, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

     
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    Remodeling Activity Growing, Slowly

    Remodeling activity will show overall growth in 2007, but it will be much more modest than what the industry has seen in recent years, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University (JCHS).

     

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

LINDA CASE

  • What remodelers know about accountability

    What can we learn about accountability in business from The Apprentice, Donald Trump's televised search for his next executive? In Trump's version, you're on a team where you avoid taking responsibility and sometimes even undermine team performance to protect yourself. To survive, you may have to...

     

MARK RICHARDSON

SHAWN MCCADDEN

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

  • Designs on Winning: Tips of the Trade

    Tips for making a standout remodeling portfolio.

     

  • Doing more for less

    Incentives and discounts might bring about a temporary boost in business, but you'll regret them later, says Jack Hauber, a longtime sales trainer with the Sandler Sales Institute.

     
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    Full-time marketer pays off

    Although The Wiese Co. has served the Natick, Mass., and surrounding areas for more than 15 years, it wasn't until a little over a year ago that owner Ray Wiese recognized the need -- and was willing to incur the cost -- for a full-time, in-house marketing person.

     
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    Partying to Build the Business

    The wine flowed freely and the buzz was palpable at a recent event that typified the kind of business-building that has carved out new revenue streams for Premier Builders, of Wilmington, Del.

     

BOTTOM LINE

FIELD NOTES

  • Removing Safety's Language Barriers

    The ladder is wobbling beneath the drywaller. The carpenter is hacking away at a 2x4 without saw protection. The mason is straining to lift a huge stack of bricks. The fact that these workers are Spanish-speaking subcontractors doesn't mean you're off the hook if one gets hurt.

     

  • Trade Day

    A pre-contract walk-through helps nail down the details.

     

  • Shop classes lack teachers

    Schools are in session, and they're reporting a resurgence of interest in industrial arts programs. Unfortunately, "shop"-type classes have been eliminated from many schools, and there aren't enough teachers for the classes that do exist.

     

  • Waste Watchers

    Turning jobsites green takes discipline, but even small changes can make a difference.

     

  • Making Recycling Relevant

    There's new life for old window sashes in Atlanta -- and new hope as well for old cabinets, appliances, flooring materials, and myriad other items that are typically discarded during the course of remodeling projects.

     

GOOD FORM

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    A snapshot of key indicators

    Allan Lutes is a big-picture kind of guy. He likes to know what's coming down the road. So the owner of Alpha Remodeling in Ann Arbor, Mich., created this worksheet.

     

Tech at Work

  • Use search engines to raise your profile

    Free advertising opportunities are rare. But by taking advantage of services provided by Google Local Business Center, you can position your business to be among the first encountered by potential clients using Google to search for remodelers in your marketplace.

     
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    Using a web site to manage client communication

    At times, managing communication with a client can seem more difficult than managing the project itself. This is perhaps never more true than during the product selection process, when a delay on the client's part can wreak havoc on the production schedule.

     
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    Envisioning a remodeled space with SoftPlan

    Remodelers, by virtue of experience, can look at a two-dimensional floor plan and envision what a given space will look like at its completion. But when most homeowners look at a floor plan, they see little more than lines on a page.

     

Ways + Means

  • Employee interactions are as important as business basics

    Basic business functions must be kept in balance to ensure profitability and success. But the working interactions between employees also must be kept in balance for an enjoyable, productive environment.

     

  • Try Outs

    It's a balancing act: Business is growing but not enough to justify raising overhead by hiring. What to do?

     

  • Plastic monkeys represent problems

    In a take-off from the book The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, one manager changed his life by throwing monkeys -- plastic ones -- at his employees.

     

  • An easy-to-use forecasting model

    A five-part forecasting tool that most remodelers -- even small companies -- can adapt to their own markets.

     

BIG50

CLOSE UP

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    Profile of Disaster Restoration's Michael Griggs

    It's not lust but the survival instinct that drives homeowners and disaster restoration companies straight into bed together. Fire, vandalism, water damage — whatever the impetus, the relationship that ensues is more complex than many remodelers realize, says Michael Griggs (Big50 1995). His $12.5...

     

FACE OFF

SECOND LOOK

  • Second Look: Merlyn Vandervort II

    When he was awarded Big50 in 1996, Merlyn Vandervort owned Metro Renovators, one of the nation's largest disaster reconstruction companies.

     

KITCHEN AND BATH

DESIGN CLINIC

SPEC BOOK

SUSTAINABILITY

GREEN SPEAK

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    A systematic approach to deconstruction

    For the past three years, Daniel Mackey Construction, San Jose, Calif., has taken the time to find ways to recycle and reuse materials. “It helps channel products in a more responsible way,” owner Daniel Mackey says. “[And homeowners] view us as more professional because of our systematic approach.”

     
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    New green awards category

    This year we added a green-remodeling category to the REMODELING Design Awards. We asked three green experts to help define the criteria for the category and to evaluate the entries received.

     

GREEN SPEC

PRODUCTS

IN FOCUS

TRENDS

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    Design templates smooth process

    Every profession has its own language, be it computerese, medical jargon, or political spin. Most of the construction world speaks “blueprint,” but it's all Greek to your customers. Thankfully, when creating a space plan for your client's home remodel, reusable design tools make the process as easy...

     
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    Pavers, decorative concrete, and stone decking products

    Pavers, decorative concrete, and stone decking products bring style and texture to outdoor surfaces.

     

LAST WORD

Bench Mark