Remodeling articles from February 2004

Remodeling archives from February 2004

Tipping your clients.(First Word)
February 1, 2004... In the late 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a study to determine how people are connected. He mailed 160 volunteers who lived in Omaha, Neb., a packet that contained the name of a stockbroker in Boston. He instructed them to put...

Raising (and praising) hell.(Call Back)
February 1, 2004... I just read "Clients Bugging You?" (November 2003, page 84). The author says that remodelers should include arbitration clauses in their contracts and refuse to agree to penalties for not finishing on time, et cetera. Truly good consumer...

To your health.(News & Notes)
February 1, 2004... We try to be a professional company that chooses to be in the remodeling business," says Frank Zehna, president of Christian Roofing & Remodeling in Athens, Ga. But it wasn't until this year that he was able to offer health insurance to his...

Fortune brands buys Therma-Tru.(News & Notes)
February 1, 2004... In a $925 million transaction last November, Fortune Brands purchased Therma Tru, a leading manufacturer of residential entry doors. Fortune was apparently lured by Therma-Tru's $400 million-plus in annual sales, as well as the opportunity to...

Gentlemen, start your nail guns.(News & Notes)
February 1, 2004... Manufacturer GAF and the National Roofing Contractors Association have teamed up with the Indy Racing League (IRL) to produce a safety program, available on DVD, called "Race to be Safe" The DVD is a response to the insurance crisis facing...

Press stress.(News & Notes)
February 1, 2004... Two recent reports questioning the quality of today's new homes have caused a stir in the home building industry. The January 2004 issue of Consumer Reports contains a six-page article titled "Housewrecked," in which the magazine provides...

Remodeling looks forward to a strong 2004.(Market Watch)
February 1, 2004... Another strong year for residential remodeling should lie ahead, with projected actual growth of 4.8% in 2004. This translates to 2.5% growth after inflation, compared to a 3% increase from 2002 to 2003. Increases in personal incomes, low...

Handyman how-tos: thinking about cashing in on this potentially lucrative niche? Think carefully.(Commentary)
February 1, 2004... In the past five years, many design/build contractors have been asked by past customers to handle their handyman projects. Sometimes these requests are more on the order of demands. Because clients stay in their homes an average of 11 years...

Keep it simple: one key question you put to your clients will tell you exactly how your company is performing and what kind of referrals to expect.(Commentary)
February 1, 2004... I'm a nut about feedback. If I've learned one thing in my business and consulting life, it's to ask every client how they feel about the service my company provides. This has to go hand-in-hand with making clients feel comfortable about being...

Is remodeling science or art? Your ability to grow and improve may depend on how you answer this question.(Commentary)
February 1, 2004... Recently, I was part of a tag-team of presenters at the national Remodeling Show who took part in a seminar that was described in the program as a "Sales Marathon." Four speakers took turns over the course of three hours presenting 30-minute...

Unintended consequences: think again before you rejoice in the recent establishment of the national do-not-call list.(Commentary)
February 1, 2004... I'm the co-owner of a multimillion dollar company. Our business is primarily roofing, and we're located in South Florida. One of the most important parts of our organization is our 40-person marketing department, which does telemarketing. This...

Points taken.(Ways + Means)
February 1, 2004... Some people respond well to punishment, and others don't. If your employees fall into the latter category, you need to rum to positive reinforcement if you want to keep them. Mason Hearn of McGuire, Hearn, and Thoms, Manakin-Sabot, Va., has...

Hire education.(Ways + Means)
February 1, 2004... We were straggling with hiring the right people," says Michael Fast, president and CEO of MRF Construction, Tacoma, Wash. "You can only ask so many questions, and we ended up hiring a couple of folks that were just a nightmare." To try to...

By law: independent contractors vs. employees.
February 1, 2004... Many home improvement and remodeling companies classify their installers as "independent contractors" for federal and state tax purposes, saving up to 15% in payroll taxes and administrative costs. However, if the IRS or a state tax agency...

Breaking the bankruptcy: contractors need to protect themselves against vendors declaring bankruptcy.(Bottom Line)
February 1, 2004... Jeff and Sharon Rainey were in the middle of implementing a new marketing campaign when their marketing firm declared bankruptcy. The owners of Home Equity Builders, Great Falls, Va., had to move fast to pay the printer directly to have access...

Cost of goods sold.(Tax Tips)
February 1, 2004... Knowing the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is critical to determining Next to labor, COGS--the total of all purchases during the year--is usually the second largest expense for remodelers. But to get the correct purchases amount, you must add...

Wrapper's delight.(Sales + Marketing)
February 1, 2004... Waller Emergency Services and Goff-Waller Roofing are on the move--literally. In an effort to get people talking about them, the sister companies are promoting their services with ads wrapping two transit buses in Polk County, Fla. The...

Take control.(Sales + Marketing)
February 1, 2004... Instead of rewarding sales volume, Stebnitz Builders pays its five salespeople a commission based on the gross profit each job earns. "This format keeps the salesperson as interested in the profitable outcome of the job as the owner," says Gary...

Their brand of humor.(Sales + Marketing)
February 1, 2004... It's a quiet little sidebar to who we are," says Steve Nicholls of Mueller Nicholls, about his Web site's "Jokesite." Click on the "Jokesite" tab at mnbuild.com and see: "Well, we're not always serious." There are corny jokes, trivia, and...

Tapping emotional buying reasons.(Sales + Marketing)
February 1, 2004... People buy products and services because the purchase initiates some feeling, some emotion. Tap these emotions, and you'll make a sale. Here are a few reasons why your prospect will buy. Excitement. They sense a degree of variety or...

Amateur hours.(Field Notes)
February 1, 2004... When one of Robert Kutner's clients asked to work on his own remodeling project alongside Kutner's crew, the remodeler said "Yes." This particular client was a doctor, had one day a week off, and was eager to learn. "I've never built anything,"...

Making the grade.(Field Notes)
February 1, 2004... The subs who work for Marrokal Construction in Lakeside, Calif., can't complain that they don't get enough feedback. Every month, all five company superintendents and the director of production rate all subs on overall performance. Each gets a...

Jobsite paperwork, part 2: change orders.(Field Notes)
February 1, 2004... Lead carpenters play a big part in generating, tracking, and administering change orders. The lead needs to clearly document them for several reasons: * Documenting the change from the very beginning helps track the time required to...

Just don't call them old: whether or not your clients think they're ready for it, universal design principles make sense for everyone.(By Design)
February 1, 2004... Though they're not exactly new ideas, a recently established nonprofit group hopes to give aging in place and universal design new national prominence. Over the past two years, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has spearheaded...

Stone sampler.(By Design)
February 1, 2004... New from W.W. Norton's Architecture Books series, Stone Sampler is a comprehensive guide to 576 varieties of stone, including onyx, marble, limestone, travertine, and quartzite. Small and portable, the full-color book lists for each sample...

Put it on the list.(Tech@Work)
February 1, 2004... Jason Larson's got nothing against Post-It notes. But he doesn't like seeing them all over Lars Construction's office. "We're big on presentation, so when new clients or prospects come in, you don't want to see a bunch of Post It notes on...

Document acrobatics.(Tech@Work)
February 1, 2004... Your customers and subs might be able to open Word documents you send them, but what about CAD drawings or MS Project job calendars? Or what if you want to save a paper sketch or a building permit onto your computer so you can e-mail it to your...

Perfect proposals.(Good Form)
February 1, 2004... A sales proposal is a useful tool, but only if it's put together properly. To that end, Winans Construction takes extra care to make sure everything is as it should be every time they do a proposal. The company had used this checklist in...

Profile: Robyn and Michael Muscardini.(Close Up)
February 1, 2004... Twenty years ago, Robyn and Michael Muscardini, owners of Creative Spaces (Big50 1991) were approached by a consultant to help guide them through the world of small business. Five years into their Oakland, Calif., business, they didn't know if...

Shawn Kumar.(Second Look)
February 1, 2004... Shawn Kumar has reinvented his business four times, twice since being named Big50 in 2000. And now he may have finally found his niche. Kumar started in universal design, then formed We Build in San Dimas, Calif., to work with banks on...

Do you tie customer payment to project financials or project milestones?(Face Off)
February 1, 2004... "When we see that expenditures are close to what's been collected, then it's time to send another invoice." --Fred Bueler INVOICE IN, INVOICE OUT On most projects, we collect a down payment of roughly 5% to 10% of the total...

Goodbye can be the hardest thing to say: when do you fire a field employee?(Q+A)
February 1, 2004... PHILIP CANTOR Jendell Construction Kensington, Md. Big50 2001 Good field employees are so hard to come by that letting someone go can be agonizing. Before we decide to let someone go, we ask: What was the offense? How long have they been...

Reading list: three Big50 remodelers recommend some page turners.(Live + Learn)
February 1, 2004... Paul Eric Morse Morse Constructions Somerville, Mass. Big50 2003 My style as a manager has always been an open one, where I share my business numbers with at least my key employees. Jack Stack, in his book The Great Game of Business, has...

Hard knocks: deep water: when is a two-bath remodeling job better than a three-bath remodel?(Live + Learn)
February 1, 2004... For Fairway Construction of Southfield, Mich., it was a plum job: a $45,000, two-bath remodel of the master bath upstairs and one of the three bathrooms downstairs in the 6,000-square-foot house. The employee assigned to demolition ran...

Encore performance.(Before + After)
February 1, 2004... Meet Kathy Townsend. Independent and driven, she owns a court reporting company. Middle-aged and upper middleclass, she has money, but she wants to know how she's spending it. An active participant in this information age, she uses all the...

Pick me, pick me: successful product selection strategies smooth out the roughest part of the remodeling process.
February 1, 2004... Contractors readily admit that they struggle to develop reliable systems that track clients' selections and keep jobs on schedule. Those struggles are why many have turned to new partners and solutions to resolve an old dilemma or to get...

Closing time: sales systems aren't one-size-fits-all. Successful remodelers use an array of practices, ranging from detailed systems to the personal touch, to seal the deal.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... When it comes to sales, Bill Simone of Custom Design + Construction leaves nothing to chance. From the initial call forward, the Los Angeles remodeler sets a sales system in motion to guide his ideal customer to a signed contract. Every...

Who sells? While nearly 70% of remodelers enjoy selling and don't want to hand it off, 20% are unsure about exiting that role. The rest want to flip their sales hat to a well-trained employee.(Reader Panel)
February 1, 2004... When it comes to selling, remodelers have plenty to say. But they also suggest that listening is the quickest route to a signed contract. Most know that to make a sale, you need to reiterate what you hear, empathize with clients, and establish...

Bringing the restaurant home: two cooking pros apply commercial principles to make residential kitchens more efficient.(Kitchen+Bath: management)
February 1, 2004... The classic refrigerator-sink-stove work triangle creates a stagnant kitchen, says former chef Don Silver. Now a Los Angeles kitchen designer, Silver feels the single sink in the equation is also inefficient. "Everything must go to that sink,...

Out with the new.(Management)
February 1, 2004... Remodelers are used to working on houses that are five or more years old. But how about a house that is five days old? Designer Richard Forbes says on one job, he was taking measurements of the new-home kitchen before the settlement. "The...

Luxury shopping.(Management)
February 1, 2004... Chicago's Merchandise Mart recently launched LuxeHome, www.luxehome.com, a 24-boutique kitchen and bath shopping experience for both design professionals and consumers. The retail center has more than 70,000 square feet of showroom space and...

Curve appeal.(Management)
February 1, 2004... This powder room vanity was designed to make a small space appear less crowded, while still providing ample storage. Ed Linderman of Linderman Designs in Costa Mesa, Calif., says the curved, 25-inch-deep bump-out allowed him to fit the room...

Kitchen lighting.(Spec Book)
February 1, 2004... Decorative pendants and track lighting provide stylish options for illuminating kitchen work areas such as islands. Manufacturers have been busy introducing fixtures that complement the popular color schemes of today's appliances, cabinetry,...

Chill out: the weather outside is frightful. And there's a siding job to install.(Siding)
February 1, 2004... Where weather gets cold--really cold--contractors have ways to get a siding job up. John Ellison, owner of ABC Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska, says the first order of business is to "keep your crew from getting frostbite." His crews favor quilted...

The rail world.(Decks)
February 1, 2004... Many deck builders use composite deck planks. But when it comes to railing systems, some prefer to provide customers with an array of options. The ability to offer a choice can be key to closing the sale, especially when clients have collected...

For you, no special price.(Decks)
February 1, 2004... Q: Should I allow salespeople to give a discount? A: It's my belief that the price should be set and salespeople Should sell the job for that price. Only the sales manager or the company owner should be allowed to give a discount. I...

Fastener fascination: using the correct fasteners and connectors with the next generation of wood preservatives is critical.(Trends)
February 1, 2004... Ever since the producers of pressure treated lumber began moving away from using chromated copper arsenate (CCA) as a preservative, concerns have surfaced regarding the higher corrosivity of the next-generation preservatives, in particular...

All-points lock-down.(Trends)
February 1, 2004... The 8- and 10-foot-tall entry doors that are currently gaining in popularity introduce some unique problems in regard to weather-sealing and security. Getting a good seal around the entire door frame is harder to accomplish with taller doors,...

Getting the green light.(Trends)
February 1, 2004... BuildingGreen, publisher of the GreenSpec Product Directory and of Environmental Building News, recently announced its choices for the Top 10 new green building products of 2003. The second annual award recognizes the most exciting products...

Daily grinder.(Reader's Choice)
February 1, 2004... Dave Seegers started out in the business of historic preservation and did a lot of work with posts and beams. He found his DeWalt Small Angle Grinder to be a valuable addition to his toolbox then for mortise-and-tenon work. Now that he does...

Shear force.(Reader's Choice)
February 1, 2004... Like all remodelers in California, Randy Ricciotti has to work within the state's stringent seismic requirements for continuous shearwall panels. "Typically, you can't have a window or door opening within 4 feet of a comer," Ricciotti says,...

Check out this sucker.(Reader's Choice)
February 1, 2004... Working in the restoration business, remodeler and disaster restoration contractor Ben Yanker has to move fast when cleaning up his clients' fire- or water-damaged homes. Instead of subbing out insulation removal, he invested in an Insulation...

Flooring: when wood is the flooring of choice, options abound.(In Focus)
February 1, 2004... With wood flooring options ranging from traditional to exotic species in every shade imaginable, the material is showing up in all forms and styles across the country. According to Mickey Moore, technical director for the Wood Flooring...

Duluth Trading Co.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... Constracted of prewashed, tightly-woven fire hose material that resists snags, rips, and abrasions, the Fire Hose Chore Coat and Work Utility Pants are treated to withstand stains and water. The coat features underarm grommet vents to allow...

West Coast Shoe Company.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Jobmaster boot has been improved with Drilex OrthoLite Comfort Foam slip-in inserts that provide breathability and ventilation in and around the foot. The all-leather boot features stitchdown construction for flexibility, a permanently...

Gorgonz performance work gear.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... Gorgonz Cold Weather Gloves feature the 180[degrees]s Exhale Heating System that allows the wearer to blow warm air into the gloves through the exhale port for instant warming of cold fingers. The gloves' air chamber system sends warm air...

Weinbrenner Shoe Company.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Dri-Duck high performance work boot features an integrated brown "duck" cordura. The boot's Thoro-dri waterproof barrier, dual-density soft and flexible outsole, and removable polyurethane Super Cushion footbed ensure comfort. An oil- and...

Ironclad performance wear.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Tundra work glove features a four-layer insulation system and is designed to protect the wearer's hands in cold, harsh, working conditions while allowing good control of tools and materials. The exterior shell is reinforced with DuPont...

Mechanix wear.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Series 3.0 ProFit Impact protection glove is designed to provide wearer protection during the use of pneumatic tools. PVC silicone areas on the thumb and fingers improve grip and an anatomically designed thermal plastic rubber molded rib...

Illinois Glove Co.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... Featuring Zeta6 magnets mounted inside the backs of both gloves, SilverBack Magnetic Powered Gloves are designed to help keep parts, fasteners, and tools handy. The half-finger design allows wearers to work with small tools and parts. The...

Carhartt.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Arctic Traditional Coat has been improved with a work-friendly fit to allow better range of motion and wearer comfort. Made of a 12-ounce, 100% ring-spun cotton duck, the coat features an inside welt pocket with a zipped closure for...

Hot Foot.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... The Hot Foot III Boot Heater inserts beneath the toe pad of a boot's insole liner and automatically regulates boot temperature. The heating element senses boot temperature and adjusts heat output automatically to prevent sweating and discomfort...

Wolverine boots and shoes.(Worker Gear)
February 1, 2004... DuraShocks Gore Tex Eight-Inch boots are constructed of full grain leather and feature slip resistant rubber polyurethane outsoles, Goodyear welt construction, and a Gore-Tex waterproof membrane lining. The available composite safety toe weighs...

Powers Fasteners.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... Quik-Shot cartridges provide 10 ounces of the maker's Power-Fast Plus structural epoxy and AC 100Plus epoxy acrylate adhesives, ideal for a single use or for small-volume jobs. The coaxial cartridge works with any standard caulking gun and each...

Henkel adhesives.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... Loctite Power Grab latex-based adhesive is now available in a Pressure Pack dispenser that makes working with a super-strength adhesive in tight spaces easier. The dispenser system makes a caulking gun unnecessary. A steady bead can be...

Mapei.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... BioBlock antimicrobial protection has been added to Keracaulk sanded and unsanded caulks to inhibit the growth of mold and mildew in moist applications. The caulks are designed to match the maker's 30-color palette of grouts to provide uniform...

Franklin International.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... Using an advanced solvent-free polymer formula, three new premium-grade sealants provide a waterproof, flexible seal that also resists staining and UV rays. Titebond Clear Choice Sealant provides a clear bead; Titebond Premium Exterior Sealant...

Red Devil.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... The Create-A-Color Pro caulk coloring system uses a heavy-duty steel mixer along with the maker's Create-A-Color Caulk to allow remodelers to match caulk to the color of most other surfaces using latex paint. After adding a paint color to the...

OSI sealants.(Caulks, Sealants, & Adhesives)
February 1, 2004... Nail Power Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive is designed for multipurpose use on general construction, paneling, plywood, and drywall installations. The waterproof and weatherproof formula can be used on wet, frozen, or treated lumber, the maker...

Labor limb-o: figure out how to get accurate labor estimates and your company will have a real leg up on the competition.(Bench Mark)
February 1, 2004... Most remodelers will agree that if they had better control over labor costs, they would be more profitable. Materials and subcontractor costs are known quantities (punctuated occasionally by spectacular exceptions), but even the most...