Table of Contents November 2006

Features

• Instant Respect

  Getting certified is hard work. Is it worth it?

   

• Single-Line Success

  Adding a specialty business isn't for everyone, but it can be a real profit center.

   

• Staying Power

  Employees are your greatest asset. What makes the best ones stick around?

   

Before + After

• 

  Diamond in the Rough

  A musician oversees every last detail of this whole-house remodel to create his own Graceland.

   

Cost vs. Value Report

• Cost vs. Value Report 2006

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value for 25 common remodeling projects in 60 U.S. markets.

   

• New England Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• East North Central Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• West North Central Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• South Atlantic Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• East South Central Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• West South Central Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• Mountain Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• Pacific Region

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• Project Descriptions

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value in 60 markets.

   

• Middle Atlantic Region

  Stats and figures on the Mid-Atlantic region.

   

• 2006 Cost vs. Value Report

  What's the payback for remodeling? Our annual report compares construction cost with resale value for 25 common remodeling projects in 60 U.S. markets.

   

Reader Panel

• 

  Reader Panel: Certifications

  Although the benefits of holding professional certifications seem obvious — they serve as effective marketing tools as well as a way of ensuring job quality, among other things — many remodelers have been slow to get certification for themselves and their employees.

   

Other Articles

• Instant Respect

  Getting certified is hard work. Is it worth it?

   

• Single-Line Success

  Adding a specialty business isn't for everyone, but it can be a real profit center.

   

• Staying Power

  Employees are your greatest asset. What makes the best ones stick around?

   

View Point

• Figure This: Home Costs and Percentages

  Average price of a “typical middle-management home” (four bedrooms, 21/2 baths, family room, and two-car garage) in Minot, N.D., lowest of the 317 markets surveyed.

   

• Local Forecast: Spec Invaders

  Bethesda, Md., remodeler Mark Scott has noticed the spec housing market dying in his area. The owner of Mark IV Builders — who got his start in commercial construction and moved into spec homes before switching over to remodeling —knows from experience that many of those builders will turn to home...

   
• 

  Cool Days Ahead

  The second-quarter report of the House Price Index (HPI) reveals another sign of a slowing housing market. Published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), the report shows that house prices appreciated 1.17% — more than one percentage point lower than the previous quarter...

   

• Internet Buzzkill

  Ever wonder what people are saying about your company? Visit the world of consumer-driven e-mail groups, Web sites, and community listservs that have become powerful arbiters of opinion about the companies to patronize — or to avoid.

   
• 

  The Lowdown

  Published each November, our annual Cost vs. Value Report is among the most frequently cited research in the housing and real estate industries. It is also among the most widely misapplied, misquoted, and misunderstood research we undertake. Before the barrage begins again this year, I thought I...

   

Commentary

Linda Case

• Shout It Out

  It's the annual planning season, and if you haven't created your 2007 business plan — or your business plan, period —I propose a fun, creative way to get started: brainstorming.

   

Mark Richardson

• Predicting Performance

  Making or losing money doesn't happen by accident. Results depend on how well you plan.

   

Shawn McCadden

• Continuous Improvement

  We've all heard the adage, “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.” And how many times have you heard someone say, “It's good enough for now,” or “We don't have time to improve how we do it; we need to just get it done”?

   

Guest Columnist

• 

  Defining Culture

  For the past 18 months I have been able to step outside the system. I sold my company — Traditional Concepts, a high-end design/build firm on Chicago's North Shore —and have remained working as a sales consultant.

   

Your Business

Ways + Means

• People + Skills: Partner Tips

  Growing up, brothers Joel and Neil Kristianson couldn't have been more different. “We were four years apart … enough to make sure that all we did was bug each other and fight,” Joel says. Yet, years later, they're in business together as owners of Crimson Design & Construction, Naperville, Ill. —...

   

• By Law: In-Home Negotiations

  Always be careful with pricing models and the impact of discretionary price reductions. What you want is for Johnny Sales Representative and Bobby Sales Representative to each be able to visit Mrs. Jones separately, price the same job, and come up with the same price for that job (subject, of...

   

• Better Building Through Science

  It's not rocket science, but it is a link between building science and diagnostic testing, says Walt Harwood of the new home-performance division he runs for Neil Kelly Designers/ Remodelers, in Portland, Ore. “We do it to create homes that are comfortable, durable, safe, and cost-effective.”

   

• Finding Mature Workers

  AARP's Deborah Russell, director of workforce issues, and The Herman Group's workforce futurist Roger Herman offer these suggestions for hiring older workers.

   
• 

  Mature Hiring Practices

  Although the labor pool for the trades is tight, most remodeling companies wouldn't go looking for workers in the over–55 crowd. “But the maturity that comes with an older worker is particularly valuable in this field,” says Roger Herman, workforce futurist and CEO of The Herman Group. “In most...

   

Bottom Line

• Competitive Edge

  About three years ago, Ray Gaines noticed that his company, Gaines Construction, in Easton, Conn., was only winning 50% of the projects it bid on. Then that figure dropped to 25%. Losing out on some sizable projects made him question his policies.

   

• Growing Use of Health Savings Accounts

  A health savings account (HSA) helps individuals save for future medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.

   

Sales + Marketing

• The Safe Part of Green

  Demolition releases toxic residues, wood dust can be carcinogenic, and building materials often contain cancer-causing formaldehyde. Ready to get to work?

   

• Shine On

  First impressions will always count, but final impressions are more likely to have an impact on referrals and repeat business.

   

• Snapshot of Health

  A year-end tally form measures performance and spurs friendly competition.

   
• 

  Selling the Better Life

  Remodelers don't usually think of aging-in-place modifications as a chance to upsell, but Dan Bawden does. Earlier this year, his Houston-area company, Legal Eagle Contractors, opened The Idea Center: a home remodeled into an office/showroom equipped with aging-in-place innovations, from the front...

   

• Jumping Off the Page

  When Gehman Custom Remodeling got a flattering writeup in the The Philadelphia Inquirer last year, president Dennis Gehman opted for a more animated alternative to conventional reprints.

   

By Design

• 

  Universal Principles

  “It was good timing,” says Peggy Mackowski, since her husband and company co-owner David Mackowski was working on his CAPS (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist) designation through the National Association of Home Builders.

   

Tech@Work

• 

  Welcome to Web 2.0

  Seemingly overnight, something remarkable has happened. The next generation of Web-based applications — Web 2.0 — has arrived. Many of these are useful for remodelers, and many are inexpensive or free.

   
• 

  Wireless Wonder

  He calls it his “crackberry” —that's how addicted Anthony Cucciniello is to his Black-Berry. He's never without it, and he has given the handheld wireless device to each of his project managers, lead carpenters, and office staff.

   

Good Form

• Know Your Numbers

  One of the most dangerous characteristics remodelers seem to share is lack of familiarity with — if not outright apathy toward — their numbers.

   

Big50

Close Up

• 

  Profile: Tony LaPelusa

  After 42 years in the northwest Chicago suburb of Niles, Ill., LaPelusa Home Improvement (Big50 1992) could lay claim to any chunk of the sprawling Chicagoland market. But the company's target audience is within a two-mile radius of its office and showroom.

   

Second Look

• 

  Second Look: Garett Radke

  The year 1989 was significant for Garett Radke. He was named Big50, went through a divorce, and took a trip that would change his life. He was running a $500,000 design/build company with three employees when he went on vacation to the Caribbean island of Nevis.

   

Other Articles

• Face Off

  Do you use Internet lead-generating companies?

   

Special Section

Financing

• Home Improvement Financing: Resources

  Contacts for home improvement financing...

   

• Loans of Your Own

  Not for everyone, in-house financing requires lots of cash, nerves of steel, and the ability to evaluate risk.

   

• Money for Sale

  According to Bob Weickgenannt, president of Starcom Design/ Build in Columbia, Md., “If you want to give your customers the best service, you've got to have all the cards.” And, in the competitive remodeling market, your trump card may very well be your ability to offer financing.

   

• Financing Q&A

  Does offering financing make a remodeler into a mortgage broker or a bank? Is there any investment risk? Lenders and remodelers answer these and other questions that are commonly asked by contractors contemplating offering financing.

   

K+B

Design Clinic

• Editing Catalog Charges

  Using 20-20 software, designers can create and edit customer discounts.

   

Spec Book

• 

  Bath Lighting: Mirror Lamps, Brushed Nickel Fixtures and Sconces

  Nickel finishes gain popularity for their cool styling and subtle complement to exposed plumbing.

   

Replacement

Roofing

• 

  Sell Like a Pro

  Having a genuine love for people and being a good talker are excellent attributes to have when it comes to entering the sales profession. But that's just the start. Many folks share those attributes but fail miserably at selling.

   
• 

  Recycling the Roof

  Roof tear-offs account for an estimated 11 million tons or about 53 million cubic yards of landfill waste each year. And, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, asphalt shingles represent up to 10% of residential jobsite waste. These are all big enough figures to stimulate developing...

   

Windows

• 

  Marketing Strategies

  Lead-generating Web sites turn marketing on its head.

   

Products

Trends

• 

  Toasty Toes

  Heat up your sales — and your clients — with radiant floor heating installations.

   
• 

  State of the Industry: WPCs

  Wood-plastic composites are steadily chipping away at the pressure-treated wood market.

   

In Focus

• 

  Gypsum, Backerboard, & Underlayment

  Products from National Gypsum, Carlisle Coatings and Waterproofing, Georgia-Pacific, and MP Global Products.

   
• 

  Tools: Saws, Pressure Washers, Chalk Reels, and more.

  Remodeling Magazine staff selects the best new tools. For effective jobsite clean-up in a small package, try the 2,200 psi Ultra Compact Pressure Washer (model HU80520), available exclusively at The Home Depot. The machine features a 11/8-inch tubular roll cage that protects the Q45 Briggs and...

   
• 

  Holiday Gift Guide: iPod Docking Stations, Catalogs, and Photo Players

  Products from Bosch, Panasonic, and World Vision.

   

Other Articles

• Endgame

  Are you preparing adequately to finance your future?