Table of Contents September 2007

Features

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  Relationship by Design

  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.

   

Other Articles

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  Relationship by Design

  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

• Merit Award: Additions: East Meets West

  The client, a Harvard professor of Japanese sociology, wanted a multipurpose addition — a beautiful entryway, a functional and spacious home office, and a serene sitting area.

   

• Merit Award: Additions: Carriage House Whimsy

   

Design/Build

• Merit Award: Design/Build: Backyard Embrace

  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 Award: Design/Build: Sport. Utility.

  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 of the Year: Shedding New Light

  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

• Honorable Mention: Green Remodeling: Elegant and Efficient

   

• Merit Award: Green Remodeling: Open-Plan Octagon

   

• Merit Award: Green Remodeling: Salvage Beauty

   

Kitchen Remodeling

• Merit Award: Kitchen Remodeling: Balance of Power

   

• Merit Award: Kitchen Remodeling: A Surgical Re-rendering

   

• Grand Award: Kitchen Remodeling: Everything in its Place

   

Old-House Renovation

• Merit Award: Old-House Renovation: Foursquare Rescue

   

• Merit Award: Old-House Renovation: Mile-High Mediterranean

  Every lovely old neighborhood has an eyesore, and this 1926 Denver home had been sufficiently neglected and insensitively expanded to fit the bill.

   

• Merit Award: Old-House Renovation: Fortifying the Foursquare

   

Small Project-Detail

• Grand Award: Small Project/Details: Detailed Steps

   

Whole-House Remodeling

• Merit Award: Whole-House Remodeling: Letting There Be Light

  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.

   

• Grand Award: Whole-House Remodeling: A Modern Classic

  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.

   

• Grand Award: Whole-House Remodeling: Now Worth the Drive

  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 of the Year: Spinal Fusion

  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

• 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).

   
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  Soft Market

  Most prognosticators now say, however, that the housing market is not yet done softening.

   

• Over the Top

  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.

   

Commentary

Linda Case

• The 6 Truths

  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

• High Tech vs. High Touch

  Balance is the key when deciding how to apply the latest technologies in your business.

   

Shawn McCadden

• Get Smart

  Anticipate challenges, dodge chaos, stay ahead of the competition.

   

Guest Columnist

• Remodeling, a Second Career

  Guest columnist Gary Morrison wanted a second career as a remodeling contractor: "I now work twice as many hours for half the money, and it's the most rewarding, enjoyable job I've ever had."

   

Your Business

Ways + Means

• People + Skills: Going South

  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?

   

• Monkey Do

  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.

   

• Forecasting Tool

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

   

Bottom Line

• The 2% Solution

  A line item on estimates covers the cost of miscellaneous materials.

   

• Warning Signs

  Review financial statements to prevent embezzlement.

   

Sales + Marketing

• Designs on Winning: Tips of the Trade

  Tips for making a standout remodeling portfolio.

   

• Sales School 101: No Compromising

  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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  New Hire Leads to New Marketing

  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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  Shifting Currents, Pooling Parties

  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.

   

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.

   

• Classroom Crisis?

  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.

   

• Trade Day

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

   

• 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.

   

Tech@Work

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  Working Together

  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.

   

• Local Listing

  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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  Designing 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.

   

Good Form

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  Easy Spread

  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.

   

Big50

Close Up

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  Profile: 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...

   

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.

   

Other Articles

• Followup: Should Remodelers Test for Drug Use?

  The "no" response from this month's "Big 50 Face Off," which asked, "Should remodelers test their employees for drug use?" came from Greg Antonioli (Big50 2006) of Out of the Woods Construction & Cabinetry, Arlington, Mass.

   

• Face-Off: Should remodelers test their employees for drug use?

  Opposing opinions on drug testing in the workplace.

   

K+B

Design Clinic

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  Loft Look

  The key to creating a loft-style kitchen is to keep the design simple but use rich, elegant materials.

   

• Wired Kitchen

  The Digital Kitchen Study surveyed more than 600 homeowners to understand the role of the kitchen in 2007 and to determine what technology and services best suit their needs.

   

Spec Book

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  Spec Book: Faucets

  The latest in faucets.

   

Sustainability

Green Speak

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  A Place for Everything

  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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  Design Awards Add Green

  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

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  Products: Home, Green Home

   

Products

Trends

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  Demystifying Design

  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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  Products: Concrete Evidence

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

   

In Focus

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  Products: Paints & Stains

  The latest in paints and stains.

   
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  Products: Engineered Lumber

  The latest in engineered lumber.

   
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  Products: Tile

  The latest in tile.

   

Other Articles

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  What Defines Success?

  Chances for success increase when company owners focus on what they like to do and what they do best.