-
Every year, for its April Guide to Building Products special issue, BUILDER magazine commissions an in-depth study surveying what brands builders recognize most, use most, how they rate the products' quality, and which companies are best at communicating with builders. The study is conducted by...
By REMODELING Magazine Staff. Solvent-based Pro-Series SF 450 Sub-Floor amp; Construction Adhesive meets California's low-VOC requirements. Designed to reduce nail popping and squeaky floors, Pro-Series SF 450 is water- and weatherproof and will bond to dry, wet, and frozen lumber, as well as to...
By REMODELING Magazine Staff. Bluestone Pattern, Ice Harbor Irregular, Canyon View Pattern, Mystic River Pattern, Highland Rose Irregular, Oak Valley Irregular, Desert Gold Pattern, and Garnet Springs Pattern flagstones provide a wide range of design options. Solid, pinned retaining wall systems...
By Stephani L. Miller. Decorative concrete floors offer a wide range of design flexibility. Decorative concrete floors allow homeowners to make design statements, and they allow designers to exercise their talents in new and different ways.
-
By Stephani L. Miller. Late last year, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored a Solar Decathlon, an event that pitted 14 teams of architecture and engineering students against each other to see which could design, build, and operate the most energy-efficient and aesthetically designed house...
-
By Stephani L. Miller. Mold has always been with us, flourishing on the nutrients provided by such cellulose-based materials as wood. Both DensArmor Interior Guard products are intended for general wall applications as well as for commonly wet areas and shaft wall applications.
According to Monica Canales, marketing director for CosentinoUSA, maker of Silestone quartz surfacing, "the qualities and characteristics of the mineral or stone element used [to manufacture a stone surface] are carried over into the engineered product." The only thing that will scratch a quartz...
-
By Phil Rea. I was at another company a few weeks later where they found anything less than $1 million per salesperson unacceptable.The answer to this question depends on whom you ask. --Phil Rea, Phil Rea amp; Associates, offers professional speaking, a money-making newsletter called Sales Pitch...
By Jim Cory. "Just cutting the dog door for the house was a real chore," Moody says. To attach panels, Moody used a pneumatic nail gun with a flush nailing head that coordinates with the air pressure to prevent overdriving.
Undercabinet lights provide not only supplemental task lighting but also accent lighting to spotlight favorite kitchen features. The new 12-volt Pro Halogen Series undercabinet light fixtures reduce mounting surface temperatures and minimize heat transfer to cabinets, says the maker.
-
By Nina Patel. It takes Eskay two to four weeks from final drawing to completion and shipping of the counter. Users can place orders online using a credit card and the company will ship to anywhere in the United States and Canada.
-
In a client meeting, remodeler Mark Scott, owner of Mark IV Builders, Bethesda, Md., and architect Paul Merrick presented their client with two traditional designs for a high-end master suite bath remodel. They're on a well system and the first time they used their new shower, Scott says, they...
-
By Nina Patel. Just remember that it takes a bit of work to have that much fun.Levi Mize organized a successful customer appreciation day in his showroom. Because it was a customer appreciation party, Mize made a point to greet and thank all past and current customers.
-
Sales, design, production, estimating -- some readers handle all those jobs on their own. Telephone interruptions rob the most time from 15% of those surveyed; 13% say procrastination and indecision are their greatest time thieves; and 11% say they waste the most time doing tasks they should have...
-
By Joseph F. Schuler Jr.. Leading real estate agencies -- including Prudential Fox and Roach; Century 21; and Crye-Leike, Realtors, among others -- have developed online services and systems that provide the referrals agents have offered, word of mouth, for years. Whittington works in the hot real...
-
Joe in 1987, has done from his Camarillo, Calif., offices.The brothers quit their country/gospel band in 1976 to run their father's company. (Their father, John Forest Rice, was later killed in a car accident.) The company's 35 employees include project managers, estimators, designers, and office...
-
By Nina Patel. Frank Spivey of Spivey Construction has always hired independent contractors as designer/salespeople. But whether it's an inside or outside person, Spivey believes if you spell out their duties and help them transition, the system can work.
-
Ray Kennedy, one of the most admired executives in the industry, died unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack Tuesday, Feb. 4.
-
Seven developers who got creative in overcoming development obstacles.
-
As the housing industry moves from a time of great market expansion into possible correction, today's economic realities are forcing land developers and builders involved in development to become more creative in what is already a complicated process.
-
While the opportunity to grab market share in big metros abounds, the competition has become fierce -- too fierce for some.
For years, the prevailing attitude toward energy efficient design and "green" construction has been that it's more trouble than it's worth: increased construction costs; uncooperative subcontractors; and worst of all, indifferent buyers.
-
For the past three years, Houston-based David Weekley Homes has been on the magazine's list of the top 100 companies to work for. Sometimes the trips are company-wide; others are within divisions, Weekley says, and are designed to get sales and construction interested in each other's...
To meet the demands of our customers, we have to find innovative ways to solve old problems. An obvious way to innovate is to improve the product through design, technology, and construction techniques.
-
Feng Shui is serious business for builders who seek to be at one with buyers.
Most big home builders have to be pleased with the sales and earnings figures showing up in their year-ending financial reports. Better yet are advanced order figures indicating that despite some mounting trouble spots, sales prospects look remarkably strong for the year ahead. Too bad "great"...
-
Completions of new rental apartments in the third quarter of 2002 was 10 percent below the 20-year quarterly average, an industry warning sign. Together, the East Los Angeles Community Corporation (ELACC) and the City of Los Angeles are helping turn low-income families into homeowners through the...
-
The National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation conducted a series of focus group discussions with regional development organizations to determine the state of rural and small metropolitan brownfields. Group discussions across the United States helped determine the...
-
The California Legislature has finally passed a construction defect law.
-
A year ago, Beazer Homes USA and Crossmann Communities announced their plans to merge their national home building companies. Now, Beazer (fifth largest builder in Charlotte) and Crossmann (third largest builder in Charlotte) are combining their Charlotte, N.C., operations.
-
An announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has sweetened the money pot for home buyers and may help boost homeownership. At a conforming rate of 6.19 percent and a jumbo rate of 6.47 percent, the home buyer would save $21,186 in principal and interest over the life of the loan, a significant...
-
After entering the Houston market last fall with the purchase of Parkside Homes, K. Hovnanian Enterprises has stepped up its market share by acquiring Houston's 11th largest builder, Brighton Homes.
-
From 1994 to 2002, HIRI's Product Purchase Tracking Study polled established homeowners to determine where, and how, they got their information regarding home-related products.
-
Home builders can expect to head back to the classroom. County officials have proposed new guidelines requiring prospective home builders to be licensed.
Between 1992 and 2001, sales of gas fireplace units increased 500 percent, from 150,000 to almost 900,000, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, based in Arlington, Va. Of the 1.6 million fireplaces sold in 2001, almost 60 percent were fueled by gas.Last year, 73 percent of Colony...
-
By Nigel F. Maynard. Where else can you lose your shirt at the high-stakes table, see an elaborate stage production, or ride down the Grand Canal of Venice without actually going to Italy?For one week in January, Vegas was also the site of the 2003 International Builders' Show. Gastronomic-minded...
-
Trying to choose tech suppliers in the builder market is a lot like deciding what paint color looks best in the kitchen.
-
Velotta lives in Brambleton, a 2,000-acre master planned development in Northern Virginia that provides its residents with fiber-to-the-home Internet access, video/cable service, Category 5 wiring in each house, and community intranet. Adams says they hired The Broadband Group, a consulting firm...
-
Greg Benson, president of Comstock Homes in Reston, Va., remembers how tedious data collection used to be.Benson, whose company builds about 300 units per year and had roughly $77 million in 2002 sales, says sales managers used to collect buyer registration cards in model homes and then have...
-
By using BuildTrak, a cost management software program from True Systems (www.true.com), managers at Arcadia Building Co. in Purcellville, Va., spend less time tracking down invoices and more time running the business.The BuildTrak information is then imported into Timberline, which sets a budget...
-
NAPCO Security Systems recently introduced the GEM-P801 security system, the newest version of its security systems geared for the residential market. The unit lets users customize their home into nine different zones: six hardwire or wireless, two additional wireless, and one, two-wire fire zone...
-
By BUILDER Magazine Staff. Hovnanian Enterprises, based in Red Bank, N.J., recently upgraded its Web site (www.khov.com), adding a mapping tool and enhanced search functions that let home buyers look for a new home based on specific criteria, such as number of bedrooms, price range, or community...
-
Builders looking to offer the comforts of the office at home may want to think about installing the 2x10 KSU/PBX Telephone System from OnQ Technologies. The KSU/PBX is a business-quality phone system that started shipping in December 2002.
-
The perception that only the rich and famous, or geeked out engineers can either afford or understand distributed audio must change, says the Distributed Audio Alliance (DAA).
-
For years, building superintendents have complained that they spend at least 60 percent of their day calling subcontractors to make scheduling changes. As of mid-November 2002, AirToolz was about to go live with one other builder and launch a pilot with yet another home builder in early 2003.
-
Gold Winners Not Pictured from the 2003 National Sales and Marketing Awards.
Best brochure for a community with an average sales price under $250,000.
-
From the 2003 National Sales and Marketing Awards: Schumacher Homes may have built the design center of all design centers. Fifty percent of Serrano's buyers come from the Bay area, and when the ad ran, traffic reached a total of 12,000.
At The Pinehills, a 3,060-acre, master planned community in Plymouth, Mass., nothing was overlooked. According to Green, these quality touches are more costly in terms of time than money.
Sponsored by the NAHB Sales and Marketing Council, this annual contest just keeps getting more competitive and prestigious.
-
Listed alphabetically are the individuals nominated for the 2003 award. Nicholas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, which conducts research to examine and address America's most critical housing and community development needs * David Weekley, CEO, David Weekley Homes...
By Matthew Power. "I had come from the same background that I saw many of these kids experiencing," says Lee Wetherington, president and CEO of Lee Wetherington Homes. Lee Wetherington Homes builds about 200 upscale homes a year in Southwest Florida and employs 61 full-time staffers.
Each year, BUILDER partners with Hearthstone Advisors, a national home building financier, to honor some special people, industry leaders who have used their success, prosperity, and connections in the building industry toward some higher good.
Design Leader: Bob Tyler, RNM Architects/Planners, Newport Beach, Calif. Media: Hanley Wood, LLC, (BUILDER Magazine, Washington, and Home Planners, Tucson, Ariz.)
Singles are one of the fastest-growing buyer segments. In showcasing an upscale single life, the C plan may be the most dramatic of the trio.In this case, the drama is in the sitting room with its James Bond movie crystal chandelier. Once again most of the floors are Bruce Hardwood, except the...
-
This second-home getaway is a jump-start on a future life in retirement. It has all the welcome-home features to serve maturing buyers.Unit B is equipped with Whirlpool's newest home amenities: the PersonalValet, which freshens dry-clean clothing; the Sink Spa, a jetted sink for hand-washing...
-
The A plan looks too elegant to be the home of an eight-year-old and her parents. Soothing reverie: The owners' suite is a symphony in blue, with access to both a terrace and a private deck, and plenty of room to sit and read.
For the New American Home's 20th anniversary, the NAHB's National Council of the Housing Industry tripled the excitement with three townhomes built for today's varied marketplace.For the 2003 New American Home, the National Council of the Housing Industry wanted to up the ante. That place is the...
-
The NAHB Research Center's LifeWise Home is most notable for its fairly ordinary appearance. Not everything in the house is fully accessible, yet its design and its features are easily adjustable for whatever condition or life stage the residents are in, says Charlotte Wade, NAHB Research Center...
-
Both years also displayed strong increases in house prices and heavy borrowing against equity by America's homeowners. On the house price front, some deceleration probably is in the cards for 2003, but real (inflation-adjusted) gains should continue to accumulate in most places and absolute...
-
For 2003, the NAHB has set a number of goals to help promote homeownership, housing affordability, housing production, and rental housing opportunity. On Capitol Hill, the NAHB will work toward expanding homeownership opportunities through a tax credit similar to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit...
-
- The NAHB announces Michael Luzier the new president of the NAHB Research Center.
- Experts at SHOWCASE 2002 say the systems-built housing market is booming and poised to grow.
- The NAHB is criticizess the Supreme Court's 4-4 split ruling on the Borden Ranch wetlands case.
-
The new year opened with a new campaign in the lumber wars: a U.S. proposal on how Canada should reform its lumber practices toward a more market-based system. The proposal, introduced in January by U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas, recommends that Canada end its minimum cutting...
-
Several mills in the United States closed last fall, and some companies blame the new, 27 percent duty on Canadian softwood lumber imports. Those duties were supposed to protect the U.S. sawmill industry, but Canadian mills cranked up their volume of production to compensate for lost revenue, and...
-
Robert Bosch Tool Corp. made a unique move for a power tool company in late 2002 by forming a joint venture to market Punch List, a Palm-based handheld task management application developed by Strata Systems.First released in 1996, Punch List now has an installed base of 2,500 users.
-
In recent months, environmentalists from the Rainforest Action Network made the news when they dubbed wood products company Boise (formerly Boise Cascade) their "top enemy of forest protection."
-
BizMat (www.bizmat.com) provides advice to contractors, remodelers, and others in the construction industry. Geared toward small businesses to companies with $50 million in sales, BizMat offers tips and strategies on profitability, human resource issues, and customer satisfaction. BizMat is worth...
-
Glenn Martin, vice president of project management for Standard Pacific Homes (North California East Bay division), is pioneering what may soon become business as usual. The U.S. Department of Defense operates the GPS system and makes it available to other industries.
-
As vice president of organizational development for John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, Laura McMurrain oversees the delivery of more than 18,000 hours of training annually to the Atlanta builder's roughly 1,000 employees. Since 1998, the company has saved roughly $400,000 in state taxes...
-
The NAHB Research Center recently began monitoring and testing new homes with mold problems. Mold problems can be roughly divided into three categories: building design related, material and construction related, or homeowner related.
-
An interracial couple tries to put an offer on a new home, only to be told by their agent that their deposit won't be enough.That's the tale behind Meyer vs. Holley, a federal Fair Housing Act case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in early December.
-
A peer-reviewed report approved in October 2002 by the 6,000-member American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine offers some hope that mold is not as severe a health risk as many fear. The study says that only 10 percent of the population is sensitive to mold and that only 5 percent...
-
The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to review a lower court ruling that found Miami-Dade County's zoning regulations "unconstitutionally vague." The case began as a dispute between Omnipoint and the county over a cellular tower, but the Third District Court of Appeals used the decision to make a...
-
Hovnanian Enterprises has added another Texas builder to its portfolio. The buy boosts Hovnanian's presence to number seven in Houston, a market it entered in November 2002 with the acquisition of Parkside Homes.
-
The largest affordable housing bond in history, Proposition 46, was approved by California voters in November. Another $495 million will allow 65,000 families to achieve homeownership, and $100 million will be offered as incentives to local governments for approving new housing developments.
-
Do you belong on BUILDER's annual list of the country's largest builders? If you build more than 100 homes a year, send your company name, address, fax, and phone number to lwilliam@hanley-wood.com, or by regular mail to Loretta Williams at BUILDER, One Thomas Circle N.W., Suite 600, Washington...
-
Home builders nationwide will be closely watching a lawsuit filed in a federal court by the Greater Atlanta HBA that for the first time tests a Fifth Amendment property rights claim on an impact fee.
-
Bob Strudler, the CEO of Lennar, is the grand winner of this year's Hearthstone-Builder Lifetime Public Service Award. At last month's International Builders' Show, we presented awards to Bob Strudler and Lee Wetherington at a dinner attended by more than 500 people.
-
My crew and I are on a job for two days of prep and layout work before anyone places a piece of tile or stone, so I've learned to expect the question, "Why haven't you started yet?" Before the job starts, I use the computer to develop a critical path plan for our installation procedures, including...