How Adding Molding Impacts a Space
Molding can be an astonishing finishing touch to any space, and the right molding can create a dramatic impact in any room. How can you make the most of your...
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Recent Blog Posts
Guide to Drywall
Drywall is an amazingly versatile material, from simple walls to elaborate ornamentation. The more you know about drywall, the better you can appreciate its...
Preventing Common Callbacks
Callbacks typically result from three things: poor design, faulty construction, or the actions of a clueless homeowner. While this is true everywhere, coastal...
Independent Contractor Taxes: What You Need to Know
There are a lot of benefits that go along with being self-employed. One of which are the tax advantages. These benefits won’t happen without a little effort,...
Survey: Budget Is the Biggest Worry and Source of Frustration for Remodelers
Staying on budget during a project is the top worry for nearly half of the kitchen and bath professionals who responded to the first annual Kitchen & Bath...
Stocking Up On All The Right Power Tools For Your Business
Power tools have never been more accessible and affordable than they are today. The many options and brands to choose from can seem very intimidating. Because...
Breathing Easy: An Introduction to Healthy Homes
Imagine you use a vacuum-seal bag to store your winter clothes during the spring and summer. Your clothes are tightly packed in a waterproof, dustproof package...
Royal Building Products Shares Several Projected Exterior Home Trends for 2020
Attention to a home's exterior is important for maximizing both resale value and enjoyment for homeowners. Taking on projects like siding, garage doors, or...
NAHB: Millennials Want Both Shower Stalls and Tubs in Bathrooms
More than three-quarters of millennials desire primary bathrooms with both shower stalls and bathtubs, according to the National Association of Home Builders'...
What's Next for the Home Improvement Industry?
Fall is a time to look ahead and prepare for the year to come. In the home improvement industry, this manifests in numerous ways: Businesses begin to plan for...
Twenty Years of Learning and Facilitating
In 2000, I was asked by Linda Case and Victoria Downing to be a facilitator of Remodelers Advantage Roundtable Meetings. Each Roundtables group consists of...
Contractor Jobsite Trailer Ideas
Having the right tool for the job can make all the difference in the world -- especially in the contracting business. Furthermore, having the right place to...
Survey: Most Homeowners Want to Upgrade Their Homes
A majority of U.S. homeowners expect to make improvements on their homes in the next year to build up their home's value, the Chase Home Lending survey finds....
Find Extra Days, Get One More Job per Year
We talk a lot about process improvement. How can we make our processes easier, better, faster and ultimately cheaper. And most of the remodeling companies I...
Do's and Don'ts for Managing Subcontractor Installers
Subcontractor installers can be your best friend or your most recent nightmare. It’s all in the expectations set and the manner in which you follow through....
Got a Problem? Get a Process
Systems, processes, manuals, standards: The Holy Grail of the mythical smooth-running business. With none of the above in place, every day your company is open...
Use this 12-Step Guide to Hire the Right Manager for Your Growing Business
Your company has grown. You used to do everything. Now you feel it is time to shed some of the responsibilities, to hire a key manager to take them on. What...
The Right Steps to Effective Contractor Safety Management
For owners of a contracting business, safety management is every bit as important as quality of work and customer satisfaction. In fact, effective contractor...
EPA and HUD Announce New Lead Dust Standards for Floors and Window Sills
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced new, tighter standards for lead in dust on...
Where To Start When Building A Deck From Scratch
Building a deck from scratch is one of the toughest DIY projects one can take on. Think about it..it’s just some wood and a bunch of screws right? Thinking to...
Pay for Results, Not Possibilities
A design-build company makes money building projects that it has designed and specified. The big checks come only after a contract gets signed for turning what...
Turn Old Decks Into New Decks
Last spring a customer who Dennis Schaefer had built a cedar deck for during the '90s called to say he'd noticed some rot and thought that maybe the deck...
Customers Love Companies That Deliver the Personal Touch. Make Sure You're One of Them.
I travel quite a bit. My wife Nina and I are looking to see more of the world each year. Facilitating, consulting, and speaking take me all over the place. As...
Selling and Installing the Difficult Roof
The job was a three-story Victorian with “a very large turret, and a mansard,” recalls Kevin Phillips, co-owner of Full Service Roofing & Remodeling in Quincy,...
Navigating: The Crucial Middle Step in Design/Build
"Design/Build" is a business model many remodelers have adopted. For a client, the convenience of dealing with one firm for designing and building their...