Remodeling.june 2011

JUNE 2011 | www.remodelingmag.com

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EnergyStarsDoug Selbys Meadowlark Builders is flourishing despite the demise of Home Star and hes not alone

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1 | j u n e 2 0 1 1 | r e m o d e l i n g |

Your Business Your clients Your team Your projects

r e m o d e l i n g m a g . c o m

JUNE 2011V O L U M E 2 7 / N U M B E R 6

fe atures

48 Inventive Incentives Improving home energy

e ciency and your bottom line

60 Before + After Deep Energy Retro t: A small

house sees dramatic savings

69 How-To: Facebook

Basics for building a Facebook business page

Some remodelers get geared up for Groupon

Beware: customers using check endorsements

Tracking gross profit

Tips for building a thorough estimate

Using Google forms to gather customer data

Free gutter-cleaning promotion draws clients

Using SEO to help clients find you online

Remodeler as home asset manager

The value of insisting on quality work at a fair price

Summertime fun for your employees

The case for using background checks to pre-screen employees

Paying field crew a higher trade rate for time spent using specialty skills

The benefits of laptops on the jobsite

Dramatic exterior facelift of a 1960s ranch house

Opening up a basement to realize its potential

The interactive white-board: handy client communication and design tool

7 FirstWord13 Dashboard

Op inio n

17 Linda Case17 Shawn McCadden18 Richard Steven20 Michael Anschel20 Victoria Downing22 Rick Provost

K+B

78 Lighting Warming to the idea

of designing with CFLs and LEDs

Home Perfo rmance

81 E ciency on a budget Energy-ef_f icient condo

remodel; pilot program to help homeowners fund energy-ef_f icient upgrades

26 33 37 43

Products84 Siding & windows88 Moisture management

La st Word

96 Good Form Energy saving

checklist

85

60

Cover photo: Fabrizio Costantini/Aurora Select

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2011 Therma-Tru Corp. All rights reserved. Therma-Tru is a registered trademark of Fortune Brands, Inc.

Visit us at www.thermatru.com

for more information.


7 | june 20 1 1 | remodel ing r emodel ingmag .com |

Curr ent ly onl ine

FacebookInteract with the REMODELING editors and fellow remodelers on Face-

book! We post frequent-ly about news, contests, award opportunities, and upcoming stories that

give you a chance to be interviewed for our articles. Like us today!http://www.facebook.com/RemodelingMagazine

KBIS in VideoDesigners and remodelers talk about the market and leading trends, including green remodeling and design for aging in placehttp://www.youtube.com/RemodelingMagazine

Use the http://go.hw.net shortcuts anytime to find online resources

SUR VEY

Remodeling 550Complete the online survey to become eligible for our annual list of the industrys largest companies http://go.hw.net/r-550

Acting as if energy costs are what they surely will soon be

there are two reasons to use sustainable materi-als and undertake energy retro ts. One is a cold, hard energy-payback calculation; the other is a warm, fuzzy save-the-planet attitude.

Often the payback period is too long, so a lot of homeowners opt out. And to many, the second reason is wishy-washy and completely ignores economic reality.

A recent dinner conversation turned these arguments on their head. I was talking with Eric Zencey, an old friend who for 30 years has been thinking and writing about something called ecological eco-nomics. This small but growing school of thought would replace modern infinite planet economic theory with one that acknowledges that an economy is not a perpetual growth machine.

Im not an expert, but heres the gist of it. An economy extracts matter and energy out of the environment and discharges waste matter and energy back into it. Some of these resources wood, soil nutrients, animal and plant life are renewable and could be sustainably sourced. Oth-ers coal, gas, oil, copper are nite and in diminishing supply. The goods and services we create from these resources dont re ect the true costs of their produc-tion, largely because ecological costs are ignored. That underpricing leads to poor economic decisions.

Getting Warmer

S A L A L FA N O

Sal Alfano, Editorial Director [email protected]

Find more online @remodelingmag.com

To give a familiar analogy, imagine a remodeler who doesnt include the cost of his spouses labor as bookkeeper. The omis-sion makes overhead seem lower than it really is. As long as the spouse continues to work for free, the system works, but when that labor has to be replaced by hired help, the true cost is revealed. Unless prices go up, the business fails.

The solution for the remodeler is simple: include the cost of a spouses labor in overhead. (Include your own labor, too, while youre at it.) On a much grander scale, there are ecological costs to modern life and commerce that go uncounted. When we build a dam, we lose a trout shery. When we cut a forest, we lose erosion protection.

At one point, Eric said that whether all costs are accounted for or not, a lot of us try to act as if they were. And it struck me that those warm and fuzzy customers who want to save the planet are doing exactly that. So are those who, with every piece of paper they recycle, acknowledge the value of the tree. They cant always articulate it, but their behavior signals that they have already started to create a new economy.

The fact that someday the oil will run out should inform todays decisions about how and what and where we build. Before it runs out, we need to use less fossil energy to keep warm and get from place to place, and more to build a post-petroleum economy.

Right now, solar-energy looks pretty good. The sun isnt in nite, but its close: estimates are that it will keep producing energy for another 5 billion years.

Thats warm and fuzzy enough for me.

INSTALL CONFIDENCE.

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ebuild is the destination for construc-tion pros searching for information about building products. ebuild is a source of unbiased coverage of new products, trends and news. Pros visit ebuild to learn how to do their jobs faster, safer and easier. ebuild connects pros to product manufacturers, experts and peers.

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Sal Alfano Editorial Director [email protected]

Pete Morelewicz Deputy Design [email protected]

Ingrid Bush Managing Editor [email protected]

Stacey Freed Senior Editor [email protected]

Mark A. Newman Senior Editor [email protected]

Nina Patel Senior Editor [email protected]

Lauren Hunter Associate Editor, [email protected]

Rhonda Hughes Art Director Allison Levy Assistant Art Director Scott Moneypenny Associate Web Editor Jim Cory Contributing Editor

ContributorsMichael Anschel, D.S. Berenson, Rich Binsacca,

Bruce Case, Linda Case, Victoria Downing, Andy Hannan, Shawn McCadden, Rick Provost, Richard Steven,

Joe Stoddard, Sarah Susanka

Cathy Underwood Director Production and Production Technologies

Johanna Daproza Production Manager Daisril Richards Ad Traf_f ic Manager January Felder Assistant Production Manager Fred Weisskopf Prepress Manager Betty Kerwin Prepress Coordinator Paul Ruess Circulation Director Ann Russell Reader Service Manager Lois Landa Customer Service Manager Colleen Sullivan Circulation Promotions

Designer Amy Barcomb Circulation Manager Holly Miller Marketing Director Megan McCloud Creative Services Art Director Rick Strachan Group President Residential

Remodeling Ron Spink Group Publisher Residential Remodeling Kim Heneghan General Manager Online

Residential Remodeling

HANLEY WOOD BUSINESS MEDIA Andrew Reid President Market Intelligence

e-Media Rick McConnell President Exhibitions Nick Cavnar Vice President Circulation

& Database Development Nick Elsner Vice PresidentProduction Sheila Harris Vice President Marketing Andreas Schmidt Executive Director e-Media

PUBLISHED BY HANLEY WOOD, LLC Frank Anton Chief Executive Of_f icer Matthew Flynn Chief Financial Of_f icer Paul Tourbaf Senior Vice President

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REMODELING will occasionally write about companies in which its parent organization, Hanley Wood, LLC, has a business interest. When it does, the magazine will fully disclose that relationship.



Propane is always at home in the backyard. It delivers clean and dependable energy to outdoor

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ADVERTISING SALES OFFICESHeadquarters

Rick Strachan Group President, Residential Remodeling202.736.3332 Fax 202.785.1974 [email protected]

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(Including AL, AR, FL, IA, IL, KS, LA, MN, MO, MS, ND, NE, OK, SD, TX) 773.824.2576 Fax 773.824.2401 [email protected]

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(Including GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, SC, TN, WI)773.824.2417 Fax 773.824.2401 [email protected]

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416.598.0101 ext. 220 Fax 416.598.9191 [email protected]

United Kingdom Europe Stuart Smith Regional Sales Manager

+44 (0)20 8464 5577 Fax +44 (0)20 8464 5588 [email protected]

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Janet Allen Director, Account Management Group202.736.3330 [email protected]

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Cost vs. Value Report: The 201011 Cost vs. Value Report is avail-able free of charge at costvsvalue.com

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What a PITI Lenders dont factor in home energy e iciency when o ering mortgages, but that may change

ON THE EDGE

To learn more about the cutting-edge of energy e ciency in resi-dential construction, attend the Summer 2011 Residential Energy E ciency Technical Update Meet-ing presented by the U.S. Depart-ment of Energys Building Amer-ica Program. The meeting will be held Aug. 911, 2011, in Denver. buildingamerica.gov/meetings.html

GET WIND OF THIS

The 2011 Remodeling Show, the industrys premier national event, will once again co-locate with DeckExpo this Oct. 1215 at Chicagos McCormick Place. Registration opens online in mid-June.remodelingshow.com/attendee/show-information.aspx

CALENDAR

Regarding Good Word, pp. 7981 in the May issue, about reward-ing clients for referrals, attorney Richard Feeley of Feeley Mediation & Business Law says: Before launch-ing any reward or referral program, make sure that such programs are not prohibited by state or local laws or regulations. E.g., in at least nine states Ariz., Calif., Conn., Md., Mich., N.D., Pa., R.I., W.V. home im-provement or home solicitation sale statutes prohibit a seller (including remodelers) from providing any sort

of compensation (including gifts) for buyers who give the seller referrals or who otherwise aid in making a sale to another person.

Several states also limit the value of any gift a contractor might give a prospective buyer as an inducement to purchase goods and/or services. E.g., Calif. $5; Md. $25; Mich. $2.50; Pa. $2.50. Thus, it is imperative that the remodeler assure that any reward program is compliant with state and/or local laws and regulations.

A Clarification on ReferralsWant to know

how to earn the proper return on

your projects? Turn to page 27

INSTALL A $6,000 GRANITE counter-top and your clients home value in-creases. But add $6,000 in mechani-cal upgrades and insulation, and their appraisal wont go up a dollar.

That kind of thinking has led Sen. Michael Bennet (D.-Colo.) to craft legislation, being referred to as the Sensible Accounting for Valuing Energy (SAVE) Act, that would require lenders to consider energy savings as well as principal, interest, taxes, and insurance PITI+E when o ering mortgages.

On a basic level, if you buy or build a more energy-e icient home, youd have more money to pay a mortgage, says Ken Gear, execu-tive director of Leading Builders of America, which represents 18 of the largest home builders in the country.

Gear and other supporters of the bill such as the Alliance to Save Energy, the U.S. Green Building Council, the RESNET (Residential

Energy Services Network), and the Institute for Market Transfor-mation believe that a host of problems could be solved if SAVE comes to fruition: protect taxpay-ers from foreclosure; create jobs; drive demand for energy-e icient homes; and expand the accessibil-ity and a ordability of energy-e icient homes.

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$2,340

$1,897

$822

Average U.S. Homeowner Costs20072008

Institute for Market Transformation

Aftermarket equipment shown. Properly secure all cargo.

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Read more opinions at: http://go.hw.net/r-opinion

eija nuermuounc hivu shared with me their desire to bring technol-ogy into their busi-nesses. Although they are looking for speci c software and hardware

suggestions, their biggest concern is making sure the implementation is suc-cessful. When I ask them how they will measure success, most dont know how to answer. Successfully implementing technology requires proper planning. Here are three key considerations:

1) Who will measure the success of the implementation? Even if you think everything is going or went ne

during implementation, your employ-ees may not agree. Before starting, meet and discuss expectations on what the technology will do for the business, the employees, and your cus-tomers. Discuss not only the bene ts you expect but also the anticipated challenges and concerns.

Doing this rst should help you choose between available options and address challenges at the beginning not when you are in the middle of the implementation. Also, discussing the plans with your employees in advance might help identify the naysayers before they do any damage.

2) At what point in the process will you set up the software? In my experi-ence, most remodelers would not be able to write out how they do business

Integrating Technology

S H AW N M C C A D D E N

One way to magnify ef_f iciency

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Rehearsal empowers your sales performance

jr, thitc budjl trr aggressive!

No, if anything, hes being too soft.

Ive just nished facilitating two meetings where we spent a half-

day demonstrating and working on how a contractor might handle certain sales situations.

We role-played. A group member would set up an issue he was having di culty with. Then hed play the remodeler, and another member would be the prospect or client.

Whether its how you answer the phone, take a lead, ask a prospect to move forward with the sale, or handle an unhappy client, role-playing is a great teaching tool that can be used throughout your company. But it does take getting used to.

LESSON LEARNED Heres what I learned:

Theres nothing better than hearing from others how they handle what we stumble over. For instance, we were asked to o er suggestions to a remodeler who sells extremely high-end projects to the wealthy. Hed leave the rst meeting telling prospects to call if they wanted to proceed. We had to think about his clients and his selling style. Still, we were able to work through a scenario that invites clients to take the next step without feeling pushed.

It was clear that most of us have one selling style while our buyers have a number of di erent buying styles. If we are highly detailed in our selling, well appeal to the engineer type but bore the creative and style-

oriented prospect. So it was interest-ing to hear from a table of remodel-ers (with di ering buying styles) as to what they would want to know and hear. Somehow the seller has to find clues as to how the prospect wants to buy.

Some of the demonstrators were somewhat weak on questioning. They needed to learn to listen better for cues that would tell them: what the real motivation for the project was, who the decision-maker was, what budget range would satisfy, what previous remodeling experience the prospect had (with what outcome), what factors (budget, design, remod-

Dramatic Arts

L I N D A C A S E

eler reputation) would in uence the decision, and when did the project need to be signed (or designed) in order to meet the prospects time line. Theres so much the professional remodeler must communicate to set his company apart from run-of-mill contractors that listening sometimes takes a back seat.

Role-play and youll be surprised what you learn and how fast you learn it.

Linda Case is founder of Remodelers Advantage, a national company that gives remodelers the tools to achieve profitability and success. 301.490.5620; [email protected].

r ejunee rmo | dlme 20 1 1 | 18 r ejunee rmojio .guj |

Ways to make management meetings more e ective

cive yul nruppen man-agement meetings in favor of more urgent tasks? Think again. Dont chuck the baby with the bath water.

Tracking your num-bers has no value in itself; the value lies in reviewing and acting on them. Management meetings provide the opportunity for such review and action and are an important means of working on your business. Some tips:

Set a regular meeting schedule. If you dont, the meetings are too easily put oa . Regular meetings are the backbone of a good management system, and, like regular vehicle maintenance, they prevent crises. Other appointments, even clients and sales calls, should defer to your management meeting schedule.

Summarize relevant information. A spreadsheet packed with numbers and abbreviations is a collection tool not a communication tool. Turn data into knowledge through accurate, clear summaries. Distributing these summaries in advance, along with a written agenda, enables participants to prepare so that meeting time can be as e cient as possible.

Have three meetings per month. Regardless of company size, hold a sales, a production, and a nancial meeting at least once a month.

SALES meetings should review and compare to goals:

Number of inquiries and target leads; previous month and YTD

List of preliminary contracts signed the previous month

Signed construction contracts, including value and job category

List of currently open sales les with projected closing dates

List of projected contracts to be signed within the next two months

PRODUCTION meetings should review and compare to goals:

Status of every job currently in production

Projected schedule for each job over the next month

Date the next job could move to production

Date the next job must start in order to use resources pro tably

Job cost reports for every job com-pleted since the previous produc-tion meeting

FINANCIAL meetings should review and compare to goals:

Projected cash receipts over the next two months, including source and timing

Cash ow over the next two months, highlighting any shortfalls

Budget report, highlighting actual gross margin for previous month and YTDIn my experience, management

meetings are best facilitated by the respective department manager (sales, production, nances) because collecting, organizing, and presenting the relevant data ensures familiarity with the details for which that par-ticular manager is accountable.

Properly identi ed, each bit of data you review, each metric, is a window into a signi cant area of company performance. As a client recently observed, The real value of meet-ings is in preparing for them. And this is just as true if youre wearing all those hats in your company.

Richard Steven, president of Fulcra Consulting, helps remodeling companies create and use effective management plans. [email protected].

The Meet of the Matter

R I C H A R D S T E V E N

in a logical order or fully explain things to a new hire. Because of this, setting up software will be time-consuming and may be frustrating as well because the person setting it up may also be learning the software at the same time.

I suggest that the owner or manager learn and set up the program before introducing it to employees. The reason: Its likely that how you initially set it up and use it will change over time, requiring your employees to relearn the program or gure it out on their own. If you or your man-ager keep changing your mind about how you will use the new software, employees may lose con dence in the business and/or the technology.

3) Are you planning to fully or partially automate your business? Decide if you want one program that will do everything or if you will use multiple programs. If you can nd a good solution, I recommend a single program. Integrating independent programs isnt easy, even with a staa IT specialist. Plus, the more software programs you use, the more often you and your employees will repeatedly have to enter the same information.

Also, decide if you are really ready to automate your business. Real automation not only moves manual tasks to technology but also requires that business is done in a speci c sequence; what I call a forced ow.

A prede ned forced ow main-tains a more consistent and accurate process for your business and staa . If you have been using the just-get-it-done mentality, micromanaging the activities of your employees and the sequence of their actions, you may not be ready for technology, particu-larly an all-inclusive single solution.

Shawn McCadden founded, oper-ated, and sold a successful design/build company. A co-founder of the Residen-tial Design/Build Institute, Shawn now speaks at industry events and consults with remodeling companies. [email protected].

Shawn McCadden , continued

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For the full-length version of this article: http://go.hw.net/r-opinion

What do we need to do di erently?

ecerumes tiehrmo about how the new real-ity is here so wed all bet-ter do things dia erently if we want our businesses to survive. But what exactly do we need to do

dia erently? Here are a few ideas: Review performance metrics more often. Smart business owners are embracing the numbers like never before. Where they used to review reports monthly, now its weekly. And in addition to reviewing the standard nancials historical information theyve added reports to help forecast the future with information on sales, collections, cash ow, and more.

Communicate more often and more in depth. In 99% of the businesses I work with, staa numbers have been cut. Everyone has additional responsibilities, so they must work with increased productivity and efciency. One way management can

help is with a disciplined approach to meetings both team meetings and individual huddles. In these sessions, managers learn to delegate ea ectively while employees are able to ask ques-tions, greatly reducing the potential for mistakes. And fewer mistakes mean greater pro ts for the company.

Analyze options closely before spending a dollar. Ive heard many company owners saying that since trimming the fat, theyve discovered they can live without things they once thought essential. This new attitude has opened many remodelers eyes to how they spend their money.

Invest in sales training. This will let you better compete with the low-priced companies that have cropped up since the downturn. You cant compete on price; you have to win by building value, showing that the high-er price will deliver the best result. Doing things dia erently? Thats

a start.

Victoria Downing is president of Remodelers Advantage. 301.490.5620. remodelersadvantage.com.

New Do

V I C T O R I A D O W N I N G

Deep Energy Retrofits: just chasing rainbows?

Pure Folly

M I C H A E L A N S C H E L

tse wi suje euee are chasing energy ey ciency retro ts youd think there was a pot of gold at the end of the net-zero rainbow. Too bad the pursuits just as

foolish as chasing rainbows.Blasphemy, some might say. How

can an environmentalist not throw himself on the energy retro t band-wagon? Easy. I follow the four laws of ecology: 1. Everything is connected, 2. Everything goes somewhere, 3. There is no free lunch, and 4. Nature knows best. Understanding that the home is a system within a system within a system that operates under more complex lines of impact than BTUs consumed, I understand the danger of strapping blinders on and pursuing a single-minded goal without considering the systemic implications of such actions.

In focusing our conversation on BTUs and watts saved, we may be making the situation worse. We already know that trying to show ROI with dollars for anything other than the most basic of operations is a losing proposition.

What is needed is a systems approach to reducing emissions that measures greenhouse gas (GHG) released as well as total environmen-tal impact of the fuel source. The data isnt hard to nd, but it doesnt allow for a one-size- ts-all policy for the country and it points an ugly nger at some states, which would be politi-cally unpopular.

Speaking of data, according to the Department of Energy, buildings con-sume roughly 40% of the energy in this country and homes account for roughly

50% of that use. If most of housings en-ergy use is electricity, and the majority of homes that have a heavy heating de-mand are using a fuel source other than electricity to provide that heat, whats the value of increasing insulation?

The hard truth is that we can re-duce GHG emissions from homes by 40% without spending a dime, rotting out homes, or creating danger-

ous indoor environments by simply changing our behavior toward elec-tricity consumption.

Michael Anschel is owner and principal of Otogawa-Anschel Design Build, serves on the board of Minne-sota Greenstar, and is CEO of Verified Green. He can be reached at [email protected].

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The target: improper classification of workers

In the Cross Hairs

R I C K P R O V O S T

egac egr, eeoraegcura introduced two bills that target classi cation of independent contrac-tors. The Employee Misclassi cation Prevention Act would

penalize employers that misclassify employees as independent contrac-tors. The Fair Playing Field Act of 2010 would end the current moratori-um on IRS guidance regarding worker classi cation and would increase tax penalties for misclassi cation.

Both bills were referred to com-mittee and arent likely to be reintro-duced this year. But that doesnt mean the battle is over.

HOMING INThe Department of Labor (DOL) has placed a high priority on reducing worker misclassi cation and has identi ed the construction industry as one of the main o enders.

Although commer-cial, industrial, and home building rms will obviously be rst in the DOLs sights, all contractors that use independent contractors will be sub-ject to this enhanced focus. The DOL plans to redouble its e orts to combat worker misclassi cation by funding state grants to improve data-sharing between states and the IRS (and other federal and state agencies).

In its 2011 budget, the DOL calls for a joint Labor-Treasury initiative to coordinate federal and state e orts, with 100 new hires focused on misclas-si cation and litigation. The 2012

budget allows for a high-performance award program for those states most successful at prosecuting employ-ers. The bonuses paid will be used to upgrade states programs for detection and enforcement.

The DOLs We Can Help program encourages workers to notify the department if they think theyve been improperly treated by an employer. To deal with the resulting increase in investigations, the DOLs Bridge to Jus-tice program refers claimants to private trial lawyers through the American Bar Association which has spiked misclassi cation litigation.

RIGHT TO KNOWAnd last, but not least, theres a pro-posed rule called the Right to Know

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act , which will require employers to perform an analysis of all their independent contractors and notify them of the reasons for classifying them as such.

So if you use indepen-dent contractors, dont assume that a written contract will be sut cient to immunize you from the e orts of the DOL or its partners. Since neither the DOL nor the

IRS has a bright line test, you should familiarize yourself with the similar but di erent factors each department uses on a case-by-case basis to determine IC status and to make sure your business practices are compliant.

Rick Provost has more than 20 years experience helping to build the coun-trys largest design/build franchise network. He is now a principal in SMI Safety, a safety consulting and staffing business. [email protected].

In one year, the government lost $4.7 billion in fed-eral income and employment tax revenue through improper classi -cation of workersEstimate from the General Accountability Of_f ice


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CONTRACTORS SEEM TO GET

more checks these days with a something extra on them. Im referring to the growing use of check endorsements by customers a restriction written on the checks front or

back. Usually they are on checks mailed to you; customers think it may slip through your accounts receivable. Many times the contrac-tor cashes the check without ever seeing or understanding the restriction.

The endorsements that cause the most problems for my contractor-clients are the restrictive and the conditional.

In the restrictive endorse-ment, a customer prints some limit on how the check can be used, e.g., For Deposit Only, which means it cant be used by the contractor for any other purpose or endorsed over to anyone else.

Another common restrictive endorsement is Paid in Full, which can be more of a problem than you might expect. If a disgruntled customer slips a paid in full check past your accounting department and you deposit it, you may have just settled out the debt without even knowing it even for

pennies on the dollar. This is often referred to as an accord and satisfaction in the law, and crossing out the restric-tive endorsement and cashing the check anyway is not likely to make any di erence.

The conditional endorse-ment is another common tac-

tic, although this is something we often see on the down payment check. An example: Payable to Smith Remodeling after the win-dows are installed. Banks wont take these checks (if they catch them) since the bank has no way of knowing when, or if, the condi-

Deposit Dilemma

cu niyt ihcer his Groupon oa er ended, Dino Kotrides, owner of Roch-ester RBC Design Build Renovate, in Rochester, N.Y., had 25 appointments scheduled, 1,400 hits to his website, and a pile of cash outcomes that might cause remodeling company owners to drop everything and jump in.

Not so fast.

ON OFFERGroupon is the daily deal site that part-ners with local businesses to oa er discounts to Grou-pon members. Kotrides oa ered design services. What we normally do for $200, we oa ered online for $50, he says two hours of face time split between a prospects home and Kotrides ow ce followed by two hours of design work. He was surprised when he sold 150 in three days.

The deal has to be used within eight

months of purchase. That means 15 weeks of non-stop design work, acknowledges Kotrides, who thought he might sell 25. But he is optimistic, con dent that hell be able to pull it oa .

WHAT WORKSGroupon consultants help mer-chants figure out what type of deal works best in their market and they space out similar oa ers. We want

to make sure each week has a dia erent mix, says Chad Nason, a Groupon spokesperson. We dont want people to compete against each other.

Groupon consultants create the copy, put a list-ing online, and handle the credit card transactions. Merchants receive buyer

names and voucher numbers to help with redemption. Its usually a 50-50 earnings split between the merchant

Whats the Deal?Number up before joining the latest discount craze

You cant cancel the e ect

of restrictive language merely by

crossing it out

85% to 90% of Groupons are redeemedThe New York Times

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and Groupon. Kotrides deal brought in $7,500; he got $3,750. He admits that wont cover the costs for the amount of time he and his staa will put into it, but if trends hold and he converts his usual number of leads to projects, he gures that he will have spent about $100 per lead the same as he would have spent without using Groupon.

He also admits, however, that if he had a staa designer to pay Kotrides is doing design now he might take a pass [on using Groupon] because of


i ora rc rnk lrut into selling a remodel-ing project. Assuming we can encourage a homeowner to call us in the rst place, we move from consulta-

tion to design and estimating, then to selections and options, and some-times to therapy. Finally, if everything falls into place, we move to craft. Given all of that energy, its important to earn a proper return on all of the remodeling projects we sell.

Enter gross pro t, the number that enables us to determine pro tability by project. Why is that important? Knowing our gross profit is critical in determining how much we need to mark up our direct job costs to arrive at the proper sales price. Its also the basis for comparing our estimates to our actual performance. And because we can measure gross pro t on each project, we can spot trends related to lead carpenters, designers, project managers, and to diw erent project types and sizes.

Gross pro t gives us insight into how well were performing each month and each quarter, so we arent waiting until the end of the year to see if we make money. And when there are prob-lems, we can zero in on them quickly and ew ectively. In short, knowing our gross pro t gives us peace of mind.

Here are some tips for tracking gross pro t.

Compare percentages (not dollars). Subtract direct job costs from the sales price, then divide by the sale price to get gross pro t percent-age. This number is the best way to compare returns across projects of diw erent sizes.Track estimated vs. actual. This will help you understand why some teams meet or exceed estimated gross pro t more consistently than others (see chart, below). It also helps when comparing jobs by size. Our estimated gross pro t shrinks as job size grows because of the inherent es ciencies of doing larger projects. By comparing gross pro t for various job sizes, we can track performance and determine where our sweet spot lies.Increase gross profit. One way to do this is by increasing markup, but thats dis cult in this environment. Consequently, we have focused on nding innovative ways to reduce direct job costs. Bruce Case is president of Case Design/Remodeling. [email protected].

Gross Matters

BENCHMARK | BRUCE CASE

Not everything performs to plan. Track gross profit to find out whats working, whats not, and why

tion is ever going to be satisfied. Your bank will usually kick back the check a week or two after you have deposited it.

Educate your accounting/deposit personnel to scan incoming checks and to flag checks with extra language on them before they get into your deposit envelope. D.S. Berenson is the Washing-ton, D.C., managing partner of Johanson Berenson LLP, specializing in the home improvement industry. 703.759.1055, [email protected].

This article is for informational pur-poses only and should not be construed as legal advice.

the cost. Although he knows his time as an owner is valuable, he views the Groupon campaign as a worthwhile investment of his time and an ew ective way to market.

Its been a good experiment, he says, a good marketing tool, which got his name in front of the 135,000 Rochester Groupon members. We got great exposure. Repercussions could come into play a year from now. Stacey Freed

Get Your Group On Run your numbers, i.e., your usual cost-per-lead, to see if Groupon will be worth your time

Create strategies to convert leads to future business

Cap the number of buyers so you are not overwhelmed

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Actual vs. Estimated Gross Pro t

Actual GP% Estimated GP%

In this example, actual overall gross pro t is outperform-ing estimates, but Team 2 is not performing well. Analysis stemming from this kind of comparison could lead to adjust-ments that will help to boost Team 2s performance.

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Know Your Lines Building a thorough estimate, one line at a time

bojuon ermmn bodlidne , in Allston, Mass., uses a 160 line-item spreadsheet to estimate projects, reviewing the spreadsheet after project completion to ne-tune its process and periodically checking with trades for updated pricing, owner Brian Butler says.

Each section of the sheet is based on Construction Speci cations Institute proj-ect divisions, starting with site work and foundation and ending with interior nish-ing. Every construction division has its own tab, Butler says. E.g., the insulation tab cov-ers all types of insulation that could be used on a project, including rigid roof, ridge wall, spray foam, blown cellulose, berglass batts, recycled denim batts, etc. When we are cost-coding this way, Butler says, we can get that much more granular on our over/under and look back at jobs for things that worked well and things that didnt.

Butler tailors the spread-sheet for each project type. Cape Cods, he says, have mas-sive roofs with a much lower wall-insulating budget, while Victorian houses might have an insulation section 20 lines long due to tur-rets, overhangs, balconies, and cantilevers. I can gure in square footages for all facets of the house, including roof area, basement, attic ceiling knee walls, etc., he says.

OPEN-BOOK LEADSButler credits the estimator he hired two years ago with eshing out each project division. The spreadsheet is a key aspect of the companys pre-construction prepa-rations and is especially helpful for the companys energy-ef_f icient focus. We work every proposal out of this spread-

sheet, Butler says. It also helps clients stay within budget because the remodeler can easily eliminate segments of the design from the spreadsheet for updated numbers.

The spreadsheet is part of the companys open-book method, with costs and markup fully disclosed to clients. It highlights the companys professionalism and helps to weed out clients who dont appreciate the detailed process. Some people zone in on every single line item, Butler says. The amount of pre-construction time spent argu-ing line items it quali es the lead. Some-times you have to walk away. Nina Patel

Change Adds UpBrian Butler credits the spreadsheet with having helped his company cut down on change orders due to unfore-seen issues. He includes additional money in the budget for these types of situations, crediting the client if that money isnt used. Id rather write someone a credit than write them a change order, he says.

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googles eree of- ce suite, Google Docs, includes document man-agement, a word processor, a pre-sentation package,

a basic drawing program, and a simple spreadsheet that has a cool Web trick called forms.

Forms lets you create Web-based forms for gathering infor-mation. Add questions using a simple Web interface and then publish your form by e-mail or by embedding it in a website.

The usual types of questions/responses are available: single-line text for gathering names and contact info; multiline text

for longer answers; select from a list; multiple choice; and scales and grids, where users can rank or categorize. And you can in-sert a section header and some basic logic so that a question can lead to a new page.

Google has several templates that make the form attractive. Each form has a submit but-ton that writes respondents answers to a Google spread-sheet thats automatically set up as a simple at database. This can be exported as a delimited le where elds are separated by commas, for example and imported to other programs. Or use Googles one-click sum-mary to generate a graphical

summary of responses.You can also use forms to: Embed a Contact us or

How can we help you? form on your website set up to e-mail your salesperson

Set up customer satisfaction

surveys that you can send via e-mail

Survey users of appliances or other equipment you install to see what they like/dislike

Follow up warranty service calls with a form

Gather referralsWhile Id like a little more

exibility, for the most part, Google has hit a home run. Its simple enough and powerful enough that you can collect meaningful business informa-tion. http://docs.google.com Joe Stoddard is an industry consultant helping remodelers be successful with their technology. twitter.com/moucon; [email protected].

Virtual Of_f ice, Sweet

TECH@WORK | JOE STODDARD

Use free Google forms to gather data from your customers

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tre gapizzi, rwner rf Capizzi Home Improve-ment, in Cotuit, Mass., was jogging on the beach in San Diego when he had an idea: His company would o er to clean gutters for past customers for free. That was in December 2008, at a time when remod-eling companies were scrambling to nd leads for salespeople and work to keep eld crews busy.

My sta thought I was out of my mind, Capizzi recalls. But I was thinking about the time-share people, he says. They give you a free night in a hotel, and in return for that you sit through their presentation. If you didnt know anything about their business model, youd think theyd go broke. But its one of the most successful programs imaginable.

THE DEALFor the period of the promotion, Capizzi Home Improve-ment o ers free gutter cleaning to the rst 50 past cus-tomers who respond to its postcard mailer. In return, the homeowner agrees to hear a sales presentation.

In the rst year, the promotion generated $300,000 of work, at a cost of about $4,000 for the postcard and the labor in the roughly two-hour gutter cleaning a marketing cost of less than 1.5%. The company repeated the promotion at the end of 2010 and into this year. Jobs generated average $3,500 and range from repair and maintenance work to the occasional

job in the $20,000 to$40,000 range.

Capizzi says that the key to the promotions success is leveling with prospects, which he does with Reason Why copy on the postcard, which explains why its worth it for us to help you. In addition, the owner set a time limit on the promotion. The company re-launches Free Gutter Cleaning whenever it needs additional leads. Two factors make for success: Youve got to have the back-end to support what you do, and you have to have the right people running the leads, Capizzi says. Jim Cory

In the GutterA way to connect with past clients

In the rst year, the promotion generated $300,000 worth of work

I SEO You

SINCE THE ANSWER TO Where did you find that? is often, I Googled it, businesses work hard to be top-of-page. The goal: Optimize the chances that the searching spiders find your company.

Even if a Web developer works on your site, you should know enough about search engine optimization or SEO to be able to ask the right questions, says Josh Lowery, owner

of We Make Nice Websites, in Roch-ester, N.Y. He suggests looking at the following to improve SEO. Fresh content: Blogs and their

comments count as new content. Facebook and Twitter updates help.

Backlinks: These are links to your site from elsewhere. Some

are worthier than others. A lumberyard connection is juicier to the spider than a hairdresser backlinking.

Keywords: Relevancy raises your rank. Instead of saying We do remodeling,

specify kitchen remodeling, etc. Density: Keep keyword density between 1.5% and 3%. Over 5.5% and Google consid-ers it spam: If 800 words in a 2,000-word document are kitchen, youll be demoted.

URL and title tag: The address (URL) is important, but the title tag browser label for individual pages may be more important. Code each page with a specific title tag using keywords to make it easier for the spiders to find.

H1 and tags: H1 is code for header tag and is for paragraph. Its not enough to bold a word, for instance. Text must be coded. Search engines see these as more important sections and are more likely to hit on them. Stacey Freed

Make it easier for clients to find you

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Smart clients know that quality has a price

AT YOUR SERVICE

Winning the Bid Wars

WE DONT GET SIDING replacement jobs very often because, unlike specialty companies, we charge for bids. Also, unlike most contractors in our area, we insist on removing the old siding and non-structural sheathing. This means that our price is usually quite a lot higher.

Recently a prospective client agreed to pay our bid fee for a siding replacement job. Things have been slow, but we bid with our normal

attention to detail, prepared to lose to a lower bid. Instead, we got the job even though we were the high-est bid because, as the client told us, we were the only company proposing to do the job right. She also asked us to price out replacement windows, making a relatively small job a good deal larger.

During the job, we replaced some rotting studs and added insulation to areas that had none. This may well have gone undetected and unrepaired if wed left the old siding and sheathing in place. The client was thrilled with the improved comfort of her home.

We got top scores on the clients GuildQuality survey and she wants us to remodel her master bathroom next year. Plus, she has referred two other prospective clients.

In tough economic times, it can be tempting to lower standards to compete on price. This client taught us the value of insisting on quality work at a fair price, even if that price is above that of the competition. Hugh Stearns is president of Stearns Design Build, in College Sta-tion, Texas, which uses GuildQuality sur-veys to monitor customer satisfaction.

for many remodeeers a lot of time is tied up in waiting for homeowners to call. Even if youre actively marketing and networking, youre still waiting for homeowners to seek you out. Veteran remodeler turned consultant Dave Lupberger wants to change that: Weve lived with a reactive business model; the home owner calls and we come, Lupberger says. Lets create a proactive business model. We call and we come.

SERVICE-ORIENTEDWhen your 401(k) is tanking, you call your nancial adviser. For many people, a home is their largest nancial asset. Yet where is the adviser helping to maintain that investment? Therein lies the premise behind Lupbergers Home Asset Management Program (HAMP) , a tool he says can help remodelers to change behaviors.

I now position my-self as a resource, says Milt Rye, owner of Ethan Home Repair, in Everett, Wash., who uses HAMP with existing clients. I look at vitals and check that systems are working properly ... see whats going to happen down the road. Using HAMPs checklists, Rye helps clients prioritize projects, schedul-ing, and costs. He is able to bundle and schedule projects at his own pace.

Like Rye, Billy Webb, owner of Dandy Handymen Remodeling, a full-service company in Roanoke, Va., contacted ex-isting clients. He also has approached in-surance agents, several of whom include his brochure in their mailings. Realtors are another good connection. Webb cre-ates a quarterly maintenance program with clients and plans to hire a full-time person just for HAMP projects.

PAY IT FORWARDRelationship-based selling is not new, and most remodelers do small jobs for existing clients, but HAMP (about a $600 investment) formalizes the activity and includes consulting. HAMP o ers

a series of questions, lays out the various meetings, and gives a speci c plan for those meetings, says Paul Sanneman, founder of Dream Business Coaching, who helped Lupberger develop HAMP. (It doesnt cover energy audits, but users are encouraged to partner with auditors.)

All the information goes into a Home Asset Notebook. Lupberg-er envisions remodelers having 50 of these books on their shelves, represent-ing a half-million dollars worth of work each year. And when a client sells the home, the information can be passed to the new owner. Stacey Freed

Consult Then Construct Stop playing the waiting game

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sueeertiee, and the livin is easy.So the song says, but your sta and crew work hard year-round and nows the ideal time to treat them to a little sum-mer fun that wont break the bank.

While many companies celebrate summer with an altered workweek every other Friday afternoon o or some variation thereof that wont work for your eld crew. Can you picture your clients in the midst of their half- nished remodel scratching their heads as your workers leave for the weekend around lunchtime? It wouldnt inspire con dence or referrals.

Michael Anschel, principal at Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build, in Minneapolis, and a frequent Reerdeoinl blogger, has never thought of employee perks as seasonal. He gives employees a day o on their birthday with just one rule: they must re-lax or have fun. I guess one of the perks at our company is unlimited unpaid time o , he says. In other words, its OK to call in healthy because the sun is out and you want to go kayaking or biking.

Chicago areas Normandy Builders takes the fun into its parking lot for a series of lot lunches where the manag-ers grill a variety of meats for the sta .

Like many companies, Normandy also holds its company picnic in the summer with the added incentives of games and contests with prizes, food, as well as pony rides, face painters, bouncy houses, and the juiciest summertime perk of all, a watermelon-eating contest.

The boys of summer are a favorite at Baugher Design & Remodel, in Birming-ham, Ala. They all go to a Birmingham Barons baseball game, and if its

25 cent hot dog night, all the better! CEO Rob Baugher says that his favorite perk has been a guys-only night out at the local cineplex. Every Thursday we watch a movie that our wives would not care about seeing, Baugher explains, adding that

he and the guys eat all the junk food they want without anybody telling them to watch their weight. Male bonding at its best! he enthuses. Since everyone gets home in time to take out the gar-bage, walk the dog, or run errands, their wives dont care. This might be saving my marriage! he adds.

Cincinnatibased Meyer Brothers & Sons once purchased a cow and divvied up the pieces among the sta , creating a new way to have a beef with your boss! Mark A. Newman

Fun in the SunWarm weather means summertime fun for your sta

Past Imperfect

WHETHER ITS AN employee embez-zling from your company or a salesman smelling like an open bottle of whiskey, a company that doesnt pre-screen employees does so at its own peril.

Unfortunately, in the construction industry, people move around a lot. Its just good business to really know who youre hiring, says Richard Feeley, president of Feeley Mediation & Business Law, in Marietta, Ga., and a REMODELING contributor. You could be interviewing someone you think is the cats meow but two years ago in another state they got into some serious trouble.

There are a number of online com-panies that can do basic background

checks, but Feeley recommends contracting with a professional firm that knows exactly what to look for. Feeley also cautions against ignoring any red flags that could show up in an

employees past because the only thing worse than not finding a past indiscre-tion when one exists is finding one and ignoring it.

John Aurgemma, co-president of Rhode Island Home Improvement, in Warwick, R.I., says that his company does its vetting in-house. What gets on the ap-plications are those employers the candi-dates are happy with, he explains. What they leave o is the most damaging.

Feeley says that a firm specializing in such investigations can usually do the job for between $50 and $100 per candidate, and online sources cost even less but are probably less thorough. Aurgemma adds, You do the best job you can and you hope and pray that what you see is what you get. Mark A. Newman

Other year-round perks training/classes/certi cations

mileage pro t sharing cell-phone plans tools/tool allowance

$50 to$100

cost per candidate for a background check

Background checks protect you and your company

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eagh of the folr eld crew at Mack & Sons Services , in Wellington, Ohio, has a trade specialty. But crew members are called on to use a variety of skills for the companys remodeling projects, and Mack & Sons cant a ord

to pay them a high trade rate for every hour they work. So, vice president Josh Mack says, they are paid the trade rate when they are applying their specific skills and a lower base rate for the other work they com-

plete. If the electrician is sweeping or helping to hold cabinets, he gets the base rate. If hes doing electrical, he gets the trade rate, Mack explains.

Mack has found that the trade rate

often gives crew mem-bers more motivation to sell home owners addi-tional work that requires their skill. Theyre the ones in peoples homes, he says. Theyre more suited to be the salesper-son than anybody else.

The crew use a daily planner to track trade hours, providing Mack with their total trade hours each month. Mack might cross-reference these totals with job budgets, but he primarily relies on the honor system. The additional (skilled) rate is paid out as a monthly bonus.

Each employee has a di erent trade rate, which is based on their particular skill and level of experi-ence. Mack says he tells the crew, If

you want more money, you need to take on more responsibility. To that end, he puts one of his eld crew in charge of each project, alternating them so that each learns to work with the others. He also likes that he has sta with a range of skills and who vary in age, so he can pair them up to nd the best combina-tion for each job and they can learn from one another. Nina Patel

Bill by Skill Paying field crews a higher rate for the hours when they use specialty skills

Our superinten-dent, Jim Yingling, wanted to test the usefulness of a lap-top on the jobsite, so we invested $300 in a comput-

er. During the nine months that he has been using the computer, it has improved communication and increased ef_f iciency among all parties involved in a remodel.

Architects: Most architects are better about getting back to you by e-mail than by phone some respond almost immedi-ately. We send them photos of jobsite details with questions, and they can respond with a PDF of the drawing.

Clients: Clients are more

tech savvy than ever before and expect quick responses to questions. Jim exchanges e-mail with clients, usually to follow up on something we discussed at a weekly meeting selections, change order pricing, delivery status, or allowances.

Some clients are very visual and prefer photos, details, or both. Jim copies me and Mark IV president Mark Scott on the e-mails. This helps me stay in the loop without being actively involved and creates a record of communications. I e-mail clients, but for problems I call them so that I can hear their tone of voice to judge their response.

Office: Though we do not provide wireless access for the

laptop, most clients allow Jim to use their wireless/wired systems through a temporary password. He fills out digital forms on the laptop, including daily logs, site notes, and change orders. During our biweekly superintendent meetings, I download information from Jims laptop to the of_f ice

computer, which gives me a chance to review the job without doing a site visit. The digital forms allow us to quickly create a stor-age disc at the end of the job.

Suppliers: Most salespeople send us invoices/orders/esti-mates by e-mail. Jim also tracks orders and downloads product specification sheets from manu-facturer websites.

Though I was initially concerned about personal use of the laptop on the jobsite and our superintendent being overwhelmed with information, the reality is that the benefits far outweigh the concerns. Andy Hannan is production man-ager of Mark IV Builders, in Bethesda, Md.

Laptop Bene ts

ANDY HANNAN

Trial e ort shows laptops can aid communication on the job

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Communicating electronically lets other sta stay in the loop without being

actively involved

This system is especially helpful

during winter down-time when cash ow is lower and the team might be doing shop

maintenance or cleaning trucks

Overall value recouped sank to its lowest level this decade, but the struggling remodeling market is poised to bounce off the bottom

THE INDUSTRY SOURCE remodelingmag.com November 2010

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE REMODELING SHOW

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GablesThe front door opens into a dra-matic great room (about 1,000 square feet, open plan, broken into zones) at the center of the home. The remodel enlarged the entrance, adding gables with clerestory windows and skylights to admit abundant natural light to the interior, while the gables reinforce the symmetry of the facade on the exterior.

Doors/windowsA local door shop in Davis cus-tom built the solid wood front door, which is framed in black and features custom glass. The xed gable and clerestory windows are custom to t the space; other windows are standard sizes (all Pella Corp.). Windows are wood interior (stock pine) with a custom stain to match the cherry cabinets inside the home.

StuccoA common exterior nish in Cal-ifornia, stucco helps create the clean lines and the monolithic look that de nes this project, en-hancing the continuity between house and yard. The remodeler worked closely with the stucco contractor creating samples to get the nish just right a very ne hand- nished texture that appears almost like plaster. For depth, the painter applied two shades of paint: a regular coat, then a second coat that was sponged on by a specialist.

See more proj-ect photos at http://go.hw.net/r-projects

FlooringThe colors in the natural African slate beautifully complement the homes color palette, so the slate is used extensively: in the front yard and backyard, and inside the entryway, where it helps to de ne the entry area in the open-plan great room.

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errse reerdeoinl & gustre hrees, in Davis, Calif., and a team of designers and subcontractors joined forces to transform this house from a 1960s ranch to what com-pany owner Marty Morse says was dubbed California contemporary with Asian in uences.

The customers request for a great room with high ceil-ings to replace the original 8-foot ceilings, as well as ad-ditional windows and some seismic upgrades, meant that it was more cost-e ective to replace the existing structure with new walls and a new roof. Once the decision was made to add a center cathedral gable to the originally at roof, the team also added gables to either side of the home to maintain its symmetrical look.

Morse and architect Ron Vogel completed the layout and design. The details and nishes were a collaborative e ort between Morses company, the owners niece who is also a designer and a team of subcontractors.

The stucco exterior nish, cement tile roof, and slate ooring enhance the simple, clean lines of the house. To help make these design decisions, the remodeling company created a speci cation board to show how the materials would look together.

Morse says that, as with most ranch remodels, these homeowners wanted a more open feel for how they live today, with a great room and a kitchen at the heart of the home. And this remodel delivers. Nina Patel

Ranch DressingGables elevate the facade of this 1960s ranch and bring natural light to the interior

Roo ngThe homeowners wanted a low-maintenance exterior, so remodeler Marty Morse chose durable cement tile (from Monier) for the roof because it holds up well in the Californian heat and rain. The low-pro le product maintains the clean lines of the homes exterior. The tiles grayish color has some tex-ture, which adds interest. I cant imagine any other roof on top of this house, Morse says.

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IN THE SEATTLE home that builder Paul Vassallo and his wife, Jeremy, bought, the base-ment had potential as a great space for their three active

boys. Paul has decades of building experi-ence, so he could view the space poorly placed columns, exposed joists, dingy paint and see what was possible. Understand-ing what can actually be built is especially critical in a basement remodel, which often requires structural alterations and modifica-tions to plumbing, wiring, and ductwork. These were just the sort of changes the Vas-sallos employed, along with clever built-in cabinetry. Adapted with permission from Not So Big Remodeling by Sarah Susanka, published by The Taunton Press (2009).

Open UpRealizing a basements potential

Touch BaseInteractive whiteboard makes design hands-on for clients

when annette and Larry Parrish, co-owners of Parrish Construction, in Boul-der, Colo., saw a SMART Board interac-tive whiteboard at a trade show eight

years ago, they knew they had found a new tool for helping clients understand and visualize project design. You can put up blueprints and take a pen or your ngers and write on it. You can redo your drawings, Annette says.

PAPER TRAILAn interactive whiteboard made by companies such as SMART, Promethe-an, and PolyVision lets you interact with your computer on a whiteboard surface so you can erase, write-on, make changes all of which can be saved. Your computers image is displayed on the whiteboards touch-sensitive surface ... which allows users

to touch the board with a nger or stylus similar to that of a touchpad on a laptop or handheld digital device, says Je rey Thompson, a SMART Certi ed Master Trainer and Promethean dealer at AV Solutions based in Rochester, N.Y.

VIRTUAL SHOWROOMThe Parrishes use their whiteboard not only for design but as a virtual show-room, for sta meetings, budget and training meetings, and seminars.

Because its connected to a com-puter, any software you have works on the board. And when its time for some sta bonding, Annette says, they show movies. Stacey Freed

Remove a column, and you have to beef up the beam it supported. Here C-shaped steel channels were bolted to either side of the wood beam. The entire assembly was then trimmed out in wood. Supply air ducts were placed between the joists.

SMART is one of several companies that make interac-tive boards, which range in price from about $1,200 to $10,000 depending on projector choice and board size.

With the columns gone, the existing beam (now reinforced with steel channels and trimmed out with wood) is about as unobtrusive as it can be.

An existing concrete lip has become a narrow display shelf and a natural stopping point for the wainscot paneling.

The valance above the new built-in cabinets hides duct-work and establishes a trim line that continues around the room. The depth of the valance matches the depth of the ceiling beam.

Support Hardwood oorSub oor

Existing joist

Steel C-channel

Bolt

Wood trim conceals beam and C-channels

Existing solid wood beam

Joist Drywall nished ceiling

Supply duct installed between joists

Wood Out of Water Dick Kawaleks solutions for Keeping the Wood Out of the Water, page 48, in the April issue, got readers talking. See readers comments at http://go.hw.net/r-projects.

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Remodeling.june 2011

Documents

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