Blog Archives




 

  • Awards Season Brings Excitement
    By Laurie Banyay - Monday June 4, 2012
    As much as I dislike watching sports, with the exception of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I cannot wait for the Olympics to start next month. Maybe it’s because every time I turn on the TV there’s a different sport to watch, or maybe it’s because it’s one of the few world events that brings almost every major country together in good sportsmanship. But I think most of it is because once every two years, we have the opportunity to watch the best of the best compete. There’s something exhilarating about watching these world-class athletes who have spent their whole lives training for Olympic glory go for the gold. The determination, talent and raw emotion on display is inspiring. Seeing the best go head-to-head is thrilling, which is...

  • Lessons from the EcoSmart House
    - Friday June 1, 2012

  • What kind of boss are you?
    By Maureen Alley - Friday June 1, 2012
    Do you know if you're a good or bad boss? Earlier this week, AOL posted an article about the seven characteristics of bad bosses . It's an interesting list and I've experienced bosses who've done all of them. I agree with the article that if you change your approach, your management style and leadership will approve.  Oftentimes problems come from lack of communication or poor use of it. That's proven in this list as many of the characteristics involve communication. I especially love number seven: Hinting, rather than speaking straightforwardly. Hey boss, be direct. Everyone will have a better understanding of what you want and how you want it done if you're clear and concise. As someone who grew up in D.C., I love people who are...

  • Successful Project Management
    By Mark Gandy - Monday May 28, 2012
    So you’ve closed a $50,000.00 kitchen remodel. All of your materials are ordered and delivery dates confirmed. So far, you have a happy customer whom is probably very anxious about the coming remodel of their home. What is the next step in order for you to keep that happy client, add to your reference list and generate repeat and referral business? The answer is successful project management. Remodeling is an invasive procedure that creates anxiety for clients. It is a process that disrupts their daily lives and routines. As project managers, we can alleviate much of this anxiety up front by being honest about the intrusive process we are about to begin. I have told more than one client before ever closing a sale that any contractor who...

  • My refinancing revelations
    By Rob Heselbarth - Thursday May 24, 2012
    It’s a rare day that something truly shocking happens. Last month, I was shocked. My wife and I are going through the process of refinancing our mortgage, and one day in May we received a call from the bank with the results of our appraisal. I wish we missed that call. We expected a low number, but not this low. Zillow.com is way, way off the mark. Not even close, really. Equally as significant as the low home value was the number of foreclosed or distressed homes in my neighborhood. I’ve known that Illinois has had one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country, but when reality hits so close to home, like I said, it’s shocking. Aside from realizing how depressed my local housing market is, another realization was how the...

  • Tips for Hiring as the Remodeling Industry Recovers
    By Jeff Kaliner - Monday May 21, 2012
    Just a few weeks ago, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released a promising outlook for the home remodeling industry, with the prediction that it would be on the upswing by the end of 2012.  With more and more homeowners looking to remodel, now is a good time for remodeling professionals to consider evaluating their current hiring strategies to ensure they are prepared for what will hopefully be a year of growth and increased sales. For a company like ours, the nation’s fourth largest home remodeling company, offering energy efficient exterior home remodeling solutions, including replacement windows , siding, roofing, entry doors and home insulation, recruitment is a constant priority across a wide variety of departments...

  • Are you LinkedIn and linked up?
    By Bonnie Pickartz - Thursday May 17, 2012
    Social media can be a bit overwhelming. You're working hard to stay afloat. You've reinvented your business by adding new products and services. You spend more time working on proposals, beating the bushes to keep work in the pipeline, and trying to do more with less staff. And now you hear that you should be more active in social media. Well, you're hearing it right. And while you're using your social media outlets to make yourself more available, to let people know that you are open for business and to establish your authority in your field, you can easily miss yet another advantage social media offers. Social media can be an educational resource. Use it! Recently a client asked about the pros and cons of different window materials...

  • Why I'm Finally Remodeling My Home
    By Christina Koch - Monday May 14, 2012
    A remodeler once told me people who recently purchased a home and those who have lived in their homes for four years are the most inclined to remodel. Well, I hit the four-year point of owning my condo one year ago. And coincidentally I have been seriously considering doing some updates to my unit for the past year. In honor of National Remodeling Month, I’m finally pulling the trigger on the work I’ve been meaning to have done to make my home more functional and comfortable. The No. 1 item on my list is my master bedroom reach-in closet. It is 7-feet wide but the 4-foot opening is located on one side of the closet, so there is about 3 feet of space that is very difficult for me to reach. I end up rotating through the outfits in the...

  • Top 5 Outdoor Living Design Elements to Make Your Garden Extraordinary
    By Kathy Richardson - Wednesday May 9, 2012
    Taking an ordinary garden to extraordinary is rooted in the details. Here is a list of five design elements to consider when creating your own unique outdoor space to help you weed through the many options. Natives. What if you could have beautiful plants, ideally suited for your planting region that require little to no maintenance at all? You can. It is called nativescaping. Native plants are evolved to grow in your region’s weather conditions, which means that once they are established they don’t need watering and require very little maintenance. Many native plants tend to be larger and not as showy as their ornamental cultivars but they are tough, long lasting and can be used in all types of gardens. A sprinkling of natives...

  • Show Your Work. Be Complete
    By Kenneth W. Betz - Monday May 7, 2012
    A while back, I recalled the importance of writing your name at the top or your paper   just like your second-grade teacher always nagged. My thought was, on your website and for that matter all of your communications, you should first of all make clear who you are and what point you’re trying to make. Don’t force your audience figure it out – because they may get instantly cranky and tune your message out. You really can’t blame them. Along the same lines, I lately recalled another instruction from the past: Show your work. Be complete. I wondered if educators still said that. An Internet search revealed some of them indeed do. I found the following at the Math Worksheet Center [with my annotations for remodelers in...

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