Houzz.com is the latest social-networking site making a splash in the home remodeling/design industry. The site has the necessary components—interactivity, photos, profiles, tagging, sharing, categories and informative articles.

February 24, 2014 | 8 comments

In hiring, the first test is the initial conversation you have with the candidate on the phone—before asking them to come in for a face-to-face interview. This step is very important and should not be ignored. Although you don’t have to handle this yourself, it is critical that someone in your office does an initial phone screening of each candidate prior to setting up an interview. Although the candidate may have a lot of questions for you, it’s much more important for you or your designee to get information from them.

February 21, 2014 | 1 comments

An e-mail changed Glenn Zagon’s life. It was an ad from a broker about a Chicago-area business for sale that a friend had forwarded to him.  In 2012, Zagon was evaluating his next move. An architect, he had recently closed his project management company. Before that, he had been in the construction industry and had also once owned a gluten-free bakery.

In 2009, Kerry O’Brien, owner of T.F. O’Brien and Company Inc, a heating ventilation and air conditioning provider in New Hyde Park, N.Y., was approached by an AC manufacturer to partner and expand both companies’ marketing efforts. That manufacturer was interested in helping the HVAC services provider take a whole new approach to marketing their company.

February 14, 2014 | 4 comments

NARI, as part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), today requested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) withdraw its proposed rule to drastically lower the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of crystalline silica for the construction industry.

February 11, 2014 | 1 comments

Remodeling projects can be stressful undertakings for homeowners.  “It’s hard for homeowners to grasp what’s next,” says Mina Fies, president and CEO of Synergy Design and Construction in Reston, Va. “There are so many moving parts and pieces, they have so many questions, and they don’t know where to start. They get so overwhelmed that a lot of times they don’t even do a renovation or they white knuckle it the whole time.”

I got interested in remodeling by renovating properties for myself about 20 years ago in Denver -basically because I couldn’t find a home that I could afford to own. I had studied art and education in college, and started my career working in a large engineering firm working on environmental and infrastructure projects. I also worked as a project manager for a full-service architecture and graphics firm specializing in commercial building.

February 03, 2014 | 1 comments