PR January 2007

One of the best ways to learn is at a time of adversity. It's unpleasant to go through short-term adversity and it is definitely unpleasant when it's long-term. The old saying "No pain, no gain" is often referred to with sports, but it applies to business men and women in the remodeling industry as well.

Welcome to the new and improved Professional Remodeler. As I write this, it's three days before Christmas. By the time this issue hits your desk, all the holiday hubbub will be over, New Year's resolutions will have been pledged and the books will be officially closed on 2006. It's a great time for a fresh start, both for your business and for our staff at Professional Remodeler.

Mold damage can be costly, but you'll have nothing to fear if you control moisture. Mold problems — and solutions — are rooted in the design, construction and operation of buildings. Applying several easy building practices and technologies, can keep your remodels mold-free. A new publication from the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, "Moisture-Resistant H...

The eight remodeling companies featured here were selected not because they have found a different way to do business. Whether it's a focus on green construction, an imaginative Web site or a dedication to quality and customer satisfaction, they've all found key business practices that have helped.

When Byrd Development principal Richard Byrd — whose company currently does almost 100 percent of its projects as spec work — saw this 1980s harbor home, he knew it had the potential to retain its architecture without being both unapproachable and passé. "The home had great bones, but it stuck out like a sore thumb in its neighborhood," he says.

New Products Klein Tools The Insulated Nut Driver kits manufactured by Klein Tools feature 3-, 4- and 6-inch hollow shafts. The tools are for…

Sometimes remodeling projects come about because a family needs more room. Other times because a homeowner wants a new look. But in the case of remodeler Michael Pollard's home, it all started because of a driveway dispute with his neighbor. While Pollard and his wife were away from home, his new neighbor tore up timbers that ran along the driveway, stacking them on the edge and blocking entran...

Here we are at the beginning of 2007. All is possible at this time of year because we're leaving the past behind. Working in the remodeling industry is certainly a good way to learn about new beginnings. Change has been one of the few things we can count on! As a high school student working summers starting in 1965 with a builder on Long Island, N.

Though the homeowners had high hopes for the remodel of the lower level of their home, their project had been in limbo for some time given discord with their neighborhood association, which did not approve a previously designed addition that drastically enlarged the home's footprint. So when the homeowner brought Wright Street Design Group of Ann Arbor, Mich.

Most remodeling clients come out of the process unhappy about something. Three years ago, Stebnitz Builders in Delavan, Wis., decided to see what they could do about that. The company sent a survey to past clients and potential clients who hadn’t hired Stebnitz to see what they liked about their projects, what they didn’t like and what could be improved.