Carolyn Weber

Carolyn Weber's Posts

• Industry Responds to 9-11

  by Carolyn Weber

  Part of the overwhelming charitable response to the September 11 attacks came from organized efforts by remodeling industry groups. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry created the NARI Relief Effort, which, in addition to raising thousands of dollars for victim relief funds from its 52 chapters, organized members near New York to help more directly by volunteering their products and services at Ground Zero. "Remodeling contractors are doers," says NARI member Doug Dervin of Double D Contractors in West Hempstead, N.Y., who helped organize a volunteer effort to complete two on-site projects in the Bronx and Staten Island for the New York Police Department.

• Build Green

  by Carolyn Weber

  The NAHB Research Center's Fourth Annual Green Building Conference is scheduled for March 24-26 in Seattle. "I have a high regard for this kind of event," says Kate O'Brien of O'Brien and Company, a consulting firm specializing in green building issues. "The bar is going up," says O'Brien, referring to rising standards for green building programs across the nation.

• Hardie Settles Suit

  by Carolyn Weber

  James Hardie Building Products settled a class action lawsuit stemming from the premature delamination of roof shakes it sold between 1989 and 2001, the Mission Viejo, Calif., company announced last November. The products were sold under the names Hardieshake, Hardieslate, and Hardieshingle, and according to James Hardie's marketing manager John Dybsky, they "represented a very small portion of our overall domestic business and [were] marketed only in select states." "In all of our roofing markets, we have only seen a very small percentage of homeowners who have experienced problems," James Hardie president Louis Gries stated.

• HUD Grant Boosts Lead Abatement Demand

  by Carolyn Weber

  The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced distribution of more than $67 million in grants to local lead safety programs across the country last October. According to a HUD press release, $59 million of the grant money will be used "to remove lead hazards from approximately 7,000 privately owned homes in 16 states." "We're always looking for good contractors," says Tina Koumoutsos, housing program coordinator for the City of Springfield (Ohio).