A remodeling company that takes care of its customers after the job is done is sure to get great referrals. That's why Classic Remodeling & Construction of Charleston, S.C., uses its handyman service to generate goodwill. The service is normally billed out at a rate of $80 to $100 per hour, but the company will sometimes drop the hourly rate for past clients, and in some cases it will do work for free. More
Home building and remodeling are currently enjoying a boom in Charleston, S.C., and The Muhler Co., headquartered there, is well positioned to cash in on it. The company, which generates a quarter of its sales from residential window installation and the remainder from commercial glass and home building, operates two 5,000-square-foot showrooms, one in Charleston and the other in Myrtle Beach, S.C. More
Tom Henderson was midway through his deck presentation when the prospect, in her early 50s, keeled over. He phoned 911. Baltimore paramedics arrived and revived the lady, who, it turned out, had had a minor stroke. More
As part of some of his vanity designs, Charleston, S.C., remodeler Bob Fleming includes a much appreciated feature: a hairdryer drawer. The drawer has an outlet in the back, so homeowners can use the dryer and tuck it away in a drawer ó all without unplugging it. More
Remodelers Bob and Sue Fleming of Classic Remodeling & Construction, Charleston, S.C., give a company "branded" box containing three bottles of wine (from Sue's cousin's winery) to clients whose jobs they just completed. More
The Eubanks wanted a brighter room, a new kitchen, and a living space that flowed well. Fleming immediately saw all of that fitting into an addition to the back of the living room -- one that measured just 155 square feet. More
In this historic 1860s house, as with many historic houses in Charleston, the only place to fit a powder room was under the stairs. More
For the past year and a half, crews at Classic Construction and Remodeling in Charleston, S.C., have been filling out a job log every day. "So if I called the electrical sub," says production manager Marty Kersey, "there would be a note in there on what we talked about." Because it records times and dates of work, Kersey says on more than one occasion he has "pulled it up and written a forceful letter" to subcontractors, "with that as documentation." More
