Making the Markup Move
Are you charging what your work is worth? Seven veteran builders tell how they learned to stop undercharging and get serious about turning a profit. Read more
Repairing a Bulging Foundation
A veteran contractor shares his method of repairing damaged foundations with tension rods and concrete deadmen. Read more
Top-Down Roofing
Installing shingles in 4- to 7-foot lifts from the ridge down reduces granule loss and makes the job go faster. Read more
Clever Storage for Kitchen and Bath
Rethinking standard cabinet configurations allows you to make use of space that would otherwise go to waste. The owner of a high-end remodeling company provides several examples. Read more
Fixing the Holes Where the Air Gets In
Reducing air leakage boosts thermal performance, reduces drafts, and keeps this GC's customers comfortable. Read more
In the News
New ventilation standard, economics of OSB prices, ICFs resist test blasts, after the California fires, green building products Read more
Q. We're new home builders and use a lot of newly milled kiln-dried eastern white pine exterior trim. We paint it in batches, spraying both sides with a good-quality oil-based primer, then following with two topcoats of 100% acrylic. To cut down drying time, we'd like to switch to an acrylic primer, but most painting contractors we talk to swear by an oil-based primer for pine because it penetrates better. Is there an acrylic primer that would give good performance? Read more
Q. Why are LVLs sized differently than framing lumber? I can understand the 13/4-inch-thickness dimension, because two laminations make up a matching header for a 2x4 wall, but why are they 91/2 inches deep instead of 91/4? Read more
Q. Which home heating fuel is usually cheaper, oil or propane? Read more
If I were to ask ten contractors how they calculate and apply overhead (indirect expense) to their estimates or time-and-material work, I would get ten different answers. If I were to press further as to how they arrived at their numbers, most of their methods would turn out to be arbitrary or have some element of guessing. Read more
If you're like most business owners, you already have more than enough paperwork to do. Why should you spend valuable time writing an employee manual? Read more
Computers
Document Management With ACT!
You might think of ACT! as a contact manager or a task scheduler — and it does both of those things as well as or better than any other CRM (customer relations management) package on the market. But in construction, you can't manage customers without managing tons of documents and correspondence, too. Read more
Tile; water filters; recycling centers Read more
