While some use small jobs as a gateway to larger projects, many remodeling companies continue to focus solely on smaller jobs, and still others maintain separate small-job divisions to keep from turning over these jobs - and profits - to other remodelers or handymen. More
Rotten framing and other unexpected discoveries behind old walls can derail schedules, add to time-and-materials costs, and cause some homeowners to question your credibility. Short of X-ray vision, your best defense against these finds is a digital camera. More
What compels carpenters to go into business for themselves? A wide range of motivations, from the fulfillment of a lifelong goal, to the seemingly obvious route to better money and greater control of their time and craftsmanship. What keeps most of them from achieving anything near their vision of success? Often, themselves. The same qualities that help residential remodeling carpenters excel at their craft often get in the way of their business goals. Anecdotally, carpenter-CEOs are less likely than their non-craftsperson peers to charge enough money, to focus sufficiently on their business systems, or to reach out for the help they'll inevitably need. More
To avoid being fooled into misidentifying the source of cost overruns, Jud Motsenbocker of JUD Construction in Muncie, Ind., makes the following recommendations: Compare hours estimated to hours spent. Summary reports usually provide enough information, but sometimes they can be misleading. More
