It's not always easy for brothers to agree, nor is it for co-owners of a remodeling company. The two, separated in age by 10 years, have agreed often enough on the right decisions to shape Callen Construction (Big50 2000) into a thriving $5.4 million company. More
Larson used Excel to create an electronic message board on the company's 10 networked computers. Larson says the Task List helps reduce clutter, but more important, it improves staff communication. More
New from W.W. Norton's Architecture Books series, Stone Sampler is a comprehensive guide to 576 varieties of stone, including onyx, marble, limestone, travertine, and quartzite. Small and portable, the full-color book lists for each sample availability and quarrying location as well as technical properties like thermal expansion, water absorption, and tensile strength. More
Thanks to companies like Maine Window and Sunroom, remodelers may finally be ready to shed their Luddite image: Even installers won't find work at the company without Internet access. And since dropping newspaper ads, the company has realized "astronomical cost savings," Levangelo says. More
Selection Master, a recently developed Web-based application, is designed to organize, track, and share product information. Essentially an online file cabinet, Selection Master provides a central location for storing all the loose bits of information about the products you're installing on a project. More
Ever wiser about modern design trends, homeowners often want to add bright, open space to their homes. Rather than enclosing this bedroom suite's dressing room with a wall and single doorway, Jacksonville, Fla., remodelers Kendale Inc. partitioned the space with a custom built-in headboard. More
EBay, the San Francisco-based online auction house, isn't just for stereos and rare collectibles anymore. Laser levels, heavy equipment like skid loaders and backhoes, and hand tools like pipe threaders, saws, and hammer drills are among the best selling items, says construction category manager Ben Hanna. More
Not content simply to refurbish, the owner of this 1928 Craftsman-style house wanted to build, from its shell, a classic bungalow. Architect Michael Klement and contractor Bruce Curtis didn't disappoint, creating what one judge called "a total environment" that embodies authentic period style in every detail. More
The centerpiece of its designers' stunningly unadorned modernist kitchen, this stainless steel sink and cantilevered aluminum counter system is as simply effective as it is stark. Engineered with sleight of hand by Gregory Rubbo and Rauzia Ally, the system's only structural element is the sink itself: 3/8-inch bolts, passing through a 1/2-inch steel plate hidden behind the wall, anchor the sink to studs; the counter is then cantilevered from the wall as it passes through the sink's two 20-by-20-inch basins. More
Marked by an obsession with grids, architect-homeowner Barry Sugerman's design aesthetic dominates every room. After stripping the drywall, Sugerman removed every second joist and doubled those remaining, then redrywalled the joists to produce both another grid and a seemingly higher ceiling. More
