Find a Local Remodeler

Advantage Services Construction Inc.
www.advantageremodel.com

Cascade Restoration & Remodeling
www.CascadeRestoration.com

COOPER Designbuilders, Inc.
www.cooperdesignbuilders.com

JDL Development Inc.
www.jdldev.com

Nick Milo Design Construction, Inc.
www.nickmilodesign.com

Local Company Begins Passive House Remodel in SE Portland

HBA member Meritage Construction Inc. is set to begin one of the first Certified Passive House ™ remodel projects in Oregon.

They will be remodeling a 2,100 sq. ft. SE Portland home according to super energy-efficient building standards, and once it’s complete, the family will no longer need their gas furnace or fireplace, relying only on “internal” heat gains, small electric bathroom heaters, and a small amount of hydronic heating from their existing high-efficiency natural gas water heater.

Meritage Construction will use Passive House techniques to create a super-insulated, yet well-ventilated home that loses extremely little heat compared to conventional buildings. The approach reduces energy demand for heating to about 10% -30% of heat required by typical home.

Find out more in this article from the Oregonian.

Make a Small Kitchen Look Larger

Tips from Better Homes and Garden/bhg.com…

Paint It White  White is your best friend in a small kitchen. It reflects the light, which enhances the sense of space and makes the walls seem to recede.

Use a Low-Contrast Color Scheme  When there’s little difference between the colors of the wall, the countertop, the cabinetry, and the woodwork, your eye glides over the surfaces looking for a place to rest, and that movement tricks your mind into thinking the space is larger than it really is.

Welcome the Light  Lots of natural light enlarges any space. You may have no choice about the number and placement of windows in your kitchen, but maximize the light you do have by keeping window treatments minimal.

Eliminate Clutter  Countertops crowded with cookware and cabinets crowned by collectibles swamp a small kitchen and cramp your work space. To enlarge the room visually, clear off the counters, the windowsill, and the cabinet tops, and stash as much as you can behind closed doors.

2009 Green List

Whirlpool Corporation has been named to the Newsweek Green Rankings, a list of the 500 greenest big companies in America. Whirlpool ranked 78th on the list.

“We are honored to be included in the Newsweek Green Rankings,” said Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation’s chairman and CEO. “Recognition like this is only possible because of the people at Whirlpool who make our long-term commitment to sustainability a reality.”

Nearly 40 years ago, Whirlpool established a corporate office for environmental control and, in 2003, Whirlpool became the world’s first appliance manufacturer to announce a global greenhouse gas reduction target. Recently, the company announced that by 2015, it will make all the electronically controlled appliances it produces — everywhere in the world — capable of receiving and responding to signals from smart grids.

The Newsweek Green Rankings are the first objective ‘green’ analysis of America’s 500 largest companies. Companies comprising the Newsweek Green Rankings were selected from among the 500 largest U.S. companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees.

The rankings are a product of a year-long collaboration between CorporateRegister.com, Newsweek, and environmental research firms KLD Research & Analytics and Trucost. For more information about the 2009 Newsweek Green Rankings, visit www.newsweek.com/green.

Always, Always, Always Check References

Watch this video and don’t let this happen to you…Cabinet remodeling turns into costly ordeal.

Remember:
Actions to take when hiring a contractor
Who is the CCB and what do they do?
Why check a contractors license?

This Old House Pumpkin Carving Contest

From Marthastewart.com

I love fall! I love Halloween! And I love Pumpkin Carving!  Imagine my delight when I ran by the grocery store this morning and they had a beautiful display of pumpkins in front of the store.

I’m getting my entry ready for the This Old House 2nd annual pumpkin carving contest.  Go to youroldhouse.thisoldhouse.com/pumpkincarving to enter as many carvings as you’d like. The contest isn’t limited to new carvings, so go on and give an old masterpiece a shot at glory. There are, of course, faaaaaabulous prizes up for grabs, PLUS winners will be featured in a thisoldhouse.com Halloween day photo gallery.

Designer Tips

Viewing carpet samples: When shopping for carpet, make sure you look at it on the floor. In the store, it’s convenient to have samples at waist height, but you need to see how it will look when installed. To truly visualize how your carpet will look, always view samples on the floor.

Best Carpet Choice for Families: If you have children and pets, patterned carpet may be your best choice, because the pattern helps hide spills and stains.

Carpet makes the room: It is often said that carpet “makes the room”. After all, carpet can account for 50% of the visual impact of a room. Carpet can be a neutral backdrop for your furnishings, or it can anchor the room and reinforce your color statement. Either way, you cannot ignore it. Old, shabby carpet will bring the rest of the room down. If you’ve got to cut the budget, scrimp on the ceiling!”

Tell Us Your Best Toilet Story

American Standard is sponsoring a unique contest, the “Tell Us Your Best Toilet Story” contest, with submissions being accepted on Facebook.

Whose idea was this contest?

“I guess that would be me,” Ms. Nora DePalma,  a publicist for American Standardsaid. “All of us who have worked in plumbing, people tell us these stories. It’s like being a doctor at a cocktail party and everyone tells you about their aches.”

The grand prize of a Champion 4 toilet, complete with installation and the Champion 4 Slow Close toilet seat will be awarded to the story that receives the highest number of “thumbs up” from readers. Four additional top vote getters will be awarded a free Champion(R) 4 toilet with Champion 4 Slow Close toilet seat.

“The most common toilet stories we hear are about cats and toilets,” Ms. DePalma said. “They leap up to greet their owners, and don’t realize the seat is up, and fall in. Then there are all kinds of embarrassing dating stories.”

Most of them are not, as she tells them, for the fainthearted. But press on: what else does she have?

There’s also an entry from a father who took his child into a hardware store and permitted him to wander off, Ms. DePalma said, during which time the child used one of the display toilets.

What did the father do?

“He took his son’s hand and left the store immediately.” (Yucko)

Apples to Oranges: Comparing Remodel Bids

From Remodel Crazy, written by Mike Frost a remodeler from Virgina.

Every homeowner gets lured by the guy whose price is so much lower than everyone else. They can’t believe their good fortune in finding someone who is willing to give them top-shelf work at bargain-basement prices. The pitch sounds really great, the references check out, and he can start tomorrow. All the other guys who gave a proposal are just trying to rip you off, take long vacations at your expense, and besides, you think every contractor does the same quality work and has the same costs so it is your duty to find the lowest priced one out there. Right?

Why do you think that contractor pricing for a given project is all over the board? Do you honestly think that every contractor has the same project costs, overhead, and profit margins as every other contractor? Do you think that every contractor provides the same quality of service, has the same skills and experience, and uses the same quality materials? If you answer yes to the last two questions, ok, so let’s talk about that about land in Florida I have to sell.

Let’s say you want to remodel your kitchen and you call three contractors for proposals. After going over some details and specs with them, you receive the three bids. The first comes in the next day, one in a week, and one in ten days. Prices are $32K, $38K, and $40K. All seem to include all the features and promises discussed at the first meeting. $32K can start tomorrow, $38K can start in 4 weeks, and $40K can start in 3 weeks. So why such a disparity? The two at $38K and $40K must be looking to make more money at your expense so it seems that your best choice is the guy at $32K. Besides, the other two must be bigger companies since they have more work, will probably just squeeze you in, and therefore they charge more.

To price a job properly, a contractor has to factor in three things:

1.What all the costs are for the your job alone are
2.What the overhead costs are for the company
3.What the desired profit is for the company

The following is not a comprehensive explanation of pricing, it is not inclusive of every aspect of pricing and business operations, and it is only an example of one way of pricing a job. Some companies use a cost plus method, some, time and materials, and some use fixed cost. This is only meant to help a prospective homeowner understand why pricing is not the same for every contractor.

WHAT ALL THE COSTS ARE FOR YOUR JOB ALONE ARE. This includes costs for all the materials needed for the job including materials being installed on the job and consumables such as nails, caulks, putty, etc. All the labor costs for the job including total employee man hours on the jobsite, hours needed to procure materials and do set up and clean up, and sometimes hours traveling to and from the jobsite. Rental costs for job-specific tools and equipment such as heavy equipment, specialty tools, and disposal service. All subcontractor costs for work such as electrical, plumbing, gas, tile work, lead, mold, or asbestos removal and/or mitigation. All these are costs that are only incurred for a specific job and cease when the job is completed.

CONSIDER: Not every contractor will buy the exact same materials for the same job as the other two. Some purchase the least costly and sometimes the most inferior grades of materials. Some may not have any rental costs; some may have lower labor costs. One has in-house tradesmen, the others subcontract out those trades. Knowing this, you can see that each contractor will have a different cost total for this work.

WHAT THE OVERHEAD COSTS ARE FOR THE COMPANY. Every company has ongoing expenses that must be paid whether or not there are jobs going on. Rent or mortgage costs, utilities, insurance both liability and worker’s comp, medical, leasing costs for equipment and vehicles, management and staff salaries, advertising, taxes, and on and on and on. Even if a company does no work for a year, these costs must still be paid.

CONSIDER: No two, or three, companies have the same overhead costs. Some work out of their homes, some rent or own commercial space. Some advertise, some don’t. Some drive beat up pickup trucks, some lease vehicles, some own them and make payments. SOME CONTRACTORS WORK WITHOUT LICENSES, INSURANCE, AND TRADE CERTIFICATIONS BUT MOST DON’T! Combined, the total annual cost for these expenses is usually reflected in your proposal as a percentage of annual revenues and added to your proposal as a percentage of your job costs. Knowing this, you can see that each contractor will have a different percentage for these expenses.

WHAT THE DESIRED PROFIT IS FOR THE COMPANY. No business wants to operate in a break-even mode. Profit is needed to cover future cost increases, expansion, improved salaries and bonuses for employees, and as an incentive by management to provide a quality service so that a decent return is realized. Profit is also needed to replace tools and equipment, increase advertising, donate to charities and participate in community activities as a sponsor, mentor, or volunteer. The profit expenditures this year may become part of the overhead for next year.

CONSIDER: PROFIT IS NOT A 4-LETTER WORD! It is a necessary and relevant component to every proposal and is usually expressed as a percentage of both job cost and overhead costs combined. So a 1% profit on a $40K job is $400. A 10% profit on a $40K job is $4000. Is a 1% profit acceptable to some companies? Yes, but for others, 10%, 15%, or even more is needed or desired. Knowing this, you can see that each contractor will have a different percentage of profit in their proposal.

How do these three elements affect the price that our three contractors gave you for your kitchen remodel? How can you tell which contractor has the higher overhead and why? Which one is being greedy and looking for a higher profit and which one is actually losing money on the job? Which one buys the materials at the big box stores and which one has better pricing from a wholesaler because they buy in volume? Well, you can’t. Asking a contractor how much profit he is going to make, how much his overhead is, or how much the total job costs are likely to alienate you and the contractor.

So what do you do? How do you decide? Start with checking out the contractors. Compare all three contracts for content and clarity, inclusions and exclusions. Look for the Scope of Work, Description of Work, or Job Specifications and compare them. See if it is apples to apples or apples to oranges. How much you learn about your contractor makes the decision making process a lot easier. Knowing what you now know, if each of your three contracts are different, then how can you expect the prices to be the same? If each of your three contracts are the same, then how can you expect the prices to be the same? It is easy to see that the lowest price doesn’t always mean the best value and the highest price isn’t always a bad value.

There’s No Place Like Home

From www.homeyet.com

In today’s unpredictable economy, experts say there has been a recent cultural shift from house “flipping” to “nesting,” and “staycations” are more prevalent now than ever before. Because families are spending more time at home, they want to enjoy the time they spend there, so they are refocusing their attention to how they can refresh their home environment – even in the smallest ways. It is important to recognize that it’s the littlest things that matter when you’re making enhancements to your home. Simple touches of a new sofa or end table, rug or even a decorative lamp shade will create a different look and feel to a room or space. This is a small lifestyle change, and not an unobtainable luxury.

Here are some quick, yet stylish suggestions home furnishings industry experts have put together on how to rejuvenate your home:

Calm Yourself
Living with a neutral interior palette is like being enveloped by a cloud. Get the look by blanketing rooms in the softest neutral shades: cream, mocha and, most especially (and perhaps surprisingly), gray. A dash of a neutral metallic accent, such as silver, adds a welcome sparkle and resembles sunlight peeking through the clouds.

Distressed to Impress
Modern Country is ageless and exudes a comforting charm that takes imperfection to new heights. Natural finishes, heavily distressed surfaces, reclaimed woods, rattan, wicker and other natural textures are livable finishes for busy families. And the look fits farmhouse style or urban loft with equal ease.

Ethnic Inspiration
Far-reaching global influences are no longer far flung. Ethnic-inspired fabrics are turning up all over in American homes. The organic patterns, vibrant color palettes and handcrafted looks create an aura of sophisticated warmth. What to look for: motifs inspired by traditional African design; susani patterns from Central Asia; ikats and batiks from Indonesia; and handblocked woodprints from India.

Power Play
Smaller footprint, lighter weight and better performance are important purchase considerations when buying a new laptop. The same things matter when buying home office furniture. As laptops have become the most popular home computing choice among consumers, so, too, have writing tables and petite desks moved to the fore. Unlike their executive suite predecessors, these modestly scaled workstations don’t take up an entire room. Instead, they slip easily into most interiors, providing needed workspace without taking up too much space – or too much money.

Seeing Black and White
The go-to item in your closet may be the little black (or white, depending on season) dress. In home furnishings, it’s the combination of the two that offers the most impact. It’s twice the look in one great product, and it never goes out of style. Consider making a statement with a black and white combo in bedding ensembles, window treatments, wallpaper or upholstery fabric.