How It’s Made: Low-E Glass ECOHOME “Low-E glazing falls into two broad categories: soft coat and hard coat. Both applications involve depositing a thin, transparent coating of silver or tin oxide on the glass surface to allow short-wavelength sunlight to pass through while blocking long-wavelength heat radiation. The difference between the two coatings lies in [...]

A combination of increased demand and limited inventory is driving up prices. Sound familiar? Well, we’re not writing about the housing market this time. In case you haven’t noticed, lumber supplies are having difficulty keeping pace with the marketplace, which in turn is driving up prices. According to BuilderOnline.com, the Random Length Lumber Price Index has [...]

Homebuyers always have and probably always will look to location, style and price above all when in purchase mode. The rest, one might say, is just gravy. Of course, if the location, style and price check out, homebuyers then may be attracted by a home’s more alluring features. So much so that some buyers are [...]

Are more homeowners ready to sell? Listed “The latest data from Realtor.com found that the number of homes for sale increased 2.36% from February to March. While that doesn’t indicate a stampede of sellers, it may be a sign that at least sellers are ready to quit sitting on their hands.” Construction Groups Criticize Limits in Guest Worker Deal [...]

You Can’t, and Don’t Need to, Win Them All Builder “Just as real baseball fans don’t get too upset when their favorite team loses a game (it’s a long season!), followers of the housing industry shouldn’t dwell on month-to-month metrics.” Remaking the great room Professional Builder “Although the idea of a great room has been [...]

Today marks the first day of spring, which in the past has unofficially marked the arrival of the home-buying season. However, new data from Realtor.com suggests the buying season got off to an earlier than usual start this year. February 2013 national housing data shows inventories crept up 1.15 percent month-over-month, median age of inventory fell 9.26 [...]

Positioning your business for 2013 Housing Zone “We interviewed a number of top remodelers about how they are positioning their business in 2013, and the top challenges and opportunities they expect to face. We asked them to reveal their keys to a successful 2013.” Australian Banks Try to Stimulate Home Building New York Times Here’s [...]

Are things turning around for the housing industry? According to the Washington Post, there are more construction jobs then there have been in, well, awhile. There have been 98,000 new construction jobs since September 2012, with 28,000 of those being created in January 2013 alone. This is a positive trend since homebuilding has been going up. Until [...]

The third and final day of the 2013 International Builders’ Show finished up with exhibitors, sponsors and attendees being treated to a closing concert from Cheap Trick. Fresh off of their most recent tour with Aerosmith, the rock band tore down the house with a 90-minute concert featuring many of their greatest hits. But before [...]

The 2013 International Builder’s Show is officially underway and the energy remained high throughout the opening day. The Walt Disney Company’s CEO, Michael Eisner, kicked things off at the show with a motivating keynote. Eisner used his own experiences with Disney and The Tornante Company to help attendees understand more about how to build a [...]