Builder Confidence on Rise in January
For Residential Pros
“The National Association of Home Builders is reporting that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family continued to climb for a fourth consecutive month in January, rising four points to 25 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released Wednesday, January 18. This is the highest level the index has attained since June of 2007.”

The Lean Designer: The best way to prepare for a plan review
Housing Zone
“As many of you know by now Professional Builder is holding three days of plan reviews by some of the top designers and architects in the country during the International Builders Show. I am honored to be part of that group and very much look forward to the event. Here are some juicy insider tips to help you take advantage of the opportunity…”

Seven Steps to Choosing the Perfect Circular Saw
Fine Homebuilding
“We recently reviewed 14 sidewinder circular saws and found seven features that separate the good from the not-so-good. Let’s take a closer look.”

Sarah talked about her new showhouse in Libertyville, Ill., which feature both Integrity and Marvin windows. She shared some of her design tips with us. Here’s a sampling.

• Varied ceiling heights. This makes a room feel cozy instead of stark.
• Aligning the house so that the eye has something to be drawn towards. For instance, Sarah designed the entry of the Libertyville house with a recessed shelf that can hold some artwork or a vase of flowers. You see the focal point as soon as you enter in through the door.
• Walking towards light. As Sarah reminded us, human beings are drawn towards light, so when designing a home, it’s important that we are able to move towards light-filled spaces, whether that is a window, a door, or just a lighted area on a wall.
• Multi-use spaces. Sarah showed us a floor plan that could be switched around to include large gatherings. As she pointed out, in traditional home plans, there are often spaces that get used once or twice a year. Why not design homes to be as flexible as possible?

Learn more about Sarah and her Not So Big philosophy here.

Image courtesy of Susanka.com.

It’s the same with remodeling. Of course you want your customers to love the job, and it might make sense that the way to do that is to offer them every choice available. But the Daily 5 Remodel has an interesting post that points out that this is probably not the best way to go about the remodeling process.

As a building professional, you deal constantly with building and remodeling decisions — it’s second nature for you. But for your customers, all this is new. Remodeling is a major investment of their time and money, and for many, the fulfillment of a long-time dream. If you present them with too many choices, it can delay the project and add confusion.

Now, we certainly aren’t advocating ignoring your clients’ wishes. But as building professionals, it is important  to use your best judgement and experience to present your clients with reasonable choices, so they can actually make a choice.

What do you think? Do you like to give all options to your clients, or offer a carefully curated selection?

I Still Have Hope
QR Market Memo
“Fortunately for me, I have found a way through this. I guess tough times can either make or break anybody. So far, I am determined to do whatever I have to do. The real strength that I needed throughout these years of business survival had to come from within. Even now as economic news worsens and we face a very long journey before us, inner motivation is an absolute. Without it we have no hope. There it is. No matter what else drops away, I still have hope. As long as hope remains I can keep going.”

Stronger Lure for Prospective Home Buyers
Wall Street Journal
“Home prices and mortgage rates have fallen so far that the monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable than at any point in the past 15 years and is less expensive than renting in a growing number of cities.”

Giving thanks is not just for Thanksgiving!
Housing Zone
“That fact that you are still in the game is really amazing. We conduct business completely different than what we did in 2005, we take nothing for granted, and we have learned new skills and attitudes that will be the platform for our future success when our market returns to 2001 levels.”

• The end of the closed-off, one-purpose living room is coming to an end. What people want now is a large living space, with living, kitchen and dining rooms spilling in to each other.
• Older homes used to have a grand staircase in the front of the home, with a much simpler, utilitarian one in the back. But with the coming “silver tsunami” that second staircase is making way for an elevator. When people are too ill or infirm to take the stairs, it doesn’t matter that there are two sets.
• Instead of an office or library, a new trend is for a multipurpose room that can be used for working, doing homework, reading, paying bills, etc.
• A Jacuzzi in the bathroom can be wonderful, but how often is it really used? Most people use a shower for their cleaning purposes, so there are going to be more enhancements to that, such as steam.
• As the Wall Street Journal notes, “As the kitchen has opened up into the dining room, there’s less need for a separate, small table for breakfast.” What to do with that extra space? The sky is the limit but builders are seeing a desire for more outdoor space.

EcoHome has a wonderfully informative article that runs us through the potential pitfalls. Let’s take a look, shall we? We recommend checking out the article for the full look.

• It is important to watch your calculations. Check and then re-check again. Don’t just use the default calcs. As the old saying says, “Measure twice, cut once.”
• Don’t forget the air! Air flow and air filters both play a big part in certification.
• You’ve got to make sure duct leakage is at 6 percent or less for LEED for Homes, so make sure to watch this portion of the building process carefully.
• The simplest thing might be the best thing you can do to achieve LEED certification: communicate. Don’t assume that the left hand knows what the right is doing. The more you communicate with your team, and carefully document everyone’s efforts, the less chance there will be of something slipping through the cracks.

But what if you have no idea who they are? It’s important to watch trends closely, but sometimes it seems like people don’t even know what they want. We found an article on BUILDER that goes into a little more detail about this. They quote an expert, Brent Harrington, as saying “There is no ‘today’s consumer.’ They are incredibly diverse.”

How true! BUILDER points out that the United States continue to grow in population, so there will be more young families needing homes. At the same time, people continue to live longer, necessitating universal designs for aging in place. Let’s not forget, too, that households without children continue to rise.

What do those people want? How do you figure out who your customers are? Is it location (e.g. a new downtown condo tower might appear more to young singles than those with kids)? Do you do market research to figure out what you need to do? Or do you just focus on good design and trust that your customers, whoever they may be, will love it? Let us know in the comments!

Housing Zone has an in-depth article that lists out examples of builders fined for not following these practices. Did you know that the highest fine for violations is $37,500 for every violation, every day. Can you afford to be fined?

Luckily, there’s something you can do to prevent it: get certified and follow the rules. Housing Zone recommends LeadPaintProfessor.com to get educated.

Additionally, Housing Zone also recommends scrupulous record-keeping. The EPA might be reviewing your records, and will most certainly do so if a complaint is made against you, so it is important to be able to produce records from the job that show you have complied with lead-based paint regulations.

According to Housing Zone, “This is just the beginning of EPA’s enforcement of lead-related issues within the residential construction industry.  More reports of violations are being released constantly. Remember, the Toxic Substances Control Act Section 402(a)(3) directs the Environmental Protection Agency to establish and implement a fee program to recover, for the U.S. Treasury, the cost of administering and enforcing the lead-based paint activities requirements. The EPA is highly motivated to find violators and is actively doing so.”

Have you had any experience with the EPA and the Residential Lead-Based Paint Regulations?

• Outdoor living areas: Are you paying more attention to things like porches and patios? An outdoor kitchen (from simple to grand) and a fireplace can add a whole new dimension for homeowners. Who doesn’t love an extra room in the great outdoors?
• Green features: Green is hot right now, but homeowners are demanding practical things like energy efficient windows and water and electricity-saving appliances. Showing that products meet federal ENERGY STAR standards will be important in attracting and informing consumers.
• Open kitchens: If the hearth is the heart of the home, it makes sense people want to be in it. Open kitchens allow that cozy feeling while allowing the cook some additional space to maneuver.
• Smaller homes: To go along with the green theme, smaller homes are easier to heat and cool, easier to clean and discourage the mindless filling of rooms.

Do you see these trends when you are building and remodeling?

But do people want to hear it? Daily 5  Remodel took a survey and found that remodelers most often ask, but the question needs to be delicately phrased. One remodeler who took the survey said: “I do not use the unfortunate expression ‘aging in place’ because I find very little graceful or complimentary associated with it. We ask questions and explore their needs, concerns and issues to help them determine what’s important for them to consider in making choices.”

Another one of Daily 5 Remodel’s survey respondents made the point that, with a perhaps misplaced sense of positivity, people don’t see themselves as needing any accommodations in their home: “When I asked them if THEY wanted univ. design features, the answer was always ‘no,’ but when I switched to asking, ‘Do you have any older relatives or friends who might benefit from accessible features?’ the response rate tripled.”

How do you as a remodeler guide your clients when thinking about universal design and aging in place? How do you highlight design features while gently emphasizing their usefulness in universal design? Do you see universal design and the aging population as a unique opportunity? Let us know in the comments!