Two Hammers

The freebies and discounted upgrades keep coming from the cabinet manufacturers.  Major players like Diamond Cabinets and Decora Cabinets have extended discounts on some of their upgrades thru February 2011.  Our favorite upgrade – all plywood construction – will be available at a substantial discount for the next two months.  The all plywood construction makes a great cabinet if exposure to water or heavy use is expected.  If there is a kitchen or bath remodel in your future, now is a good time to cash in on the specials.

Facilities Related Demand Charges and Summertime Related Demand Charges; what are they and why are they so much?  California commercial customers incur monthly demand charges on their electric bills.  These charges can be over 50% of the monthly bill in the summer.  If you are a GS-2 or GS-3 commercial account, you need to look at your bills.

Electrical demand is the rate (speed) at which you use the electricity, measured in kilowatts (KW).  As opposed to the amount of electricity used, kilowatthours (KWh).  Peaks in electrical demand are caused by the simutaneous operation of electrical equipment like air conditioners.  The electrical demand (KW) is measured and recorded during the month, and the highest 15 minute average peak is billed as demand charges.  Southern California Edison currently charges $31.37 per KW during the summertime.  In perspective, a 5 tonne air conditioner drawing 4.5 KW incurs a demand charge of $140.27; while at $0.08/KWh it only cost $0.36 per hour to run the same air conditioner.  Thus, the penalty is heavy if an air conditioner turns on at the same time as another.   

All is not lost.  Electrical peak demand control can minimize these charges and tame high electric bills.  Power Planet offers demand controllers which can balance a building’s loads by allowing loads, such as, air conditioners and electrical heating to coordinate their on time, thus minimizing peaks in demand.

Get it under control and pay for the electricity that you use, not the way you use the electricity.

The importance of blue can not be over looked this year; it captures the country’s mood of austerity.  Greens, taupe, and adobe are comforting colors – spruced up with floral color accents.  The emphasis is on calm and comfortable.

Diamond Cabinets has announced 5 new finishes for 2009.  The most welcomed is the neutral medium brown Havan offered on maple and cherry.  Havana is destined to be a timeless color staying in fashion for many years to come.  Expanding on Diamond Cabinets off-white  cabinets is the warm creamy yellow of Honeysuckle on maple.  And for the designer set there are Portobello, Oasis, and Tidal Mist all offered on Maple.   To see all of the new finishes offered by Diamond Cabinets visit this site, or for the full spectrum of finishes available from Diamond visit this page. 

Hvana on Maple

The dreaded phone call “This is Mrs. Jones, remember me?” after ascertaining that the house has not flooded or burned down, need not be such a fearful event.  Sure it is a hassle to schedule a few hours to go find out the problem and fix it, however, what better way is there to spend a couple of hours catching up with a good customer.  Cheerfully address their concern and make any small adjustments and touch ups you see.  While there find out if Mrs. Jones has any friends or neighbors starting to contemplate a remodeling project.  Nothing is more powerful than a referral from a happy customer that knows that you stand behind your work.

Glass Creek Inc. has just added Top Knobs to their offerings for decorative cabinet hardware to complement their existing lines by Berenson and Hafele.  Top Knobs has hundreds of styles in 19 finishes, with matching back plates, push plates and appliance pulls.  Cabinet knob displays should be in place in their showroom in Fullerton, CA by the beginning September.

I had never received a request for glass countertops until this last spring; and within weeks I had two clients request them.  They are beautiful, however, rather expensive.  I believe that the market will be for higher end trendy bathrooms, the mechanics for a custom kitchen may prove to be too complicated.  This is a trend worth watching in case it does develop into a mainstream product. Or, it could be just like the concrete and soap stone countertops from seasons past.

Update Sep 2010

The votes have been counted – This was just another passing fad.

An often asked question is , what size of crown moulding should I use in my living room?  Our general rule of thumb on remodeling projects is:

• 7 foot ceiling – 3″ or smaller
• 8 foot ceiling – 3″- 4″
• 9 foot ceiling – 4″ – 5″
• 10 foot ceiling – 6″
• 17 foot ceiling – 8″ or larger

Smaller than these guidelines and the crown moulding appears out of proportion.  Where as, using crown moulding larger than these guide lines risks looking gaudy.

Read more about crown moulding

We exhibited in a local home show over the weekend; and the attendance and homeowner interest was a surprise. Attendance was off a little from previous years, and some people could not get past our remodeling booth fast enough. However, about 25% of those which we had discussions with were interested in kitchen remodels. Our expectations were for nothing but small face lift and maintenance projects, apparently some homeowners are not restrained by the softening housing market.
The big hits for the show were convenience hardware and premade kitchen cabinets by Diamond Cabinets. The new turquoise rust finish from Decora Cabinets received a lot of interest; and to our amazement there was still a lot of interest in white cabinets. And the winner in the countertop area were quartz stones like Cambria.

Before running out and blowing your tax rebate check on the first big screen tv you see at Wallmart, let us consider how that money can feather your nest and also help your local economy.  Spending the money on a big screen tv is almost like direct deposit into a foreign bank account; a small percentage will stay with the local retailer, and a smaller percentage will stay with the trucking company, but the majority of the money is going straight to a foreign manufacturer.  Instead consider spending the money on locally manufactured goods and services with a large labor component.  Buy a piece of art from a local artist, or a product made at a local manufacturer.  Crown moulding in the living room will make a nice job for a local carpenter and painter while sprucing up the home.  Or, the unemployed carpenter down the street could use a couple of days pay doing maintenance projects around your home.  Money spent on local labor will circulate at least once locally before heading offshore to a foreign bank account.

The local businesses which are going to be the main benefactors of such spending need to do their part also.  Invest the windfall profits on tools and equipment, software, and employee training; which will enhance your capabilities or increase efficiency.  That way you will be in better shape to weather a recession.  In addition, the money will circulate a second time through the economy and have a multiplying effect.

We all watch too much tv anyway!

The customer freeze during the first quarter is finally thawing out, and remodeling projects are starting to hit the drafting table.  For those that survived the worst quarter in recent memory there is a glimmer of hope.  We are projecting remodeling activity at 80% of the level of one year ago, not ideal, but acceptable.  Gone are the home equity line remodel projects which were so popular for the past several years.  Now projects will be either maintenance driven remodels, or for customers who are immune from recession.   This will actually be good for the industry, the home equity remodels always seemed to have the budget raided for a new car or a big screen tv.  Remodeling projects now should be of better quality with more stable budgets, and more committed customers.  Thus, these projects should be more profitable, and well established contractors will survive.

The other night, late, a customer called in a panic.  Immediately thoughts race to what was done wrong with the new light fixtures which would have caused the house to burn down.  “Help, the toilet is overflowing!” says the panic stricken homeowner.  Thinking quickly; “Lady, we changed the light fixtures in the bathroom, not the toilet”.  “Yes, but you were the last ones to do work in my house”.

Where does it end?  If you do any work in someone’s house, are you liable for everything?  This is a far too common of an occurrence.

The only protection is – If it is not in your contract, do not touch it.

This was then followed up by another customer with a burned out light bulb, then still another with a tripped GFCI.  What a week!

When it comes time to make major purchases there still is nothing like touching and feeling in a brick and mortar store.  As convenient as the internet is; customers still visit showrooms to purchase kitchen remodeling products and services.  When we opened our kitchen showroom it was a major boost for business for several reasons.  Firstly, it gives you a comfortable place to entertain clients, with all of your samples at hand.  Secondly, it shows that you are a bonified player in the game.  The obvious investment in time and money separates you from all of the other ‘home office’ interior designers and ‘pickup truck office’ contractors.

In Orange County, CA these are some of our favorite showrooms:

Glass Creek Inc. in Fullerton – A full service Kitchen remodeling showroom with cabinet and countertop displays.  Featuring Diamond Cabinets and Decora Cabinets.

Tuscany Tile in Brea, CA – A stylish tile showroom which carries more upscale tiles.

Central Plumbing in La Habra, CA – A plumbing fixtures showroom.

To find these remodeling showrooms in Google maps or , please follow this link: Remodeling Showrooms Placemarks.

Again I was reminded of the importance of saying “no”.  Few times have I said no to a project and regretted it.  No matter how difficult it is, or how hungry you are, sometimes you have to say no; and stick to your guns when the customer appeals your decision.  I follow the following rules for accepting a project.  If is smells bad – it is, trust your gut instincts, you probably subconsciously detected something.  If you do not hit it off with the customer – walk away, the relationship will not get better with the stress of the job.  If the customer’s expectations and schedule are not realistic – find another customer.  If you are already overextended – do not make it worse by taking on more commitments.

There have not been many times when I have said no to a project and later proved to have been wrong.  Learn to say no when you have to.  And stick to it when the customer comes back 3 or 4 times.  There is nothing worse than getting involved in a bad remodeling project.

This year it is all about green and blue.  The Marie Antoinette rich jewel colors of the last several years are over.  The slow down in the economy is promoting feelings of austerity, and a need for comfort and security in the home.  Thus, look to the earth tones, greens, and blues for common areas in the home, such as, the kitchen and living room.  The young children’s rooms still need to be fun with the popsicle and candy colors.  Sunny yellows and comfortable sage are still good choices for the master suite.  And for goodness sakes stop using Swiss coffee.

Read the complete article.

I met with two contractors the other day; one said that he was having his worst month ever, the other claimed to be having his best.  The worst ever contractor I can relate with, and his sentiments are being echoed by most of my other colleagues.  However, the contractor claiming his best month ever captured my attention.  Naturally the question – How did you do it? – was raised.  The contractor stated that most of his business was coming from the yellow pages.  Oh, the online directories directing customers to your website?  No, he replied, the printed yellow pages.

My embrace of new technologies, and my Chinese internet directory listing are not going to be my savoir?  My fellow contractor explained that customers surf the internet for information and ideas; yet still turn to the printed yellow pages to buy.

This shook me down to my typing calloused fingertips.  Is reliance upon the “new media” going to be the final nail?

The knee jerk reaction from the subprime debacle is in full swing; putting homeowners in a wait and see mode.  As such, there are not many larger projects entering the pipeline.  This is going to make for a slow first quarter.  As homeowners start to settle down about the beginning of the second quarter, and realize that they still have a lot of equity in their homes, interest in remodeling should pickup.  Unfortunatel, with the long lead times to get remodeling projects off the ground, there will not be a substantial pickup in work until the start of the third quarter.

In the interim, homeowners afraid to enter the housing market, still have a strong interest in sprucing up their homes.  As a result there should be a shift from large remodels to more modest face lift type projects and maintenance driven projects.  In contractor terms – here come the powder room remodels.

Homeowners – Are you looking for a reputable remodeling contractor?

Glass Creek Inc. – remodeling contractors.

We will work with you to design your project using state of the art computer design software, then build it to meet your expectations. Kitchen and bath remodeling is our specialty. We can supply manufactured cabinets by Diamond or Decora, or build custom cabinets to your specifications. Check out Glass Creek’s website at www.glasscreek.com.

Lately in southern California there has been a slow down in the housing market. One might even argue, a necessary slow down in an over heated market. What has this done to the remodeling market? Not much; homeowners are still remodeling. Though the dollar value per project has decreased, homeowners still want to fluff the feathers in the nest.

So why are remodeling contractors starting to cry about the lack of business. Well, it is the competition; competition from the “new home builders” entering the market. Their market has all but dried up, and I guess that even “trackies” have to eat. So, they migrate to where the work is. And swinging a hammer is swinging a hammer. Except, remodeling is a different business from ground up construction; there is usually a family living in the house, customers have different expectations, and there is a different set of pitfalls.

Customers and contractors be aware. Would you go to an optometrist to get your teeth cleaned? Contractors – let us not add to our already dismal reputation.

So, you want to be a contractor. What else do you do when the economy is tough and nobody wants to pay for your talents? All that it takes is a cell phone, business cards, a pickup truck, and two hammers. As I reflect back upon this never ending adventure; what did it take to get started? Well, guys here it is:

Get a license; you ain’t no contractor without a license. A license is like a college degree, it does not mean that you can do anything, it only means that you have done something. It is that pseudo credential which you need for that all important credibility factor.

Get insurance, not a lot, just enough to cover yourself. Accidents do happen. And a large loss is a rough way to start a business. At the minimum get some liability and workman’s comp ( I hate to even type that word, it will be a good future rant.) Savvy customers actually ask for insurance certificates, and as of late, it is becoming more common. Another plus for the credibility factor.

Next, get a job. I have not tried standing out in front of Home Depot yet, although I have given it serious consideration. And if this current trend continues I just may be doing it by years end. Seriously, I would start with the friends and family circuit, it can give you good exposure to the neighbors for your next job. However, wean yourself off of them as soon as you can. Though easy to get they are tough and unprofitable.

A lot of wasted years later, several trucks, and more tools than a man should have; I can not remember all of the happy customers, employees, or subcontractors. However, I remember that one customer which I managed to piss off.

I also still carry those first two hammers.