REMODEL CRAZY STORIES

Crazy remodel experiences from home owners and construction professionals

CONTRACTOR ARTICLES

Contractors, their business, industry experience and knowledge

MEMBERS SPOTLIGHT

Article spotlight on industry leaders

NEWS DESK

Stories related to the building industry.

HOMEOWNER TALKBACK

Homeowners join in and tell abut their remodeling experience

WEBINARS »

Total Live Chat Webinar
July 6, 2010 – 6:29 pm | No Comment

Webinar recording by Alan Moore about the Total Live Chat product.


Total Live Chat Webinar - Alan Moore
Mostly audio, but if you want watch full screen download the file or right click the movie and choose Zoom>>Full Screen.
Click here to download

WEBINARS »

Webinar from our friends at Construction Marketing Ideas.
July 6, 2010 – 6:51 am | No Comment

DCN Webinar: Construction Marketing Ideas Contact Design and Construction Network for event and ticket information.

DCN Webinar: Construction Marketing Ideas

Thursday, July 08, 2010 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM (ET)


Ticket Information

Ticket Type Sales End Price Fee Quantity
Registration with FREE Construction Marketing Ideas book (value $39.95) 1d 10h 13m $129.00 $8.08

Enter Discount Code If you have a discount code, enter it here:

Event Details

Construction Marketing Ideas:

Do you know three simple, effective and inexpensive strategies to improve your marketing and business development success in the AEC marketplace?

Can you discover the successful marketing methods used by 74% of AEC businesses/practices?  When and how should you implement the approaches used by the remaining 26%?

Mark Buckshon, author of Construction Marketing ideas:  Practical strategies and resources and resources to attract and retain profitable clients for your architectural, engineering or construction business, believes you can succeed by:

1.  Recognizing the value of your current and existing relationships and doing everything you can to enhance your client experience;

2.  Appreciating how to build your business by capturing your strengths and doing what you love doing;

3.  Connecting these two elements with the appropriate marketing and business development strategies in a systematized and thoughtful process, especially through relevant associations and relationships.

Webinar registrants in the U.S. and Canada registering by June 30, will receive a free copy of Construction Marketing Ideas:  Practical strategies and resources to attract and retain profitable clients for your architectural, engineering or construction business (value $39.95).

About the Speaker:

Mark Buckson the webinar presenter is responsible for The Design and Construction Report Magazine and also publishes several regional construction industry newspapers and websites.  Most of his company’s revenue is from advertising-sponsored special editorial features but in his book and presentations, he advocates the use of advertising only with caution and careful thought.

WEBINARS »

HUD’s section 203(k) program – Webinar
June 28, 2010 – 6:37 pm | No Comment


Get The Lead Out Webinar

203K Webinar. Learn the ins and out of this Home purchasing and remodeling loan program.

Presented by:

Paul Lesieur, President of Silvertree Construction, SilvertreeConstruction.com

Rory Swan, of Servicez Unlimited, ServicezUnlimited.com

WEBINARS »

Open Book Management Webinar Review, Is OBM for you?
May 23, 2010 – 8:51 am | No Comment

The Paul attended a webinar hosted by Leah Thayer Senior Editor at Hanley Wood and her guest speaker Greg Antonolli, owner of Out of the Woods Construction.

The Topic: Open Book Management.

Open Book or Not?

Greg and Leah did a good job opening the webinar. Greg answered questions from the attendees and concluded well. Greg has an easy conversational way of covering the subject of using Open Book Management, something his company has practiced since 2004.

This method of running a company calls for accountability from all participants, I mean from the demo guys to the business owner himself, and as practiced by Out of the Woods its an all or nothing process.

Greg opens his books completely during his company meetings. I have to agree with this because if I worked there and Open Book Management meant only part of the book was open I would only be a part of the way employee.

What did I come away with?

Open Book Management works on trust, it helps to be confident that the benefits will make it all worth while, and it isn’t some radical new think of an unproven system, its actually a common sense approach to help everyone understand that their role is an important part in the companies operation.

Some of the Highlights are:

How you can start.

What can happen.

How well it works for Out of the Woods.

Some key points:

Basic rules for open-book management are:

  • Know and teach the rules: every employee should be given the measures of business success and taught to understand them
  • Follow the Action & Keep Score: Every employee should be expected and enabled to use their knowledge to improve performance
  • Provide a Stake in the Outcome: Every employee should have a direct stake in the company’s success-and in the risk of failure
  • The company should share finances as well as critical data with all employees
  • Employers are challenged to move the numbers in a direction that improves the company
  • Employees share in company prosperity

This Open Book Management webinar is well worth the time for Remodel Crazy to encourage its members to visit Hanley Wood’s Remodeling Magazine and listen in on Greg and Leah. You don’t have to agree with my assessment but you may find yourself questioning your management style and come to find that great businesses aren’t built on good processes, they are built from great ones.

Visit and learn with Greg and Leah here, Open Book Management Webinar

WEBINARS »

Insurance Bytes – EPA Lead Rule Insurance
May 2, 2010 – 9:21 pm | No Comment

Insurance Bytes - EPA Lead Rule Insruance Webinar

audio only

Overview: As of April, 2010, the EPA has required the use of Lead Safe Practices to prevent lead poisoning. While training and certification to comply with specific work practices is mandated; having lead poisoning insurance is not.

What this means to the contractor: If your are working with lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities and schools built prior to 1978, attorneys will be looking for opportunities to make more money; think asbestos, construction defect, mold, etc. The training and certification creates a higher standard of care and thus liability.

WEBINARS »

Mark-up and Overhead Webinar
February 26, 2010 – 12:04 am | No Comment

Mark-up and Overhead Webinar

Mark-up and Overhead

by Randy Austin (Owner & President)
Field Service Solutions (fieldservicesoft.com)
  1. How to calculate exactly what an employee costs you per hour
  2. What percentage to use to mark up your jobs based on your job costs, overhead and profit goals..
  3. How to use these percentages to mark up your jobs to arrive at your break even point and your sales price

You can download the accompanying Xcel spreadsheet here.
http://www.remodelcrazy.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=78

The Great Building industry Summit of MPLS Airport
August 19, 2010 – 6:36 am | One Comment
The Great Building industry Summit of MPLS Airport

Security was tight.
You couldn’t sneak a French fry past the security of the meeting room, throngs of admirers were packed sardine like hoping to get a glimpse of the building industry giants soon to debate …

Hope for Hunter, your regular 11 year old boy except…..!
August 5, 2010 – 4:13 pm | No Comment
Hope for Hunter, your regular 11 year old boy except…..!

Remodel Crazy got a call for help from a member
This led to a poem and a story about an 11 year old boy who could use a hand.
First the poem

Someday soon……

THE WINDOW
Written by Angie Langreder
Look …

Goodbye Facebook and goodbye Linkedin!
August 2, 2010 – 3:29 pm | 2 Comments
Goodbye Facebook and goodbye Linkedin!

I’m still thinking
Yep, I’m gone.
I deleted my Facebook account and left half my Linkedin groups, and why?
Who has the time, when do we work?
I thought about it.
Really, with all the stuff out there who is …

Meet Stacey Quinn / 1st Trust construction loan expert.
July 27, 2010 – 9:08 am | 2 Comments
Meet Stacey Quinn / 1st Trust construction loan expert.

Minneapolis loans and who’s who in lending.
Stacey Quinn wears many hats, including being past president and chairwoman of Mpls NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry). Now days this energetic and positively confident mover and …

RRP / Whats up Doc?
July 13, 2010 – 6:50 pm | No Comment
RRP / Whats up Doc?

RRP almost 3 months

Almost 3 months into the RRP and the Goody 2 shoes people have been let down, no enforcement and nobody cares. The baby killers are laying low just in case somebody reports …

Total Live Chat Webinar
July 6, 2010 – 6:29 pm | No Comment
Total Live Chat Webinar

Webinar recording by Alan Moore about the Total Live Chat product.

Mostly audio, but if you want watch full screen download the file or right click the movie and choose Zoom>>Full Screen.
Click here to download