Who - and What - You Don't Want to Leave Out of Your Kitchen Remodel Don’t leave this mass undertaking to fate! Do your due diligence with both people and technology before getting started. Your kitchen island, pot filler and second sink may come in very handy in your new kitchen but, before you even get started on your remodel, there are a few important things to consider first. Don’t leave these five people and things out of your project planning! 1. A Certified Kitchen Planner and/or Interior Designer To help you think of the things you might otherwise take for granted, such as kitchen workflow, hire an expert. The sink, stove and refrigerator typically create a work triangle but perhaps you have other ideas in mind or your layout is unique. A pr...
BUILDING WITH TRANSPARENCY: HOW OUR CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE SAVES TIME, MONEY & HEARTACHE Why is transparency important on the jobsite? Who benefits from it? And, how can you more easily offer it? trans·par·ent /transˈperənt/ adjective having thoughts, feelings, or motives that are easily perceived. Let’s take a look at why thoughts, feelings and motives that are e...
CHANGE IS HARD: FIND OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT Why is change so hard? Explore the psychology behind change resistance before you implement your next bright idea on the job site. In our last blog, we talked about low-cost construction technology changes that were also easy to implement. But, we may have gotten ahead of ourselves! You and your team of home builders have to first be open to new ideas and technologies before your crew and staff will adopt them. Nobody likes change but especially not those of us in the design-build industry. We like our coffee black (and the coffee pot at work will do, thank-you-very-much), we like our trusty pickup truck and we like to keep life simple. &ldquo...
SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY + TABLET GIVEAWAY Low cost construction technology worth embracing on your job sites. See below for details on our tablet giveaway. You want to rock your design/build project but you are being pulled in one hundred directions. The adoption of technology is a necessary evil - evil because you don’t necessarily have the time to scope out the options and implement them. There’s Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, the Internet of Things (IoT), countless mobile apps and now flying cameras. Some are even making those really cool time-lapse videos on their projects sites - the ones you like to watching on your dumbphone...err smartphone...when you are finally winding down for the evening. But is all of this hype worth considering? Can it help your construction project move faster and be more accurate while putting more money in everyone’s pockets? Do you need to make a...
I’ve been involved in the construction trades for over 30 years. Whether as a tradesman or later in life as a IT person supporting and educating builders on project management software (The SimpleBuild) or consulting in regards to schedules and implementation of a full service system. Offering builder’s access to myself 24 / 7 to insure no one is left without an answer when they need one. That said I’ve come to the point that I would like more of my time to travel and start the My Notification Service awareness program. I will still be available for onsite activities such as consulting, training and full implementation of the SimpleBuild system. Over the past 3.5 years I’ve had t...
ReStore & Deconstruction / Habitat for Humanity Last week I wrote about the amazing job performed by the Habitat for Humanity’s (H4H) building team. This week I would like to focus on another of the H4H ventures, the ReStore’s. ReStore’s are places where folks can donate any “gently” used items. These items are then sold and the profits benefit the H4H efforts. The Wake county group has seen significant growth over the past few years through the guidance of Mitch Rhodes the V.P of Operations. We had the opportunity to meet with Mitch to explain the SimpleBuild Construction Project Management System. In our meeting we discovered the unique challenges which a group such as H4H presents. In addition of our ability to ...
The Miracle which is Habitat for Humanity This week we’re in Raleigh NC for the Habitat for Humanity of Wake's (H4H) Builder Blitz, which will produce 250 homes in one week across the nation. This is undoubtedly one of the most daunting tasks that I have witnessed in the building industry. The coordination can only be described as “Controlled Chaos”. Having multiple subcontractors along with dozens of volunteers on the job site is not an easy situation for any Super...
Schedules for Various Contractors As with most remodelers I had a general idea of how my schedule should progress. The issues that separate remodeling from new home construction are the variables. When it came to scheduling I could not be as stringent as a new home builder. For the most part new construction is without hidden obstacles like those dealt with in remodeling. This is one of the reasons why those of us at The SimpleBuild insist on offering schedules and templates that accommodate both new home builders and remodelers. New home builders require Critical path schedules to insure that if there is an interruption in the schedule that all subsequent vendors and crews are notified regarding the modific...
Motor Home Upgrade 101 Well, we motored ourselves and our newly acquired Fleetwood motor home back to Illinois in one piece. As I look around this beast I now notice all the little things that were overlooked at the dealership. Still believing that I got a deal due to the extras that I deem necessary such as a 7000k watt generator which his rated quiet enough to run in a National park after hours. As a remodeler and carpenter I started on what I know best, flooring! Yep the previous owners were smokers and the carpet in the living room kept their scent alive. In addition the previous remodeler thought a 2 x 4 piece of subflooring only required 10 screws total to hold each down, which did eventually buckle. So, we started with a punch list which progressed to a full-fledged project management schedule. Starting with my expertise and moving onto the mechanics of the motor home which will be handled by my good friend Hank Olson. For this part of the process I scheduled bo...
OSHA and Construction in the City Living in the city is never boring and not without a story to be told. I’ve had he fortune or misfortune to have a construction site right outside my window. Now having been in construction for a majority of my life I’m aware of what is and what is not acceptable building practices. The project next door was adding space to what was once a flat roof, for over a year now this group has not only taken valuable parking away from those that liv...
Warranties and Tracking Warranty Claims Where many builders offer various warranties on a new home, it’s the tracking and dispatching of the repair which is most important to the home owner. If this is a first home for this individual or family, ownership can overwhelm them. And it&r...
Reputation Built on Customer Service Last week I wrote about our obtaining a Motor Home for Simple Builds Onsite training and consulting. It started with a deposit and plans to fly out to Omaha, NE. Hopefully that was the last time I have to fly, at least domestically. I really dislike both airports and flying. As someone in the industry, I say service is the cornerstone to every successful business. I truly believe this. My experience this time around can show some comparisons to Custom home building. The MH I’m purchasing is used and I was fully prepared to be responsible for shaking out the bugs due to its age and affordable price. Like a home buyer I am extremely excited about taking ownership and be gone. But, like a quality builder they ran a full punch list on the entire functionality of the unit and would not release...
After a year of research and many inquiries into a variety of motor homes, we have a Winner! After 14 months of hard searching, tire kicking, and trade shows, we’ve made our decision. The choice is not without many factors being taken into consideration, cost and reliability at the front. For those reasons we have picked out a 95&rsquo...
As many of you are aware I work with a wide variety of Homebuilders and Remodelers. The issues which arise while implementing a system also varies by the size and cohesiveness of the office & field personnel. What to do to instill compliance when your staff is stagnant and complacent in their work? I like “reviews”, one on one sit downs and go over what needs to be accomplished with the understanding that we will continue to meet until full compliance is reached. Asking for a Daily report on a daily basis starts to drive home the need to get acquainted with the system which requires all parties to learn and grow with your new Project M...
While you were out... I tend to write from experience or experiences and this is a troubling observation I’ve made. My team trains anywhere from 4 to 6 new builders each week, and we enjoy being busy for the most part. What we do object to and are troubled by, is our devoting time and energies to a builders office and nothing takes place afterwards. Recently I’ve been contacted by a new Project manager for a builder which had purchased a subscription months ago, had one employee go through the training and then did nothing. This PM wanted to be trained and insisted on using the system for all the features offered. What happened is the secretary was not interested in using the system, for whatever reason and did not think it would matter. I guess she was not in on the decision and unaware of the advantages of implementing a PM system. The time and energies saved by using a system start with comp...
While assisting our sales staff I have found that there is no uniformity in the presentation of HBA members from one local to the next. The well designed and laid out locals allow for home buyers to pruise through their member info and start the process of choosing a builder. These locals offer Company name, builder name, phone, email address and website address along with any HBA listed qualifications. The poorly administered HBA's offer nothing on their members and make it quite impossible for a qualified buyer to do any research on the builders who are members. As I see it these builders are being cheated, and not getting exposure to new business opportunities which is what the HBA is there for, expanding marketing efforts. If you as a builder find your HBA local to be less than what you expect, then call or visit your local and explain to them your expectations. Make your local work for ...
Late last year we signed up a Custom home builder in the Indianapolis area. He had a website but, that alone did not equate to a jump in business. When he added a transparent project management system which allows for unparalleled communication between all parties, builder, vendors & homebuyer, business spiked. In fact as of this morning he has several projects in the design and quote phase. As mentioned the builder prior did not have a PM service and most likely would be buried in work trying to handle all of these projects. Now he is poised to undertake 3 x's the workload with the same personnel. This builder has taken every step to attract and retain prospective buyers and it's paying off in a short period of time. Anticipating what is required to pull off a profitable and stress free building season is what this b...
Here it is Mid March and hopefully spring is on the way, somebody should remind Mother Nature. Anyway as more and more of my friends and associates get ready to have a custom home built, I get the call "how do I find a good builder"? A great question, you would think that in this day and age there would be an independent listing of Home Builders with some type of comments or rating. Well as it turns out resources for this are limited to the following: visit your local HBA for homebuilder listing, word of mouth, google and recently a site called Hoodle. When you visit the NAHBA site to find your local office, you will find a wealth of listings but, no comments or review of their work. Depending on the HBA local you will be able to link to prospectiv...
Lets face it, building in the winter is time consuming and costly. What to do when the elements are working against you? Well, now would be a good time to start preparing for when the weather does break and building is back in full swing. Where to start? You could begin with listing out the weak elements in your building processes. Just where is it that you believe you and your firm can enhance th...
The buzz word that sends me over the edge every time is, what is my ROI implementing your system. Return On Investment, does this mean nothing is purchased without a thorough investigation on whether there is a sufficient ROI? As I see it, not everything is tied directly to a ROI for it to become a good business component. Imagine if we demanded the same of every employee or dare I say our politicians, oh boy. Let them explain their worth to the public, I apologize for the sarcasm but, I live in Chicago, IL. A city and state which is the poster child for inefficient government. Well back to ROI for key business component expenditures. Here at SimpleBuild we offer 24 x 7 support, is there a calculable RO...
You guessed it, we are a Illinois business and we care deeply for the wellfare of our friends and neighbors downstate. As I write this blog our CoFounder/President Clay Miller is rounding up support for a food and clothing drive for those in the effected areas. Not seeing the devastation first hand we were unaware of the scope of work which needs to be done to get these folks back to some form of normality. However, talking with one of our builders in the Peoria area, Scott of Scott Lewis Homes said that close to 1000 homes need to be rebuilt or in need of major repairs. There is never a good time for an event such as a Tornado but, around the holidays seems to compound the impact. This is where the builder community can show their co...
We've all heard it before "size does not matter" and in many instances this is true. Especially in the building trades, smaller can mean, more hands on which can lead to greater attention to detail. This is the key many times in swaying a client your way, having the premise that your firms size offers a greater attention to the details and that makes you stand apart from the rest. Details start with the Prebuild or Design phase of the project. This is where you can show your expertise and coordination by showcasing a fully integrated project management solution. Having a solution which keeps all parties aware of what is scheduled and when it is due or to be finished by. You can find this type of interaction and transparency with The SimpleBuild. Utilizing a solution such as The SimpleBuild will allow clients to login to their own section where they can see images and video from the job site, inspect plans, initiate Change Orders, view tasks, view ...
This is the anniversary of the 9/11 attach on the USA and I wanted to acknowledge those who have committed themselves to the cause. For those of us who have served, we understand the sacrifice and pray that others never have to repeat this cycle of events. No matter what branch you serve, your rank or job is, we salute you for your service and commitment. It takes great courage to put yourself before others and this is what I think makes America the greatest country ever! Recently we at the (SimpleBuild Group) were asked to demonstrate our system to a non-for profit group (OurBravest.org) that constructs specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded U.S. military veterans. What a great ...
I hear it all the time, "we are a small office and not interested". After hearing this I think, not interested in getting more done with the same staff? This sounds absurd to me, not interested in having a more productive office, not interested in adding another highly effective sales tool, or not interested in organizing all my Change Orders and billable Selections, which would allow us to realize every dollar earned on a project. All of these suggest to me, "not interested in staying in business". It's a sign of the times, doing more with less should be the objective for every contractor that plans on more than staying in business. Chaos c...
Having never been a spec home vs a custom home builder, I had to rely on the perspective of others for this article. My main reason for not building a speculative home was purely profit driven. I have heard the horror stories of those that bought properties several years ago to build on or purchased tear down homes to remodel. Most of these firms are now out of business due to the lack of adequate financial planning and or backing. Today most are cautious to say the least, and banks that once supplied financing even more so. A sure thing does not exist in the home building market, either there is an attractive location and activity in a given area or you're a pioneer and risk taker. The rewards for taking these risks can be greater than building with a buyer. However, the longer your built property sits empty the more likely your profit margin will decrease accordingly. Many like the opportunity to build without constant interaction with a ...
Lately I have written about Hurricane Sandy and the Tornado stricken areas around Moore Oklahoma. Now we have the fires which are engulfing the western portions of the US. Currently there are multiple fires in Colorado alone. Over 38,000 have been displaced from their homes and 400+ homes have been destroyed from the Black Forest, Royal Gorge, Big Meadows & LaVita fires. According to "Wildfire Today"Drought conditions ranging from abnormally dry to severe exist and are expected to persist or intensify. The entire area is deficient in rainfall and snow pack, resulting in fuels that are 4-8 weeks ahead of normal drying/curing rates. It has to be devastating to see your home turned to ashes, memories which now only exist in the mind. However, this is when those who...
It seems like everywhere you turn there is a building project going on or building material truck's crowding the highways. Some might think this is nothing more than an illusion but, building statistics show that home building is on the rise along with home prices. I believe the increased activity is driven by a couple of things, first there is the rebuilding of the east coast which has been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Then there is the remains of Oklahoma and other midwestern towns which have been leveled by a rash of Spring tornado's. Add in a depleting inventory of existing homes and you have a rebounding building market, one which has driven up lumber prices steadily over the past several weeks. Another indicator would be labor and from the numbers exhibited here it does not look as if the building process is in full ti...
It may not sound like an issue which needs to be addressed promptly, but your projects coming in on time and on budget may require you to rethink this. How do I know if ABC Construction is giving me the best value for my money? As I have pointed out in past posts you will have to find a balance of cost and performance and do this over and over till you have acquired a healthy list of qualified subs and suppliers. Some of the criteria I use to judge the viability of a sub; are their project tasks finished on time and on budget? What degree of Craftsmanship do they exhibit? Do t...
Left with not much in the aftermath of a major Tornado, Oklahomans are set to take on a near impossible task, rebuilding again. The folks of Moore just like those of Barnesville, WI, have a daunting job ahead of them. First sifting through the scattered debris for any salvageable belongings, then removing the mess left behind. Of course this was not the first time this town has been targeted by massive storms and perhaps may not be...
This could pertain to most businesses of the day but especially the construction industry. Needing specs and other important documents NOW instead of sometime soon can be the difference between building on time and on budget or not. The cloud as it is called allows for all type of information to be made available instantaneously with the capability to forward this on to another’s email address or localized printer. Accurate data delivered when you need it is the key to a successful contracting business. Why most offices progress to a minimal paper office is two fold. ...
As I was beginning my career in the building trades I noted a few issues which drove me both crazy and lost me money. The big one was not having a corrected schedule for when my crew was to be on the job. If there was an event which delayed our phase/task on the job I needed to know earlier than the day of, with highly paid skilled workers, wasting an hour was a big deal not to mention what losing a ½ day’s of pay to have my crew show up and unable to start work. The GC would say, “we called” and I would have no way to confirm that they did, which put the burden on my company’s shoulders. This was a situation which I was willing to address once I became a GC in the city of Chicago. I wanted to keep my subs happy to do business with me and organizing my project scheduling ...
It does not matter if this was a complete custom built home or a single room addition or remodel, punch lists are inevitable. And how they are handled can make the difference between unhappy clients to one that will sing your praises to the masses. I call it "fit and finish"; it is in the details that separate an OK builder from the superstars. As a long time tile setter I can tell you that when I visit a space whether its commercial or a private home, I check out the detail of the tile work. I look at the layout, spacing, tile pattern (some tile is meant to be laid in a particular direction) and the grout finish. A competent PM must look at all the details from every aspect of the job; all phases need to be within their acceptance o...
Builders are always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd in a positive light. Where does it all start? A well designed website is a step in the right direction, having your builders portfolio online complete with photo's, testimonials, & awards or certifications. This should include all professional designations such as, CAPS (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist), CGP (Certified Green Professional) or GMB (Grand Master Builder) any of these would enhance your stature as a qualified builder. There should be a history of how the business was started and why the principles are qualified to build and deliver a quality custom home. All affiliations should be noted such as NAHB (National association of Home Build...
Not as easy as it sounds, many college grads working their way to Project Management jobs are not fully prepared for the task at hand. Only through a working involvement with seasoned PM's will they be able to learn the complete process and how to apply what they have learned to each new project the embark on. Just what is involved? First, general project management skills, Negotiation - ...
For the ill equipped builder losing profits are an everyday occurrence. It may not be one change order or purchase which upsets the accounting on a project. The accumulative changes and purchases however do make a heavy impact on the projects bottom line. Does not matter how the contract is worded, change orders and purchases costing more than the allowance for user/owner approved items can and do impact the purchase price. And tracking all of these items is imperative in obtaining every dollar of profit to be derived. Over t...
OK, so you have your bids and sold the project, whats next? Now you must make sure all of your suppliers and subcontractors are on the same page and understand just when and where they are needed. The days of calling up all the winning contractors and setting up a tentative schedule are long gone. Calls take time and in most cases you are in short supply of that commodity. Today the fastest and most reliable form of communicating with your subs & suppliers is through emai...
To obtain and maintain clients today it will take more than a spiffy website. If you want to engage your prospects you will have to show that you and your staff are prepared. How can you do so? Technology! most likely you either have one of these smart devices for business and or personnel use. They are the tools of a new efficient business model which allows the office to go with you, anywhere. Yes, this is the era of doing more with less and the latest smart technology assists at every level. Sma...
The old school of thought that software must be resident on local hard drives or in house servers is gone. Today no one wants to be weighed down by bulky laptops in order to enter or capture data. With the inception of the smart phone, ipad and other ultra portable devices we now have the capability to work with more freedom. This is why we have decided to launch our system over the cloud. Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet). The name comes from the common use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts remote services with a user's data, software and computation. End users acc...
Ryan Windmiller and his family have been in the custom home building business for over 25 years. Over these years they have seen many trends in the field and in the office to improve on all aspects of a construction company’s operations. So when it became time to have a better hand...