Confessions of a job costing warrior

Christian Brown’s office assistant was so distraught she called his wife, Danielle, at home. “She said, ‘Christian is crazy. He came back from South Carolina after seeing this guy and he's like a warrior!’” That was 10 years ago when Christian had first opened his books to consultant Jerry Gaeta, and he learned he was leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. He realized his business was “organized chaos”... MORE

‘I’ll have what she’s having’

Doug Robbins’ first showroom was built in his backyard. It was small but effective. Over time, he developed big ideas for building a showroom at his shop. It seemed like a natural progression for his growing company. The shop showroom is beautiful, but it never worked out to expectations because people can’t get past the fact that it’s in an industrial park. Now Doug’s just completed a more elaborate showroom at his new house... MORE

Retaining walls & fences

Here in New England, we find we are being asked to build SRWs in locations that we may not have been asked to 25 years ago because good flat building lots are getting hard to find. As they build on these lots, homeowners and builders look to us for our expertise in building walls, and fences above those walls. Recently, I took the opportunity to ask Gabriela Mariscal, Director of Geotechnical Systems at NCMA some questions on this subject... MORE

Need help finding employees? This works.

As an employer for more than 30 years, I understand how frustrating it can be to find reliable employees. It’s time consuming work. Recruiting employees can be very expensive. Often, employment prospects promise you much more than they can really deliver. But, these challenges disappear when you combine a series of online and offline techniques to attract, screen, evaluate and hire top talent. I call this process the Automatic Hiring Machine™. Here’s an overview... MORE

Porcelain pavers have arrived

At HNA maybe 5 years ago there was a single small booth in a back corner marketing porcelain pavers. This year a substantial portion of the show floor will be devoted to porcelain with a multitude of exhibitors. Contractor John McDonald started installing porcelain about 2 years ago for high-end single family homes. He says, “I get phone calls every day from people interested in porcelain. It's crazy. Now it's probably 15% - 20% of my business and growing”... MORE

Contractor Profiles

Fortifying a downtown lot for outdoor living space

June/July 2017

Fortifying a downtown lot for outdoor living space

Combating neighborhood noise while creating privacy and a unique space to entertain. MORE

The wall no one else would bid

April/May 2017

The wall no one else would bid

Bahler Brothers get creative in constructing a tall wall half way up a steep slope. MORE

Building a backyard showroom

February/March 2017

Building a backyard showroom

Contractor Joe Monello tells how he designed/built his backyard hardscape and uses it as a showroom. MORE

Building big walls on a shoreline

December/January 2017

Building big walls on a shoreline

Dealing with regulations, risks and a steep slope along a water way. MORE

See More Contractor Profiles

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