Kathy's Remodeling Blog

Kathy's Remodeling Blog wins prestigious award

Kathy's Remodeling Blog has been named one of the best 50 home improvement blogs in the entire blogosphere by Interior Design College.

The team's five favorite blogs include:

The Art of Doing Stuff

The Home Know-It-All

Laurendy Home Blog

DIY Diva

This Damn House

Congratulations to all the winners.

My plea to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry — help us locate award-winning contractors

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) is an organization that helps raise the professionalism of remodeling contractors. So what does this have to do with homeowners?

NARI holds a competition each year called the CotY Awards, or Contractor of the Year. Winners are chosen in a variety of categories, like Best Residential Kitchen Under $40,000 and Best Residential Bath Under $30,000.

No problem with any of that. In fact, I often suggest to homeowners nervous about having a bad contractor experience that they hire award-winning companies. 

I've found that the companies who: 1) are members of professional organizations like NARI, 2) enter their projects in competitions and 3) win those competitions are often many steps above other companies.

So here's the problem: NARI does not make the information on winners easy to access. It does not give us a highly searchable database. And why not? I guarantee you if there was a winner database searchable by area, project type, price and with before and after pictures . . . well, I'd be on that site for hours.

Instead, what we're offered is a static list of winners announced Jan. 22, 2010 with no hot links to the winners, no pictures, nothing. What a missed opportunity. See what I'm talking about here. 

On that page, you'll find a listing of a 2010 winner that looks like this:

Residential Bath under $30,000

Region 1 Northeast

Dwyer & Leavenworth, Inc.

Monroe, NY

First of all, what is Region 1? Why not hot link to the company's website in case I want to check them out? And where is this winning bath? We know the company submitted copious photos to enter the competition and that the judges saw them. Why are we being denied?

The list of past and current winners is even more deadly boring, if that's possible. See it here.

OK, so maybe there is another location on the website where all the before and after photos are located. I found a digital magazine that lists the 2009 winners and shows one little picture for each winning project. The "magazine" looks like it took a lot of work and talent to layout and produce. But it's bulky online and has a weird search function. And again, where are the before and after photos! Please, the potential clients want, need, crave, salivate for before and after photos. Again, why hold back?

So this concludes my rant. Again I plea: NARI, give us a user-friendly way to find the winning companies and see the before and after photos of the winning projects. How can I suggest to homeowners that they hire award-winning companies if you make it so difficult to find those companies? Thank you for listening!

Santa Monica landscaper wins award for sustainable Malibu project

Pamela Burton & Co. won an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for the gardens and hardscape (seen above) at a Malibu beachfront home.

At first, the owner wanted lots of bright green turf. But the designers explained how that would be out of place with the sand and chaparral of the local natural geography and would need gobs of water. Eventually, the design team —Pamela Burton, Stephanie Psomas, Andrea Zurik and Stephen Billings — persuaded the owner to plant a sustainable landscape with sandy trails and low-water-use plants.

See more pictures and the whole plot plan, which includes a permeable driveway.

(Photos: Bruce Botnick)

3 SoCal contractors named to Remodeling magazine's Big 50

Three SoCal contractors — in El Cajon, Fullerton and San Diego — have been included in the 2008 Big 50 list compiled by Washington, D.C.-based Remodeling magazine.

According to the website for the respected magazine, which has named 50 top contractors each year since 1986, this is an "elite group of remodeling professionals . . . whose exemplary business practices, unique design sensibilities, and exceptional management skills elevate them above their peers."

The three from our area include:

Larry, Candace and Michael Zolezzi of LZ Construction, El Cajon (staff pictured here)

Design/build remodeling; 22 years in business; 2007 volume: $3.4 million; staff: 5 office, 6 field

Quoted from the magazine: LZ Construction is the relatively rare remodeling company that employs its own plumber, a hire (Larry) Zolezzi made because he couldn't find a satisfactory subcontractor in his market. Pleased with the added efficiency it has brought to his business, Zolezzi says he'll soon add an electrician to his modestly sized field crew. Read more

Paul A. Paniagua, All Pro Builders, Fullerton

Full-service remodeling; 20 years in business; 2007 volume: $1.2 million; staff: 3 office, 6 field

Quoted from the magazine: All Pro Builders has most recently focused on implementing standard operating procedures, creating a manual that encompasses all areas of doing business. Paniagua also has what he calls his “bible,” which every employee has on his or her desk, with information about vendors, jobs, architects, engineers, inspection codes, and subcontractors. “We live by this book,” he says. Read more

Jeff Jertberg, CR*, and Robert M. Jertberg II, CKBR**, Vanberg Construction, San Diego

Design/build remodeling; 21 years in business; 2007 volume: $3 million; staff: 2 office, 8 field

Quoted from the magazine: The Jertbergs match designers and interior designers with each individual client “to alleviate any finger-pointing,” Jeff says, and they partner with a variety of local designers to develop their diverse projects. “With an in-house designer, you can build the same thing over and over again,” Rob says. Read more

* CR = Certified Remodeler
** CKBR = Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler

(Photo: LZ Construction)

See all SoCal contractors in past Big 50 lists

Subscribe to the magazine here:

Green Builder Profile: DAD’s Construction (Orange County)

Company name: DAD's Construction Inc.

Website: www.dadsconstruction.com

Principals: Dan Derkum and Lori Derkum

Contact info: Lori Derkum, 25422 Trabuco Road, Suite 105-220, Lake Forest, CA 92630, phone: (949) 380-0177, e-mail: lori@dadsconstruction.com or dan@dadsconstruction.com

Years in business: 25-plus

Specialize in: Kitchens, bathrooms, and full interior remodels

Professional memberships: National Assn. of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), National Kitchen and Bath Assn. (NKBA), Western Regional Master Builders Assn. (WRMBA), Building Trades Assn. (BTA), International Code Council (ICC), the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Build It Green (BIG), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

Professional certifications: California Licensed General Contractor (No. 802617), Certified Green Building Professional (Build It Green), MBA

Awards: Some of the awards our projects have received:

• 2007 Award of Merit - Pacific Coast Builders Conference Gold Nugget Awards, Best Specialty Project
• 2005 Watermark Awards, Builder and Custom Home magazines' "Grand Award" & "Kitchen of the Year"
• Lake Forest Homeowners Assn. 2004 House of the Quarter
• 2004 Award of Merit - Pacific Coast Builders Conference Gold Nugget Awards, Best Attached Project

How did you get interested in green building? DAD's never "got into green building.”  We have always done what is today called "green building”: using exhaust fans in bathrooms, double-glass low-E windows, skylights, insulated water pipes, formaldehyde-free insulation, engineered lumber, low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, asbestos-free products, florescent lighting, whole-house fans, recycling removed building materials, tankless water heaters. 

We strive to build and remodel projects that greatly exceed codes and that will last a lifetime. So how does this help the environment? Tearing out a bathroom over and over again to fix cheap and substandard work generates more waste and more demand for building materials. We want to avoid that. Although the manufacturers may not appreciate this, our customers and the environment do.

L.A. builder wins national energy efficiency award

Los Angeles-based Pardee Homes received an Energy Value Housing Award last month at the International Builder's Show in Orlando.

The awards recognize builders who voluntarily incorporate energy efficiency in the design, construction and marketing of new homes.

The word "voluntarily" is key for builders, who want to avoid more regulations and mandates. These builders are not just complaining about pending mandates for green building; they are helping to stave it off.

The Pardee home recognized is in Sacramento, is 2,264 square feet and cost $58 per square feet to build using the guidelines of the ComfortWise program. See more on that.

Energy features listed for the home (pictured here) include:

Foundation: Slab-on-grade
Exterior wall construction: 2x6 @ 16" o.c.
Wall insulation: R-13 fiberglass batt plus R-4 foam sheathing
Roof construction: Trusses @ 16" o.c.
Ceiling insulation: R-38 fiberglass batt
Windows: Low-e vinyl; U-0.32 to 0.35; SHGC 0.33 to 0.34
HVAC: 80 AFUE gas furnace; 13 SEER air conditioner
Ducts: Less than 10% of ductwork in conditioned space; ducts sealed according to energy efficiency program protocols
Water heating: 0.82 EF tankless gas water heater
Lighting: 72% fluorescent (32% dedicated fluorescent fixtures)
Appliances: Energy Star refrigerator, dishwasher and washer
Innovative features: 2.3 kW photovoltaic system; radiant barrier; programmable thermostat; lighting controls

See more environmental awards Pardee Homes has won