I'm Thankful

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It doesn’t come with a lot of religious guilt, it hasn’t been crassly merchandised to death (how much money is there in turkey and cranberry sauce, anyway?), and it’s not infected with a lot of cheap sentiment.

No, it is a day where one gets together with loved ones, eats a tremendous meal, watches a little football if so inclined, and, without too much effort I think, calls to mind those things in life for which one is thankful. Pretty simple…and pretty hard to screw up. And so, simply, I am thankful for:

· My wife. Gratitude and thankfulness for your continuing choice of me as a spouse don’t begin to describe it. We are truly greater than the sum of our parts!

· My family and friends. You are the people who sustain me, delight me and in whose company I take refuge from the craziness of the world.

· My colleagues in NARI. A more generous and giving bunch of folks would be hard to find. In a business that is tough enough in good times, your willingness to share knowledge, encourage one another and hold each other to high standards is inspiring.

· The architects, subs, vendors and employees I talk with almost daily. Working together year after year, as a team, has made my projects go smoothly; delighting clients, making the day fun and producing well built and truly beautiful work.

· My clients. Without you, my business would not be here. The trust you place in me and my team is appreciated and something that I never take for granted.

· My hands. Guided by the gray matter upstairs, they have allowed me to make a rewarding living for the last 23 years, creating tangible things, and freed me from what, to me, would be the pure torture of sitting at a desk for the rest of my life.

Simply said, I have a lot to be thankful for; not just tomorrow, but the rest of the year as well. Finally, I’ll be grateful if you read this, and have, for yourself and your loved ones, a very Happy Thanksgiving! Just don’t expect me to get all philosophical about Christmas, though!

How do you know what you don’t know?

Way back in the early days of my career in construction, I was a lowly laborer/apprentice. My days were sometimes interesting, but many days were spent humping materials hither and yon on the jobs, loading the dumpster…basically at the beck and call of the foreman and lead carpenter.

One day, on a job in Georgetown, another laborer and I were given the task of getting an old, cast iron bathtub into the dumpster, which sat three floors below, in the back yard. We didn’t know much, to be sure, but we did know that:

· The tub weighed at least 300 lbs.

· No, we could not push it out the window.

The other laborer and I looked at each other and then to the tub, and began doing the best we could to get the thing down three flights of stairs without damaging the stairs, the walls, or smashing ourselves in the process. It seemed like all day, but it was probably at least an hour and a half later that we finally had this beast of a tub down the stairs, into the yard, and ready to put in the dumpster. Walls and floors had been scuffed, knuckles skinned and ankles twisted, but we had done it.

Problem was, however, that the dumpster was placed in the yard in such a way that opening its rear gate was impossible. How to get the thing up and over the 6’ high sides?

We pondered….smoked a cigarette or two….and pondered some more.

It wasn’t long before the foreman came over and asked us, not so nicely, “why the hell that f***ing tub wasn’t in the f***ing dumpster, and were we going to take all f***ing day about it?” We shrugged sheepishly, our body language asking “What do you want us to do?”

He went back inside the house, and came out a minute later with a sledge hammer. In three or four stiff licks, he had broken the tub into several pieces, which we could easily pick up and throw overboard into the can. We stood; slack jawed, as the truth of the last hour and a half slowly flowed over our feeble brains.

“The next time you don’t know how to do something, f***ing ask me!” said the foreman, and then stalked off, thinking to himself, I’m sure that, for a couple of “college boys”, we were dumber than a bag of hammers. It was a feeling we shared.

Education is not free. It is paid for in tuition, sure, but also in skinned knuckles and twisted ankles. Since I’ve been in business, I’ve also paid in lost profits on jobs that were bid too low, lack of knowledge about particular means & methods, working for psycho clients…..the list is long and expensive! It’s true though, that you don’t readily forget things that you paid so dearly for.

The next time you’re looking at your own monster “tub” though, take a moment to think about what you don’t know that you don’t know….and remember to ask!

Get a Second Opinion!

The other day, my mother called me to tell me of a problem she had. "Has your brother called you yet?" she asked. Turns out she had a sewer backup in the basement...the usual stuff coming out of the floor drain. Nasty enough, but she got it cleaned up. She called one of our locally advertised "sewer-rooter-outers". I won't name names here, but they're well known in the area.

Anyway, they sent out a tech who brought with him a sewer camera and a power snake. The guy snaked out the drain...said he ran it out 70' or so, but explained to my mother that she had a serious problem. He had found a large section of cast iron pipe that had rotted out on the bottom, leaving a hole through which sewage would leak, and with jagged edges that would eventually catch enough debris to cause another clog.

Johnny on the spot that he was, he assured my mother that his company could repair the problem. In fact, he recommended that most of the sub slab piping be replaced....while they were there. They would need to pull up the carpet in the finished basement, hammer up a lot of the concrete slab and patch it all up. They would also have to do a bunch of digging in the yard as well.

He left her a contract to sign...for $5,500....which she did. Thankfully, Maryland has a "Right of Rescission" law, which allows a contract to be cancelled within three days.

What mom did next was call her sons to ask what we thought.

Skeptics that we are, as well as experienced contractors, something didn't sound right. We've both worked on homes much older than our mother's (40 years) and most often find that the cast iron sewer lines last a loooong time. So we rented a sewer camera, took it over to mom's place with our long time plumber, and set out to see for ourselves.

Into the drain line the camera went, only to find....well, nothing, really. The pipes were in as good shape as you'd expect after 40 years in the ground. About 40' in (outside the walls of the house) there was an accumulation of petrified grease, which is not uncommon in older homes. The way that is dealt with, however is NOT by hammering up the better part of a basement and digging the hell out of the yard. It is dealt with by blasting the grease out with high temperature, high pressure water. It costs a few hundred dollars....not $5,500!

Did you know that? Mom didn't, and neither, I suspect, do a lot of nice people, young AND old. Why would they, after all? How many folks do you think get suckered this way every day? Plenty, I'm sure.

And so, my recommendation: Get a second opinion! There are times when there's an emergency, sure, and the thing, whatever it is, needs to be dealt with then and there. Sometimes, in those situations, you just have to go with the first one that answers the phone. For less immediate things though, take some time and think things through. Call another plumber, or electrician, roofer, or whatever. Call someone who is more knowledgeable than you. Hell, call ME, if you want to, but call someone.

I don't know if there are any second opinion companies out there (maybe I should start one!), but I would, at least, try to find someone independent, or who has no skin in the game. Maybe you could call a Virginia licensed contractor over and pay them for their time to give you advice in Maryland. Maybe you could call a home inspector. They provide information, but don't actually do the work.

I know it demands more time, but I think that the results are well worth it. If my mother didn't have two sons who knew enough to ask questions, she'd be out a lot of money right now...and so might you.

Catching Up

Last night, I had dinner and a few beers with some long time contractor buddies of mine. We met years ago when we both were frequent competing bidders for a local architect's work. Neither of us has done anything for that architect in a long time, but our friendship endures. And so, every six months or so, one of us will call the other, asking: "Isn't it time for us to have some steak and a few drinks?" It's always a fun evening.

What I like about getting together with them and others whose profession I share, is that we understand each other's pain...the pain of the recent down market, the pain of working with cheapskates or fools, the pain of watching employees destroy tools that you've lovingly kept running for years. We also can truly appreciate each other's triumphs, though...getting that project you really needed, actually winning a point against an arrogant permit reviewer. Hell, lately, not having to lay someone off has been a triumph to trump all others!

The point is, we encourage each other. Nothing is ever so black and terrible when you're sitting across the table from someone who has walked the same path you're on.

That encouragement is also why I'm actively involved in NARI, and why I try to make at least a few of their dinner meetings every year, volunteer at their home show booth, write for the magazine, etc. That coming together of like minds and experiences helps all of us not only to feel better about what we do, but, by sharing experiences and accumulated wisdom, actually improve our companies, our attitudes, ourselves.

Contracting is never an easy business, but the last few years have been bruising. Curling up and hiding in a hole is an impulse that hovers, I'm sure, just in front of many of us, as we weather on. Having a few beers though, with someone who gets it, is an important step in the process of staying on your feet and continuing to walk forward every day.

So, call your buddies already. You know you need them!

NARI Fun

This afternoon, I helped staff NARI's booth at the Capitol Home Expo, in Chantilly. For the first time in recent years, we had a decent sized booth, which allowed people to come in and look at photos of our 2009 CoTY (Contractor of The Year) award winners. We also had a table set up, and a sign encouraging people to "Ask the Experts". Hard for me to believe, but after over twenty years in the industry, I guess I actually AM an expert!

I volunteer at the NARI booth happily, for a number of reasons. The primary reason is the opportunity it gives me to acquaint people with our trade association and its mission, which is to raise the level of professionalism in our industry. In a climate where the competition is stiff, membership in NARI shows, I think, a level of commitment to one's profession that is oftentimes a key factor in a homeowner's decision to hire a particular firm. So, getting the opportunity to get in front of people and sell who we are and why we, as NARI members, are a cut above, is something I'm glad to do.

Seeing as the show is in Virginia, I don't get much of a chance to sell people on the wisdom of working with MY company in particular, but that's really not why we're there anyway. Mostly, I just enjoy telling people about what we do, and if possible, to steer them clear of the many pitfalls that can arise in a remodeling project.

For anyone interested in remodeling, or for anyone interested in joining NARI, I'd encourage you to visit them at www.narimetrodc.org

How Do You Work With Your Contractor?

This is a recent article I wrote for "Remodeling Today" magazine's Fall 2010 issue, which will be hitting the stands at local retail locations near you this week. Inside is some good information on the different ways in which you and your contractor can successfully work together. Give it a read!

"How do you work with your Contractor?"

The Pickle Principle

Not long ago, I was in Jerry’s Pizza for lunch.  I was in a hurry, and didn’t feel like waiting for anything, so I figured I’d grab a couple of slices of pizza, since they were right there in the case at the counter.  Now, you know that feeling you get when you look at something that’s been divvied up and someone else is going to pick what you get?  You hope that that person, especially if they have no skin in the game, will give you the biggest pieces.  Does that ever happen?  Seldom, my friends, seldom.  If it were possible for the counter guy to pick two smaller pieces of pizza, I’m not sure how he could have done it.  I got seriously stiffed, and it left a “grrrr” on my mojo for the rest of the afternoon. 

So why the “pickle principle”?  Let me back up a bit.  When I was a kid, I loved pickles…still do, in fact.  So much so that, on birthdays and occasionally even at Christmas, I actually received pickles as a gift, from those that truly knew and loved me.  Anyway, every so often, I’d be in the grocery with my mom, and we’d go to the deli counter, and there, behind the glass case, was a clear glass jar, full of pickles.  My mother would often let me get one as a treat (she knew and loved me, of course). 

I’d step up to the counter and ask the lady or man to get me a pickle, please.  Now remember, this is a clear glass jar here, so it’s OBVIOUS where the big pickles are, and where the more “gherkinesque” ones are floating.  How many times do you think someone hooked me up with a good sized pickle?  Damn few, that’s how often.  It’s a pattern that continues to this day. 

And so, I am forced to ask……WHY?!  What do you profit by stiffing somebody?  It’s not as if these are the last pickles (or slices of pizza) on earth, and need to be hoarded for more worthy souls.  I mean really, what would it cost you to do me a solid and make my day? 

So, here’s the pickle principle: 

All of us have a clear glass jar, a reservoir of energy and enthusiasm, full of various things, that we must dole out of every day.  Whether I’m clerking a deli counter, selling slices of pizza, or cutting up someone’s house and turning into something new and special, I am giving or selling you something that you can see.  If I don’t give you the biggest pickle, or if I half-ass some bit of work, you’ll know, won’t you?  You’ll see it, know I could have done better, and feel cheated somehow, won’t you? I know I do. 

I think there’s no good reason why you shouldn’t give your customer, your clients, and certainly your friends and family, the best you can give at that moment.  Here’s the key phrase though…..AT THAT MOMENT.  Think of it like a jar of pickles….if you give each customer the biggest pickle you can see in the jar, they’ll be happy and you will be too.  After all, you just hooked them up, didn’t you?  So when the next customer comes along, you do the same, and that guy feels like you just hooked him up too, right? 

And on it goes.  Each customer is getting progressively smaller pickles, but each feels like you did the best you could for them.  And really, when you think about it, you did!  So life is like that too, isn’t it?  We have days that are full of energy, and others that drag.  Some days, we’re capable of great things and others we’re content merely to not screw something up and get home in one piece.  If we give others the best we are capable of at each moment though, I think we have no reason to feel ashamed.  Our family, our friends, our clients and customers will know……and so will we.

Get the Lead Out!

If you’re not involved in residential remodeling, you're probably unaware that, come April 22nd of this year, the EPA has a BUNCH of new rules concerning lead that we remodelers have to follow. The powers that be have decided that now is the time to get serious about reducing the hazards of lead paint in our nations housing stock.

Houses built before 1978 are deemed those most likely to contain lead paint. Renovating those houses can, and often does send lead laden dust scattering around the house. Not good for kids, certainly, and for anyone else, for that matter.

Today in class, we learned various ways to mitigate this problem; proper use of plastic sheeting, HEPA vacuums, clean up techniques and so on. We even did a few exercises with plastic and tape in class. None of this was particularly new, save for the use of HEPA vacuums. Most techniques were more involved variants of things that responsible remodelers have been doing all along.

I came away from the class with a better idea of what I, as a remodeler, need to do to protect both my clients and my workers. In that sense, the class was worthwhile (if a bit expensive, at $225). Cynic that I am though, I have a few things to say.

First, for the privilege of registering with the EPA as “Lead Certified Renovators”, we must pay another $300…this time to Uncle Sam. That $300 will, presumably, pay for the enforcement apparatus that will fine us up to $36,500 for various and sundry violations of the new law.

Now I’m all for hammering the scofflaw but, if history is any guide, enforcement on average residential projects will be rare. We’ll have the occasional crucifixion of some deserving jackleg but, for most of us (the ones that play by the book anyway) the only impact on our business will be the added expense of new vacuums, at $500 a pop, the added cost of taping and sheeting the absolute bejeezus out of everything, and the cost and attendant time suck of documenting every strip of tape we apply and how well we “gooseneck tied” our trash bags.

Again, this is stuff that, in one form another, we already do. Now though, we have the added pleasure of waiting for the dreaded knock at the door. We also have the pleasure of knowing that we just gave tort lawyers another stick...make that baseball bat, to beat the financial stuffing out of us with, should we fail to dot every “i” and cross every “t”. What is it they say about terrorists? We have to get it right all the time, but they only have to get it right once.

Now comes time to sell all of this to you, the homeowner. Seeing as how, come April 22nd, anyone who doesn’t have their certification in order will be a criminal, it should be easy for us law abiding guys to set ourselves apart, right? I mean, you wouldn’t knowingly hire a criminal to work on your house, would you? And when we come to you and explain that abiding by the law is going to cost us, hence YOU more money, you’ll see the value in that, won’t you? Sure you will. I mean really, what price can you put on your family’s safety?

Actually, I’m sure it will make a difference to some of you, but I know from experience that to many, it won’t. I’d like to think that those people are not my clients; that everyone wants what is best. I don’t know though. Right now I feel like all of this is giving “Joe Pickup Truck” a subsidy at my expense; making his price seem even lower as I inevitably have to raise mine. I play by the rules and I believe in the rules, but, in an industry with such low barriers to entry and in which so few are even acquainted with, let alone committed to obeying them, I don’t think this new law is going to have the intended effect.

Those of us who are diligent, who care, who belong to NARI, who commit ourselves to continuing education…..well, we’ll do what we are told. We will do our best to keep our clients safe and to explain what we’re doing and why. “Joe Pickup Truck” isn’t going to change though and, seeing as how he probably makes up a large percentage of remodelers as a whole, the lead dust will still fly. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, for those that are interested in all of this, go to http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm for more information.

Old Friends

In January of 1996, I left the company I had been working for 6 years to strike out on my own. At the time, I was working for a pretty nice guy and working with a bunch of talented carpenters….guys who I truly enjoyed swinging hammers with every day. As skilled journeymen, we challenged each other every day.

Though we were often leading other crews, when we worked together, each of us stepped up our game a little bit. Whether it was how fast we could complete our section of work, how accurately we could lay something out, or what shiny new tool we had just bought, we each, subconsciously, I think, wanted to impress each other. Not in a competitive or cutthroat way, mind you; but more along the lines of affirming daily our deserved positions, of showing why we belonged there. On those days, working with those guys, work was a pleasure.

On my last day at work for that company, my boss, my fellow carpenters and assorted helpers and laborers had a small sendoff for me at the project I had been running, and was now leaving. The job was a large addition and whole house renovation on Foxhall Rd….a huge Victorian place, with enough challenges and details to make a carpenter truly content with his work.

At that time, the drywall had not yet been hung, but the place was closed in, and the fireplace had been completed. It was January, and quite cold. And so there we sat that evening, in the dark, drinking countless beers, swapping stories around a roaring fire we had just christened the fireplace with. An evening at a swanky restaurant could not have been finer than that night, in the company of friends.

As the evening wore on, people drifted off, one by one, until there were just a few of us left; my boss, and those few carpenters with whom I so enjoyed working. After assuring myself that my fairly drunk boss would get home OK (it was a pretty easily navigable downhill run to MacArthur Blvd.) the rest of uswalked to our trucks. One of my good friends and I chatted for awhile after, well and truly buzzed, about how we’d miss working with each other and how….soon, man….soon, we’d both be masters of our own fate; how we’d help each other out from time to time.

We kept in touch afterwards, seeing each other now and then…the last time maybe 4 or 5 years ago. In the intervening years, we had kids, grew older, grayer, balder and heavier. He went out on his own a few years after I did, and works mainly out and around Annapolis. What we never did do in all those years though, was work together. Until yesterday.

A few weeks ago, I had referred him to an architect who was building a house near Annapolis…out of my area. I called him to tell him that, and we chatted for the first time in years. Things are slow, and he didn’t have much going on, he said. As it happens, I have a carpenter who is going on vacation in a few weeks, and I could use a stand-in. I also had need for someone yesterday.

Which is how I came to spend the entire day, in 25 degree weather, working side by side with my friend…for the first time in 14 years. Like Forrest Gump said: “we was just like peas and carrots!” I had forgotten the pleasure of working with someone as experienced as myself; me cutting, him nailing…working in tandem…challenging each other to do our best. Working alone most of the time, you miss that. The old rythms that made us so happy to work together all those years ago were still there, and I was pleased. I haven’t had such an enjoyable day of work in I don’t know how long……maybe 14 years!

My friend would probably think I’m goofy and that I waaay overthought it, but it really was great day. It reaffirmed to me why I do what I do, and it made me remember the true joy I felt, and continue to feel, in taking part in the creation of something. So thanks Scot….more than you know!