Execs from three lumberyards didn't mince words recently in telling vendors what they wanted: Fire many of the sales reps working today and replace them with smart, well-trained people who are empowered to solve dealers' problems. More
Raised heel roof trusses are proving to be a cost-effective way for fit more insulation into the attic for builders looking to construct to energy codes. More
Twenty-two members of the House of Representatives caught up with their Senate colleagues May 22 by introducing legislation to lighten the burdens imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead: Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule. More
Tenacity, creativity, realism, and willingness to lobby the government for change: These are the top recommendations LBM executives give on how to fight the slowdown in banks' construction lending, responses to a Southern Building Material Association "Dealer Helping Dealer" sounding found. More
Veteran LBM exec Don Magruder says recent research on business in his part of Central Florida shows lots of potential Projects are getting killed because banks are refusing to lend money for new-home construction, often for poor reasons. The federal government needs to push bankers back to the lending window, he says. More
A dozen years ago, architect Sarah Susanka wrote The Not So Big House, a book that... More
Scores of LBM dealers, distributors, and window and door manufacturers appealed in person on Capitol Hill for Congressional action in favor of home retrofitting incentives, against Democrats' health care proposals, and for permanent estate tax relief. Their visits followed a Louisiana Republican senator's warning that the Obama administration threatens small business and a political analyst's prediction that Democrats could lose up to 30 House seats and up to eight Senate seats in the November elections. More
I recently had a conversation here at the house with "Bill," a remodeling contractor. More
There has been plenty of talk in Washington this week about whether to extend and perhaps even expand the tax credit for home purchases. More
In the 1980s, as a reporter on the savings and loan crisis, I heard about a banking lobbyist who was having a hard time making his point to a young, but important, congressional aide. The more he talked about CD rates and lending loss ratios, the more confused she got. Then the aide suddenly brightened. "Now I know why I'm having trouble," she said. "You see, I've never been inside a bank." More
