Heating Basics 104

Hot Water Heat

More often than not, my experience points to hot water base board being the choice of heat most commonly made in homes, compared to hot air, wood stoves, and fireplaces.


The warmth is delivered by moving the heated water through a network of pipes around the house, usually divided into separate zones on each floor. Radiating outwards from the water into the air in each room, the heat is accelerated and amplified by fins in the baseboard or reflectors in the floor. It is a passive, unobtrusive friend.

In older houses, this system is identified by the ornate bulky cast-iron boilers in every room. Homes less than 50 years old have sections of bulky baseboards along the wall, noticeable only as limiting for the placement of furniture.
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In the basement, the efficient system sits contained in a small box (size of a filing cabinet) with a well-organized mane of pipes and valves. Often now, the hot water tank for dishes and showers serves as auxiliary to hold water heated by the boiler, no longer a heater by itself.

This system is the most expensive to install and cheapest to maintain, quietly (well, older versions provide the comforting gurgle and knocks moving through) providing an even, warm heat without another thought. Anyone who just wants to go about their day should live with hot water heat.

Baseboards, like grilles of a forced air system, are usually set under windows to offer the strongest defense against the largest loss. A large room requires longer runs, limiting some locations for a sofa or bed. The pipes can remain effective built into a shelf or cabinet unit.

Although the most expensive installation, most people would prefer to run radiant in the floor, especially in a solid slab concrete floor. This requires a web of pipes weaving to cover every square foot of the floor for maximum warmth and effect. The mass becomes warm enough to live in bare feet while winter rages outside, heating from your toes upwards.

Beyond cost, there is no downside to hot water heat. Solid and persistent, this is a heat source that does all the work with little complaint beyond the creaking of expanding pipes. There are no pauses in the day to feel cold or hot; simply set the thermostat and live.

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Confessions of a Sub-Primer

I am a contributor to the sub-prime fiasco.

So much blame for the current economic crisis is placed on the shoulders of the mortgages made to people with less than stellar credit desperate to buy homes they could not afford. The rising rate of defaults on these so-called predator loans, it is explained, has shaken confidence around the world, and the entire economic system is on the verge of collapse.

This bail-out package has been rushed so quickly—desperately—to vote, one wonders if taking just a little more time might uncover better solutions. If, in fact, failed mortgages are at the root, why are we not looking at supporting those mortgages instead of bailing out the “evil” men who made them? This answer seems just as poor a decision as the one that made me sign that mortgage in the first place.

In the super-charged economy of pre 911, when contractors had all the work they wanted and not enough labor to get it done, I rushed along, putting unqualified people in place, making mistakes that tumbled my company into serious debt. Unwilling to face bankruptcy, over-confident that money alone would cure the shortfall, equity in my home seemed the best way to rescue my company, the men, and our families we were feeding.

My own credit had been destroyed in the effort to pay bills late instead of borrowing. Taking advantage of “No doc” loans available, we used my wife’s name, supported by my unproven income.

The interest rate was an affordable 6.5% for 3 years. The processor agreed enthusiastically that I could rebuild my credit and refinance by then, and rates were holding steady anyway, unlikely to rise. I even checked the index rate that would trigger an adjustment and was again re-assured.

So with hope and optimism in ourselves and our commitment to work hard, and in desperation to bail out a business that could turn profitable on the very next project, we met with the courier, and my wife signed the papers. What I did not see in the pages of fine, fine print--rushed through and signed in under 20 minutes—was that the link had enough points over the index to guarantee adjustment upwards.

It angers me to hear commentators speak with scorn of the people who made such decisions. We, The People, who are leading desperate lives to pay these mortgages of 12% are just as much “Main Street” as the citizen asked to pay for the bailout. In fact, we have to pay the mortgage and our taxes.

I chose this option when it was a rate I could afford, but as payments have risen more than $1,000 a month—money that goes entirely to the profits of the lender--my back has been slowly, painfully broken.

The demise of my business, the dissolution of my marriage, the search for a new career cannot be blamed on the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. The desperation to solve financial problems was an imposing factor. I am fortunate to be able to sell my house and get out from under this pain. I know there are others in neighborhoods who have lost all value and are forced to just walk away.

Perhaps there could be a solution that simply adjusts these mortgages back to the original affordable rates, and supports those unable to pay even that. People remain in their homes (perhaps other marriages can be saved), lenders see fair and modest returns, and confidence is restored.

Very simple, yes. But like a frightened child, I am listening carefully to the arguments and reassurances of our President and Congressionals sitting around the kitchen table late into the night. They want to leverage the perceived equity in our government’s home and it sounds eerily familiar.

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Heating Basics 103

Air Ducts & furnaces

If you know the feeling of damp shivering chilled to the bone cold, and you want to come into a house and be embraced like a mother wrapping a sick child in a blanket, then forced –air heat is the one to choose. Turn up the thermostat, stand on the grate and the warmth surrounds your chill and smothers it.

Forced air systems are easily recognized in a basement as the network of silvery trunks and pipes converging on a large metal box. The older the unit, the larger the box and the more places to duck underneath. In the rooms upstairs, the system is identified by the simple or decorative grilles in the floor, usually under windows. Typically the grills do not interfere with furniture placement and are a great delight for kids to stand over in bathrobes.

This system, aptly named, makes the cold air hot and pushes it through a duct system, entering each room through the grilles in the floor. Another set of grates, usually in central common areas, returns the cooled air back to the furnace to be heated again. This is an on-demand system: a call for heat delivers immediate satisfaction with a rush of warm air no one could deny. The heat is a comforting embrace, a luxury of warmth.

But in any house, especially a drafty one, the heat soon dissipates. The cold slowly creeps back in. A whirr of motor and a fluff or breeze soon delivers more heat. The body constantly readjusts.

All that movement of air also stirs up and redistributes the dust we wish was not actually there. This could certainly be a problem for allergy sufferers, but additional filters installed within the system provide a strong argument that this system actually cleans the house while heating. As long as they are maintained regularly, a series of filters in the ductwork may actually catch and control a healthy portion of the dust naturally floating around.

Air movement also accentuates the amount of moisture drawn out naturally in the process of heating air. Felt mostly in our dried out nostrils, this is often experienced by an increase of bloody noses. Here too, a humidifier can be added to the system to replace moisture lost in the changes of temperature blown through the house. Humidifiers in various strengths being necessary to balance any form of winter heat, this system may actually hold the advantage, being directly applied internally and requiring no oversight.

While these drawbacks make people avoid furnaces, each problem has a solution that actually improves it overall. Forced air is less expensive to install (about $6,000) and costs about the same to run relative to natural gas, LP, or oil. No system satisfies our need for heat more quickly and the fluctuations may be controlled by well-placed thermostats. The vicious claws of winter are well-tamed with a forced-air system.

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Heating Basics 102

Hearth & Home

Heating your own home is all about comfort. The goal is to efficiently create warmth, with minimum effort and cost, to enable easily living the rest of your life (obtaining food in all forms) while winter rages outside.


Fireplaces satisfy that basic urge to bring the flame into the home, creating the direct warmth on the face and the extended, rubbing hands around a campfire feel. The mantle provides a place for stockings with care, and a visual focus for the artwork of the Home. During a gathering of friends, the ambient flame welcomes guests to feel safe.

While it satisfies a basic psychological urge, unfortunately, in addition to being dangerous when not-maintained properly, the fireplace is not able to offer much heat into the room, spitefully pushing it up the chimney instead. Even worse, it sucks already conditioned air from every nook and cranny throughout the house, causing drafts and discomfort.

Woodstoves are a great compromise to the nearly-hands-on afficianados, providing much of the ambiance of an open flame, but turbo-charged to provide serious heat. No other source can match the saturating blanket of warmth, the embracing feel of entering a room toasty and sizzling.

The word “cozy” is perhaps best defined by an evening heated by a woodstove. As darkness descends and winter cold creeps in, the appliance becomes the center of life. The warmer you want to be, the closer you get. Children play on the floor in front of it. Animals sleep practically under it. Mittens dry on hooks behind it. The sizzle and crackle is as soothing as classical music.

Cheaper to install ($2-3000 plus labor), and one third the cost to run, wood heat is a great alternative for the energy conscious, but requires a year round commitment not suitable for the feint-at-heart. No matter how comfy the sound, heat by woodstove takes constant attention, and armfuls of work.

The adage is absolutely correct that woodstoves heat you twice: once when you burn, and once collecting the wood. As winter ends, the real work begins to secure and cure enough cords (typically 3-5 at $150 each) by late Fall. The stack must remain dry and close enough to be easily hauled inside. The chips of bark and dust fall where they may, littering the pathway, and just when you are really settled down and comfortable, it demands another log.

Efficient designs allow for stoves to burn all night, but like feeding a pet, there is a problem for those who spend the Holidays away. Additionally, the amount of heat enjoyed is directly proportional to the proximity to the stove, so the far reaches of a home tend to remain chilly and comparatively uncomfortable.

While a great solution for someone concerned with economics and a greener lifestyle, in cold climates the drawback of a woodstove is that it requires the support of another system to ensure that pipes are never frozen. Discussion of these will follow in future entries.

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Heating Basics 101

3 Ways to Heat Your Home

The high cost of heat and the number of calls for help with weatherization invites a few basic lessons on the subject of creating efficient comfort in colder climates.


This week, a friend called complaining of cold feet. With rolls of fiberglass insulation laying in the basement since purchasing the house, it was only logical for her to finally take the time to hang it between the hand-hewn (this means really old and imperfect) joists under the floors separating the living spaces from the cold basement.

In actuality, the warmth generated by finally taking this action would have only made her feet colder come winter. Like our bodies, a house is a complicated system, and a chill is not always cured by putting on a sweater.

Comfort in the home is all about the condition of the air and surfaces. In hot climates, the solution is named air-conditioning for a reason. Against the cold, heaters are the appropriate solution.

How best to heat and move the air has been under discussion since people first shivered. The invention of fire has not only led to filet mignon, but created sophisticated ways to ensure comfort in the home.

The fire itself has remained a choice for those who love the psychological warmth of hands close to the heat. From the primitive lodges with a hole at the top to Rumford fireplaces channeling hot air through the chimney, an open flame within the house has provided warmth throughout the ages.

But also danger.


Unfortunately, with the benefits has come the pain of too many lives destroyed from fire burning out of control. A multitude of heaters have been designed to contain the fire safely and distribute the warmth efficiently. In my experience, there are three basic methods: the woodstove containing the raging fire; the furnace heating and distributing the air; and the boiler heating and distributing water which radiates heat outward to condition the air in each room.

How each of these works and how to hold their heat in your home can be the topics for many entries to come as the leaves change and temperatures drop, heading towards a long, cold winter.

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Just Another Season

The New Year really begins in the Fall.

With the start of school is also the approach of winter. Settled back into a home after a summer of outdoor play and travel, the approach of winter looms. Like squirrels gathering nuts, people prepare for the long, cold days ahead.

Conventional wisdom may say that Spring is a carpenter’s busiest season, but my experience has consistently logged the longest hours in the Fall. Projects conceived when the snow melted, were designed, priced and redesigned in June, then put on hold. Now settling back into cramped quarters, jobs are rushed into production to be finished before family arrives at Thanksgiving.

This year, uncertainty about the Election and fears for the economy have changed the landscape. After years of flourishing under the lights of low interest rates and high confidence, the ripe additions are not so abundant for the picking. Instead, people are taking stock and just making the necessary repairs to protect their investment.

In truth, the majority of builders have seen a lot of good years where the biggest problem has been finding the labor needed to construct the wealth of projects contracted. One had the luxury to pick and choose, be too busy to answer new calls, and enjoy profits that only seem appropriate for such hard work.

For some, it is the only season they have known.

Now, it is easy—like breathing the crisp air that turns leaves to brilliant colors before falling off—to smell the panic. Men swaggering in big new pick-ups two years ago are sweating their payment due next week. Others, who have enjoyed the paycheck every Friday working for someone else, are suddenly on their own, with little ability or experience to know how to take off their nail belt to turn over stones. The signs that advertised hiring have been taken down and stored away.

I hate to admit I have been doing this long enough to have survived several such downturns. The good news is that I have learned that it is a cycle and will eventually turn upwards again. Those signs to hire will eventually be brought back out.

In the meantime, we have to tighten our nail belts and work harder to distinguish ourselves from the next guy. Tough choices must be made to retain the best of your crew, laying off the less productive, no matter how many mouths they might have at home to feed. Spend more time in the field and save office work for the evenings, side-by-side with your kids doing schoolwork. Relentless attention to detail will trim wasteful habits and secure a profitable job against competition. Creative financing may ease troublesome debt.

Having been through it before makes it no easier. Ideally, in the good times, one has stashed some money aside, and diversified the kind of work in the portfolio as well as the kind of client for whom it is done. Ultimately, the ones who have maintained marketing strategies, even though the Good Times felt too busy to have the time to spare, are the ones with phones that will continue to ring.

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For the Sake of Fun

So focused on my other blog, I recognize and acknowledge my lack of attention here.

In actuality, while absorbed in the lofty thoughts of heart by night, my days have been methodically constructed around carpentry projects, hour by hour, just doing the work. In completing projects with my own dirty and recalloused hands, I better understand my problems when at the lead of a much larger business.


To really be effective in any endeavor, there must be an element of fun. Responsible for the livelihood of 6 to 10 others, the overwhelming pressure to find work and produce it efficiently under mounting debt smothered rare moments of satisfaction and enjoyment. There was no time for pride or celebration.

In these past months, I have been working alone, or alongside friends who need the help and guidance to improve their homes. In addition to earnings without liability beyond my own two hands, I am able to rediscover the pleasure, sweeping up at the end of the day, of a job well done, day by day, hour by hour. There is an exquisite moment, just before driving off into the homelife, of accomplishment, of plans working out, of measurable progress.

Usually distracted in my life by larger concerns of family, our own home and mortgage, dreams of vacations, and even bigger dreams of someday being the Writer I always wanted to be, the actual tasks of carpentry have been, for me, but means to an end. Not really in stride with the tools in hand, I could recite the adage “measure twice, cut once”, even go through the motions of measuring a third time (having been interrupted by a question), and still get the cut wrong.

Better to leave the carpentry to the ones who really want to do it, I thought, and focused on design and sales. I drew great plans, supported by charts and spreadsheets that no one else actually understood as clearly, and in a booming economy, hired any guy with tools who answered the desperate ads to fill crews to finish all the jobs I could get started.

No matter the impressive portfolio that was built, so very little of it turned out to be any fun.


I miss the big projects, the large and beautiful additions, the buzz of activity on job sites, the line of pick-ups parked in the yard. Honestly, I really enjoyed driving up to answer questions, point fingers, and run off to attend to another site. I tried to be clear that I did not have all the answers, that I was just a facilitator, part of a team, but the truth is that the job needs a leader, someone in touch with every detail, someone who can prevent mistakes, and fixes them quickly with authority, demanding accountability when they happen anyway.

Today, I finish a kitchen. I have installed every cabinet, set every screw, laid every piece of flooring. The job is not perfect if one looks closely enough. I know where the scratches are and the excessive caulk that filled a gap. Even so, my friends will enjoy years of meals here, watch their grandchildren grow. Many, many more scratches will appear.


More importantly, although I would love to redo a couple of measurements and cuts, I will remember this kitchen fondly, the feeling each day of contentment and the tools in hand.

And wouldn’t you know, last night in a casual conversation about something else, I was asked to design an addition.

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On every construction site, a little Grace should fall

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Open or Closed Doors

As long as there is work to be done (and there always will be, remembering that shelter is a basic necessity), people will have to consider the difference s between Fixed Price and Cost Plus contracts.

The first is exactly as it implies: the contractor commits to a scope of work for a specific dollar amount and completes it, no matter the cost to him. Cost Plus (also known as “Labor and Materials”) charges for every invoice incurred, plus a percentage, and labor at an hourly rate.

No easy answer is available here to client or contractors. Pros and cons for both are so complex that ultimately each can be considered for any size or shape of project. The contractor, in theory, having more experience, can be prepared for both, and direct the client towards the one that is most advantageous to the circumstances.

At first glance, the one paying gravitates to a Fixed Price. You go to the store, pick out a shirt, put the money down, and it is done. Conventional wisdom says construction always goes over budget so the client wants to nail it as firmly as sheathing to a rafter, and banks absolutely insist on eliminating the risk.

In this case, the builder makes a bet that he can twist his predictions into reality, trusting that he has considered every problem and counted every stick. Unfortunately, he has little room to wiggle out of a more expensive sub-contract or an over-looked detail. Constant renegotiation, no matter how legitimate, smacks of “nickels and dimes”, or “low-balling”, and alienates the relationship. It is usually better to absorb the losses in the hopes of higher profits.

In a Cost Plus contract, the dollars accumulate in direct proportion to the project, no risk to the builder who shows up, produces a kitchen and gets paid. Less potential for a “killing”, he also, in theory, pays his bills and can count on his own paycheck at the end of every week.

The risk now falls on the owner. Construction projects usually do run over budget, but more often by choice than by mistake. It might cost fairly what it costs, but the owner and builder must have pencils sharp enough to pay for it all.

Size of the project and personalities of the parties play an important role in the choice of contract. As a rule of compromise, in new construction--which is so much easier to predict--a fixed price establishes a clean bill and an easy list of details with specific dollars attached. A remodel, potentially hiding surprises behind every existing wall, lends itself to the organic flexibility of a Cost Plus agreement.

How easily trust can be established in a few short and agenda-full meetings influences the choice. Ultimately, one’s comfort with risk is the ultimate decision.

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For Better or Worse

Once the scope has been established and the cost estimated, a contract must be written for the work. Many builders use—and often lawyers require—the standard AIA contract of many many pages. In my mind it really has too much verbiage and “boiler plate” legal phrases to have much bearing on your basic residential kitchen remodel.

A good contract can have a load of line items to define schedule, change orders, furniture protection, and snow removal. My list has grown along the way as a new problem is encountered.

The real point of the contract is to define the cost and scope of work so that owner and builder alike can have as much agreement as possible. Where decisions have been made, name brands and colors should be included. No detail is too small because at the end of the project, if they see red, it solves the dispute to point out that “red” was in the contract.

Without decisions, an allowance with a specific price marks the item for later adjustment. My contracts name a specific “builder’s grade” brand and standard color. When they upgrade (and the usually do), the cost is raised with a change order. In case they don’t, the product named in the allowance must be of sufficient quality that we both can live with.

While the owner naturally wants a start and finish date, too many variables are at play at either end to commit in a contract. Lawyers suggest a penalty clause, but that immediately transforms the project energy from teamwork to adversarial. The builder’s ability to stay in business is directly related to the list of satisfied customers, so he has strong incentive to ensure timely and efficient work.

Ultimately, the cost and a schedule of payments is the main purpose of the contract. It is easy to reach an agreement about what should be done physically, but who pays for what, how much and when is where disputes arise. Whether a Fixed Price or a Cost Plus contract (to be discussed in another entry), all of the detail helps to smooth an inheritantly rough and unpredictable process.

So much can change over the course of a project. Surprises lurk behind every wall. Crew availability fluctuates. The owners can divorce or even die. The contract with both signatures and all attachments, including drawings and budgets, proves a partnership to start. A line at the bottom that agrees to seek mediation before a jury, if trouble arrives, can restore that balance. A project completed is so much better than starting all over with a different horse and just another contract.

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Estimating

Back at home, the office, or the Home Office, it is important to set aside time without disturbance to estimate the project at hand. Careful consideration of all the details is required. An interruption could change a decimal point and make the difference between profit or loss, or getting the job at all.


As many ways as there are to build a house, there could be methods and styles for estimating. Rooted so much in the imagination of the builder and what is translated from that first meeting, I believe the process is highly individual—not only to the person, but to the particular project as well.

Again, I assert I am no more expert at this than 30 years of stumbling and bumbling and a large portfolio of work can allow. Happily, the several workshops attended in that time seem to support my system (or the lack of The One). And, as always, I would be grateful for any and all feedback on the subject.


Depending on the size, sometimes I will start with a map of the project. Home-owner friendly CAD programs, or projects large enough to afford a design, may greet me with drawings, but generally, there is little to work from besides a few pictures, rough measurements, and a concept communicated with little detail (and lots of wishes) from the owner

The map I actually draw is less “what” but “how”. Microsoft Project, or any software that produces a timeline, a path of progress, helps to establish focus and orders the tasks ahead. It also adds veracity to the prediction of “how long?” that immediately follows the answer to “How much?” at the next meeting with the prospective client.


In the “old” days, we sat with pencil and calculator, scratching out guesses of how many sticks, stones and buckets of paint were needed, tossed in a number of weeks, months or days, slapped on a contingency, and with a handshake and a reassuring smile, said it would cost what it costs. Now, the plethora of programs is overwhelming, and as many as I have flirted with, I find I am a dog in Midlife who is still open to others, but keeps returning to modify my earliest tricks, reassured that they are flexible enough to accurately estimate as well as anything can.

Over the years, my Excel spreadsheet has grown from a simple three column tabulation to a five page monster that can track actual costs as well as estimate, comparing successes and red-lining potential failures along the way. It begins with a data sheet (no previous entry is ever deleted—unless discovered to be dismally wrong!), pre-loaded by experience, measured in square feet, running feet, by the hour, or by the ton.

Here, the bulk of the work is estimated, and the potential for a catastrophic mistake looms large. Typically, the whole process, no matter the method, is set up with phases and categories that match the actual steps of building: pre-construction, foundation, framing, mechanicals, finishes. To me, it has always worked best to estimate by herding all the trades and deliveries through my mind in the order that they might appear on the actual site. A good process wants to trigger all those details in the hope that nothing is forgotten.


Once the numbers are tabulated, the information should be packaged into a clear and legible format. Gone are the days of scribbled contracts on the back of a napkin (it did truly happen that way sometimes). Computers allow for no end of pages of drawings, estimates, verbiage of cautions, and references to previous projects and happy customers. A fairly clear line runs between professional presentations and overkill to sell a countertop replacement. No matter how discerning a prospect may be about quality, the dollar, in the end, usually dictates the decision. Accuracy above all is critical, because there are many jobs not worth taking, if items must be clear-cut to win the contract.

In the end, for a remodel especially, somehow it must be communicated to the owner that the estimate is not a science, but more a “magic trick” to see through walls and rely on carpenters who have sick kids and transportation problems. Here, a much finer line between creating fear and instilling confidence is harder to balance, keeping those extra rooms for wiggles and giggles designed into the contract for their addition.

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First Visit

Considering that a simple bath renovation can be $20,000 and a whole-house make-over ten times that amount, it is amazing how little time and money people have to make such a large decision. In actuality, the first visit can decide everything for the builder, including not being invited to return.

Amazingly also, often the most basic courtesies can be overlooked, or worse, ignored completely. I have a notorious reputation among my co-workers for being late (always trying to squeeze something else in), but for a client, I am usually complimented for being on time. Since cell phones have become a tool (and we really did manage to live without them), a call acknowledging 15 minutes of tardiness is actually impressive.

In the last ten years, it has become common that houses are “shoeless”, so removing them immediately, waiting to be asked, or tromping right off the last job site and splattering mud all over the carpet of this one gives the owner a lot of information. I know a contractor who whipped out medical booties upon arrival and immediately established his expensive-but-worth-it reputation.



Again, this is the time to get to know each other. The builder needs to get oriented to the house, learn a little about the client’s needs and their expectations. Owners also have a lot at stake when inviting a stranger into their home to make months’ worth of mess and (hopefully) clean it all up again better than ever before. Feel out how you might get along. Are you each understanding the other? Are the ideas translated accurately? Finding a common ground beyond the project creates a connection and the trust begins to grow.

Standing in the space to be renovated while chatting through introductions gives the builder a chance to eye the surrounding trim, measure up the style and characteristics to be matched. As the owners explain their thoguhts, reassurances and expressions of confidence draws out their enthusiasm. Perhaps a brain-storming suggestion leads them to simple solutions they had not envisioned on their own. In the best of circumstances, it is an open dialogue of questions and ideas to shape the scope of the project.


Only after the full tour and careful, focused listening is the tape measure produced. With a CAD program that requires accuracy, I take my time, sketching the floor plan and writing every pertinent measurement on my intake sheet. The owners feel useful holding the “dumb” end of the tape; others rush off to tend to children, leaving me to calculate alternatives and ponder scheduling issues.




This modern age has given us digital abilities to take all the pictures, angles and details we need to recall accurately the existing conditions a week and three other sites later. Being thorough, even if the work is limited to one room upstairs, it matters to see the electric panel to know if there are additiional circuts and no ancient wires. The heat system could have bearing on the plans, or a critical post directly below the renovation might be necessary.

How much to discuss the budget is a topic all on its own. Some people tend to hold their number closely, fearful that revealing it will raise the price to just over that amount. Others admit they have no clue what such ideas might cost (they usually balk and postpone). In actuality, I believe—being honest and forthright—that a discussion of the budget on the first visit is healthy. The builder gets a sense of how serious is the prospect. The client may get a reality check to temper their expectations.

Usually, the owner cannot resist asking for a “ballpark” estimate. This is extremely dangerous because no matter how informal their request may appear to be, an inaccurate number offered at this early stage can haunt the negotiations a year later. I have learned to quote in very ridiculously broad strokes ($50 to $100 thousand), gracefully exiting with a follow-up date and an agenda to narrow that number to within 10% on the next visit. Then, they're looking forward to my return.

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First Contact

It starts with a phone call, any time of day, sometimes on the weekend, even in the middle of the night. Listening is extremely important because an enormous amount of information is available beyond the dialogue. Speaking is equally important because at any moment, for any reason, the prospective client may decide to break off, declining your services.

Admittedly, for me, that first phone call of inquiry is an adrenaline rush of such addiction, fueling my determination to continue my business when a wiser man perhaps would have sooner opted for a different path. In those first seconds beyond recognition that this is a Prospect, the future gleams so brightly. Although it could be just a handyman repair, my impulse is to listen for the words that speak of a large, creative and rewarding project.

If it turns out otherwise, it is important to continue the call with just as much respect, integrity and humor as you would the Dream Client. For it can easily turn out that this foot used to hang a door may still walk through the opening. Numerous times, the conversation during the odd job has revealed that an addition is being contemplated. Or the neighbor, seeing the truck, invites you over to take a look at their house.

Of course, much depends on the source of the call and whether it comes randomly from the Yellow Pages or directly as a result of reputation and reference. Without bragging, a bond must be established, often as easy as recognizing the neighborhood. Perhaps our children have played against each other in soccer, or we love the same restaurant around the corner. Potentially, you are going to make a mess in their home, it helps to show them your humanity.


Once the conversation moves from introduction to detail, I have found a simple form helps to keep on track. For me, it covers the pertinent facts, gets me to the appointment on time, and provides space to write down notes and dimensions for the estimate later.

A long time ago, I had a tendency to rush to impress, obnoxiously eager to the point of thinking I could prove my expertise by finishing their sentences—and would often be wrong. Now I listen. They have been thinking, planning, articulating their ideas. I listen, ask a few questions when needed, and answer with reassurances their uncertainties or insecurities about the process.


Listen to their ideas.
Ask about their needs, their long-term plans to stay in the home. Have they experienced a renovation before? Survey carefully their clues to determine their commitment to the project. Often, I realize, my intuition can accurately read if the client is serious or just dreaming.

In addition to a specific date and time to meet—preferably not today (implied hunger), but within the week—it is important to leave them with a sense of excitement and anticipation of your visit. In the past, it was helpful to “assign” a simple task such as noticing their movement in the kitchen, or a date to the bookstore to look at design magazines.

Now, with web pages to boast, a portfolio brought to the initial meeting is unnecessary because they can see your work in the meantime, and imagine their own project online in the not-so-distant future.

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Dollars & Sense

My first few jobs in Oregon 30 years ago, I attacked with all the fervor of today’s recyclers.

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We drove 100 miles to retrieve truckloads of used boards for a weathered look on the interior. I always checked the scrap pile for short pieces before cutting a long one. I pulled nails out of old lumber, bent them straight, and drove them into new homes again. There was no name for it then; just common sense and low-budget aesthetics, but some of us were paying attention.


As labor rates rose, the Energy Crisis dissipated, and developments devoured the landscapes, many habits were discarded. At $20 and $30 an hour, a lot of nails can be bought in the time it takes to straighten one. We learned it consumes more energy to drive the 100 miles than to stay put, rough up some planks, and “distress” them with stain and paint.


Now, it swings back the other way, and the carbon footprint has become larger than a site full of steel-toed boots.

Garbage dumps have turned into recycling centers, sponsoring workshops and green celebrations, building a community culture and social network in a small town. Salvage yards are sources for stunning architectural pieces which can be incorporated into new construction. More importantly, the client is onboard, and “green building” is now a requirement on the resume.



Sadly, it does cost more to rehang an old door carefully retrieved from salvage than to install a pre-hung split jamb primed unit—a lot more. Used lumber is cracked and twisted and uneven, making humps in the sheetrock. Better to tear it all out for a fresh, clean line. Engineered studs save trees in the forest, but doubles the price of framing, wiping out the gain and probably quite a bit more painful. We can separate the debris, but does it justify the added truckloads to different disposal sites?

While the focus on Green Building is an important discussion, as builders in relentless competition to hold prices down, we have a long way to go. The truth is that we are taking a lot of the Earth’s resources—whether new construction or renovation—to produce shelter for our neighbors. We are learning that each decision has a consequence and should at least be considered.

And there are success stories.



By chance, I was dropping off a sink at our recycling depot and spotted 600 SF of oak flooring, the perfect amount for my current project. Whoever took it apart knew how to put it together because every single nail was pulled, every piece was reusable. It was stacked and bound together, tongues and grooves aligned, just like out of the box. The cut ends (without tongue or groove) were clearly marked. Although it was stained very dark and worn inconsistently, sanding an oak floor new or used would make no difference. The key was in how it was packaged.


Everyone wins. The wood was salvaged and given a new life. Oak trees were spared. The other guy was paid labor and saved a dump fee. I added a gorgeous floor to my portfolio and my client saved money.

If you are paying attention, some days recycling truly makes sense.

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A Bath Remodeled (part one)

I have a theory that a bathroom can be torn apart and rebuilt gloriously new in a week—start on Monday, finish on Friday. Not often physically working jobs in many years, however, I have yet to prove it true.



To a client, I predict a bathroom remodel will inconvenience them for about a month. I like to say we will put a guy in there, close the door, and let him out when it is finished. Realistically, it works best with one multi-talented carpenter. Accommodating all the schedules of all the trades can stretch it into months.

The market for a bathroom renovator is wide open. Consider all the homes built in the 70’s and 80’s. The fixtures are worn out, the fan broken (if there was one), the window inefficient, and the tile cruddy. A smart carpenter, selling a package deal, could stay busy endlessly.

In thirty years, I have contracted, designed and completed more bathrooms than I want to count. Depending on their choices of products, a standard 5x8 renovation , including floors , walls, new fixtures, vanity, fan, and a window, typically costs between ten and twenty thousand dollars. It can be done if it is their only bath, but it really helps the job if they have somewhere else to go.



I actually don’t close the door, but take it right off the hinges to provide better access. I would love to salvage, recycle and minimize the tear-out, but it seldom pays to save or work around anything. Gut the place right down to the frame and you can put it back straight and new.

This week, I have actually gotten my hands scratched and dirty. Since it was so cramped and there were square inches to steal from the kitchen, I took a rounded wall out completely, sacrificing character on the outside for practicality on the inside. Dead spaces no longer needed for ductwork also came out of the floor plan. Now there is plenty of room to flap elbows.

An inefficient cobweb of plumbing, I tore it all out and rerouted to add a second shower head. The floor will be level, the walls square and sporting a tall cabinet for linens. An exhaust fan vented through the basement to the outside will make a big difference. Better lighting and a GFI complete the circuit.



The fourth day into the project, I won’t be making my dream deadline, but taping the sheetrock has begun, and it only gets easier from here. It takes more time than I would like, but the satisfaction of falling asleep as I write this—muscle sore and finger cut—is sweet reminder that it is good work, so much well accomplished.

Beyond the dollars earned, one has the right to feel proud.

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Shouts and Whispers

The movie “Multiplicity” has a great opening scene where Michael Keaton, a contractor, shows up and cheerfully praises his crew for installing a beautiful driveway. They’re all happy until he screams that it’s the wrong house.

Communication with the crew is no less important than with your client. The assumption that a well-drawn plan or verbal directions will get the job done right is not at all safe. No matter how skilled the job leader, without clear communication, the profit can disintegrate as quickly as a saw can scratch marble in a room that was supposed to remain untouched.

As a kid, we played “Whisper Down the Lane”, delighted with the deviations in phrase from the first to the last in line. It is not funny, however, when the understanding of the last guy, the one actually doing the work, differs from the client who has to live with mistakes.

There are so many people involved in a project, making twice that many opportunities for misunderstanding. The client sits in their over-crowded or out-moded space month after month, feeding on ideas of what they would like to have. To a complete stranger, an architect or designer, they attempt to explain their dream and he’ll draw his version of their vision. The contractor (perhaps the same person) will pull numbers out of experience, presuming details that may be polish where the client saw gold.

If the project involves a kitchen, often another designer is included with bells, whistles, and recycle drawers on rollers. The plumber and electrician each have their exact spots where wires and pipes can and cannot go to make the finished wall look like what they think the client wants.

And finally, there is the crew, those loyal guys on the job every day, cutting out and putting back new. In actuality, living with the client, they get more details than anyone. They develop their own rapport and loyalty such that if the contractor becomes overly budget driven, the crew ensures the quality of each cut, placement and finish.

The spokes on a wheel works as a beautiful metaphor with the contractor at the center. As Michael Keaton's character learned, it only adds complications when throwing in more wheels, not speed. Communication is what makes it roll smoothly and efficiently, brings the vision to reality.

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To See or Not to Say

While contemplating the topic of communication for my next blog entry, a distressed call from a client in New York City provided the perfect opening. The reloading of the rebuilt pantry in their Vermont ski home caused some shelving to collapse, leaking vinegar under the brand new floor.




Simple communication could have avoided the calamity entirely, or at least minimized the trauma to a woman already disrupted by a $20,000 price tag for a leaky dishwasher. Had I communicated better, the decision would have been hers. Lacking that, the responsibility is entirely mine, and on her post-construction report to the insurance company, the client is likely to erase "beautiful" and underscore "shoddy."

Too easily, the relations of client and carpenter swing on subtle phrases and shifts of body. Immediately, I was understanding from all manner of their communication that this repair needed to be timely and efficient, completed within a definite period to allow them to return to New York. No matter the stresses on our part, the clients communicated clearly their need to finish.

Then was the time to address issues of distance from shop to job (it was not our usual stomping grounds) and winter road conditions. The normal renovation unknowns were also in play: how easily would things come apart; how available were materials; how much coffee to keep the work going forward would equally require trips to the bathroom. Lastly, the drop cloths and protective poly needed to be set up and taken down each day so they could eat.



It is difficult to communicate these "ifs, buts and wells" to a new client without creating doubt and distrust. In those first moments as strangers about to become housemates, much needs to be established, yet the language best used is not at all clear. Your green might be their red, but you are both optimistically opening your cans of paint and spreading the color. There is trust that it will all come to a good conclusion.

Along the way, things happen and the language is invented. The client sees the carpenter works diligently and learns a little about the wife and kids. A few cups of coffee offered goes a long way to win the carpenter's interest in making that next cut a little tighter.

The carpenter becomes comfortable enough to request that cars be moved to store material in the garage. In conversation, the clients reveal their reasons that work cannot continue in their absense, so with a little more understanding, the carpenter pushes harder to finish. Good communication negotiates that the baseboard can be left for later, but the pantry must be restocked.



On the last day, shelf uprights made offsite were delivered to be installed. I discovered then that without warning me, my trusty cabinet maker had used a more standard sized hole, and the older clips for adjustable shelving would not hold. Too far and too little time to go back for the right clips, I "cleverly" wrapped tape on each, pushed down hard to prove holding strength, and proudly proceeded to clean up, confident the right clips could be inserted when work resumed, but in the meantime, the clients had their pantry.

My failure, then, was to not communicate to the clients my slight of clips in hand, but to tell them, instead, to load up: all was back in place. My understanding and wish to meet their needs superceeded the proper cautionary tale, the confession, and probable disappointment. No matter how well the rest of the job has gone, the one failure to inform and advise taints the entire project.

Things happen, but they can always be managed if you trust the process, stick to the rules, and chose quality over speed. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Only then is there a hope of meeting the client in the middle with the room successfully painted the color of their choice.

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Two heads or Tails

Logic dictates that what one man can do in a day, two can double and three can triple. One even argues that two together can accomplish the work of three.



Some tasks might prove this to be true, but more often than not, the extra hands can actually slow jobs down and cost more money. On a fixed price contract, this means the boss will lose. On a Cost Plus contract, the owner will begin to count the minutes of every coffee break and keep track of when members of the crew come and go.

Consider siding. Most times I have wanted to assign two to the job: one cuts and holds the end, the other measures and nails it off. But the guys always say it takes three: two in the air and one to cut on the ground. The theory is that there is enough time to feed the guy at one end of the scaffold while the other measures for his next piece.

My experience, however, is making calls from the truck and watching one or both guys stand idly. They watch the cutman measure, cut, retrieve dropped tools, recut, and adjust the radio. Up on the scaffold, there is plenty of time to catch a smoke, contemplate the blue sky, or consider the boss who gets to just sit in his truck and watch everyone else working hard.

New construction may tolerate a larger crew where everything is laid out and the plan starts at the foundation and rises to the roof. In remodeling, however, exploration and improvisation make for some hours of little production, lots of spurts and pauses; very expensive if there are too many heads scratching.



One complicated renovation a few years back, had an owner imposed deadline. When things failed to progress satisfactorily to the untrained eye, the client insisted more bodies would solve the problem (that really wasn’t a problem). The site got over-loaded, but the job did not go any faster. In fact, the job leader, the most productive guy, was neutralized having to explain and instruct, then later check and correct all the others.

Independent and dollar desperate, I have learned to do so much by myself. I’m convinced it is the most profitable scenario. A little fore-thought and experience creates the solutions to many problems. Heavy beams can be raised by one, using step ladders and braces to lift one end at a time. A few nails pre-set in place and some lines marking the spot can make hanging a ledger easy if you work from the middle out. A nail tacked above the chalk line will hold the end of a 16’ clapboard just as well as another pair of hands, and cost much less.



With no distractions, I can work a steady pace, barely stopping for lunch. Methodical tasks are accomplished in perfect (for me) order. I can evaluate a problem without losing time in discussion, or worrying about the help standing around. At the end of the day, I contemplate the production with pride and satisfaction.

But no companionship and no collegial stimulation eventually makes for an ol’ Dawg with old tricks. Overall, therefore, I stick by my recommendation of a crew size of two for just about any project. It is a rare one who prefers solitude. For most, the company keeps it fun. Often it really does help to have 4 hands on a big stick of wood. And just in case it does happen to be the day for an injury, we would be grateful to have someone there.

Day in and day out, it is great to have someone to work with. Teamwork is a wonderful thing, and when it clicks for two guys to efficiently fetch and cut, dance around each other, creating homes out of piles of lumber, they share a bond, brothers building shelters.

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Liabilities

Early in my Oregon life, I was the young kid with a new leather nailbelt and tools with no nicks or scratches. Smug with confidence, one day at lunch I drove off the dune where I was repairing rot on a house and headed to town.

At the corner, another crew was adding a basement to an older home. Instead of digging out 8 feet of sand, it seemed a great idea to raise the building four. My neck twisted in a double-take driving past as it looked like only a few posts without braces were holding up the entire house.

Even as green as I was (and I don’t mean environmentally), I thought it looked precarious. I figured the dune in between, which obstructed a portion of the house, must be hiding more substantial support. I continued on my merry way.

On the way back, however, I was amazed to see the house had toppled over, a mass of splintered wood askew grotesquely. The crew, full of adrenaline, were shaking their heads, glad to be alive. I turned right around and ordered some insurance.

It is up to the individual states whether a carpenter needs a license and/or bonding to operate, but every conscientious member of the trade working independently should carry a liability policy.

For the general guy sub-contracting his labor to other companies, it is the first criteria required to establish himself as a legitimate business. A typical policy is for $2 million and costs about $500 to $750 per year, payable in total the first year and in quarters thereafter. Technically, he cannot be paid without providing proof of insurance.

Companies typically will carry larger policies that include the risk of hiring other sub-contractors and have premiums based on a percentage of the gross volume of work. Once a year there is an audit by the company to ensure that any sub paid over $600 in the previous 12 months had, in fact, provided his proof of insurance. Otherwise, he is considered an employee and the company must pay Worker’s Comp on all his hours, a significant penalty if they have paid a few hundred thousand to uninsured subs.

Beyond the legality, it is just good business. The guys in Oregon dropped their belts and walked. With no insurance, they had no means to rebuild the cost of their mistake. In a flash of undersight, they were ruined. The clients were left with a mess—one more bad contractor story that makes it hard for the rest of us.

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Cleanliness IS Godliness

Looking carefully at the cause and effect of jobs that don’t end well, the bitter taste of a very large percentage of them begins with the dust left behind on a poorly cleaned site. The failure to pay attention to the simple letter of the contract that spells out “broom clean” can have complicated (read “negative”) results.


A carpenter must always keep in mind that he has been invited into a home. Even in the messiest junk-filled place, no judgment should ever be made that it does not matter how much is cleaned up at the end of the day. Such a lapse of care can cost deeply.

Thoroughly disrupted by a renovation, the unsuspecting client is worn down by the details. When discovering muddy footprints at the other end of the house, the previous level of tolerance in the most patient client may suddenly collapse. The danger becomes that now impatient, they begin to look more closely and pick apart the actual work.

Once headed down that unsanded handrail, the dollars fall out of the final check at a far faster rate than hours on the punchlist. Once the trust has been squandered, it takes incredible commitment and grace to win it back.

Simple Rules:

No matter how convenient, don’t use their antique furniture for tools and coffee.

No matter how ugly the paintings, remove all from the walls because the one that surely will drop from so much pounding on the other side will be the one done by their great uncle once removed, worth more emotionally than your favorite tool.

No matter how grungy the furniture, cover it all if in doubt. Now there are packages of 9x12 rolls of 1 myl poly to make it so easy. When it comes 100% biodegradable, leave the package showing and really win points.




No matter how scratched or speckled the floor, use a drop cloth. Leave a trail of 4x15 cloths all the way to the side door, even right out to your truck if you have enough.

No matter how much dog poop is in the yard, pick up every nail (use a rolling magnet over and over) just in case the client walks bare-footed.

No matter how much the clients insist it really doesn’t matter, this is the one time it is appropriate to ignore them.

I’ve found lugging the big heavy air filter from job to job has paid off immeasurably. It only begins to collect all the fine dust, but cleans enough to win the “A” for effort. With the invention of “3rd Hands”, a spring-loaded pole with cushioned ends to avoid scars on the floor and ceiling, it is a snap to isolate the construction from the rest of the house.

And with a crew of young, brawny guys who don’t know any better, stop a moment in the routine to wipe down the toilet and quick mop the bathroom floor. On some jobs, the price of a portalet is far less than a thousand apologies.

All of this cleanliness comes with a price tag, of course, but don’t be afraid to pass at least some of it on. In the second presentation, the one that really separates the competition, explain the few (or 2000) extra dollars as a selling point, spin the dirt as one more reason the client will be happy when all is done.

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