The Hollywood Opens In Style

Just a block from the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex, Los Angeles-based Pacifica Real Estate Services has opened sales for The Hollywood.  

The sleek and modern units available include 3 two-bedroom floorplans and a penthouse, all designed by renowned LA architect Stephen Kanner. Located right in the center of the Hollywood action, units are priced from the high $400,000s to approximately $1,000,000.

The Hollywood's 54 upscale residences range in size from approximately 1,200 to 2,600 square feet, with ceiling heights from nine feet in most units to a soaring 18 feet in the penthouses.  The modern feel of each home embraces sleek lines with wood and stainless steel accents, walls of glass opening onto panoramic city views from select units. The amenities are second to none, from Viking appliances and Eco-Intelligent fireplaces, to top-notch security features like gated access and a 24-hour doorman.

It's a complex like no other, home to Hollywood's talented and creative elite. This unique urban home experience attracts the best and brightest to what resident Blaise Hossain calls a real life "episode of Entourage," a place where any night of the week, you can find a neighbor spinning some new music and willing to share a drink or two. It's a true community, always looking to add new members into the mix.

The atmosphere of living art extends from the bright, open floorplans in each unit (perfect for each owner's individual expression of style), through the fitness center and sports lounge, and into the parking garage adorned with graffiti art from some of LA's most notorious street artists, including creative legends Man One, RETNA and Mr. Brainwash.  The huge walls of the two-level subterranean garage were painted by the artists several years ago and have now become one of the hidden treasures of LA. The garage is the starting point for a community that was designed as a building where residents could live surrounded by art.

Though The Hollywood is situated just a block from Hollywood and Highland, the building is tucked away on residential Yucca Ave, giving owners the rare luxury of proximity to the best the city has to offer without the bustle of a main street. The location offers access to Metro lines and many of Hollywood's new and old haunts, from the W Hotel at Hollywood and Vine and The Roosevelt Hotel to Hollywood Boulevard restaurants, shops, and nightlife.

And the site itself has a storied history, the original home of the Masquers Club and the Villa Capri Restaurant, the Rat Pack's favorite hangout. Since its inception in 1925, the address has always been a meeting place for the Hollywood select.

Radon Gas; The Odorless Killer

The World Health Organization has released their mortality statistics for 2011 and a startling statistic about in-home causes of death surfaced.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Radon Gas causes over 20,000 deaths annually in the United States.  To put that into perspective, Radon caused more deaths in 2011 than drunk driving, fires, and carbon monoxide.  

The EPA is urging the U.S. media to assist in creating awareness of this silent killer by declaring January National Radon Awareness Month.  Radon problems have been detected in almost every county in the United States.  The Surgeon General and American Lung Association have also taken action to help prevent these needless deaths by recommending that all homes in the U.S. be tested regardless of geographic location or foundation type.
 
You can learn more about Radon Gas and National Radon Action Month 2012 at radonmonth.wordpress.com.

Werner Innovates Extension Ladders With A New Compact Design

The new Compact Aluminum Extension Ladder by Werner maneuvers easily in tight spaces and fits inside vehicles – and compact vans.

The Werner Compact 3-Piece Aluminum Extension Ladder lets 16' extension ladders go where they have never gone before – around corners, through doors, in elevators and through narrow stairwells.

It's 6' compact size provides the ideal solution for transporting ladders and storing them in tight spaces at home–in a closet, garage or shed. These new ladders provide the same reach as a standard extension ladder, but in a compact, easy to use design without compromising the quality, safety and reach of a traditional 2-piece extension ladder.

In the closed position, the 3-piece design makes the Compact Ladder 20%-25% shorter than standard 2-piece extension ladders; making it easier to transport and maneuver. The compact design also stores easily when not in use. Additionally, in the extended position, more overlapping rung locations provide improved working comfort.

For more information about Werner's Compact Extension Ladders visit http://us.wernerco.com/compactextensionladder. 

Foreclosure Filings Down In 2011

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 2,698,967 foreclosure filings -- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- were reported on 1,887,777 U.S. properties in 2011, a decrease of 34% in total properties from 2010. Foreclosure activity in 2011 was 33% below the 2009 total and 19% below the 2008 total.

The report also shows that 1.45% of U.S. housing units (one in 69) had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 2.23% in 2010, 2.21% in 2009, and 1.84% in 2008. Total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate in 2011 were both at their lowest annual level since 2007.

"Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year," said Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "The lack of clarity regarding many of the documentation and legal issues plaguing the foreclosure industry means that we are continuing to see a highly dysfunctional foreclosure process that is inefficiently dealing with delinquent mortgages -- particularly in states with a judicial foreclosure process. There were strong signs in the second half of 2011 that lenders are finally beginning to push through some of the delayed foreclosures in select local markets. We expect that trend to continue this year, boosting foreclosure activity for 2012 higher than it was in 2011, though still below the peak of 2010."

Foreclosure filings were reported on 205,024 U.S. properties in December, a decrease of 9% from the previous month and down 20% from December 2010. December's total was the lowest monthly total since November 2007 -- a 49-month low.

More than 6% of Nevada housing units (one in 16) had at least one foreclosure filing in 2011, giving it the nation's highest state foreclosure rate for the fifth consecutive year despite a 31% decrease in foreclosure activity from 2010. Nevada foreclosure activity dropped 35% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, driven primarily by a 70% decrease in default notices -- the result of a new law (AB 284) that took effect in October requiring lenders to file an additional affidavit before starting the foreclosure process. The new law also increases the penalties for the use of fraudulent documents in foreclosure.

U.S. properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter took an average of 348 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 336 days in the third quarter and up from 305 days in the fourth quarter of 2010. The length of the average foreclosure process has increased 24% from 281 days in the third quarter of 2010, when lenders began to re-evaluate foreclosure procedures in earnest as the result of the so-called robo-signing controversy.

Top Ten Custom Home Design Options for 2012

When it comes to building a dream home – personalization is essential. Having built more than 8,000 homes to date, Schumacher Homes predicts the top ten custom home design trends for 2012, based on 2011 interest. This is the first in an annual compilation summarizing what customers are requesting in their homes – and offering insight into the way customers are looking to build today.

All In The Family
1. In-Law Suite:
More families than ever before are combining multiple generations under one roof, and adding a private in-law suite with separate entrances and bathrooms to allow privacy.  

2. Dual Suite
Another option for multi-generational household is a dual-suite floor plan, with privacy away from the communal living space.

3. Hearth Room
A popular architectural option, especially for the winter months, is the addition of a hearth room or alcove for a fireplace.

Nature's Best
4. Sun Room/Screened In Porch:
Customers like to enjoy the view and beauty of nature from the comfort of their own home.
 
5. Wall of Windows:
A popular add-on for customers who seek a show stopping architectural look and like to entertain.

Curb Appeal
6. Exterior Changes:
Customers are choosing to personalize a home's exterior style to their exact specifications to boost their curb appeal.

7. Angled Garage
Many customers change the angle of their garage, either for space concerns, or as a unique design choice.

More Than Just Living Space
8. Bonus Room
A bonus room adds additional space for hobbies and entertainment, and is a popular lifestyle option since its use can change with the life of the home.  

9. Sitting Room:
Adding a sitting room off the master suite adds a touch of luxury to the everyday, and many customers enjoy the added value.

10. Movie Theater
Movie buffs and football fans alike appreciate this popular option, and often add it by converting a bedroom, or building an add-on space to their floor plan.  

"We expect that the trends highlighted above will be our biggest requests in 2012, as well as the growing trend toward more casual, family-focused living," said Paul Schumacher, CEO of Schumacher Homes. "Schumacher Homes has been building custom homes for almost two decades now, and we understand what customers look for when it comes to designing their dream home. We are now providing customers with even more options to fit their lifestyle with new plans from The Earnhardt Collection by Schumacher Homes."

While these were the most popular design changes that customers requested to their Schumacher Homes floor plans in 2011, they're not the only changes possible. Schumacher Homes makes the options for personalization limitless and the design and build team work with customers to ensure they get a home they love. For more information, visit http://www.schumacherhomes.com or follow Schumacher Homes on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/schumacherhomes

Masonite Offers New Product Line

Door manufacturer Masonite has announced a premium offering in the interior molded door category called the West End collection.

The versatile new product line features sharp horizontal embossed lines and bold graphic elements to evoke a chic and metropolitan feel and add appeal to any home.
 
"Residential customers are skewing younger, and their design preferences differ from those of their parents and grandparents," said Jason Walsh, industrial designer for Masonite. "Growing up in a paperless, clutter-free world, they often prefer clean and streamlined designs. These doors are on-trend with that aesthetic."

Horizontal lines give the Melrose door a classically modern feel. The West End collection includes two designs, the Melrose and the Berkley, which are both available in 80" and 84" heights and a range of widths in both interior passage and bi-fold doors in a primed hardboard finish. Twenty minute fire rated doors are also available.  

For eco-conscious homeowners, Masonite offers the new collection in the environmentally friendly
Safe 'N Sound Emerald option. With a core made of rapidly renewable wheat straw, Safe 'N Sound Emerald doors are Urea-Formaldehyde Free and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified.
Additionally, these doors significantly reduce sound transmission and are lighter than conventional particleboard core, allowing for easier handling and installation as well as less hardware and jamb wear.

For more information on Masonite products, including the West End interior door collection, visit www.masonite.com, or call 1-800-663-DOOR.

Alside Opens 100th Supply Center

Alside, a manufacturer and distributor of exterior residential building products, announced the opening of its 100th supply center in the United States and the second location in the Pittsburgh area.

"Instead of downsizing and cutting back during these difficult economic times, Alside is expanding and growing our business to meet our customers' needs. Our supply centers are equipped with more exterior building products, trucks and people to better serve the area," said Jerry Burris, president and CEO of Associated Materials, Alside's parent company.

"We have experienced tremendous growth enabling us to expand in 2011, opening new centers in Austin, Texas; Toledo, Ohio; Aurora, Ill.; and Evansville, Ind. Currently, we employ 830 people throughout our supply center organization, with 78 employees added in the last year. The second Pittsburgh location brings Alside's national presence to 100 company-operated supply centers," he added.

Both Pittsburgh-area supply centers stock a full array of professional grade exterior building products, including Alside vinyl siding, insulated vinyl siding and Alside custom-made vinyl windows to meet the needs of professional contractors, remodelers and builders. The new 37,000-square-foot supply center opened January 2 at 3003 Venture Court, Export, Pa., serving the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Boral Roofing Cradle to Cradle Clay Tile Introduced

Boral Roofing, provider of complete clay and concrete new roof and re-roofing solutions, has just announced that its Cradle to Cradle Gold certified clay roof tile now may provide builders and architects with an added LEED pilot point under the U.S. Green Building Council's Pilot Credit 43 Program which recognizes sustainable products certified by third parties.

Boral's Cradle to Cradle clay tile also applies as a LEED for Homes Environmentally Preferred Product and can be used to garner an Innovation and Design LEED point.

Boral's clay tile solution is the industry's only clay roofing product to be certified by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) as Cradle to Cradle.  Cradle to Cradle aims to eliminate the concept of waste by creating safe material flows that return biological and technical nutrients back to nature and industry at the end of a product's use.  The Cradle to Cradle Certified program is a rigorous product evaluation that measures progress towards this vision and assesses products for human & environmental safety, design for future life cycles, and sustainable manufacturing processes.

What are your thoughts U.S. citizens are starting to show up in the early mornings at Home Depot?

Question by Maricopa County: What are your thoughts U.S. citizens are starting to show up in the early mornings at Home Depot?
It sounds like a George Lopez joke.

"Times are so bad that I saw an Anglo day laborer standing outside Home Depot the other day."

Except it's true.

In the latest sign of the Las Vegas Valley's economic free fall, U.S. citizens are starting to show up in the early mornings outside home improvement stores and plant nurseries across the Las Vegas Valley, jostling with illegal immigrants for a shot at a few hours of work.

Experts say the slow-starting but seemingly inexorable trend is occurring nationwide.

"It's the equivalent of selling apples in the Great Depression," said Harley Shaiken, chairman of the Center for Latin American studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

But it is not only a sign of the times, they add. If the numbers of citizens among the day laborers in cities across the country continue to grow, it's likely to increase the ire of followers of TV host Lou Dobbs and others who will see illegal immigrants as stealing food off the tables of the nation's native-born or naturalized poor.

Or, it may flip certain canards upside down in the immigration debate, easing tensions in some communities.

In the Las Vegas Valley, where the most recent unemployment rate was 13.9 percent, one face of this phenomenon is Ken Buchanan. The 50-year-old describes himself as a "food and beverage" guy, most recently working for four years at Renata's Sunset Lanes casino and, before that, 30 years in a string of restaurants, hotels and casinos here and in his birthplace, Chicago.

But in 2006 Renata's closed for remodeling. When the casino reopened as Wildfire, the management did not rehire Buchanan, he said.

In the months that followed, Buchanan discovered the difficulty of seeking work in his fifth decade, eventually winding up at Green Valley Car Wash, where he stayed for about two years, he said.

The banks foreclosed on the house he was renting. In the attempt to grab his things two steps ahead of the constable, he wound up missing work. He lost his job. He became homeless.

A Hispanic man Buchanan met in Renata's sports book told him he had picked up work standing outside the Home Depot on Pecos Road at Patrick Lane. One July day, Buchanan gave it a try. At first, he got nothing but sunburn. But then he started to get work. Now he's at the Home Depot six days most weeks.

Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said he has been seeing the same thing elsewhere. "It's happening, though still not in massive numbers," Alvarado said. In the past six months or so, he has heard of "americanos" on the street corners and parking lots of Silver Spring, Md., Long Island, N.Y., and Southern California locations.

"It's just beginning," he said. "But I think it's only going to increase."

http://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/02/new-faces-day-labor/

Best answer:

Answer by Jimchristopher
Home Depot should run all of the hispanics off or call immigration. I have seen them out at a home depot on the coast after katrina, i called immigration and they were not there the next day. US citizens are going to have to start taking drastic measures with all of this because the government is doing nothing. We need to take care of our own people instead of a bunch of illegals or foreigners. If these people want to come over here then they should have money saved to come with. I bet if we went to their country, DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT THEIR GOVERNMENT WOULD HELP US? NO THEY WOULD NOT. Start complaining inside the home depot and furthermore, arrest the people that are hiring these illegals and fine them no less than 100,000 dollars and it would come to a halt.

What do you think? Answer below!

A Change in Leadership, but Not Direction, at Surrey Homes

The departure of one of the Orlando-based builder's founders late last year shouldn’t affect its business plan, says Surrey’s new president.

By:

John Caulfield

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In late November, Jay Lewis, one of the founders of Surrey Homes in Winter Park, Fla., unexpectedly left the company he helped start on Jan. 1, 2009 for the greener and larger pastures of Standard Pacific Homes, where he’s running its Orlando division.

Lewis had worked for large production builders before, as M/I Homes’ Orlando division president, and as a division manager with NVR. And he certainly had big plans for Surrey Homes, which he envisioned as eventually becoming one of Orlando’s top five builders in market share.

StanPac did not make Lewis available for comment about his decision to leave Surrey. In a short email to Builder Lewis described his decision as “difficult,” but his opportunity with the Irvine, Calif.–based StanPac as “fantastic.” (Through the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2011, StanPac’s communities in Florida had increased by 38% year-over-year to 36, according to its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On Sept. 30, StanPac controlled 6,554 lots in Florida, up 31%. But its deliveries in the state, at 293 homes through Sept. 30, were down by 16%, and new net orders were off by 17% to 411.)

Lewis’ replacement as Surrey Homes’ president is Jan Larson, who for 15 years was a managing partner with the accounting and consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Larson, who retired in early 2008, says that before joining Surrey he had been working as a consultant with a number of different companies. He has “lots of operating experience” but no direct home building experience. However, Larson notes that Christian Swann—one of Surrey’s owners and the person who hired Lewis—“was integral in creating this concept, and will be playing a bigger role” in its operations going forward.

Larson tells Builder that Lewis’ departure has been “amicable,” and that he, Swann, and other board members have already reached out to investors and trade partners to assure them that Surrey’s business strategy will stay on course.

Surrey’s competitive calling cards so far have been homes with a wide array of standard and energy saving features. “We also have a passionate group of employees with entrepreneurial spirit,” says Larson. Surrey is currently active in three communities in central Florida: Victoria Landing, where its homes range from 1,729 to 3,118 square feet and are priced from $169,990 to $254,990; Acuera, where estates range from 3,121 to 5,346 square feet and start in the $500s; and Belle Vista, where homes range from 2,487 to 3,103 square feet and are priced from $349,990 to $402,990.

Surrey Homes closed about 55 homes in 2011, and Larson expects closings to be “a multiple of that” in 2012. “I’m trying to get my arm around that number right now,” he said in an interview last month.

John Caulfield is senior editor for Builder magazine.

Improving Markets Index Almost Doubled Its Ranks in January

Among the new additions were several larger markets and 10 newly represented states.

By:

Claire Easley

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While the housing market's bust was a national event, housing’s recovery is emerging as decidedly local. Fortunately, the number and type of local markets that appear to be substantially improving is growing, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI).

The index nearly doubled its list of qualified markets in January, according to data released today, to a total of 76 improving markets, from 41 in December. The number of states represented by at least one area grew to 31 plus the District of Columbia, from 21 states and the District in December. According to the IMI, a market is considered to be improving once it has shown gains in home price appreciation, employment growth, and single-family permit growth for at least six consecutive months.

Also notable in January’s reading was the addition of several larger markets to the list, which has consistently been dominated by less-populated areas. Although the list is still primarily made up of smaller areas, metros such as Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Nashville, Tenn., and Philadelphia qualified for entry this month.

Other new entries to the IMI included Florence, Ala.; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Greeley, Colo.; Bridgeport, Conn.; New Haven, Conn.; Cape Coral, Fla.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Punta Gorda, Fla.; Ames, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Elkhart, Ind.; Lafayette, Ind.; Lake Charles, La.; Worcester, Mass.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Lansing, Mich.; Monroe, Mich.; Minneapolis; Columbia, Mo.; Joplin, Mo.; Fargo, N.D.; Manchester, N.H.; Cincinnati; Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Okla.; Corvallis, Ore.; Erie, Pa.; Philadelphia; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Clarksville, Tenn.; College Station, Texas; Victoria, Texas; and Madison, Wis.

Five areas were dropped from the list, including Anchorage, Ala.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Canton, Ohio; Scranton, Pa.; and Charleston, W.Va.

January marks the fourth consecutive month of growth for the IMI, which has gained in ranks every month since it was launched in September of last year.

Claire Easley is a senior editor at Builder.

Virginia's Brambleton Logged Its Best Sales Year in 2011

The community's success comes thanks in part to innovative designs that help homes stand out from the competition.

By:

Teresa Burney

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In sales numbers that look like a blast from the past, Loudoun County, Va.’s Brambleton community averaged nine home sales a week last year.

The 2,2000-acre master-planned community even broke its own 10 years of sales records last year when it sold 454 new homes—209 single-family and 245 townhomes—up 29% from 2010, the community’s developer Soave Enterprises reported. Those numbers made it the eighth top selling community in the country, the company said.

“We feel pretty comfortable with where we are today,” said Kim Adams, Brambleton’s marketing director. The community is selling so fast that “we certainly don’t want to sell any faster than we are right now. … Now we are actually keeping in pace [with lot development]. We have some lots out in front of us, but not a whole lot.” The community, with approvals for 8,181 homes, is close to half complete.

Adams acknowledges that Brambleton is blessed with being in a market that has remained much more robust than others in the country. Residential permits issued in Loudoun County in 2011 were close to what they were in 2006, the biggest year for the county in the last five, according to county numbers. “Being outside of D.C. absolutely has been a blessing and a godsend,” Adams said.

At the same time, Brambleton’s products and location have helped it stand out in the crowd of Loudoun County developments. Brambleton’s zip code accounted for a third of all the building permits issued in the first 11 months of 2011, according to county numbers.

Adams gives the developer’s six builders, including Beazer Homes, Camberley Homes, Miller & Smith, Pulte Homes, Van Metre Homes, and Winchester Homes, credit for some of the success for reworking their products during the downturn to make them more appealing to today’s buyers.

“The consumer out there is still going to look for innovative new homes,” she says. “We have really been fortunate for the last several years to make our product different, and that is really capturing attention.”

The average single-family detached home in Brambleton sold for $618,000 and the average townhome went for $402,000 last year, Adams said.

Townhomes, situated near Brambleton’s town center—which includes more than 40 specialty stores, services, restaurants, a grocery store, and theaters—have been selling so well that in 2012 the developer has plans to ask the county to revise its plan to replace some of the office space it planned for the center with townhomes instead, creating a more people-dense town center that should help the local merchants. No increase in the number of units is planned in the changes.

Local office space is more likely to want to be located closer to the nearby toll road and metro station anyway, Adams said.

Teresa Burney is a senior editor for Builder magazine.

Timber Harvesting Boosts Development's Forest Quality and Bottom Line

The town of St. Charles, Md., is using sustainable forest management to improve the natural landscape of undeveloped land, while taking advantage of a previously untapped cash source.

By:

Claire Easley

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The community of St. Charles, Md., has been under development for about 40 years. It has a total of 9,100 acres, of which a little under half remains undeveloped, so it will be a while before the land is built out. With that in mind, the town has recently undertaken a forestry initiative designed to marry forest preservation with sustainable timber harvesting.

Under the plan, titled the Piney Reach Forest Management Initiative, developer The St. Charles Cos. will weed out sick, damaged, or non-valuable trees, improving the forest quality and allowing the company to create revenue through the sale of timber to mills.

"Our objectives in this are, first, to leave the woods in better condition than we’re finding them in," says Fred Schatzki, a forester with American Forest Management, the firm managing St. Charles’ forestry efforts. "It will improve timber resources, soil quality, water quality, and wildlife protection. … It will also improve the land’s recreational potential."

In addition, he says, St. Charles will be able to cash in on revenue that was being lost. "Previously, the developer would go to the grading contractor and get a bid on the land, and that contractor would then get everything that was on it," Schatzki says. Now, St. Charles clears the land of timber before grading, leaving contractors with only stumps, roots, and other grubbing to clear. "What we’re finding is that the prices we’re getting in bids haven’t changed. It’s not like the grading contractors were saying, ‘I’ll make $700 off the timber,’ and factoring that in."

While St. Charles has not disclosed its annual estimates for expected income from timber harvesting, Schatzki says, "It’s paying well over what our fees are and defraying some of the site costs and costs for infrastructure. That’s making everybody’s bottom line look a little better."

Deciding what trees would be harvested started back in 2009, with an initial timber inventory of the property. Once it knew how many board feet the city held in total, American Forest Management took core samples to measure the trees’ growth rates and compiled an average growth rate for the property. From that, it determined how much it would be able to harvest every year without cutting more than was being produced.

Some areas that have fallen into particularly bad condition will be subject to small-scale clear cutting to allow for newer, healthier growth. In other areas, trees are identified for cutting based on the quality and value of the tree, both to make room for more valuable trees to grow for harvest later on and to maximize growth of healthy trees and ones that provide nuts and fruit for wildlife when other sources of food are scarce. "The main issue with undesirable species is that they compete with desirable species," such as oak or walnut, Schatzki says.

Claire Easley is a senior editor at Builder.

Some industry players are urging a revision of grading practices rather than a change in span tables.

The American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) held a meeting on Thursday, January 5, to hear feedback from lumber producers, users, and other affected parties regarding a proposal to reduce the key strength values of Southern Pine lumber.

The Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB), tasked with third-party verification and lumber strength testing in the Southern Pine industry, has proposed a reduction of 25% to 30% in published values for deflection and ultimate strength for all grades and sizes of 2x dimension lumber in the Southern Pine market, after testing of hundreds of No. 2 2x4 specimens showed a significant decline in the strength of the 2x4 stock. If the published values for lumber engineering characteristics are revised downward, that will result in a reduction of allowable spans in official span tables for Southern Pine, which will affect builders, framers, and deck builders. Reduction in the strength values for 2x lumber would also have a major impact in the wood truss industry.

In reaction to SPIB’s proposal, other voices in the industry are urging a slower and more carefully considered response to the new test values — saying that it’s too early to make a broad modification before other sizes and grades of Southern Pine have been comprehensively tested, that a revision of grading practices rather than a change in span tables might be a better way to adjust, and that time should be allowed to phase in any modifications so as not to disrupt projects already in the pipeline.

The current, existing engineering values and span tables for Southern Pine were set back in the 1980s after an industry-wide "In-Grade" testing program, which involved at least six years of lumber testing in all sizes and grades, and another four years of industry discussion and negotiation about grade rules and engineering values. This time around, only one size and grade of Southern Pine has yet to undergo a comprehensive series of tests, and only a few months have passed since those test values were made public. But a full program of sampling and testing of other sizes and grades has now begun — not just for Southern Pine, but for other major wood species (including Western lumber such as Douglas Fir, and Eastern pine, spruce, and fir). The Board of Directors of the ALSC has the authority to adopt an immediate change to Southern Pine engineering values if it so chooses; but given the incomplete information on the table today and the far-reaching consequences of any sudden change, it appears more likely that the ALSC will wait to learn more about the nation’s lumber stock before adopting a comprehensive revision.

Underwater Homeowners More Likely to Move, Study Finds

An eviction team member removes a child's mattress from a house during a home foreclosure on Oct. 5, 2011, in Milliken, Colo. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Prevailing wisdom has it that homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth -- known as being "underwater" -- are forced to stay put because the property is too difficult to sell. So people who would otherwise relocate -- say, to find a job -- are "tethered to their homes." It's a theory touted by prominent New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Harvard economist Lawrence Katz, and regularly makes appearances in the media.

But according to economist Sam Schulhofer-Wohl at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, they've all got it backwards: underwater homeowners are actually more likely to move.

In a forthcoming paper, he argues that the main source of empirical evidence for the established view is flawed, because it ignores a substantial number of movers.

Evidence for the tethered-to-their-homes thesis comes largely out of a paper from the National Bureau of Economics Research (NBER) whose authors hail from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The paper analyzed a national sample of homes by U.S. Census Bureau called the American Housing Survey. Since 1985, Census Bureau interviewers have tracked over 60,000 housing units across the country, returning every two years to record who lives there. If the Census records a house as occupied by its owner, then two years later there are four possibilities: the house is occupied by the same owner, a different owner, a renter, or nobody (the house is vacant.)

In the original NBER research paper, all entries recorded as renters or vacancies were dropped from the data, so that only homes with a different owner were counted as a "move." The authors explained that this was done on purpose, because housing mobility has traditionally referred to "permanent" moves where an owner sells a house and never returns. Using this measure, the researchers found that underwater homeowners were almost a third less likely to move.

But if you owed more than your home was worth and were desperate for a job, maybe you'd rent while you left to try greener pastures, or you might even ditch the house altogether, especially if the bank was going to foreclose on you anyway. So Schulhofer-Wohl analyzed exactly the same data, but he included properties that were rented or vacant.

"I thought, let's count as moves all the times where someone moved out and rented their house, or moved out and left it vacant, which could happen if they were foreclosed upon." He found that if you included all the renter or vacancy cases, people with negative equity were actually more mobile than those with positive equity.

Schulhofer-Wohl thinks that only counting moves in which a person leaves and never comes back is unnecessarily strict. Since the Census survey gathers information every two years, "the distinction between temporary and permanent is not just a matter of leaving for a month on vacation," said Schulhofer-Wohl. "These ‘temporary' moves really have some duration to them."

Now, neither counting method resolves a larger question: Is the overall unemployment rate affected by whether underwater homeowners can move to look for work? Pundits assume a connection. The data suggests it's not so simple.

The assumption goes: some towns are currently hiring, others aren't. If job seekers were perfectly mobile, they could leave at the drop of a hat to find a job anywhere in the country. (So laid-off app developers from Silicon Valley could go work for a software venture starting up in Anchorage, Alaska). In a world of perfect mobility, localities with low unemployment could suck workers out of areas with high unemployment, which would lower the nation's overall rate of unemployment.

But according to Schulhofer-Wohl, the vast majority of moves are local -- people moving close by to where they already live -- so most moves don't alter overall unemployment. Most people aren't moving from Silicon Valley to Anchorage, but rather from one side of the valley to the other.

Joseph Gyourko, co-author of the NBER paper and a real estate and finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, points out a more depressing reason that mobility might not affect unemployment. There could be so much unemployment that even if an underwater homeowner couldn't move to take a job elsewhere, an unemployed person near the job would snatch it up. "That's all you need for this not to have a big labor market effect," he said in an email.

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Agricultural Urbanism Takes Root in Wisconsin

Bishop’s Bay, an 800-acre development in the suburbs of Madison, Wis., will combine new homes with working farm land. You might call it living la vida loca(vore).

By:

Amy Albert

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Bishop’s Bay, an ambitious 787-acre development slated to house some 6,000 residents, is scheduled to break ground in March. Located just west of Madison, Wis., the project will include a working farm that is currently in transition to grow plants organically. Its produce will be sold nearby, and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program will be available to residents. The entire Bishop’s Bay project rollout will be gradual and is expected to last 10 to 15 years.

The land that Bishop’s Bay occupies spans two communities, Westport and Middleton. For years, both towns were working together on developing the land with an eye toward mixed use, but the proposal under consideration was that of a more traditional suburban subdivison. The towns were then approached with the Bishop’s Bay plan by Terrence Wall of T Wall Properties, one of Wisconsin’s biggest developers, shortly after that firm acquired the land. Under the new, agriculturally focused design, sustainability and preservation will be top concerns throughout the proposed project, says T Wall Properties.

The development will sit on good farmland. While some might expect such a plan to simply perpetuate the sprawl problem, Bishop’s Bay is addressing the issue. A quarter of the entire development will be open space, and preserving existing farmsteads and cornfields is an essential element of the Bishop’s Bay design. Clustered in groups of six to eight, homes on The Farm, as it’s known, will be surrounded by orchards and annual crops, woven right into the farmland. The Farm will occupy 15% of the 787 acres.

There’s no denying the warm and fuzzy appeal of agricultural urbanism. On the other hand, there’s the issue of noise, smell, and dust—complaints that are common amongst those who live near farms. Landscape architect Sean O’Malley, a managing principal with SWA Group in California, is one of the plan’s designers. He wondered: How would it work if the residents took ownership themselves? What if they were responsible for planting and harvesting annuals and apples? He worked on the design with University of Wisconsin agricultural experts, local engineers, and planners addressing these and many other issues, including figuring out a lot dimension that would be plowable. (Turns out it’s 150 feet, about the same as a golf fairway.)

"The response, from public officials to potential buyers, has been very positive," says Andy Inman, VP of Development at T Wall Properties. "You’re living in the farm, much like homesteaders did," says O’Malley. As for the issue of noise, dust, and odor, O’Malley designed around it. Farm belts will sit at lower elevation than the houses, to help minimize dust. Homes will sit higher and the orchard plantings around them will provide space, privacy, and shade—not to mention fruit.

A 6,000-person development sounds risky. But Middleton, Wis., is no stranger to "Best Places to Live" lists. (It was Number 8 this year on CNNMoney’s list.) The area borders Madison, a college town that many would argue rivals Berkeley, Calif., on the desirability and sophistication scales. Thanks to two large and stable employers—the University of Wisconsin (one of the largest state universities in the U.S.) and the state’s government, the local economy is healthy. Median family income is north of $90K and the area’s jobless rate, at 5%, is half that of the rest of the country. And a little publicity never hurts: The project earned the 2011 On the Boards Community of the Year award from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Marketplace Homes Expands in Weak Markets

Its formula of offering lease payments for unsold existing homes translated into 543 sales last year for its preferred builder network.

By:

John Caulfield

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Credit: Marketplace Homes

Top Seller: Joel Parrot, a solutions manager for Marketplace Homes, helped builders in Chicago and Denver sell 144 homes in 2011.

And you thought your salespeople were good.

Joel Parrot, who for the past 18 months has been a “solutions manager” for Marketplace Homes, helped that company’s preferred builders sell 144 new houses in 2011. Parrot was one of at least four of Marketplace’s 22 solutions managers who each negotiated more than 60 purchase agreements with buyers last year.

The Plymouth, Mich.-based Marketplace helped sell 543 homes last year, a 165% increase over 2010. The carrot that Marketplace has been dangling since 2003 to win over prospects is its guarantee of monthly lease payments on their existing homes for up to six years if they purchase a new house from one of the builders in Marketplace’s network. In many cases, those existing homes get rented instead of resold.

Mike Kalis, Marketplace Homes’ managing partner, believes that Parrot’s sales total might have been the highest for any individual seller in the industry last year. “We haven’t found too many other people who sold more than 50 [houses],” he tells Builder.

Parrot, who worked for Pulte for four years, has a master’s degree in real estate development and management. He attributes his success at Marketplace to the company’s leasing strategy. “Nearly every client I deal with feels stuck: They can’t move into a new house because they can’t sell their old home. We unstick them.” He says the majority of new homes he helped sell last year were priced in the low $200s to low $300s.

Parrot says he also benefits from the fact that he’s not tied to selling in just one area. On any given day he’s dealing with between four and six buyers in his two primary markets: Chicago, where he works with 10 builders; and Denver, where he works with four. In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, Marketplace helped K Hovnanian sell more than 25 homes in Chicagoland, says Kalis.

Marketplace currently works with nearly 40 builders in 36 markets in 18 states. These include nationals such as PulteGroup and Lennar; regional players such as Ashton Woods, Orleans, The Drees Cos., William Ryan Homes, and Taylor Morrison; and market-specific builders such as Lombardo Homes, ICI, Maronda, and Goodall Homes.

Kalis says he’s seeing encouraging signs of improving consumer confidence. But home values in most markets are still a long way from being anywhere close to full recovery. These conditions are why Kalis projects that Marketplace can increase the number of purchase agreements it negotiates to 1,500 homes in 2012. He also predicts that a good number of new-home buyers’ existing houses will be converted to rental properties, some of them permanently.

As for Parrot, he’s shooting for 200 sales this year.

John Caulfield is senior editor for Builder magazine.

ALSC Approves Design Value Changes for Southern Pine 2x4s

Changes to other grades and sizes are pending further testing.

By:

Brendan Rimetz

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The American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) approved today a reduction in some design value changes for visually graded No. 2 Southern pine 2x4s, but said it lacked the authority to change any other grades and sizes of the species until testing occurs.

The changes reduce by 25% to 30% some of the design values for No.2 2x4s, effective June 1, ALSC's decision said.

The decision marks a milestone in an almost three-month battle in which opponents of the plan, which included dealers, builders, and component manufacturers, voiced concerns over what it could do to the industry and fought against the process by which it came about. Dealers fear the changes in design values could affect the costs of projects by requiring more materials and could force customers to alter or cancel projects due to costs further hurting a weak industry.

ALSC—a quasi-governmental agency authorized to set grading standards for lumber used in residential and commercial construction—was asked by the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB) to approve reductions in certain design values for several different dimensions of Southern pine. SPIB is one of many groups nationwide responsible for overseeing design standards. But in its decision, ALSC noted that rules on how a species of lumber performs must be based on tests involving a variety of grades and widths. But SPIB and a related testing group only looked at No. 2 2x4s, ALSC noted.

"The Board is constrained by this controlling authority to decline to approve the proposed design values for grades and and sizes of Southern pine other than No. 2 2x4 at this time," it said. "In reaching this conclusion, the Board is mindful that testing is currently underway on a full matrix sample consistent with [the committee's operating guidelines]," ALSC said. "The board urges SPIB to proceed with all deliberate haste to complete this testing analysis at the earliest opportunity."

In the meantime, the No. 2 2x4 design values "are approved with a recommended effective date of June 1, which will allow for their orderly implementation," ALSC said.

ALSC then sent out what amounts to an alert to the industry that the committee emphasized in parts with bold-face type and underlined sentences (here we've bold-faced and italicized them). "Although given the facts, circumstances, and controlling authority of this particular matter, the Board did not approve design values for the other sizes and grades and has recommended a future effective date, it cautions all interested parties to take note of all available information in making design decisions in the interim," ALSC's decision said.

"The values in the SPIB proposal represent approximately a 25-30% reduction. Many of the critics of the proposal acknowledged that some reductions were in order, albeit the magnitude of those reductions were disputed. All design professionals are advised in the strongest terms by the Board to evaluate this information in formulating their designs in the interim period."

ALSC's recommendation that affect groups respond immediately to the changes it approved contrast strongly with what those groups wanted. In December, a coalition of lumber and construction industry experts recommended ALSC should trust the wood already in use, slow its consideration of changes, and open up the review process. Aside from delaying a decision on Southern pine grades and widths other than No. 2. 2x4s, ALSC's move today does none of those things.

According to Forest Economic Advisors (FEA), an consulting group focused on the timber and lumber trades, the changes could create a potential demand loss of 1 billion to 2-1/2 billion board feet of Southern pine. The economic group forecasts Southern pine to retain large parts of floor joist, roof rafter, truss chord, and beam and header markets. FEA also says prices are expected to move downward with the changes.

Potential winners out of these changes could be lumber manufacturers producing machine-rated lumber, since their products aren't covered by the changes. Truss and component manufacturers using more lumber than needed for their products could also see the changes having a minimal impact on how they operate.

Those forced to buy new equipment or change the way they make their products could lose a lot in the form of money, time, and clientele.

For the past three months, the message from trade associations, companies, and organizations expected to be touched by the proposal has moved away from financial concerns and toward collaboration and the desire to have more input in the proposal and its process.

"The more people involved means the best ideas are put on the table and the best ones can be taken and put in the proposal," says Kirk Grundahl, executive director of the Structural Building Components Association (SBCA), who attended the Jan. 5 meeting.

The lack of communication from the SPIB over the fact that it started conducting testing several months ago triggered concern at both the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) and the SBCA. In October, NLBMDA warned that the change could lead to "possible stoppage and delays to thousands of single-family, multi-family and commercial construction projects directly resulting from a publication of new design values for Southern pine; re-designs of buildings, units of buildings, and entire projects resulting directly from the publication of new Southern pine design values; and a significant reduction in the economic value of the Southern pine lumber inventory for dealers, component manufacturers, and builders."

"The Oct. 3 notice by SPIB that was submitting the proposed revisions to the ALSC Board of Review for consideration on Oct. 20 creates legitimate concerns that we feel should be addressed now as a way of bringing transparency and accountability to this issue," said the NLBMDA in mid-October.

Foreclosures Down in December, but Trend May Not Last

Last year’s rate of filings was down 34% from 2010.

By:

Claire Easley

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Courtesy RealtyTrac

Even homeowners delinquent on their payments got a bit of a holiday in December as foreclosure activity slowed to the lowest rate seen in 49 months, according to data released today by RealtyTrac. With a total of 205,024 filings reported for the month, activity was down 9% from November and down 20% year-over-year.

The largest drop seen was in default notices, which decreased 19% for the month and were down 23% annually. Scheduled foreclosures auctions were also down on a monthly and yearly basis, dropping 12% and 24%, respectively. And bank repossessions (REOs) were up 10% from November but remained 12% lower on an annual basis.

Part of the slowdown can be attributed to programs put in place by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and several large mortgage lenders that halted evictions during the holidays. However, that doesn’t account for all of the drop-off, says Daren Blomquist, a spokesperson at RealtyTrac. "December is a little bit of a mystery to us because we saw some big decreases in California and Arizona … which both saw pretty dramatic decreases in filings, after we had started to see those numbers ramping up in the last few months," he said on a call with Builder yesterday. "At this point I’m chalking it up to more of a seasonal issue. Our expectation is that December is the calm before another surge of foreclosures early this year."

The month’s low numbers helped bring both 2011’s foreclosure activity and foreclosure rate to the lowest levels seen since 2007. As of year’s end, a total of 2,698,967 filings were reported—including default notices, scheduled auctions, and REOs—a 34% drop from 2010.

"Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year," said Brandon Moore, RealtyTrac’s CEO, in a press statement. "The lack of clarity regarding many of the documentation and legal issues plaguing the foreclosure industry means that we are continuing to see a highly dysfunctional foreclosure process that is inefficiently dealing with delinquent mortgages—particularly in states with a judicial foreclosure process."

Indeed, the average processing time to complete the foreclosure process was 348 days in the fourth quarter of the year, up from 305 days in the fourth quarter of 2010. In New York, the average foreclosure time by the last quarter of 2011 had reached 1,019 days, longer than any other state.

As for foreclosure rates by state, Nevada ranked highest for the fifth consecutive year, with a rate of more than 6% of homes in the state, or one in 16, receiving at least one filing during 2011. Arizona came in at No. 2 for the third year in a row, with 4.14% of its housing units, one in 14, receiving a filing during the year. California, at a rate of 3.19% of homes or one in every 31 receiving a filing, came in third.

Other states rounding out the top 10 were Georgia (2.71%), Utah (2.32%), Michigan (2.21%), Florida (2.06%), Illinois (1.95%), Colorado (1.78%), and Idaho (1.77%).

Among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more, Las Vegas posted the nation’s top foreclosure rate last year with one in every 14 Las Vegas homes receiving a filing during 2011. Of the remaining top 20 metros with the highest foreclosure rates, California claimed 10, including Stockton (No. 2), Modesto (No. 3), Vallejo-Fairfield (No. 4), Riverside-San Bernardino (No. 5), Merced (No. 7), Bakersfield (No. 9), Sacramento (No. 10), Fresno (No. 11), Visalia (No. 13), and Ventura (No. 16). Other cities in the top 20 included Phoenix (No. 6); Reno, Nev. (No. 8); Atlanta (No. 12); Prescott, Ariz. (No.14); Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (No. 15); Freeley, Colo. (No. 17); Detroit (No. 18); Boise, Idaho (No. 19); and Salt Lake City (No. 20).

As for 2012, "it’s going to be continuing what we’ve seen in the second half of 2011," Blomquist says, adding that zigzagging levels will continue and conditions will vary greatly by region. "The pattern we’re seeing is that lenders are pushing batches through at different times based on what they think they have documentation to support, and based on the local market conditions."

RealtyTrac expects to see higher numbers of foreclosures in 2012 than the nation saw last year, although rates aren’t expected to return to 2010 levels. Based on foreclosure starts, Blomquist says, RealtyTrac is estimating one million REOs will be reported this year, up from 800,000 nationwide in 2011. But estimating how many new foreclosures are coming gets tricky, he says. "Some of the big wildcards as to how much earlier stages of foreclosures will increase are the economy and how confident homeowners are feeling, especially underwater homeowners, who might be considering walking away. They’ll be more likely to stick it out if they see more signs of improvement in the economy and the housing market in 2012."

Claire Easley is a senior editor at Builder.

Consumer Sentiment Continued Upward Trend in January

However, sentiment has not been a clear indicator of actual spending for several months.

By:

Claire Easley

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Consumer sentiment saw a lift this month, according to the Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which gained 4 points for the month to reach a reading of 74.0. The gain was more than analysts had anticipated and puts the index 20 points higher than it stood during last August’s trough, when the Eurozone debt crisis and debt-ceiling debate shook consumers’ confidence.

Improvements were posted for both the Current Conditions Index (which was up three points to a reading of 82.6) and the Expectations Index (which was up 5.8 points to a reading of 68.4).

Despite the lift, the index remains below normal levels, which typically range in the 90s.

"Respondents had more favorable views of their personal finances as well as the outlook for the recovery," wrote Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight, in a press statement regarding the numbers. "Jobs were also reported to be easier to come by. As such, more respondents reported favorable buying plans for household durables and vehicles."

But while the index’s upward movement is welcome news, Edelstein says it can’t necessarily be counted on to boost sales numbers. "Consumer sentiment and spending growth typically move together over the business cycle. However, they became somewhat detached last year, particularly during the third quarter, when sentiment tanked but spending growth rebounded (albeit weakly and from a very low level)," he wrote. "It is possible that this time, sentiment could jump ahead of spending."

Claire Easley is a senior editor at Builder.

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Garage Flooring

Summary: There are a variety of garage floor treatments. Garage floor finishes can range from floor paint to epoxy garage floor sealers. But sometimes the right choice for a garage floor would be a plain concrete floor.

DEAR TIM: While touring new homes, I see different garage flooring systems. When I grew up, our garage flooring was concrete. I’m intrigued by the new products that make the floor dazzle, but I’m wondering if they are worth it. What do you think about the epoxy garage flooring and garage flooring paint? Would you do any of these in your own garage? What can I do to revive the look of my current dirty and stained garage floor? Shane G., Naperville, IL

DEAR SHANE: I’m old fashioned and I’ll admit it. You might not like my answer, but the best garage flooring, in my opinion, is plain old concrete. It’s time tested and in most cases is maintenance free. You can seal a clean concrete floor making it resistant to almost any stain.

As plain as it is, poured concrete is really a great garage flooring material. It’s not sexy, but it’s durable. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

You’ve got lots of options to choose from when it comes to changing the look of your garage floor. By all means don’t ignore the old standby used by my dad when I was a kid. He took high-gloss paint, and as crazy as this sounds, painted our concrete basement floor.

Do you know what color he used? Gray. It looked like concrete when he was done. In a matter of an hour, he took a maintenance-free surface and turned it into one that required periodic cleaning and repainting to look good. My mom thought he was an idiot.

Because our home was built just before WW II, there was no vapor barrier under the concrete. As a result, water vapor passed right through the concrete from the moist soil beneath and would cause the paint to peel periodically. Most modern homes have plastic vapor barriers, so you should be okay to paint if that’s what you decide to do.

Be sure you read the instructions on the paint can and use a paint that’s designed to be applied to floors. You may need to use a special primer to get great results. Think about slip resistance. Painted floors can be slippery when wet.

I’ve seen rubber garage flooring. You can get interlocking tiles that come in different colors and patterns. They’ll make your garage look spiffy indeed. Be aware they come in different levels of slip resistance and price.

Rolls of vinyl garage flooring might catch your eye. These come in colors and clear. I can’t understand why someone would want a clear vinyl product, as you can see through to the concrete. Perhaps you would have a double covering in this instance!

If your budget is low, you may be able to find discount garage flooring or cheap garage flooring. Be careful if you go this route, as I’m quite sure not all the products would stand the test of time. There always seem to be inexpensive products to appeal to the people at the bottom of a market. More often than not I’ve heard the lamentations of these buyers several months down the road when the products fail or underperform.

In the event you decide to go with a paint, take your time and do the research. I’ve had any number of homeowners contact me about hot-tire syndrome. You live where it can get beastly hot in the summer.

If you’ve been driving around on hot roads for a while and pull into your garage, the tires on your car can be very hot. This concentrated heat coupled with the weight of the car, has caused the paint to peel and pull up in certain situations.

Be sure you research this extensively online and see if the paint you intend to use has a history of peeling. Contact the manufacturer. Be sure you follow all instructions to the letter when applying it, as paint is just glue with color in it for the most part. Be sure the concrete is clean, dry and has been prepared to get the best bond.

To revive the look of your existing garage floor I’d start by trying to deep clean it. You’ve got nothing to loose by using a pressure washer to remove years of dirt and grime. Oil stains and other organic stains can sometimes be removed by soaking the floor with a solution of oxygen bleach and then scrubbing it. This non-toxic product is readily available online.

If the floor doesn’t come as clean as you like, you can actually apply a thin coating of cement plaster that will make the concrete look like it’s brand new. This plaster is just a mixture of fine silica sand and Portland cement. It’s applied as thin as an eighth of an inch and can be troweled as smooth as glass.

To get it to bond to the old concrete, be sure the concrete is clean and paint on a thin coat of Portland cement paint just before applying the stucco. Don’t allow the cement paint, just a mixture of Portland cement and water, to dry before you cover it with the stucco. After curing for 30 days, apply a clear silane-siloxane sealer to prevent stains in the new cement coating.

These cement or concrete overlays will last 50 or more years if done correctly. What’s more, they can be far thicker than an eighth of an inch. If you want to level out a floor that’s dropped, you can install concrete on top of concrete. If the new overlay is about 1 inch thick, be sure to put small rounded gravel in the mix. It should be no larger than peas you might eat. If the overlay is about a half-inch thick, use regular coarse sand instead of fine sand.

Engraved Brick

Summary: Engraved brick pavers are nothing new. Engraved bricks have been around for hundreds of years. Today, there are laser engraved bricks that can create personalized bricks with almost anything etched on the brick.

DEAR TIM: I’ve seen engraved brick on different plazas in public places. An idea popped into my head that one could possibly engrave just about anything into a brick or series of brick. I was thinking of having a special poem placed on several brick for my patio. Is this possible? Are there different ways to engrave brick? Lisa M., Orlando FL

DEAR LISA: Engraved brick pavers are nothing new, that’s for sure. Visit any number of towns that still have exposed brick streets, and you’ll see that brick can be imprinted, engraved, sandblasted and even scored with high-precision lasers. I wish I had a photo of the brick that are used in the streets of Athens, Ohio. Some of these engraved brick are well over 100 years old and look as good as the day they came out of the kiln.

The nearly black letters on this brick are not paint. It's glass created from a laser that melted the silica-rich clay in the brick. This glass is permanently bonded to the brick and can last decades, if not well over 100 years. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

There are several reasons the Athens, Ohio brick look so good. One is that the brick were made from a very dense clay that was fired in a hot kiln for a long time. This vitrifies the brick and transforms the clay into a very hard rock. The heat of the kiln causes the mineralogy of the clay to change.

In addition, those brick were stamped before they were fired in the kiln. This important step allows the edges of the stamped letters to become very hard and resistant to wear.

Many modern engraved brick start with regular paving brick that may not be as hard as they can be and the letters and characters are sandblasted into the brick after the brick is fired in the kiln. If the brick is not that hard, the sandblasting reveals a softer layer under the skin of the brick that may not last for decades under harsh weather or wear conditions.

I’m a fan of laser engraved brick. The reason is pretty simple. The high-powered laser can create very crisp lines along the letters. The laser melts the clay in the brick turning it to glass. Yes, glass. Because the brick has a high silica content, this glass surface wears like iron. The glass surface of each letter is permanently bonded to the brick because the laser welds or simply melts the clay. It’s not a coating as you might find on some less expensive brick.

Just about anything can be engraved on a brick. Most fonts, drawings, symbols, logos, etc. can be easily engraved onto a brick. The brick are available in different colors, so there’s a great chance you can find one you like.

As crazy as this sounds, you can even have a child’s scribble drawing engraved permanently in a brick or series if brick if you want it full scale. If it can be scanned, it probably can be laser engraved.

The best part of the laser engraved brick is they require no maintenance. If they get dirty, just hose them off.

Remember that traditional sandblasted or deeply carved brick engraving is not necessarily the best thing. The deeper the grooves that create the letters, the more susceptible they are to permanent damage. Think of the capital letters A and R. The grooves create a small inside island of brick. If these break off, the letter becomes somewhat illegible.

Laser engraving doesn’t create these issues. The laser cuts a shallow area out of the brick, but because the resulting glass is dark, it’s very legible and will remain so for decades, if not centuries.

The bottom line is that you can have that poem engraved on brick. It’s going to look gorgeous. Take your time and be sure to order some sample brick to make sure you get the color you want.

It’s also very important to get the correct sized font. Remember, people will be standing up reading the poem, so the font has to be fairly large. The brick engraving company can send you one or more sample brick you can place at your feet to test. Make sure you can read them clearly.

Cable TV Options

Summary: Rearranging a room can cause problems with your cable tv. When ordering new cable packages, be sure the cable tv offers installation without exposed wires. Some digital cable tv offer wireless connections.

DEAR TIM: I want to rearrange our furniture in our family room. This requires us to relocate our television set that gets its signal from our cable tv provider. What are my cable tv options with respect to getting the television to work? My husband says it will be very difficult to extend a new cable line behind the walls. The cable company just wants to staple a new line to either the interior wall or our exterior wall. I don’t like that one bit. What’s the best cable tv solution you can come up with in my situation? Valerie H., Salem, MA

DEAR VALERIE: I can tell you that I surely feel your pain. Believe it or not I’m in the same position as you are. My wife just moved into our home in New Hampshire and she wants our family room television on the other side of the room from where the current cable tv outlet is. I’ll be completing my research this morning to see what my cable tv offers with respect to equipment and services to get my flat screen tv to power up.

This digital television will remain black until a new cable is run to it or it’s setup in minutes to receive a wireless digital cable tv signal. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

If you have digital cable service now that’s coming into your home, you want to maintain that so you can view high-definition programming. For years this meant that you had to use a traditional cable wire to feed that signal to your television set or multiple sets throughout your home.

Your husband is probably correct. If you have a finished basement or a home on a slab, it can be problematic to extend a cable wire to another part of a room much less some other part of the house. I’m with you in that I don’t want exposed cables defacing either an interior or exterior wall of my home. I love the sleek look of a standard wall outlet that has a cable tv coaxial termination point. Better yet, I’d like to get the cable tv signal wirelessly.

If your family room has wall-to-wall carpeting, you may be able to hide the cable under the carpet along the edges of the wall. A good carpet installer can pull the carpet back off the tackless strips, hide the cable safely near the walls and then re-stretch the carpet. The installer just needs to make sure his tools don’t hurt the cable wire. Just place a piece of furniture along the wall where the cable enters into the carpet and where it exits.

If you don’t have wall-to-wall carpeting, you can accomplish the same thing but with more work. It’s possible to hide a cable wire behind a wooden toe strip molding that’s typically nailed to the bottom of a baseboard. You’d need some fancy woodworking tools or a table saw to create the channel where the cable will nest.

You’ll also need to be very careful when you secure the toe strip to the baseboard so you don’t penetrate the cable with a nail. There are tiny pin nailers that shoot very small fasteners that will attach the toe strip to the baseboard above the cable line.

Fortunately you have at least one other option. You can go wireless. It’s possible to purchase a wireless setup that allows you to place your television anywhere you want in that room. In the future or even now, it may be possible to broadcast the wireless digital signal to other rooms of your home to different tv sets that are equipped to accept the signal.

Cable TV and Internet are starting to merge. It’s been happening for a few years, but now the movement is gaining traction. Just as you have easy wireless connection to the Internet in your home and public places, you’ll be able to enjoy wireless digital television signals with relative ease.

Remember, the television signal is being broadcast from its source wirelessly in a digital format. The cable tv companies get the wireless signal and then put it into the cables you see attached to the miles of utility poles near your home. It only makes sense that you can reconvert the digital signal to a wireless one within the walls of your home once you have the right equipment and setup.

If you’re doing remodeling work or building a new home, it takes very little extra work to extend traditional cables to the various walls in a home that might eventually have a tv on or near them. In my own family room, I know for a fact that there are just three or four locations where the tv can go. It would have taken an electrician just 30 minutes or less to run a separate cable to the extra spots in the room.

Be sure to include into your budget the money needed to extend these cables. If you can’t do that, at least try to install blank conduits to these locations so you can run the cable wire without ruining the finished wall. But before you do that, cost it out. You’ll probably discover you can run the actual cable wire for the same cost and time investment of you installing blank conduit!

Pack MovingSummary: Moving is a major experience. Selecting from all the right moving companies, and deciding if you should the u pack moving method.

Summary: Moving is a major experience. Selecting from all the right moving companies, and deciding if you should the u pack moving method. If you pack yourself, you will need to purchase moving boxes, follow some moving tips and have lots of time available.

DEAR TIM: I’m moving from one house to another and am overwhelmed. There seems to be so much to pack and I’m not sure how to proceed. I’ve received several bids from moving companies, and the cost for them to pack my possessions took my breath away. I’ve studied the u-pack moving options, and wonder if I’m up to the challenge. What advice do you have for moving and packing services? Have you moved recently and what can you share from the experience? Mandy S., Lima, OH

DEAR MANDY: Oh boy do I feel your pain! Just after finishing this column I’ve got to get back at it and finished packing for my own imminent move. In just two days, the giant moving truck and crew will be here to start loading my 18,000 pounds of possessions. My wife and I have done most of the packing, so we absolutely belong to the growing number of families that belong to the you pack we move clan.

These are just a few of the supplies you’ll need when you start to pack for moving yourself locally or long distance. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

I did the same thing you did and got several quotes from cross-country moving companies. The sticker shock you experienced was the same emotion I felt. It’s expensive to move, and even more so if you decide to do little or no work. You can save thousands of dollars if you pack for your move.

The core cost of the move is for the most part a function of the total weight of your belongings. If you can reduce the overall weight of what you’re transporting from one house to the next, then do it. Sell or donate the things you simply can live without.

I discovered the power of the online classified websites a few months ago. The one I’ve had the best luck with is www.Craigslist.org. I’ve sold many crazy items that I had little or no use for using this method. The cash is going to help pay for the move. Believe it or not, it’s free to use this website.

I was even able to use this same website to advertise, at no cost, a garage sale. This sale was very successful and allowed me to sell off hundreds and thousands of pounds of items. Remember, weight is your enemy come moving day.

When you pack for moving, you have to be prepared. It takes many more hours and days than you might ever imagine. My wife and I have been packing for well over two weeks, even with the help of a friend, and we still have lots to do.

You’ll need abundant supplies to help protect your valuable possessions. Sturdy cardboard boxes, rolls and rolls of tape, rolls of sheets of plastic that have sealed bubbles of air, and some old newspaper or cheap kraft paper will come in very handy.

Many moving companies will supply you with an assortment of boxes to help you pack. The dishpack cartons are the strongest as they commonly are constructed with two layers of cardboard. These will really help protect your most fragile things.

I discovered a business very close to my home that sells shipping supplies to businesses. It just so happens these are the same things you can use to help you in your move. The cost of the supplies is far less than what you’d spend at a big box store. So far I’ve used over five 250-foot rolls of sheets of plastic that have sealed bubbles of air to pack things. These rolls are 4-feet in diameter!

It’s really important to pack things you value carefully. Inside the truck, the items will rub and bump against one another. This can damage the finish on the items, so you need to be sure you wrap valuable things with something that will protect them. It may be paper, sheets of cardboard, sheets of plastic that have sealed bubbles of air, old clothes, etc. Just realize that things will get jostled around, especially if you’re doing a long-distance move as am I.

If you have to pack large items, you may have to build your own boxes. Wooden crates can be used to protect expensive items, but these can be tough to build if you’re not a carpenter. I built a large crate for a chandelier using 1-inch-thick honeycombed cardboard panels. It only took 30 minutes to tape it together with the thick corner supports.

How to pack a moving truck is a true skill and art. Blanket wrapping each piece of furniture is mandatory to prevent damage. The rocking of the truck will cause items to shift and move around if the things inside are not packed correctly and placed tightly against one another.

If you want to discover how to pack a moving van the right way, I suggest you watch a professional. I intend to do just that in a few days. There’s no doubt that all the items being moved, especially those in boxes, are separated by shape and weight. I’m guessing the heavy items most definitely will be placed on the floor of the truck with lighter items stacked on top of them. That’s just common sense, or should I say rare sense!

Pack MovingSummary: Moving is a major experience. Selecting from all the right moving companies, and deciding if you should the u pack moving method.

Interior French Doors

Summary: Are you considering prehung interior french doors? Be sure the reveal around and between the french doors is consistent. Double french doors has more reveals than a standard prehung door. But if done correctly, your double french doors will look great and last for years.

DEAR TIM: I’ve decided to install some interior french doors. Since I’m a rookie carpenter, I’m intrigued by some prehung interior french doors I saw at a lumber yard. What’s your opinion of these doors? What else can you share that will help me install interior french doors like you might do it? Surely there are some secret tips that make the job go faster and easier. Michael G., Burbank, CA

DEAR MICHAEL: Installing interior french doors, assuming you’re a real rookie carpenter, is going to sap you of every bit of skill and patience you have at this point in your DIY career. It’s hard enough hanging a single prehung door, much less a set of french doors. I’ve installed many prehung french doors with great success.

These interior french doors just need trim, paint and hardware to be complete. PHOTO CREDIT: Brent Walter

The reason double interior french doors are so hard is that you have additional tolerances you must satisfy to make the install look professional. The reveal around all the doors and in between the two doors needs to be consistent and as equal as possible. This is much harder to achieve than you might think.

The first step is to inspect the doors at the store. If you can see the hinge side of the doors, look to see if the reveal or gap between the doors and the jambs is pretty close all the way around the door. You want a gap of just about one eighth inch everywhere. If the jamb is bowed or the gap is wildly different, look at other doors that may be in stock. You want everything in your favor before you take the door home.

The first thing to get right as you begin to tackle your double interior french doors is the rough opening. This is the hole in the wall where the door fits. I prefer to have my rough openings at least one-half inch wider than the overall unit size of the door. The unit size is the overall height and width of the frame that the doors hang from. The same is true for the height. I like having the rough opening one-half inch higher than the the door frame’s overall height.

Remember, this height distance is measured from the top of the finished floor. It’s always better to have the door jambs sit on top of a finished floor instead of installing the door and then trying to butt up flooring to the door jamb.

Since the actual doors in your new french doors are undoubtedly perfectly square, this means that if the reveal or spacing in between the doors and the frame are equal, then the overall door frame is square. It’s imperative that the two door jambs are installed plumb, parallel and in the same plane. If you can make the rough opening so the vertical rough studs are plumb it will really help you.

Not only does the rough opening need to be square and plumb, it’s also very important that the opening is not a helix. This means that the opening has to be straight and plumb in both directions. If one leg of the rough opening is not plumb then the two doors, when closed, will not be even at the bottom. Are you still wanting to do this install? It’s now just getting interesting.

You’ll also have an easy time if the floor under the door unit is level from one side of the opening to the other. If the floor is out of level, you’ll have to precisely cut down the door jamb on the high side of the floor the amount it’s out of level from jamb to jamb. If you don’t do this’ you’ll have to shim up the one jamb off the finished floor creating an ugly gap. Your margin of error here is less than one-sixteenth of an inch.

Once you get the frame and the door jambs into the opening, tack it in place with 10-penny finish nails. Be sure to use thin shims to ensure the door jamb is plumb. You’ll have to open and close the doors numerous times as you nail to constantly check the reveal and spacing between the doors and the door jambs.

After you’re satisfied that the door is installed and the spacing is perfect, I recommend installing a hidden screw under the top hinge of each door. I prefer to use a 2.5-inch-long screw that’s driven through the door jamb into the rough opening framing lumber. This screw ensures that the doors stay in position for years. There’s tremendous tension on the top hinge, and the screw will anchor the doors to the rough framing.

You’ll also need a nail set tool to drive the finish nails below the surface of the door jamb. Be very careful as you hammer the nails so the head of the hammer never touches the surface of the wood. You don’t want any rookie beauty marks on the door jamb.

Once your french doors are installed to your satisfaction and that of your significant other, you need to be sure they don’t warp. It’s imperative that you paint the top and the bottom of your wood doors with a minimum of two coats of paint. This paint significantly slows the absorption of water vapor into the long vertical stiles of the doors. If too much water gets into the door, it can warp it.