Hurricanes in the south, unprecedented levels of construction material demand in China, record oil prices and a host of other issues drove up material costs in 2004. Ongoing increases in labor, insurance and general overhead expenses squeezed margins from another angle. How do you generate an acceptable profit when pricing seems out of control?

Owners John and Chris Carmean built their home in the late 1970s after an automobile accident left John in a wheelchair. The house had some wide passageways and ramps, but none of the other features that qualify as universal or accessible design these days. "It was really not accessible," says remodeler Lori Bentley, CKBR.

Farina and Sons Inc. in Orlando, Fla., specializes in whole-house renovations and new custom homes, which make up about 20 percent of the business. Second-generation president Victor Farina employs three people in the office and six lead carpenters. Joe Gradison, vice president of Gradison Building Corporation in Indianapolis, owns the 19-year-old business with his brother, Mark.

A good wine collection requires more than a storage room with racks. As with the fine wines that it stores and displays, a wine cellar is a delicate balance of elements, all of which can affect the quality and preservation of the wine collection. That balance is often miscalculated, says Lee Zinser, owner of Cellarworks Inc.

As a card-carrying member of Generation X with a baby face that belies my age, I've been upholding the work ethic, drive, maturity, skills and knowledge of my cohort for more than a decade. I've never noticed the lack of initiative and attitude of entitlement that I've heard many employers claim to see in younger workers.

With a lean staff and regular use of temporary labor supplied by a staffing agency, Louis Krokover of NewDay Development runs his remodeling and new-home business more like a big corporation than many contractors. Based in Encino, Calif., NewDay specializes in remodeling single-family homes for the upper-middle to "upper-upper" class.

The hurricanes that pounded the Gulf and Atlantic coasts in 2004 left contractors and their customers pondering how to avoid damage when the next storm blows through. "There's no better time than when rebuilding to incorporate construction changes that will make a property less vulnerable to wind or water," says Bill Carwile, federal coordinating officer for the Federal Emergency Management Age...

Reaching full growth potential as a company requires having more than one person — especially if that person is the owner — who can sell jobs. At Blackdog Design/Build/Remodel in Salem, N.H., president David Bryan has a whole team of design consultants who double as salespeople and triple as estimators.

Allison Perry Iantosca is a second-generation manager of F.H. Perry Builder Inc., a Hopkinton, Mass., residential remodeling and custom home building firm founded by her father, Finley Perry. With annual revenue of about $5.5 million, F.H. Perry employs 14 people, six in the office and the rest in project management.

Chicago's North Shore is well known for teardowns, and this 1950s ranch home set on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan seemed a perfect prospect. The roof leaked, windows needed replacing, mechanicals were out of date, and the house was about half the size of those surrounding it in the community of Glencoe.