We've all heard, perhaps sung, the skilled-labor-shortage blues. But the ballad of the woebegone boss - a timeless tale of a company owner wondering how best to manage the good people he already has - has been creeping up the charts.

Maybe you live or work in a neighborhood like mine. Fifty-year-old homes of no more than 2,000 square feet get sold for $400,000 and torn down. They're replaced with million-dollar houses occupying every inch of the lot and extending upward at least three stories.

As a professional remodeling contractor, how would you solve the following situation? Your clients own a historic, 19th-century home with a coffered-ceiling dining room, four-piece crown moldings throughout the rest of the house, and lath and plaster walls as smooth as butter. They are sick and tired of living with noisy, hissing radiators and want them replaced with something "new, efficient a...

With 160 employees and annual averages of 300 remodeling projects and more than $50 million in revenue, Airoom Architects & Builders in Lincolnwood, Ill., operates on a grander scale than most remodelers. But Airoom's strategic approach to improving performance management can act as a template for any company.

Microsoft Project scheduling software helps Paragon General Contractors hold homeowners, designers, and subcontractors to deadlines.

If your clients want a kitchen that's functional as well as flashy, refer them to the revised edition of Donald E. Silvers' Kitchen Design With Cooking in Mind (NMI Publishers, softcover, 87 pages).

Pictures from the Community Builders Assocation of New Jersey, NARI's Evening of Excellence event and the NAHB Remodelors Council Chairman's Dinner at the 2004 International Builders' Show.

Need to cool off an old house? Consider a mini-duct system.

Consulting company Re-modelers Advantage is launching a comprehensive business education program that doesn’t require participating remodelers to leave home, the truck or the office.

In some markets, in-house CAD capabilities are essential