Nation's Building News Online: June 25, 2007

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Amendment Puts Immigration Bill Back on the Right Track

A bipartisan amendment put forth last week by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is critical to putting immigration reform back on the right track, according to the nation’s home builders.

“Everyone has a stake in reforming the nation’s immigration laws in a fair and just manner that will enhance our border security and provide a sensible process for people to enter our country legally,” said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB. “The Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment would help achieve these aims by improving the bill’s employer provisions to enable small business owners to play a constructive role in the enforcement of the new laws.”

With the Senate expected to take a final vote this week on S. 1639, the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, NAHB sent a letter to all 100 senators calling on them to support the amendment and designated its passage as a “key vote” because of its importance to the housing industry.

“The success or failure of the new immigration laws will depend greatly on how effectively small business owners will be able to follow and enforce the new rules,” the letter stated. “While NAHB is committed to enacting reforms that will give the federal government the necessary tools to prosecute employers who knowingly violate the law, it is imperative that the enforcement system created is fair, efficient and workable for all U.S. employers. Should this amendment fail, NAHB will key vote in opposition to final passage of S. 1639.”

Through BuilderLink, NAHB’s national grassroots campaign, a toll-free number is available to make it easy for builders to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to support the Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment.

After dialing 866-924-NAHB (6242), you will be asked to enter your zip code and then be connected to your first U.S. Senate office. When the first call is complete, stay on the line and you will be connected to your second U.S. Senate office. Please note: If you get transferred to the voice mailbox for your first senator, then the system cannot transfer you to your second senator. For more information on contacting your senators, e-mail Molly Murray at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8282.

To further underscore the significance of this issue to the housing and small business community, home builders from across the country last week visited dozens of Senate offices urging their senators to vote for the Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment.

“Our message to lawmakers was simple and direct,” said Howard. “NAHB wants to work with Congress to craft immigration policy that protects our borders without placing an unfair burden on small business owners.”

As the immigration bill now stands, it would punish small business owners by holding them accountable for the hiring decisions made by their subcontractors. In effect, America’s home builders — along with other U.S. employers who rely on subcontractors — would be required to join a national posse charged with verifying the legal status of millions of workers they never hired in the first place and may have never met, said Howard.

“By ensuring that the responsibility for verifying a worker’s immigration status is placed where it really belongs — with the employer who hires and pays them — the Grassley-Baucus-Obama amendment offers a sensible solution to the enforcement issue,” said Howard. “It also makes it possible for employers to act in good faith and to follow the new rules for determining whether a person is in the country legally.”

It is estimated that more than 20% of the home building industry’s entire workforce is foreign-born, making the immigrant population essential to meeting housing demand and sustaining economic growth in this country.

The amendment, Howard added, would also simplify the new federal verification system by giving employers the option of calling a national data base to determine a person’s legal status at the time they are being hired.

Rights and Responsibilities

With the immigration bill S. 1639 taking center stage in the Senate this week, NAHB has prepared the following questions and answers to help association members understand their rights and responsibilities as employers under the nation’s current immigration enforcement policies. The Q&A, which was published last year in Nation’s Building News, explains what employers need to know about Form I-9 and what is involved in the event of an audit:

Q. What is a Form I-9?

A. Federal law places an affirmative duty on employers to verify the identity and work authorization of all persons who are hired. This is accomplished by the mandatory completion of Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. Employers are required to keep a completed Form I-9 on file for each of their current employees who were hired after Nov. 7, 1986.

Q. When must the I-9 be completed?

A. Section 1 of Form I-9 (information supplied by the employee) must be completed and signed by the employee at the time of being hired.

Section 2 of Form I-9 (the employer's review and document verification) must be completed and signed by the employer (or an authorized representative) within three business days of the hiring.

Q. How long must Form I-9's be retained?

A. Employers are required to retain each Form I-9 for one year after the employee is terminated, or for at least three years from the date of the hire, whichever is later.

Q. What is an I-9 audit?

A. The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), formerly the INS, has the authority, without needing a subpoena, to inspect any employer's Form I-9's to verify compliance and to check their accuracy. This inspection is called an I-9 audit.

Q. Can ICE conduct surprise I-9 audits?

A. No. An investigator can show up unannounced at a work site, but cannot demand an immediate production of I-9 records. Under the law, an employer is entitled to receive a three-day notice prior to the I-9 audit. In the past, it was possible to negotiate with ICE for longer periods before an I-9 audit took place, as much as 10 to 12 business days.

Q. Are builder-employers responsible for their subcontractor employees' I-9 compliance?

A. No. Under the law, builder-employers are not required to complete Form I-9's for the employees of their subcontractors, or to monitor their subcontractors' Form I-9 compliance. However, builders should be aware that they are unlawfully circumventing the immigration laws if they know that any of their work-site subcontractors are employing unauthorized aliens.

Q. Do builders have to produce their subcontractors' employment records or a list of their subcontractors?

A. A builder is not expected to have possession of a subcontractor's employment records at an I-9 audit and is not responsible for securing these records from subcontractors or assembling subcontractors at any location. However, builder-employers are required to cooperate with ICE investigations. Other documents of a builder that are relevant to any investigation can be subpoenaed, including records that a builder possesses pertaining to its subcontractors.

Q. Can a builder-employer have an attorney present during the I-9 audit?

A. Employers who are the subject of an I-9 audit have the right to be represented by counsel. Given the new federal "compliance attitude," and its obvious attempt to make builders-employers responsible for subcontractor hiring practices, it is recommended that an attorney be brought in immediately when notice of an I-9 audit is received. Any investigative demands, including demands for subcontractor information, should then be referred to the builder-employer's attorney for appropriate action and response.

Q. Can incomplete or inaccurate Form I-9's be corrected?

A. If at any time errors are discovered on a Form I-9, corrections can be made. Corrections to Section 1 (employee information) should be made by the employee, or made in the employee's presence, and then initialed and dated by the employee. Corrections to Section 2 (employer review and document verification) should be made by the employer or an authorized representative. Each correction should be initialed and dated by the person actually making the change. Under no circumstances should a Form I-9 ever be backdated or forged. These are criminal violations.

Q. What penalties can be imposed for violations of the Immigration Act?

A. If any deficiency or illegality is found, ICE will issue a Notice of Intent to Fine NIF to the employer. Form I-9 paperwork violations are subject to fines of between $100 and $1,000 per infraction. More serious violations, such as hiring unauthorized aliens, are subject to steeper fines. Arrest and imprisonment are possible for those who are found to have engaged in a regular pattern or practice of willful violations.

Q. Can an NIF be contested?

A. Yes. An employer has 30 days to contest the (NIF) by requesting a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Q. Can anything be done to reduce the penalties for unintentional paperwork violations?

A. Yes. Mitigating factors are considered, including the size of the employer, the employer's good faith, a good compliance history, the seriousness of the violation at hand and whether the employee listed on an incomplete or inaccurate I-9 is actually authorized to work. The presence of mitigating factors can result in a reduction of penalties.

Q. What proactive measures should be taken to avoid an unintentional violation?

A. It is highly recommended that builder-employers conduct regular internal audits of their company's employment records to re-verify the legitimacy and appropriateness of the documents on file, to confirm that all Form I-9's are accurate and complete, and to assure that any temporary work authorizations have not expired.

Q. Where can blank Form I-9's be obtained?

A. To downloand Form I-9's, click here.

Q. Where can instructions for completing Form I-9's be obtained?

A. Detailed instructions can be found in the U.S. Justice Department publication M-274 "Handbook for Employers — Instructions for Completing Form I-9."

Supplemented on Oct. 7, 2005 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Employer Information Bulletin 102 explains "The Form I-9 Process in a Nutshell."

NAHB members are advised to diligently adhere to the requirements of the current immigration law and can click here for more information, or e-mail David Crump  at NAHB or call him at 800-368-5242 x8491.

For more information on Senate bill S. 1639, click here and type the bill number in the box in the center screen, or contact Jenna Hamilton at NAHB at x8470.

Soda Pop Maverick Shows Builders New Ways to Market

Everything from soda pop to new cars provided cues to builders attending the May 29 to June 1 PCBC on how they can sharpen their marketing and branding skills to rise above the competition in today’s tough market and beyond.

Peter Van Stolk, founder and president of Jones Soda, told building industry professionals attending the conference and tradeshow in San Francisco how he has been able to compete against “companies that are really big” and prosper.

“It’s not about soda,” said Van Stolk. “It’s about how you do things differently to achieve the results you want.”

Van Stolk started out in business at the age of 23 in Vancouver, British Columbia selling fresh fruit and orange juice out of a church basement; became an importer of other people’s beverages, which he hated; and within a couple of years sold everything and decided to start over as Jones Soda.

He said he founded his company on the premise that “the world didn’t need another beverage business,” and with the two biggest players in the field spending $1 billion a year marketing their brand, he focused on setting his products apart from the rest and developing a deep emotional bond with his customers.

Unable to compete “by playing the rules that everybody else plays by,” Van Stalk started out with flavors that nobody else had and a unique customized branding approach that put photos sent in by his customers on the soda bottles.

By putting “something your customers love on the bottle” and “allowing the people to make the brand theirs,” Van Stolk found that he didn’t need millions of dollars to advertise.

“A brand makes an emotional connection with someone. Start thinking of yourself as a brand,” he said. It takes time, he added, but creating that relationship will get people excited.

“Understand your customers and allow them to discover how cool you are without telling them, and listen from their perspective,” Van Stolk advised. “If they feel that they are being listened to, which is really a challenge, then they feel excited.”

Van Stolk decided to focus on the youth market — from the teens to 24 — and their psychographics and lifestyle trends, and he then placed his product where “kids go to shop.”

“We would sell soda where nobody had ever sold soda before,” said Van Stolk, and that included tattoo parlors, hair salons and clothing stores, where people could see “our coolers and not a bunch of coolers.” Marketing included “guys dressed in orange jump suits” and salespeople on skateboards.

“Maybe there’s a better place to put your sign,” he added. “Sponsor athletes, people who are passionate.”

In order to become a big company, Jones Soda is being marketed as a premium brand and research has shown that the vast majority of people will pay more for higher quality, he said. Also, the product is made with pure cane sugar, not the corn syrup that has become customary in the business, creating the opportunity for advertising slogans such as “Corn is for cars” and “Drink less soda, just better soda.”

“If you can do something where you can change the rules, then you can market,” Van Stolk said.

A marketing coup for Jones Soda was getting Regis Philbin to taste mashed potato soda and other flavors related to Thanksgiving dinner on his television show.

Another key to success, Van Stolk said, is asking his customers what they want and listening to their answers from their perspective. “Ask your customers questions. They’ll tell you straight up,” even if they’re not always right on the mark.

To elicit his customers’ advice, he has even set up a youth advisory board that plays an important role in making corporate decisions.

Branding Through the Senses

PCBC attendees also heard a presentation from branding guru Martin Lindstrom, who reviewed some of the most successful corporate brands around today as well as those that are ineffective.

“Can I smash your brand and still recognize instantly who you are?” he asked. If it’s something as well-established as Tiffany’s blue box, you can.

Building a brand involves building emotion around a product, he said. “You are selling stories. Be 100% honest, but all of you can create a unique story.”

Lindstrom also stressed the importance of appealing to the senses in branding efforts — all five and not just sight. “Every signal can be important for the brand,” he said, but 83% of all branding communication is aimed at the eyes, leaving only 17% for the other senses. “And yet research shows that a full 75% of our emotions are in fact generated by what we smell,” he said.

Followed by peanut butter, the smell of coffee is the favorite aroma in the U.S., he said, and when coffee is brewing in a model home it can boost sales by 19%, according to research, and classical music with a heartbeat rhythm can increase sales by 11%.

Crayola crayons are in 18th place on the list of Americans’ favorite smells, he said, and they show that “you can own a smell. You can brand a smell, a touch, a taste, a sound.”

Play-Doh and Johnson’s Baby Powder are two examples of products that have made an indelible impression on consumers through the sense of smell, he said. Sprayed-on aromas help brand, and sell, cars and sneakers, and the smell of cut grass in a do-it-yourself supply store makes customers more satisfied with the performance of the sales staff.

Since different people respond differently to various sensory stimuli, “the more senses you appeal to, the more people feel affinity to the brand,” he said. Auto manufacturers take every piece of the car they can, including the sounds they make, and brand it.

“It takes time to build the brand,” said Lindstrom, “but the more you involve your customers in the senses, the more they’ll understand why your stuff is so unique.”

Builders Hitch Advertising to ‘Buy Now’ Campaign in Arizona

Several builders in the Tucson-based Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) gained additional exposure and leveraged their individual “buy now” advertising campaigns by using the same core messages as those used by their HBA.

The Southern Arizona HBA campaign was part of the NAHB “Buy Now” advertising assistance program that provides advertising grants to qualifying HBAs hit hard by the housing downturn.

In its ad campaign, SAHBA promoted a “buy now” message primarily through radio advertising. In addition, the association specifically targeted renters and commuters by supplementing its radio advertising with ads in city bus shelters located near apartments and along high-traffic roadways, said Roger Yohem, SAHBA vice president. 

“Our campaign is just ending, so it's too early to tell what measurable effect it had on consumers,” said Yohem. “One thing I know for sure, however. We are grateful to NAHB for the grant. It demonstrated to our members that NAHB is committed to helping our industry get through this down cycle.” 

Yohem said his association was able to quickly take advantage of NAHB’s advertising assistance because it had a standing public relations/community education committee. “We were fortunate to have a procedure in place that enabled us to move fast and put together a program,” he said.    

$1.9 Million Awarded to Date

To date, 110 HBAs in 34 states — including the Southern Arizona HBA — have received or been approved to receive more than $1.9 million in NAHB advertising assistance. Including the matching funds that the HBAs contributed, the total value of their advertising campaigns is more than $5.8 million.

$1 Million in Grants Still Available

NAHB is encouraging HBAs that have not yet received or been approved to receive grant money to apply for NAHB “Buy Now” grants.

The NAHB “Buy Now” Advertising Assistance Program provides grants to qualifying HBAs in three categories:

• HBAs conducting ad campaigns in the top 10 media markets (Tier 1)
  
  
• HBAs with more than 250 members operating in areas outside of the top 10 major media markets (Tier 2)
  
  
• HBAs with 250 or fewer members (Tier 3)

To qualify for grants, the ads must deliver a “buy now” message, be placed in 2007 and be conducted in markets that have experienced a major decline in home sales and housing production.

To Apply

To learn more about the program, eligibility considerations and requirements, click here, or call Niki Clark at NAHB at 800-368-5242 x806l.

To view a list of the HBAs that have received or been approved for grants, and their grant level categories, click here.

Mortgage-Rate Hike May Impel Buyers

A spike in mortgage interest rates that’s putting new pressure on home owners with costly subprime loans may also bring an unexpected boost to the market as buyers rush to beat more rate hikes. “Some people have been on the sidelines waiting for rates to start rising or waiting for home prices to drop,” said Keitaro Matsuda, senior economist at Union Bank of California. For “people who have the means to be in the housing market but have chosen not to,” numbers from Freddie Mac showing an upward surge in mortgage rates two weeks ago may prompt them to re-enter the market, he said. But some real estate agents say it is a buyer’s market, with housing inventories high and interest rates still near historical lows and they don’t expect consumers to be scared by a quarter-point increase in mortgage rates. At a recent open house in Rancho Peñsaquitos, for example, shoppers were calm and unhurried. “Our time is flexible because we’re renting," said Iwan Thomas, 31, of University City, Calif. “We’re hoping to find something in the next two or three months, but we can wait that much or longer.” Checking out a 1,160-square-foot restored Craftsman-style home in Normal Heights, Calif. priced at $570,000, Rich Guerena, a 28-year-old architect, said that he and his wife were “not desperate” and could delay a purchase “even if it takes till the end of the year for the right price and value.” Rising interest rates are prompting him to consider fixed-rate loans with 100% financing, as long as the monthly payment stays close to $3,000. (www.signonsandiego.com)
San Diego Union-Tribune (6/20/07); Emmet Pierce and Roger Showley

Out of Touch With Realty Reality, Most Americans Don’t Seem to Believe There’s a Serious Housing Slu

In a nationwide telephone poll conducted by The Boston Consulting Group, a business and management strategy firm, 55% of those surveyed were confident that their home continued to increase in value compared with a year ago, although that doesn’t jibe with the findings of most home-price indices, which point to about a 2% decline nationwide in median single-family prices. “Americans are positive about their homes’ value and believe in a bounce-back in residential real estate overall,” said Michael Silverstein, a senior partner at the company. Seventy-four percent of the survey respondents said they were confident that they could sell their home within six months at the price they think it’s worth. Looking ahead, 85% said they believe their home will rise in value during the next five months, and 63% believe a house is a good investment. Most home owners (76%) said they have not pared back their consumer spending in response to current market conditions, and a majority — 52% — said the current housing slump would end within two years. (www.cnnmoney.com)
CNNMoney (6/21/07); Les Christie

Reality Check: U.S. Subprime Woes May Hit New Home Sales, Builders Say

Amid the rash of subprime mortgage defaults, lenders have begun to tighten credit terms for alt-A and prime loans, said Bernard Markstein, NAHB’s senior economist, and potential new-home buyers who had shopped on the basis of a pre-approved loan amount now often find that their formal mortgage applications are approved only for lesser sums or at higher interest rates. The result is that potential buyers either walk away from purchases or sign deals for less expensive homes. Contract cancellations as a percentage of backlog had improved slightly just prior to the subprime crisis, he said, then stalled at a high level. “The Fed’s point of view is that it’s well-contained,” Markstein said of the subprime effect elsewhere in the housing market and the economy. “We’re not so sure of that,” he said. John Johnson, chief executive of Houston-based national builder David Weekley Homes, said tightening credit has begun to affect all of the company’s markets, and the subprime ripples of more inventory and fewer buyers have broadened as the year has progressed. Johnson described what he called a “domino effect” of the subprime situation. Stricter lending requirements have hampered some customers’ ability to buy new homes and to sell their existing homes, while defaults and foreclosures have resulted in higher inventory overall. “In both ways, it’s extending the oversupply for longer than we had thought.” Weekley is seeing flat or falling sales in Florida, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix. Bright spots include the Texas markets of Houston, Austin and San Antonio; Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.; and Charleston, S.C. (www.marketnews.com)
Market News International (6/15/07); Claudia Hirsch

Construction Job Losses May Be Understated

In a report from the Anderson Forecast at the University of California, Los Angeles, economist Jerry Nickelsburg points to a statistical anomaly in which employment in residential construction appears not to be falling in the midst of the current industry downturn. The most likely explanation is that the data is missing the unemployed workers, the report says, and that the hidden, undocumented workers who have been an important force are not appearing in the data. At the Pacific Coast Builders Conference in San Francisco last month, panelists focused on the importance of immigrant laborers to the home building industry. “In California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Florida and Illinois, immigrant labor (overwhelmingly Hispanic) represents anywhere from 30% to 50% of the construction workforce,” said one speaker. “As Congress considers legislation that could dramatically disrupt immigration flow, the potential consequences are enormous — shrinking the labor pool, driving up wages and reducing demand for new homes.” (www.inman.com)
Inman News (6/21/07); Glenn Roberts, Jr.

Passing the Sniff Test; What You Can’t Smell Can Sour a Deal for Buyers Who Can

How a place smells is not usually at the top of house-hunters’ minds, but when they detect an odor they don’t expect, don’t like or don’t recognize, it can alter their mood and influence their buying decisions. In an unscientific National Association of Realtors® survey a few years ago, agents cited the smells of tobacco, mildew and decay among the top deal-wreckers. About 60% of them singled out pet odor as the one most likely to kill a transaction. Pamela Dalton, a research scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that cat urine is especially difficult to remove because it contains sticky sulfur molecules that are easily embedded in floors, wallboards and other surfaces. “The holy grail of odor counteraction is how to get rid of cat urine, especially from male cats,” Dalton said. “Their urine is much smellier.” (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (6/23/07); Dina ElBoghdady

Mortgage Forms Sow Confusion

In a study involving 819 recent prime and subprime mortgage customers in 12 locations around the country, the Federal Trade Commission found that, using current truth-in-lending and good-faith-estimate disclosures: nearly nine out of 10 borrowers could not identify the correct amount of upfront charges on the loan; four out of five had trouble understanding why the stated interest rate on the loan note was different from the annual percentage rate highlighted in the truth-in-lending disclosure; two-thirds did not spot a substantial penalty for refinancing within the first two years of the loan; and nearly a quarter could not correctly identify the total amount of settlement costs. Many borrowers had loans that were significantly more costly than they believed, the researchers said, and borrowers often had no idea of their loan costs or terms until they went to closing. The bottom line is that “current mortgage disclosures fail to convey key mortgage costs and terms to many consumers, leaving them susceptible” to bad deals, overcharges, loan payments that explode on them and “deceptive lending practices,” the authors wrote. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (6/23/07); Kenneth R. Harney

Housing Starts Slide Further in May as Correction Continues

In the latest indication that the housing market remains in a correction phase, housing starts fell 2.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.474 million units, 24.2% below the pace of a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported on June 19.

“Builders still are cutting back on new production as they work down their inventories in the face of slack home buyer demand,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde. “According to recent NAHB Housing Market Index surveys, they are trimming prices and offering a variety of non-price incentives to boost sales and limit cancellations.”

“The downswing in new housing production is still underway, although the rate of decline has slowed since late last year,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “We still expect starts and permits to bottom out late this year before a systematic recovery process begins in 2008.”

Starts of new single-family homes fell 3.4% during the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.170 million units, 26% below a year earlier.

Multifamily housing starts, on the other hand, climbed 3.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 304,000 units, which was 16% below the rate of May 2006.

Total building permits increased 3% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.501 million units, reflecting a spike in multifamily permits. Total permits were down 21.7% from a year earlier.

Single-family permit issuance last month was down 1.8% to a pace of 1.056 million units, 27.7% below a year earlier, while multifamily permits rose 16.5% to 445,000 units, which was 2.8% below the annual rate set in May 2006.

Regionally, starts of new homes and apartments in May were up in the Northeast and Midwest by 15.7% and 15.5%, respectively. Starts were down 1.6% in the South and 19.7% in the West. All four parts of the country experienced a construction pace that was well below the level of a year earlier.

Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? 

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.

To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Existing-Home Sales Underperform in May

Existing-home sales were essentially unchanged in May, according to the National Association of Realtors®, falling 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million from an upwardly revised sales pace of 6.01 million in April.

“I think psychological factors are currently the biggest drag on the housing market, in addition to a disruption from tighter credit for subprime borrowers,” said Lawrence Yun, the association’s senior economist. “Household formation has slowed dramatically since 2006, implying that many people are doubling up — they’re adding roommates or moving in with parents.

“The market is underperforming when you consider positive fundamentals such as the strength in job creation, economic growth, favorable mortgage interest rates and flat home prices. It appears some buyers are simply waiting for more signs of stability before they get serious about getting into the market.”

The national median existing home price for all housing types — including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and coops — was $223,700 in May, 2.1% below the median of $228,500 a year earlier.

The total inventory of existing homes for sale rose 5% at the end of May to 4.43 million, the Realtors® reported, which represents an 8.9-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.4-month supply in April.

Existing-home sales rose 5.8% in the Northeast and 0.7% in the Midwest. They were down 0.8% in the West and 3.4% in the South.

Harvard Says It's Too Early to Tell When Housing Slump Will End

Economists at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University aren’t entirely sure how long it will take for the current industry correction to run its course, but they say that once market balance is restored, the outlook becomes “brighter” and even “upbeat” over the longer term.

With the downturn now in full swing, measuring the size of the inventory overhang of unsold new homes is crucial to predicting the depth and duration of the downturn, according to “State of the Nation’s Housing 2007.”

“Much depends on what happens with the economy, interest rates and credit availability,” the Harvard report says. “But it also depends importantly on just how much demand was inflated during the housing market run-up and how fast builders can work off the oversupply of homes.”

While it may be an underestimate, the jump of more than 500,000 in vacant homes for sale between the end of 2005 and the end of 2006 seems to provide the clearest indication of the amount of excess inventory, they say. If that number is correct, then actual demand for new homes in 2004 and 2005 averaged 250,000 units less than the 2.1 to 2.2 million homes, including manufactured homes, added during each of those two years, leaving sustainable annual demand at about 1.9 million.

“Since housing starts and manufactured home placements were still at about that level last year, there was no progress toward cutting excess inventories,” the report says. “Starts and placements combined would thus have to fall to 1.65 million for at least two years to work off such an oversupply.

“If the excess is closer to 800,000 units, placements and starts would have to hold near 1.5 million per year. In the most pessimistic view, the overhang may exceed 1.0 million units, meaning some rental vacancies may need to be worked off as well.”

With credit standards tightening, mortgage defaults mounting and house prices under pressure, the Harvard economists note that demand could slip further, increasing the supply of vacant unsold homes.

Factors now in play that could prolong the agony of working down the inventory:

• Significantly falling prices could discourage sellers from selling and buyers from buying, but house prices held up both nationally and in the majority of metro areas in 2006. Using the National Association of Realtors®’ conservative measure, median prices were down for the year in less than one-quarter of the 149 metro areas evaluated. The largest drop of 7.4% was in Detroit, where employment fell 2.0%. Of the 11 metros experiencing house price declines of more than 3.0%, all but two were in economically depressed areas of the Midwest.
  
  Fourth-quarter 2005 to fourth-quarter 2006 changes suggest that another 25 metro areas posted nominal price declines of more than 3.0%. On the list are some coastal Florida metro areas, Dallas, San Diego and several metros that during the boom had especially strong house price appreciation, speculative buying and single-family overbuilding, such as Fort Myers, Fla.; Reno, Nev.; and Sacramento, Calif.
  
  “While some large markets may post significant drops merely because prices inflated ahead of income between 2000 and 2005, overbuilding and employment losses have historically been much better predictors of impending corrections than price appreciation,” the report says.
  
  “Indeed, the probability of any price decline – and especially a large one — is much higher in and around periods of overbuilding or a combination of overbuilding, price overheating and employment losses than in periods of escalating house prices alone.”
  
  
• With rapid house price appreciation no longer enabling recent home owners to quickly build equity in their homes, the risks imposed by subprime adjustable rate mortgages, which typically were created with steep initial discounts, have become much greater as those loans reset between two and five years after their origination.
  
  “As the first wave of these loans begins to reach their reset dates, the signs are not encouraging. Between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the fourth quarter of 2006, the share of troubled suprime loans jumped from 6.6% to 7.9%. As increasing numbers of borrowers risk losing their homes to foreclosure, higher than expected losses have driven some mortgage companies into bankruptcy and others to increase their reserves against losses,” according to the report.

“It is too early to determine when the housing slump will end,” says the Harvard Joint Center. “House prices are only beginning to soften, loans most at risk are just starting to hit their reset dates and credit standards have tightened. The adjustment will be particularly painful for those home owners overwhelmed by higher mortgage payments, lenders that underestimated risk and builders and owners forced to sell.”

A Ray of Sunshine

However, once the current storm has blown over, “ongoing demand for new and improved homes promises to lift the value of new construction and remodeling to new highs,” says Harvard. “Greater productivity will help raise real incomes for many, while record wealth will allow households to spend more on housing. But between strong growth in demand and increasingly restrictive development regulations, house prices will continue to move up.”

Harvard economists estimate that demand for new homes should total 19.5 million units from 2005 to 2014. “Although the pressures on lenders to tighten underwriting standards and on builders to work off a still-unknown surplus could reduce the total somewhat, new home completions plus manufactured home placements should easily surpass the 18.1 million added in 1995 to 2004.”

The study notes that immigrants, on course to hit a record-setting 12 million between 2005 and 2015, have become increasingly vital to the housing market, representing some 14% of recent home buyers and 18% of renters in 2005.

Immigrants accounted for more than a third of net household growth between 1995 and 2005 and are likely to account for at least that large a share between 2005 and 2015.

“While still concentrated in a handful of gateway metros, immigrant households are beginning to settle in a growing number of locations across the country,” Harvard’s annual study says.

Principal funding for the report was provided by the Ford Foundation and the Policy Advisory Board of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. NAHB is among the organizations providing additional support.

Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? 

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.

To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Wells Fargo Symposium Looks at Sustaining Homeownership

With the recent downturn in the housing market causing financial hardship for many American home owners, some key players in the mortgage lending industry are trying to help those families through these tough times.

Safeguarding the nation’s homeownership opportunities was the focus of a Wells Fargo housing symposium on June 14 in Washington, D.C. to help commemorate National Homeownership Month.

“Wells Fargo's vision is to help satisfy all of our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. We are driven by this vision, which includes helping as many people as possible achieve and maintain the dream of being a home owner,” said Cara Heiden, division president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

“We believe it is our responsibility to collaborate with industry partners on leading fair and responsible lending and servicing, advancing customer education and continuing to develop solutions for consumers who face financial difficulties,” she said.

In a keynote address, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson spoke of the need to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

“The FHA has helped more than 34 million American families become home owners,” Jackson said. “But today, the FHA has been left without the tools needed to address many of the problems in the housing market.

“We need FHA reform and we need it now,” said Jackson, who also referenced a Wells Fargo survey that found that 80% of Americans support FHA reform.

“There are some who think that homeownership has hit a ceiling and we can’t get rates any higher,” Jackson said. “I think differently. I think we’ve hit a bump in the road. I truly believe that the future of housing is bright, once we get past this bump in the road.”

The program also included a discussion of what it takes to build and finance the American dream.

“You could not pick up a newspaper for a two-week period in March without seeing a headline about the looming foreclosure crisis,” said Steve O’Connor, senior vice president for public policy at the Mortgage Bankers Association. “There were consumer groups calling for a national moratorium on foreclosures. We thought that was a bad idea.”

Congressional action to address the problem is not needed, said O’Connor. “The market has been swift to punish the least disciplined actors,” he said. “Fifty-eight mortgage institutions have gone out of business in the last year — gone bankrupt, been bought out, whatever. The market is much faster than Congress.”

O’Connor called for more transparency in the mortgage process and more effort to improve financial literacy. “We want to teach life skills early to help young consumers avoid mistakes that will make it more difficult to achieve homeownership,” he said.

Lone Voice at PCBC Says U.S. Economy Now in Recession

May 16 is the day that the current U.S. economic recession started, according to James F. Smith, senior fellow and director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Admitting that he was out on a limb, Smith told a PCBC audience in San Francisco last month that he is “the only forecaster of the 60-some on the Wall Street Journal panel who says we are currently in a brief, mild recession.”

The good news, he said, is that the economy will move on to much stronger growth in relatively short order, including a pick-up in housing.

Smith is basing his forecast on the inversion in the yield curve, in which rates on long-term Treasuries had been running higher than those on short-term notes from last July up until about the time of his presentation at the city’s Moscone Center.

He said that inversions of the yield curve lasting four months or longer preceded 17 recessions during the 20th century and only four recessions started without one.

The national economy slumps into a recession roughly 11 to 13 months following the onset of an inversion, he said.

“The expansion was murdered in its bed” by the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, he said, but not too much damage has been inflicted, with declines in growth ranging from 1.4% in the current quarter to 2.6% in the third quarter before a rebound by the end of the year.

Fortunately, this will force the Fed to reverse course and “cut interest rates until things take off,” he said.

Smith predicted that single-family housing starts will bottom out in October or November and that economic growth will be “a lot better” next year than this year and stronger than expected, with pocketbook issues breaking decisively in favor of whomever becomes the Republican presidential candidate.

Looking at the current state of the housing market, Smith said that “there is no housing bubble in the U.S.” and today’s downturn scarcely resembles the stock market correction that some have been looking to compare it to. “There were seven years of zero growth in the stock market, and that is not what has happened to people who bought a home,” he said.

Bubbles typically have occurred in the prices of coins, raw land, tulip bulbs and stocks, but not housing, he said, because “you can always live in your house.”

On the world scene, he noted that China and India are the up-and-coming economic players, but they have a long way to go before they approach the size of the economy in the U.S. China has been growing like post-World War II Japan, he said, with annual growth averaging 9.7% since 1979, but its real per capita income has grown to only 24-cents more than it was in 1900.

China has become the world’s preferred platform for manufacturing, but its economy today is only one-third larger than the size of the California economy, and the economy of India is smaller than New Jersey’s, he said.

Whether Smith turns out to be correct in his assessment that the U.S. economy has stumbled into a recession won’t be immediately apparent. Although he is confident that his forecast is right on the money, “we won’t know for months and months and months,” he said.

Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? 

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.

To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Eye on the Economy: Downswing Still Has Some Distance to Run

Growth of real GDP has been revised downward to an annual rate of 0.6% for the first quarter of this year, the slowest pace in more than four years. But economic growth is firming up nicely in the second quarter and recession remains unlikely (a 25% probability) during the balance of the 2007 to 2008 forecast horizon.

We’re expecting near-trend GDP growth during this time period.

The U.S. labor market still is performing quite well, despite the abrupt downshift in GDP growth during the early part of 2007. The overall unemployment rate held at 4.5% in May, remaining in the low and narrow range that’s prevailed since last fall, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 — a highly respectable gain at this stage of the game. Average hourly earnings also continued to rise briskly.

Core inflation (excluding food and direct energy) has been receding recently, due in part to the slowdown in economic growth since early last year. The core price index for Personal Consumption Expenditures dipped to 2.0% (year-on-year) in April, kissing the upward bound of the Federal Reserve’s apparent comfort zone for this key inflation measure. Also, the core Consumer Price Index receded nicely in May — in line with our forecast.

The Fed Is on Hold and Long-Term Rates Have Firmed Up to Some Degree

The minutes of the May 9 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting show ongoing preoccupation with potential upward pressures on core inflation among Federal Reserve policymakers — primarily because of persistently tight labor market conditions and rising unit labor costs — and recent statements by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other FOMC members have reinforced those concerns.

The Fed almost certainly will hold policy steady at the next FOMC meeting on June 27-28, and NAHB’s forecast no longer anticipates a quarter-point cut at the Aug. 7 meeting.

Indeed, the futures market for Fed Funds now shows low projected probabilities of rate cuts at any time during 2007.

Long-term interest rates have moved up considerably during the past month, despite good news on core inflation as well as benign inflation expectations in the private sector. The Treasury yield curve now has a convincing upward slope across its entire range.

Long rates have risen as U.S. and global economies have strengthened, as the prospects for easing of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and foreign central banks have been marked down, and as lengthening of expected durations of mortgage securities have prompted sales of Treasury bonds by portfolio managers.

Recent Housing Indicators Show Ongoing Deterioration in the Single-Family Market

The recent upshift in prime mortgage interest rates poses yet another financing challenge to the struggling housing market — on top of the tightening of mortgage lending standards that has been provoked by the subprime-related turmoil in mortgage market since early this year.

Single-family starts and permits both continued to trend downward in May and NAHB’s Housing Market Index continued to slip in June, falling to the lowest level since February 1991.

Large home builders, as a group, are experiencing even sharper reductions in home sales and even higher cancellation rates than the rest of the housing industry, primarily because of their relatively heavy geographic concentration in previously hot markets that now are experiencing relatively sharp reversals.

NAHB’s proprietary survey of 30 large companies shows net sales for May (seasonally adjusted) at the lowest level since late 2001 as well as cancellation rates that have moved back toward recent highs.

The Housing Downswing Still Has Some Distance to Run

Incoming housing data and the recent jump in mortgage interest rates have prompted another downward adjustment to NAHB’s housing forecasts for 2007 and 2008. We’re now projecting 1.40 million total housing starts for 2007, compared with 1.42 million in last month’s forecast and 1.56 million in our January forecast — an outlook that was prepared prior to the subprime debacle.

We’re currently projecting 1.45 million housing starts in 2008, down from 1.48 million in last month’s forecast and 1.71 million in our January forecast.

The 15% downward revision since January reflects an expectation that the tightening of mortgage lending standards will exert a persistent drag on effective demand and that a rising tide of mortgage foreclosures will contribute to the inventory overhang in 2008.

The Longer-Term State of the Nation’s Housing Looks Excellent

The 2007 State of the Nation’s Housing report, released by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies on June 11, pegs the average annual demand for new housing units (including manufactured homes) at 1.95 million for the 2005 to 2014 period — close to NAHB’s most recent long-term forecast and well above the average for the previous 10-year period.

That means we’re looking for a major recovery process beyond the projected trough late this year. But the climb back to trend figures to be a multi-year march, within the broad economic and financial market environment that’s in the cards for the period ahead.

NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders analyzes the economy from the point of view of the housing market every other week in the free e-newsletter, “Eye on the Economy.” The preceding is a reissue of his June 20 edition. To subscribe to “Eye on the Economy,” click here.

Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? 

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.

To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Useful Links to Monitor Economic and Housing Trends

The following are links to useful information from government agencies and NAHB that will enable you to monitor the housing market.

To access the latest information available, simply click the links.

• U.S. Census Bureau Construction Price Indexes
  
  
• NAHB's Housing Forecast
  Housing starts, sales and interest rate projections through 2007.
  
  
• Latest Home Mortgage Interest Rates
  Contains current and historical data on fixed and adjustable mortgage rates. Updated weekly.
  
  
• Historical Facts, Figures and Trends
  Includes new home starts and sales, average and median home prices, homeownership rates, characteristics of new homes and more.
  
  
• Characteristics of New Housing
  Highlights the latest data on new-home characteristics released by the U.S. Census Department. Includes links to the complete Census report and other trends researched by NAHB.
  
  Additional breakouts of this data and other trends researched by NAHB are available at www.nahb.org/constructionstats under “Selected Characteristics of New Housing” (dated 6/13/2006).
  
  
• Housing Starts
  Updated monthly and based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
  
  
• New and Existing Home Sales
  Updated monthly and based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
  
  
• New and Existing Single-Family Median Home Prices
  Updated monthly.
  
  
• Home Price Index
  The index measures average home appreciation in more than 250 metropolitan markets. Updated quarterly.
  
  

• Metro Home Building Permits
  Local and state data on housing construction rates. Updated monthly.
  
  
• Employment Trends for Metro/State Markets
  Provides metro and state employment data nationwide. Updated monthly.
  
  
• Local Economic Impact of Housing
  Shows how building 100 homes benefits a typical metropolitan area.
  
  
• Home Building’s Direct Impact on the Economy
  
  
• Housing’s Contribution to Gross State Product
  Measures how much housing contributes to the economic output of each state.
  
  
• Housing Market Statistics from HousingEconomics.com
  Full array of statistical categories available to NAHB members, a limited number available to non-members.
  
  
• In-Depth Analysis from HousingEconomics.com
  Full array of analysis of factors affecting housing and the impact on the industry available to NAHB members, a limited number available to non-members.

Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? 

Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2007-2008 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.

To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

High Court Rules for NAHB in Clean Water Permit Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of NAHB on June 25 in a five to four decision on consultation requirements under the Endangered Species Act.

In the case of National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, the court reversed and remanded a lower court decision that required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider the protection of “listed” species before handing Clean Water Act permitting authority over to the state of Arizona. The EPA had determined that the state met all the necessary criteria for receiving that authority.

“This decision is a great one, because the U.S. Supreme Court is helping to preserve housing affordability,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde.

“Congress created the Clean Water Act to prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution,” Catalde said. “But it’s the Clean Water Act, not the Arid Desert Act. There is no logic to twisting a program designed to protect the waters of the United States to give special considerations to species that have no relation to that water.”

The Clean Water Act also calls for the states, not the federal government, to manage permitting programs when the EPA determines that nine specific criteria have been met. None of those criteria mentions protection of listed species or the Endangered Species Act.

Forcing the EPA to issue discharge permits in Arizona — which an unfavorable Supreme Court decision would have led to — would have cost builders more time and money, making homes less affordable in affected areas.

The costs associated with consultations, which are required under the Endangered Species Act, would have been prohibitive. In the case of one protected species in Arizona, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that consultations delayed the typical development by five to 18 months and, when added to the cost of onsite mitigation and project modifications, cost between $1.7 million and $2.7 million, Catalde pointed out.

“We all share this important responsibility to protect our endangered and threatened species. NAHB is working hard with Congress and the Administration to reform the Endangered Species Act with appropriate protections in mind,” Catalde said. “However, there is no need to mix apples and oranges by tacking on additional requirements to the ones that all parties agree Arizona has already met. The Endangered Species Act does not trump all other important environmental considerations. The Supreme Court has agreed, and we applaud their decision.”

For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.

New Rules Designed for Home Construction Disputes

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) on June 1 put into effect a set of rules designed specifically for home construction disputes.

Recognizing the expense of resolving a dispute arising out of the construction of a home, the rules provide home owners and builders with options designed to keep costs down and minimize the amount of time to come to an agreement.

The “Home Construction Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures” are suggested by the AAA for mediation and arbitration provisions in home building contracts because they will provide both parties with a fair and cost-effective means of resolving the dispute.

“The AAA recommends that parties continue to attempt direct negotiations to resolve their problem and recommends using mediation under these rules whenever possible,” according to the introduction of the rule document. “But if negotiations fail, the AAA’s Home Construction Rules provide the parties with a hearing by an impartial arbitrator who will make a ruling (award) that is binding.”

Under the rules, claims and counterclaims are divided into levels so that the process can fit the size of the claim. Parties can mediate and try to resolve the claims themselves without an arbitrator deciding the issues, and the rules provide varied arbitration options, including document-only, telephone and in-person hearings.

Considered an extension of the negotiation process, mediation is a process in which parties submit their dispute to a neutral mediator who works with them to reach a settlement of their dispute.

Mediators don’t have the authority to decide issues; they simply assist the parties in reaching an acceptable settlement by probing the motivations and concerns of the parties in an effort to find a basis for resolving the dispute.

The most common advantages of mediation, according to the AAA:

• Parties are directly involved in negotiating the settlement.
  
  
• The mediator, as a neutral third party, can view the dispute objectively and can assist the parties in exploring alternatives that they might not have considered on their own.
  
  
• Because mediation can be scheduled early in the dispute, a settlement can be reached much more quickly than in litigation.
  
  
• Parties generally save money through reduced legal costs, especially costs associated with discovery and trial preparation.
  
  
• Parties enhance the possibility of continuing their business relationship with each other.
  
  
• Creative solutions or accommodations of special needs of the parties can become a part of the settlement.

Public Told How to Prevent Range-Tipping Accidents

Over the past couple of months, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) has been working to increase public awareness that free-standing or slide-in gas and electric ranges, if not installed correctly, can tip forward when too much pressure is put on the range top or on an open door. As a result, injuries such as scalds or burns, or even fatalities, can occur, and young children and the elderly are especially vulnerable.

While there are few range tipping incidents per year, the association says that these accidents can be prevented by installing the anti-tip device provided with the range.

AHAM says that its range manufacturers adhere to all safety and stability requirements set by the U.S. safety organizations, including UL. As part of these safety requirements, manufacturers provide with every new range an effective and reliable anti-tip device that can be installed easily.

According to AHAM, if recommended installation guidelines are followed by properly installing the anti-tip device, the range will not tip.

The anti-tip device provided by manufacturers will work in all new kitchen range situations, AHAM says, and it is urging consumers to check that the device is in place by looking under the range to see if it is on the floor (possibly affixed to the rear leg of the range) or by gently pulling the back of the range to see if it pulls off the floor.

“If the consumer believes that the anti-tip device is not installed, they should call their installer or place of purchase to request that the anti-tip device be installed,” AHAM advises. “If consumers do not have an anti-tip device, they should contact the manufactures to obtain an appropriate device for their particular product.”

All AHAM members that manufacture ranges will provide an anti-tip device free of charge if one is requested. Consumers should have the model and serial number available when calling the manufactuer. The serial tags providing this information can be found at the edge of or inside the oven door.

For a list of manufacturers and their contact information, click here.

AHAM tells consumers only to use ranges and other appliances for the tasks they were designed to perform. Other safety recommendations include:

• Make sure the proper anti-tip device is installed correctly. If you are remodeling your kitchen, buying a new range or building a new home, make sure the installer uses the anti-tip device provided by the manufacturer. Contact your range manufacturer, your appliance dealer or an authorized servicer for information and assistance.
  
  
• Always keep the range door closed when not in use.
  
  
• Never use the door as a step stool, seat or a support for body weight or other objects.

Builders’ Tip: Using a Biscuit Joiner to Patch Wood Flooring

	Click for larger image.

The difficult part of patching a strip floor is making a clean, square cut in one piece of flooring without cutting into any adjacent pieces. Most folks drill holes along a line and then chisel out the cut.

I have discovered a faster and easier way to replace or repair a piece of wood strip flooring.

It doesn’t involve drilling holes, and it only requires a minimum of chiseling.

As shown in the accompanying diagram, I use a biscuit joiner to make the cuts. I have found that this method is much quicker and more accurate than the drill and chisel method. Here’s how to use a biscuit cutter for the job:

• Set the depth of the cutter so that when it is fully plunged, the portion of the exposed cutter at the base should equal to the width of the flooring — typically 2-1/4 inches.
  
  
• Once you decide where to make the cuts, lay your square on the floor with one edge lined up with the edge of the floorboard.
  
  
• Put a knee on the square to hold it in place and mark the center of the floorboard on the square. This is the alignment mark for the biscuit joiner’s registration notch.
  
  
• Now hold the base of the biscuit joiner against the square and plunge it straight down. Then, use a chisel to finish the cut.

By the way, it’s a good idea to use an old cutter for this operation because you might hit the occasional nail.

— David Hornstein, Lexington, Mass.

Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
©2005 The Taunton Press

To request a reprint of this feature, e-mail Christina Glennon at Fine Homebuilding.

BuilderBooks.com Offers More Than 250 Books That Help You Build Your Business

BuilderBooks.com is your source for training and education products for the building industry. The official bookstore for NAHB, BuilderBooks.com offers award-winning publications, software, brochures and more available in both English and Spanish.

To view these publications online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Cooling Market

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar on the NAHB Web site.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Research Center Studying Young Child Guard Rail Safety

The NAHB Research Center this spring entered into an agreement with the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA) to conduct an independent study on guard safety for young children.

Working with Alan Hedge of Humanuse Inc., an ergonomics research consulting firm, the Research Center has been reviewing data on factors affecting the climability of specific guard designs.

Some of the human factors being reviewed in the study include the capabilities of children in different age groups, such as their physical abilities, cognitive skills and temperament. The study will also use child anthropometric data (comparative measurements of the human body and its parts) to guide the development of various guard configurations.

Guard design factors to be covered include height, spacing, orientation, size and pitch.

In 2004, the International Code Council created the Code Technology Committee (CTC) to examine guard climability as well as other complex issues. Supporting any code changes that provide proven safety benefits and believing that code change proposals should be based on the best research evidence, NOMMA has been actively involved in this process and is formally represented on the CTC Climable Guard Study Group.

In February 2006, NOMMA retained the services of Whorton Marketing & Research of Columbia, Md. for an initial industry study. That study identified knowledge gaps in the current research, and provided a foundation for further study. Kevin Whorton, the principal of the company, has remained an adviser and is serving as a liaison between NOMMA and the NAHB Research Center.

THE NOMMA Board competitively chose the NAHB Research Center to conduct the study because of its excellent reputation in the construction industry, its solid understanding of the issue, its expertise with managing collaborative studies and its collaboration with experts in the subject matter, such as Hedge. The Research Center is also well known by the CTC and is respected in the code community.

The Research Center expects to complete the study late this summer. It is also developing a computer model analysis for the project.

NAHB Software Survey to Determine Member Needs

In an effort to continually improve NAHB’s software and technology resources for members, The Business Management & Information Technology Committee is conducting an online software and technology survey to help determine what new resources are needed.

Members who take the survey will receive a copy of the results so that they can see how other builders are using software and technology in their businesses.

“We need to hear from builders about their software and technology needs,” said Steve Lewkowitz, chairman of the IT Work Group for NAHB’s Business Management & Information Technology Committee.  “Once we know their needs, we can create education and resources to help builders use technology to make their businesses more efficient and profitable.”

Members are encouraged to take the survey between now and July 31. Participants will receive a copy of the results via e-mail.

To Take the Online Survey

Click here to take the survey online. It's quick and convenient.

NAHB Has More Than 300 Resources to Help You Run Your Business More Profitably

Go to NAHB's Business Management Tools Web pages (available to members only) for instant access to more than 300 timesaving, moneymaking and cost-cutting business resources to help you run your business more profitably. Get guidance on accounting and financial management, business strategy, computers and information technology, customer service, human resources and more.

Resources are added weekly, so bookmark www.nahb.org/biztools to go directly to these vital business management resources.

Local and state home builders associations can link directly to www.nahb.org/biztools from their Web site and give their members instant access to these resources. It will make your HBA's Web site the place to go for the information and guidance that members need to succeed.

50+ Trends: More Dining, Green and Doctors' Space

The 50+ housing and services offered in the marketplace have as much to do with where a community is located as they do with what a community needs, according to architects and operators of 50+ housing who spoke at NAHB’s 50+ symposium in Denver last month.

Fifty-plus housing is generally built as bungalows, cottages, campus-type communities or as mid- or high-rises, said Steve Ruiz, AIA, OAA, of BeeryRio, an architectural firm based in Springfield, Va. What form the housing takes depends upon whether the 50+ community is serving populations in a rural, suburban or urban area.

	Bungalows

 

Bungalows in Rural Locations

“Bungalows are primarily in rural locations,” said Ruiz. This type of 50+ housing is usually “church-sponsored or adjacent to nursing homes.”

The bungalows are generally clustered — typically in pairs, but in as many as four units. The residents have private sleeping areas or units and share such amenities as dining and recreational areas and residential-style kitchens for in-house meal preparations or outside meal programs.

This type of clustered living “promotes family-type cooperation” and is designed for an inclusive healthcare provider or outside home health care, Ruiz said.

These units typically are single-story, wood-framed structures that can be clustered to accommodate different service programs. For instance, one wing of clustered bungalows can be for residents with dementia.

These 50+ communities can be developed as stand-alones on half-acre lots in single-family communities and generally are close to established libraries, shopping and other cultural establishments.

	Cottages

Cottages in Modest Suburban Locations

Cottages, which offer larger living areas and can be configured as single, double or shared units, are generally found in modest suburban locations and “primarily owned and operated by service providers or adjunct to established nursing homes,” Ruiz said.

The cottages, like bungalows counterparts, are wood-framed structures clustered around dining, kitchen and recreational areas.

Unlike the bungalows, the cottages house more units, typically 70 or more units in three buildings on five or more acres. Each cottage has its “own sense of community,” said Ruiz, and also can be designated to provide specific services.

	Campus-style living

Campus Senior Living in Large Suburban Communities

“Campus-style senior living” typically is 50+ housing ranging from 130 to 150 units and built in larger suburban communities. This type of 50+ housing is typically three- to four-stories high, of concrete and steel or concrete and wood-frame construction, and clustered in two buildings linked by a service connector.

This housing features independent living in larger, full service apartments — mostly two-bedrooms apartments that can accommodate home health care — according to Ruiz. The units typically have kitchenettes.

Because of the larger population they serve, these 50+ communities typically have larger and more varied entertainment areas and community space that can include such amenities as theaters, exercise rooms, restaurants and deli-style dining for the residents and their guests, Ruiz said. They also feature underground or protected parking.

The independent living buildings are often linked to a “sister” building that can provide intensive assisted living, dementia and acute care programs,” Ruiz said. These communities primarily are owned by REITs or development partnerships and operated by established healthcare providers.

	An elevated patio garden

Mid-Rise/High-Rise Projects in Urban Locations

Fifty-plus mid-rise and high-rise communities are typically found in large, urban areas and can range in size from 60 to 400 units in buildings from five to 20 stories high.

The units in these communities come in multiple configurations, have private balconies and offer a combination of independent living and care programs for their residents.

Most, if not all, of the public spaces are usually on the first floor in these buildings, according to Ruiz. Many offer elevated gardens or patios, full-service dining, pools, saunas, health spas and other club amenities, as well as concierge services.

One floor in these communities typically is set aside for full service dementia care.

	Holly Creek CCRC

Holly Creek Continuing Care Retirement Community: A Case Study    

Holly Creek, a continuing care retirement community in Centennial, Colo. near Denver for residents 55 and older, features cottages and apartment living with multi-purpose meeting space for educational, spiritual and wellness programs; a fitness center with indoor and outdoor pools; a spa; a salon; and a library with wireless Internet access.

When completed in 2008, Holly Creek will feature 51 cottages, 180 apartments and 18 luxury apartments, according to Camille Thompson, Holly Creek executive director. The community will have a town center with a theater, country store, large commercial kitchen, a grille-type dining venue and a large, multi-purpose space. The theater and multi-purpose space also will include wireless hearing equipment.

Holly Creek will have a health center with 12 memory support spaces, 24 skilled nursing apartment homes and 28 assisted living homes. The health center, which is part of the main building, will have an outside entrance for clients who are not living in the health center wing. There will be a Snozelen room specially designed to serve residents with memory loss, and a Montessori activity room where families can interact.

Holly Creek also will have multi-specialty physicians’ office space in the health center, a “definite trend” within the 50+ industry, Thompson said.

Other trends that Thompson said Holly Creek has experienced since the community first began construction in 2002 are:

• Larger apartments with upgrades. “People are willing to pay more for this,” Thompson said.
  
  
• More dining venues, not necessarily larger dining areas.
  
  
• Storage. “Residents need enough room to store seldom-used items as well as a place to store oxygen in the health center.”
  
  
• Two car garages for the cottage units. “Residents want two car garages, even if they never drive the second car.”
  
  
• Doors that are not too heavy and have automatic open and slow closures.
  
  
• Rounded corners on cabinets, careful transitions between surfaces such as rugs and hardwood flooring that eliminate tripping hazards, pullout Lazy Susans for easier accessibility
  
  
• Increased lighting. “Lighting is critical for seniors,” Thompson said.

When Holly Creek was first planned, the mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units was spit 50-50. Five years into the project, Holly Creek has changed the mix to include about 75% two-bedroom apartments.  

“More couples are buying our product,” Thompson said.

Thompson also said that the residents at Holly Creek are becoming green. “We found that they are very energy conscious and want more opportunities to recycle,” she said.

Remodelers All Over the News During Remodeling Month

NAHB remodelers appeared on major television shows, in newspaper articles and on Web postings for several major newspapers and news organizations during Remodeling Month last month, as the council’s public relations efforts helped raise the profile of the council, NAHB and the remodeling industry.

An article about aging in place featuring Mike Nagel, chair of the NAHB Remodelers, appeared in the Washington Times last month after Nagel took part in a teleconference on marketing. Other news outlets, including Reuters and National Public Radio, also participated in the teleconference.

Another aging in place story, this one featuring Alan Hanbury, Jr., an NAHB remodeler from Connecticut, appeared on BusinessWeek TV last month. The feature promoted the value of aging-in-place remodeling.

Vince Butler, immediate past chair, appeared on a story about home improvement nightmares on “Good Morning America.” The story stressed the need to use licensed contractors for remodeling work.

NAHB’s production group created an hour-long remodeling special, “20 Ways to Add Value to Your Home,” for HGTV. The show aired several times as part of the network’s sweeps week and included NAHB Remodelers Vince Butler and Mark Richardson.

Remodeling stories also appeared in the Washington Post and Chicago Daily Herald and on Kiplingers.com as part of the NAHB Remodelers’ public relations effort for Remodeling Month.

Additionally, local HBAs and remodelers councils issued press releases and held events during Remodeling Month that garnered local news coverage. 

Apply for This Year's NAHB Remodelers' Awards

The following awards are available to NAHB Remodelers throughout the year.

• National Remodeling Hall of Fame

The Remodeling Hall of Fame award honors those who have made lasting contributions to the remodeling industry.

Nominations for the next class of honorees are now being accepted. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, July 11.

For more information, click here. 

• Homes For Life

The NAHB Remodelers Homes for Life celebrates the work of CAPS designees. The winning entry will be announced at the NAHB Remodelers yearly award ceremony, currently the NAHB Remodelers Gala, which takes place during the Remodeling Show.

The Homes for Life deadline is September 3. For more information, click here.

• NAHB Remodeler of the Month

The Remodeler of the Month award honors remodelers who demonstrate strong business practices, community service or industry involvement. Winners are featured in Qualified Remodeler magazine and Nation’s Building News.

For more information or to apply, visit www.nahb.org/rom.

• NAHB Remodeler of the Year

This award recognizes exemplary NAHB involvement at any level, superior business management and outstanding contributions to the remodeling industry.

Winners are featured in Qualified Remodeler magazine and Nation’s Building News.

Click here to learn more, or to apply. The deadline for applications is Aug. 20.

• CADRE

The Council Awards for Demonstrating Remodeling Excellence (CADRE) are presented each year to outstanding local councils and individuals who exemplify the best within the industry.

The awards are presented in a variety of categories. Click here to learn more.

For More Information

For more information about the NAHB Remodelers awards, visit the NAHB Remodelers awards section on the NAHB Web site, call the NAHB Remodelers at 800-368-5242 x8216, or e-mail remodel@nahb.com.

Emmons, Mahoney Named Patchan Scholarship Winners

Debbie Emmons, CGA, vice-chairman of the Florida Home Builders Association Remodelors™ Council, and Patrick Mahoney, CAPS, chair of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association Remodelors™ Council in Tennessee, are this year’s recipients of the NAHB Remodelers Bryan Patchan Scholarship.

Both recipients are longtime professionals in the remodeling industry.

The Bryan Patchan Scholarship is a $1,000 award given to the chairman or vice-chairman of a local NAHB remodelers council for travel expenses to attend the NAHB Spring Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C. The application-based award was created to recognize Bryan Patchan’s commitment and decades of service to NAHB Remodelers.

In addition to attending the board meetings, scholarship recipients participate in leadership orientation activities hosted by the NAHB Remodelers national leadership and staff, and get a chance to see the inner workings of the association.

Further, they learn more about the relationship between NAHB and NAHB Remodelers and take part in legislative action on Capitol Hill.

With the assistance of the scholarship, Mahoney was able to attend a spring board meeting for the first time in 20 years. “Remodelers are creative and personable,” he said.  “Everyone was more than willing to share experiences and suggestions.”

Emmons said she appreciated the opportunity to see what she called “the heartbeat of the U.S. building and remodeling industry.” She found the committee members open and receptive to her opinions. “My presence was welcomed and my input was encouraged,” she said.

Take Builders Survey About Systems, Attitudes, Trends

The Concrete Home Builders Council (CBHC) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) are conducting a home builder survey to determine what types of products and systems are being used in homes currently being built so that they can develop targeted, focused programs that better serve the residential building community.

The online survey will track changing attitudes, perceptions and trends in the industry and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

To Take the Survey

To take the survey, click here.

Free Survey Results and iPod Drawing

Respondents will be entered into a drawing for one of three 4GB iPod nanos, valued at more than $189 each. Respondents will also be given a free copy of the results once they are compiled.

Respondents will be asked to fill out contact information at the end of the survey to be entered into the drawing for the iPod nano and to receive the survey results. The contact information will be used for drawing and copy-of-the-results purposes only.

The deadline for survey submissions is July 25.

For more inforation about the Portland Cement Association, visit www.cement.org.

Enter the 2007 Brick in Home Building Competition by July 31

Enter the Brick in Home Building Awards, which showcase the finest work in clay face and paving brick from residential builders and architects around the country.

Conducted by the Brick Industry Association, entries are due by Tuesday, July 31.

Entries can be submitted in one or more of the following categories:

• Single-Family — Production
• Single-Family —  Custom
• Multifamily
• Community Design
• Renovation
• Residential Paving and Landscape Architecture

Best In Class winners will be featured in Brick News Online, Brick in Home Building and in a special insert in the December issue of Builder magazine.

For more information about the award, including eligibility, submission requirements and judging, visit www.gobrick.com/HomeBuildingAwards. To enter, click here.

A past Brick in Home Building entry in the residential category.

Registration for 2008 IBS in Orlando, Fla. Is Now Open

Registration for the 2008 International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 13 to 16 — the single, most important and largest industry event of the year — is now open.

This year, the IBS will feature:

• More than 1,900 exhibitors showcasing their latest products and services
  
  
• Almost 300 education sessions or programs designed to help members stay current on industry trends and issues

To register, or for registration and hotel information, click here.

For the latest IBS information, visit the Builders’ Show Web site at www.BuildersShow.com.

Register for Custom Builder Symposium in Naples, Fla.

Register for the 2007 Custom Builder Symposium, NAHB's premier educational and networking event for custom builders. The symposium will be held Oct. 26 to 28 at the Naples Grande Resort & Club in Naples, Fla.

Discover Hidden Treasures

This year's program, "Discover Hidden Treasures," is filled with hidden treasures and opportunities that will enable participants to improve their businesses.

Tours, Golf, Education and More

The symposium will include:

• A tour of high-end homes — both completed and under construction
• 15 expert education sessions
• A keynote speaker
• A formal dinner honoring the NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year
• Structured and informal networking opportunities
• Pre-symposium golf tournament

To Register

Online registration is now open. For more information and to register, go to www.nahb.org/custom.

	The 2007 Custom Home Builder Symposium will be at the Naples Grande Resort & Club in Naples, Fla. on Oct. 26 to 28.

2007 Best in American Living Competition Entries Due July 2

The registration deadline for builders, interior designers, architects, developers and marketing and real estate professionals to enter the 2007 Best in American Living Awards (BALA) is Monday, July 2.

Entry notebooks are due by Monday, July 16.

Winners will be announced at the 2008 International Builders’ Show, Feb. 13 to 16, in Orlando, Fla.

Co-sponsored by Professional Builder magazine and NAHB, BALA is the foremost residential design competition in the country. The awards program includes 36 categories — from single-family attached and detached in a variety of sizes to rental developments and custom homes plus categories for interior design, communities and neighborhoods, affordable housing and smart growth.

Homes that have been completed or for which the first model has opened between May 1, 2006 and July 16, 2007 are eligible for this year’s competition.

Homes will be judged on design appearance/curb appeal, floor plans, how the project relates to its local market, and construction techniques and materials used.

Winning entries will be posted on the Professional Builder Web site, HousingZone.com, for up to one year after the announcement at IBS.

For additional information and to download a BALA entry form, click here, or contact Judy Brociek, Professional Builder, at 630-288-8184, or Jennifer Jones, NAHB, at 800-368-5242 x8469.

Apply for HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence by July 2

Entries are being accepted for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence that recognizes innovation and design excellence in public and private efforts that expand homeownership opportunities for lower-income families.

The registration deadline for award is Monday, July 2. Entry notebooks are due by Monday, July 16.

The award is part of the 2007 Best in American Living Awards (BALA) competition — the nation’s foremost residential design competition. Co-sponsored by Professional Builder magazine and NAHB, winners will be announced during the 2008 International Builders’ Show, Feb. 13 to 16, in Orlando, Fla.

The HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence recognizes those who, through local partnerships, design, develop and build creative affordable housing for families whose incomes do not exceed 80% of the area median income (AMI).

Winners of the award demonstrate design excellence, affordability, innovation in building technology, removal of regulatory barriers and community revitalization.

HUD Award Requirements

The award submission requirements include:

• Homes completed or for which the first model opened between May 1, 2006 and July 15, 2007 are eligible.
  
  
• In developments with multiple unit types, the affordable unit must be identified and its locations throughout the development must be denoted.
  
  
• Each submission must include a written design statement that illustrates how the project embodies design excellence and exhibits innovation.
  
  
• The submission also must include a written financial statement describing the financing structure of the development —funding sources and uses, mixed-income makeup and families served.

Download an Application

For details on the HUD category and to download the HUD award’s application, visit www.huduser.org/research/secaward.html.

AMI Information

For more information about the AMI in your area, visit www.huduser.org/datasets/il.html. The award also considers the median home price of the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) for reference.

For more information about AMI, MSA and other HUD category requirements, e-mail Andrea Vrankar at HUD, or call her at 216-522-4058 x7128.

BALA Competition Information

The BALA design competition is open to builders, architects, designers, developers, land planners and interior designers.

The awards program includes 36 categories — from single-family attached and detached in a variety of sizes to rental developments and custom homes plus categories for interior design, communities and neighborhoods, affordable housing, smart growth and the HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence.

For BALA category and registrations, click here.

Say Hello to Attractive Finishes for Site-Cast Tilt-Up Projects

	A variety of colors and architectural elements give Briarcliff Village in Kansas City, Mo. the look of the Tuscany region of Italy.

Architectural appeal through the use of decorative enhancements is quickly becoming another advantage of using site-cast Tilt-Up concrete — complementing other Tilt-Up benefits such as upfront economics, security, flexibility and long-term durability.

Just look at what's being done with Tilt-Up buildings today. Architects are adding cornice lines, accent bands and facade enhancements such as thin brick, block and stone as well as a multitude of textured coatings to their repertoire in order to make their buildings aesthetically pleasing and appealing.

Meanwhile, contractors are taking advantage of their architects’ creativeness by employing a wide variety of technologies and processes to make these architectural enhancements a reality.

The following are some of the architectural features and finishes found in site-cast Tilt-Up today — and how they are accomplished.

Thin Brick

Thin brick is an architectural finish that has been popular with Tilt-Up concrete contractors for several years. It incorporates kiln-fired, quarter-inch thick bricks milled to tight tolerances with the exterior surface of the Tilt-Up panel.

Thin brick has no impact on the structural performance of the wall and can be installed in almost any climate or weather condition.

To build the brick wall on the casting bed, the bricks are placed on the floor slab horizontally within the panel forms. A variety of methods can be used to secure the bricks during concrete placement and create a “tooled” mortar joint look once the panel has been lifted into place. 

The faces of the brick are coated with a thin wax to prevent discoloration by the cement paste and the coating is power washed after the panels are erected.

Since the mortar joint is composed of the concrete used for the panel, it can be enhanced with color additives. This is a definite advantage when working to match adjacent projects using a combination of the thin brick and color in thin fascia applications of Tilt-Up sandwich panels. 

Thin bricks are available in a full spectrum of colors and textures, with additional shapes for corners and returns — allowing for more design flexibility and creativity. 

As with standard brick, thin brick systems can be placed in a running or stacked bond configuration with soldier and header courses as well.

	The primary exterior element of the Carson Tahoe Hospital in Carson City, Nev. is a glass curtain wall in a saw tooth pattern. The facade also is accented by painted concrete walls and stone veneer. Photo by Vance Fox.

Thin Block

Thin block provides the aesthetic versatility and scale some designers find in masonry — while capitalizing on the speed and economy of Tilt-Up construction.

Thin block projects don’t require masons, mortar or a traditional masonry schedule, and minimal handwork is required. Unlike conventional masonry construction, the block units are free of the constraints of gravity since they are embedded in the placed concrete of a Tilt-Up wall panel. This makes unique design patterns possible, including mosaic or tile patterns, without complicating the construction schedule.

Architectural concrete masonry units are placed in the forms horizontally, as they are for thin brick systems.

The key unit of the system is the “facer,” an architectural concrete masonry unit approximately two inches thick that has been specifically engineered for the application.

The “facer” is laid on the forming surface in the desired pattern. Crews clip together adjacent units to stabilize them and seal the joints with sand to inhibit bleed-through of cement paste.

Once this is completed, the Tilt-Up construction process proceeds as usual. As with the thin brick systems, this cast-in product requires minimal cleaning to finish the look.

	The brick exterior of Stevens Farms Square in Charleston, S.C. was given a rough-hewn finish.

Coatings

The most popular and common method of finishing a Tilt-Up panel is painting, a finishing process that has been used for decades.

New advances in textured coating varieties, however, have increased the variety and flexibility of this finishing method.

Textured coatings give new looks to the traditional painted concrete wall. They can provide finishes of varying grades of surface texture as well as finishes as visually stimulating as simulated stone.

A key difference between paint and coatings is the thickness of the application placed on the wall. Coatings are installed at the 15 to 17 dry millimeters range, while painting is typically one-third to one-sixth of that thickness.

There are several advantages to using thicker textured coatings. Thicker coatings will camouflage the minor cracks and imperfections that are commonly found on the surface of concrete panels. They also can be applied to damp, dry, cured or uncured concrete in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Fahrenheit.

A Bright Future

Technology will continue to bring new finishing ideas to Tilt-Up in the years ahead, adding to its popularity. More simulated, faux or “thin” materials will be introduced. Improvements in coating materials will continue to be made.

As the diversity of finishes expands, Tilt-Up will be used more frequently.

Ed Sauter is the executive director of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA), which was founded in 1986 to improve the quality and acceptance of site-cast Tilt-Up, a construction method in which concrete wall panels are cast on-site and tilted into place. Tilt-Up construction is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. It combines the advantages of reasonable cost with low maintenance, durability, speed of construction and minimal capital investment.

For more information about the TCA, visit www.tilt-up.org, e-mail Sauter, or call him at 319-895-6911.

	Curved panels were used at University of South Florida Crosley Campus Center in  Sarasota, Fla. to create a dramatic rotunda entry.

 

Apply for 2008 Commerical Building Awards of Excellence

The National Commercial Builders Council (NCBC) is accepting applications for its 2008 Awards of Excellence program, which recognizes achievements in the national commercial building industry for design (remodeling and new construction), market appeal, energy efficiency, challenges faced during building and overall success of projects that are either built or renovated.

The deadline for entries is August 1.

The National Commercial Builders Council sponsors the Awards of Excellence program to bring recognition to commercial building projects that range from less than 5,000 to more than 100,000 square feet. Projects must have been completed after Dec. 31, 2004 and may be entered in commercial, industrial, institutional, medical, mixed-use commercial/retail, recreational, retail and new for 2008 — green building.

One or several projects can be entered in this competition. Projects may be submitted by the builder, developer, architect or contractor of the project.

The six divisions in which a project can be entered include:

• Small-scale projects less than 5,000 square feet
• Projects 5,001 to 10,000 square feet
• Projects 10,001 to 40,000 square feet
• Projects 40,001 to 75,000 square feet
• Projects 75,001 to 100,000 square feet
• Projects more than 100,000 square feet

A panel of building industry professionals will consider entrants for Project of the Year, Grand, Merit and Chairman’s awards in all categories.

Winners will be notified by mail no later than Nov. 1.

A public announcement will follow at NAHB’s International Builders’ Show, Feb. 13-16, 2008, in Orlando, Fla. Recognition includes a desk obelisk; a photo of your project on display with the other winners at the International Builders’ Show; acknowledgment in Commercial Builder magazine; and the opportunity to participate in educational sessions at the Builders Show.

In addition, some winners may be featured in future issues of Commercial Builder magazine.

For more details on eligibility and entrance requirements, click here, e-mail Nick Lashinsky at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8455.

Education Calendar

Aug. 7-11	Executive Officers Council Seminar	Long Beach, Calif.
Sept. 5-9	Fall Board of Directors Meeting	Seattle, Wash.
Sept. 5	Train the Trainer	Seattle, Wash.
Sept. 5	Essential Closing Strategies	Seattle, Wash.
Oct. 6	Onsite Project Management	Las Vegas, Nev.
Oct. 7-12	Remodeling Show 2007	Las Vegas, Nev.
Oct. 7	Working With and Marketing to Older Adults	Las Vegas, Nev.
Oct. 7	Construction Contracts and Law	Las Vegas, Nev.
Oct. 8