Before starting a new remodel project, I wanted to know more about the pros and cons of buying generic brand building materials to see if I could save some money. When I go to the pharmacy and ask for the generic brand, there’s no problem there. As for buying apparel, well, I am a woman (near expert) and I do know what a name brand is over a lesser brand or copy brand. So online I went.

I checked out all the do-it-yourself sites imaginable and found…nothing. I checked out suppliers and found plenty of supplies, but nothing which differentiated brand names from generic brands. I checked out every possible key word I could think of and found very little except the same sites over and over again. When I looked up anything containing the word “generic,” I found mostly information on pharmaceuticals. Under “brand names,” I found apparel sites. Under “building material,” I found every supplier in the universe – none of them offered information about generic brands. Instead, they claimed all their brands are good, or they wouldn’t carry them.

The best advice I found was to look for the quality and price range I was interested in and to let that be my spending guide. If you’re not an expert in this particular field on consumer buying, like me, how do you know what is a better quality over another? Should I go with pricing only? I was always taught that you get what you pay for, but I’ve also learned in life that that isn’t always necessarily true, either. In this case, it’s more like buying from brand name stores vs. outlets and liquidators; choosing regular prices vs. bargain or discounted prices; and going with new products vs. seconds or used/recycled products. (more…)

Choosing a contractor for your renovation project is really not that different from conducting a job interview. Just as any other employer would, you may want to spend some time preparing questions.

Think back to interviews you’ve either conducted or been to yourself. What types of questions were you asked? Were you given any problem-solving scenarios? Unexpected questions can funnel beyond prepared answers to determine the potential employee’s real character. When choosing a contractor, you want to know as much as you can about their skills and experience. Ultimately, though, you find out the most by learning what sort of person they are. You want someone who is trustworthy, ethical, efficient, cost-efficient, reliable, and skilled. It also can help to interview previous clients and establish a trackrecord for quality and reliable work.

Some questions you may ask would be: (more…)

It’s no secret the building industry has been struggling among the depths of a sluggish economy and the fearsome foreclosure crisis. Yet another thorn in the side of the building industry has been the rapid rise in the cost of building materials with which to do what work has persisted. You would think that less demand would bring down supply costs. But it’s a global village, as they say, and demand for materials is not sluggish everywhere.

According to a recent article in the Boston Business Journal, high demand in China and India plus record fuel prices (especially diesel) are the two forces driving a dramatic rise in material costs. How much is dramatic?

• Well, in the industrial sector (primarily materials for highway and street production), costs have risen 19 percent in just the last year.
• Other numbers are 10.4 percent for nonresidential sector (office buildings, etc.) and 5.9 percent for single-family homes. The residential sector was saved somewhat by a drop in some lumber and gypsum (drywall) prices.
• Still the price of gypsum, which dropped nearly 14 percent over the last year, is almost 25 percent higher than it was five years ago. (more…)