Blogs

Residential Products Online content is now on probuilder.com! Same great products coverage, now all in one place!

Building Operations

Giving thanks is not just for Thanksgiving!

Well ladies and gentleman, we made it through another year. A year of bankruptcies with several top 100 builders, uncertainty in the job...

Management

The Lean Builder Blog: Truck or trailer? What would Lean say?

The Lean Perspective is by no means limited to sticks and bricks issues on the construction site. When we talk Lean building we are really...

Construction Quality

The Lean and Green Blog: Lesson 2 — Change your frames

At a recent conference, I shared an analogy that bears repeating here. The auto industry has experienced tremendous changes over the past...

Construction Quality

Lean Design Blog: Poof! Make $200 of foundation waste disappear like magic

Do you remember David Copperfield making the statue of liberty disappear? It was pretty cool, but I felt certain the green lady was not...

Quality Management

Construction company views on ISO9001 in the UK

A UK study of those using the ISO9001 Quality Management System in the construction industry had a number of interesting findings that...

Customer Satisfaction

The Need For Speed

To home builders, speed is a highly valued commodity. It is not unusual to hear home builders boast about fast build cycles, lightening...

Green Design

The Lean and Green Blog: Lesson 1 – Waste Not, Be Green

Becoming a sustainable, green builder needs to follow a structured process that allows a builder to shape green features to fit with their...

Design

The Lean Design Blog: Bad details cost you more than you think

Have you ever looked at a detail on a plan and scratched your head wondering how that was going to work? Sometimes the details that show up...

The Lean Builder

The Lean Building Blog: The problem with architects

Last year PB received an official complaint letter from a high level staffer at the AIA, basically saying that I was being unfair to...

Quality Management

Mental blocks to creativity

Often the main block to creativity is actually a mental block. Thoughts or comments such as these can stop creativity in its tracks. Im...

Building Operations

Don't let your ego get in the way of cost savings

Talking to builders today about improving the cost and efficiency can be an interesting proposition. When the topic is directed to managing...

Quality Management

How consistent is your business?

When was the last time you did some walk arounds in your business, asked your customer service or construction teams some basic questions,...

The Sweet Spot

Avoiding the hard housing questions

One of the most depressing/astounding/frustrating things about the current race for president has been the complete lack of attention to...

Green Design

The Lean & Green Blog: Lessons NOT Learned

The building industry, unfortunately, continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. Green building remains one of the most talked...

Sales + Marketing

The Lean Design Blog: Floor plan renderings? That's whack!

Last week I nagged you about elevation renderings, this week the focus is on floor plan renderings. Floor plan renderings are an easy way to...

The Lean Builder

The Lean Building Blog: Nothing left to take away?

If asked, I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite author, but if forced to choose just one I would go with Antoine St. Exupery. St. Ex,...

Customer Satisfaction

Home Building and the Ultra Marathon

The idea of running a 100 mile race ten years ago was as inconceivable and foreign to me as the possibility of a 6 year real estate crash. ...

Building Operations

Why most Builders are stating they can't find the right talent

In the Wall Street Journal on 10/24 an article was published indicating that 52% of US companies were reporting major difficulty in filling...

Lean Design

Tips on how renderings can sell the home — not the house

Traveling around the country I see a lot of renderings - most of them leave a whole lot to be desired. The worst are the black and white CAD...

The Lean Builder

The Customer Code – are you meeting it?

One of the greatest misconceptions about Lean process and methods is that they cheapen the product. Lean is first and always about value,...

Quality Management

Opportunities: November is World Quality Month

November is World Quality Month and November 10th is World Quality Day ! This can be a great opportunity to leverage local and regional...

Building Operations

Live and work without execuses

Not a day goes by that I don’t experience multiple builders telling me why improvement in their business won’t happen. The economy, the lack...

Lean Design

2 hot design trends that will delight your customers

Our lives are busy and getting busier. Some of the most popular new design trends focus on making life a bit easier. Simplifying access and...

The Lean Builder

Poster child for bad design

The accompanying picture was used recently with what was an otherwise good article on how to create profitable design. That article is much...

Quality Management

Increasing Sales & Revenue: NHQA Winners 2011-2012 Achieving Performance Excellence

In this economy these builders are growing sales, expanding into new markets and achieving 100% customer satisfaction! They are building...

Home Builders Institute's Schools to Skills Grant Application Open Through December

As Mortgage Rates Rise, Buyers Lose Purchasing Power

Renters Are Choosing Single-Family Homes for These Features