PB May 2004

Stairs do more than take us from top to bottom and back again. They also offer an opportunity to make a design statement.

Debate still rages over whether the urban growth boundary works.

Profit-based compensation systems have the proven potential to motivate employees while increasing their focus on critical business issues such as revenue, cost control, profit, and customer satisfaction

Engineers at the University of Maine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center might have invented a way to help houses survive natural disasters.

In its report 'Waters and Wetlands,' the General Accounting Office found that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have regulated U.S. waters and wetlands irresponsibly.

Soaring land prices the past several years have spurred more builders to enter raw land acquisition and development for the first time. Be careful.

In a recent letter, one of you chided Professional Builder, and me in particular, for our scare tactics. You wrote: 'I read your magazine every month and get a lot of good ideas, but I take exception to a couple of points of view.'

A strong candidate provides fact-based answers and examples. If you don't fully understand what a candidate has done in the past, how can you predict his or her success in your company?

I-joist manufacturers' standards dictate that web holes must be perfect circles to transfer shear forces properly, and they advise builders of the minimum distance between holes and from bearing points of the joist.