We just got our 5^th Chrysalis award, and like Tom Hanks racking up Oscars, it never gets old because it feels wonderful!

The Chrysalis is a national design award that honors the talent, creativity and professionalism in the remodeling industry. There were over 500 entries this year which were distilled down to 105 winners in 17 project categories.

We won in the Sunroom/Conservatory category. Click to see more about the project.

It’s especially sweet to be recognized for this project because the clients – Mary Lee and Charles - were exceptionally great to work with, and have an interesting angle. They are regular listeners of The KMOX Home Improvement Show with Scott Mosby, and were particularly interested by one episode wherein Scott discussed the perfect remodeling timeline.

Experienced remodelers recognize the patterns that create projects that flow smoothly for both the company and the homeowner. Scott shared his hard-learned wisdom on the ideal remodeling scenario, and Mary Lee & Charles decided to take him up on it.

They began with us in the fall, hashing out design concepts, making materials and finish selections and approving final construction documents so building could begin in early winter. By planning during the fall and building during the winter, the sun room and patio was ready – as predicted – in time for the first spring BBQ.

Click here to read the clients’ thoughts on their Mosby project. They were also excited to let us know that when a neighbor’s house went up for sale, the realtor let them know that they raised the asking price because their sunroom was one of the views outside the kitchen windows of the house for sale. Meaning, their project truly did add immediate value to the neighborhood!

Our thanks to the Chrysalis judges for the award, and a hearty round of applause to Mary Lee, Charles and Mosby Project Manager Steve Wickers and his crew for a project perfectly realized.

Professional Remodeler magazine has just released their 2008 Market Leaders list, and for the 2^nd year in a row Mosby Building Arts is one of the top remodeling firms in St. Louis (see the article and list here).

This list identifies the top firms in the Top 20 American remodeling markets. The list is compiled through a combination of the magazine’s research and information provided by the ranking companies.

Of the Top 5 companies in the St. Louis market, we are the only one that concentrates purely on residential remodeling, and that has its own architectural and design department. We fill a unique niche: the go-to experts for all of a homeowner’s needs.

We’re excited about remaining a remodeling Market Leader, and will continue to concentrate on our vision and mission that inspires these kinds of results. Thank you.

The phrase “all sizzle and no steak” is a good one to describe how building professionals feel about home remodeling shows as seen on HGTV and such. Much like the forensics field has been affected by the TV series CSI, carpenters and project managers now must deal with the fantasy of Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  

Gone is the leisurely pace of Bob Villa and Norm Abram in the original episodes of This Old House. Today’s remodeling shows are reality TV moving at a frantic pace toward the “big reveal” that draw the big ratings. The educational aspect has been sacrificed for entertainment, and while it is very entertaining, it has very little to do with reality.

Homeowners who use remodeling programs as the template for their projects are continually upset by sticker shock (the shows give obscenely low costs) and timelines (the shows gloss over proper procedure). “On (fill in the name of a remodeling show), it doesn’t take this long to do a kitchen,” has become a common comment on job sites, and it’s just as discouraging to a carpenter as it would be for a husband to say to his wife, “That dress looks different on you than it did on Halle Berry.” There’s a distinct difference between fantasy and reality, and reality should not be considered the 2^nd runner up.

So, what do real-life remodeling professionals think of home remodeling shows? We asked the Mosby Building Arts project managers for their thoughts on the topic.

Tim Wahlig, who is also our estimator, summed up what it’s like for a carpenter to watch these show: “I am like a sports fan watching my football team lose.” He shares more observations:

“Some things I have noticed on the remodeling shows is the sheer lack of realism. Time lines are simply impossible if the work were to be done correctly. Costs listed are even worse. I just saw last week that they paid $675 for an entire standard “L” shaped kitchen, including dish washer, sink, faucet, cabinets, countertop and flooring!!!!  Let’s get real; you can’t do that at Hoods much less Home Depot (who sponsor many of the shows). Then the whole project took a weekend? Obviously, they do not show the 20 man crew in the background actually doing the work of the actors.

“Also, on the kitchen rehabs I’ve seen, they used sledge hammers to take out the cabinets. I am sure this is simply to make the show more exciting but they never say anything about the extra work it requires to repair the damage to the walls, floor and ceiling that this kind of demolition creates. This adds more time to the project but they still get it done in a weekend. And the poor craftsmanship of it all is sickening.  Then there is the lack of code compliance and inspections; I have only heard them mention inspections 1 or 2 times, and that’s just irresponsible. “

Dennis Shasteen picks up on the irresponsibility angle: “A lot of important steps of a job are not shown, and people may think they’re not necessary. This can cause lots of problems for homeowners,” especially if they try do the work themselves only to find out later it’s not up to code and has to be done all over again.

Viewers want to see action and results, which means half of a project is left out of an episode. “Most of the shows don’t show all of the extra manpower used to get the job done in a timely manner,” says James Roney. “They don’t show all of the support crew and trade partners that help prepare and execute a project. Labor costs are usually not given because they get volunteer and free labor.”

Editing out all the trades and disciplines needed on a project makes a kitchen in a weekend seem possible. Thomas Miller responds, “That’s impossible, and it’s not good for our profession. Homeowners watch that and think the project can be done in that time!”

“Even if you can build a house in 24 hours, I don’t want to live in it,” says Jill Huckelberry, adding that, “My Mom can’t understand why it takes me longer than 30 minutes to do her projects.” To bring an episode in at a half hour, John Yocco adds that, “I notice that steps are skipped to complete jobs faster. For a painting job, they skip over priming and sanding.”

Wahlig agrees wholeheartedly and adds, “I am so tired of watching people ruin rooms by painting over wallpaper, destroying furniture and building everything out of MDF. They show half-baked craftsmanship, or teach the art of hiding a problem.”

“Well, take a look at some of the materials they use – they’re cheap,” says Miller. Chris Fischer points out that when they are good materials, “they’re sponsored by Lowe’s or Home Depot. They provide materials for free or at a steep discount. These things should be disclosed.”

To which Rich Oris Jr. adds, “Not only do they get things for next to nothing, but they get them fast. They get a countertop in one day!” Rick Henson elaborates on that with, “The problem is they never show what happens when the wrong product shows up at the jobsite, or it arrives late, and what this does to the production schedule. They manage to make it look perfect every time.”

In the real world, a job done properly requires careful planning and organization of all crafts and trades, and most remodeling shows just aren’t interested in showing the paper work and scheduling concerns of a building professional. The pride that true building professionals take in their craft must not make for interesting TV, nor do they seem concerned about deadlines or projects that come in over budgets that were unrealistically low in the first place. And it never seems to rain on TV, whereas in real life, spring rains are a big monkey wrench in meeting construction deadlines.

But Wahlig points out that there is an upside to the pure farce and fantasy that is home remodeling shows: “On the good side, shows like this keep Mosby Building Arts busy with people who get in over their heads with a do-it-yourself project, or need us to correct the work of a contractor who went for the quick fix. And it’s the quick fixes as seen on TV that creates a challenge for the professional remodelers. Sometimes we walk into homes with homeowners that have a pre-conceived notion of how fast a project should move and how much it should cost, and it’s an uphill battle to help them.

“These shows need to be used as entertainment only! Viewers need to realize that these shows are an OK resource for ideas but not a real representation of our industry.”

Local news has been buzzing about one of the biggest new home builders closing up shop. It creates uneasy assumptions about the economy, the real estate market and our own personal security.

Reports confirm that St. Louis and Southern Illinois homeowners have been relatively insulated from dramatic housing market fluctuations because we never took part in over-inflated housing prices to begin with. So, the home you own now stands a very good chance of retaining all its value while the economy rights itself.

Now is the perfect time to take stock of your own house, and consider how to best shore up your own home equity investment. Here are some facts to mull over:

 ● Anticipated increases in house value lead residents to invest more in home improvements in order to capture future potential capital gains, as well as reallocating expenditures from nondurable to durable goods.

 ● On average in 2005, households whose homes had appreciated by at least 100% over the previous decade spent over 2.5 times more on improvements than those whose home values increased less than 50%.

 ● In 2005, owners of homes built before 1970 spent more than 17% of their total home improvement budget on energy efficiency related projects such as upgrading HVAC systems, adding insulation, and replacing siding, windows and exterior doors.

 ● About a third of owner-occupied homes are now at least 45 years old and an additional third is between 25-45 years old. This means that a large majority of homes are in increasing need of remodeling and repair.

Renovate your home only if you plan on staying for at least three years. A remodeling project should be all about you, not an unknown, imaginary buyer somewhere in the future. But it is smart to consider the future implications of the work you choose to do.

To find out if your project will add to the resale value of your home, take stock of other houses in your neighborhood. Have many of them been upgraded in the past few years? If your house is the only one around without a finished basement, that would be a good project to consider. If everyone on the block has added a bathroom or upgraded their master suite, these projects would pay off as well. On the other hand, you may not want to price your house out of the market by adding a third or fourth garage if that’s not the standard in your area.

There are two reasons to put yourself through a renovation:

#1. You want to love where you live.

#2. As economist Gopal Ahluwalia of the National Association of Home Builders explains, you must maintain your property or it will deteriorate.

You should redo kitchens and baths every 15 to 20 years to preserve the value of your investment. You may have to expand to accommodate changing lifestyles. Houses built in the 1960s had 1 1/2 baths, a small kitchen and no family room. Today’s new homes have three baths, great rooms and master bedrooms you can land a plane in. Mom and Dad may order in, but they want a kitchen where the whole family can sit down to eat. The price of not keeping your home up to date is that it may eventually sell for significantly less than others of the same size, or linger on the market for months.

But the most important consideration is you. Remodeling - as anyone who’s done it will tell you - is quite a lot to go through for anyone’s benefit but your own.  In economically shaky times, you can do less, but do it properly.  Be sure that you pay for quality work from trusted companies. A bad remodeling job can cramp your lifestyle and do little to boost your property value.

When you need a trusted and knowledgeable person to talk with about the improvements desired and work needed on your home, Mosby Building Arts is always here for you. Our Consultants will help you make a plan that encompasses both present and future needs; we’ll make sure you get value and quality for every investment you make in your home.