Remodeling

Homeowner spending on remodeling edged up 3.8 percent to $99 billion for the third quarter when compared with the third quarter last year, according to the Remodeling Activity Indicator developed by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The RAI, a cumulative 12-month figure that's released each quarter, is based on four components: manufacturer's shipments of floor and wall tile products, retail sales at building materials and supply stores, existing single-family home sales and the bank prime loan rate.

Mid-Atlantic Fine Furnishings Show Rug maker Michael Heilman will highlight the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Fine Furnishings Show , which will take place at Maryland State Fairgrounds on May 3-5. Heilman will use handheld rug-making tools dating from 1870 to 1970 during his demonstration. Tools from the “Blue Nose Rug Hooker” to the “Rumpelstiltskin Hand Speed Needle” will be used while Heilman creates new rugs. The event promises to be both educational and entertaining. Attend the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Fine Furnishings Show, May 3 - 5 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

The Maryland Improvement Contractors Association will present its Remodeler of the Year awards to nine Central Maryland home remodeling companies Nov. 20 at the Center Club in Baltimore. American Contracting Services of Jarrettsville will receive first place in the categories of residential kitchen, $25,000 to $50,000, residential interior under $25,000 and residential exterior over $50,000, and a second place award of merit in the residential bath under $25,000 category. ARDO Contracting of Columbia will receive first place honors for residential kitchen over $50,000, residential specialty and entire house (a tied category)

Welsh Construction Remodeling, an award-winning Baltimore home improvement company that has renovated kitchens and bathrooms for decades, no longer has a license to take on new projects in Maryland, state regulators said. Alexander Barabash turned in the license on Thursday, saying he had cut ties to Welsh and would no longer serve as its individual license holder, according to Steven Smitson, executive director of the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. Barabash did not tell regulators why he ended his relationship with the company.

A NEW REPORT from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University puts the remodeling industry in economic perspective: Americans spend about $150 billion a year on home improvement, accounting for about 2 percent of the annual gross domestic product.Compilers of the study concluded that government estimates of the size of the industry are 25 percent to 30 percent lower than the actual size. Among other findings from the study:Besides contributing to the economy, the remodeling industry preserves and enhances the nearly 120 million units of housing that make up the nation's $8 trillion investment in housing.

The Remodelors Council announced the winners of its eighth annual Remodeling Award of Excellence competition Thursday night at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.The competition recognizes excellence in remodeling design and craftsmanship in the industry. Entries were rated by an evaluation team that consisted of remodeling contractors from outside the Baltimore metropolitan area.The criteria used included: quality of construction, degree of difficulty, value and cost effectiveness, unique and creative design approach and sensitivity to existing structure.

The Homebuilders Association of Maryland Remodeler's Council has awarded Lynch Construction Inc. of Harford County three awards for home and business remodeling and renovations. The 49-year-old company earned the 2007 Award of Excellence for Whole House Alteration with Addition, 2007 Award of Excellence for Commercial Remodeling and 2007 Silver Merit Award for Whole House Renovations with Kitchen Remodeling. The projects are located in Bel Air, Churchville and Abingdon. The awards recognize remodelers for design, craftsmanship and contribution to the industry.

After spending six years sharing a bathroom with his wife and two children, salesman John Brummelcamp is adding a second bath and two bedrooms to his two-bedroom Southern California home.His monthly mortgage will rise by $300 as a result of the $50,000 equity loan he took out to finance the 800-square-foot addition. But that's only a third of the increase had he bought a bigger house."The dollars and cents pointed us in this direction," he said. "It really doesn't make financial sense to move."

THE WINDOWS are caulked, the water pipes are insulated, the furnace is humming along nicely, keeping you toasty -- what's left to do this winter?How about taking a look ahead at some of the trends that are developing as we head into the next millennium?Here are some things we've spotted on the horizon:* The biggest trend in remodeling today is remodeling. According to the Remodelors Council of the National Association of Home Builders, remodeling expenditures in the United States are expected to exceed $140 billion in 2000, up from more than $120 billion in 1997.

FOR MONTHS and months, Ron and Charlotte Nodine wrestled with the idea of expanding their 1920s bungalow. You'd think it would be easy for a professional remodeler, wouldn't you? Well. it isn't. At least they knew what they wanted, sort of-- a bigger master bedroom, a master bath, a bigger laundry space, some space for exercise equipment.But it was hard fitting all that into an affordable addition. They decided that a two-story addition was out of the question. So, like all remodelers, they had to make some difficult choices.

The ink on their contract was barely dry and the moving van just out of sight, when Richard and Key-Key von Lange prepared to flip the first-floor interior layout of the six-year-old home they bought in Federal Hill three years ago. "We looked at the house and were sold," Richard von Lange recalled of the rowhouse he and his wife purchased for $395,000. "We wanted parking, we wanted a yard and we liked the location. " The only problem with the three-story, end-of-group home with a rooftop deck was the kitchen just inside the front door.

  Weis Markets will unveil a remodeled store in Woodstock on Sunday. The store in the Waverly Woods development in Howard County has remained open during the course of the $3 million project. It will have larger produce and service seafood departments, an expanded deli, larger frozen and dairy sections, a bigger pharmacy and more self-scan lanes. Weis is also finishing work on two new stores that will open in Woodlawn and Towson. The grocery chain has 163 stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.

Jack's Bistro is on its annual January break. The hiatus began right after New Year's Eve service and continues through Jan. 11. The gang returns on Saturday, Jan. 12. Mekong Delta is on a really long break. It started Dec. 12 and continues through Feb. 25. The Vietnamese restaurant will reopen on Saturday, Feb. 26. Beginning this Sunday, Talara in Harbor East will close for 11 days of remodeling. The restaurant will reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 16. But before it closes down, Talara will be depleting its inventory with discounted menu drinks and menu items.

The Remodelers Council of the Home Builders Association of Maryland handed out its annual awards Thursday night at the Towson Golf and Country Club. "This program serves to recognize excellence in remodeling design and craftsmanship, to create a greater public interest in the remodeling industry and to recognize outstanding contributions by individuals and companies in the remodeling industry," the HBAM Remodelers said in a statement. It was the group's 22nd annual competition honoring remodeling projects in the metro Baltimore area.

New furniture, a flat-screen television, decorative light fixtures, interactive white boards - these are among amenities the city school system bought during $500,000 in renovations to the central office, even as administrators decried the state of crumbling school buildings and sought funding to fix them. The biggest project was a $250,000 face lift of an executive suite for the district's chief of information technology, who said the remodeling work was done in part to impress job candidates and repair unsafe conditions.

John Leo Knott, the retired owner of a remodeling business and a benefactor to a home for the aged, died of heart failure Feb. 19 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The former Guilford resident was 94. Born in East Baltimore, he was the second-youngest of the six sons of Henry Aden and Martha Doyle Knott. He attended Cathedral School and was a 1934 graduate of Loyola High School, where he ran track. Family members said he practiced by walking to Clifton Park and running on its grounds.

Delbert L. Adams, president of Ilex Construction and Development Inc. in Baltimore, was named Remodelor of the Year by the Remodelors Council of the Home Builders Association of Maryland at its annual awards ceremony. Ilex also won in three categories: residential remodeling, $500,000 and over; commercial remodeling; and specialty details. It won project of the year for its commercial remodeling at Phillips Harborplace Restaurant. Among the Award of Excellence winners were: ARDO Contracting Inc. for kitchen remodeling under $50,000.

Home remodeling spending continued to decline in the third quarter of this year, but Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies said that it's still too early to determine the impact of the events of Sept. 11 on the remodeling market. The Joint Center releases its Remodeling Activity Indicator each quarter, which tracks the pace of homeowner remodeling activity. In the third quarter, remodeling spending slipped 0.3 percent when compared with the third quarter last year, to $103.

Baltimore County officials will use a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to upgrade equipment at the 911 Center in Towson, a facility that is set to undergo a $14 million renovation within the next two years. The purchases include a monitoring system that can detect glitches in equipment and alert maintenance staff to address problems before any failure occurs. A radio frequency data alerting system that allows police officers and emergency crews to send text messages to the center dispatchers is also among the planned new equipment.

Homeowners who are putting in additions to accommodate family moving in are giving a much needed boost to business at Trademark Remodeling in Eldersburg. At Starcom Design Build in Columbia, clients feeling a bit more confident about the economy are investing in home repairs and tackling small renovations. And at Wall to Wall Construction in Catonsville, homeowners who might have launched big home renovations in more robust times are still spending, though not as much and on smaller projects.